Avital became an artist following a career as a biologist. After her dissatisfaction with the scientific method grew, she decided to uncover new ways of doing research and entered another realm altogether. In Art, she found a freedom to ask questions in a more creative way and share more of her own perspective in the process. Her work interrogates the way people craft their identity in Virtual Reality and use avatars to socialize with others. “I am interested in understanding how virtual life intertwines with our physical realities and how it impacts the way we see ourselves in the world,” remarks Meshi. Questions around the value of friendship, memory and other behaviors within the context of the virtual world are invoked in a contemporary practice which is inspired by her own experiences in social VR. The artist uses a group of avatars to roam the virtual world; connecting with various virtual communities and conversing with virtual friends. Working primarily with performance and installation; digital projections, video, animation, photography, sculpture and painting also play into her work. A full-time mother and student, Avital is currently matriculating through her Master of Fine Art in the Digital Arts and New Media program at UC Santa Cruz. Her current focus stems from the great challenge of attempting to understand the future of VR and the way it will continue to influence our collective social environment. “Future generations may grow up to be completely immersed in online environments. As I see it, we will reach a point in which all living, learning, and socialization processes are carried out through avatars. My goal is to raise the awareness on the impact of this feasible future and to ask meaningful and important questions in its regard.” In a recent piece, Avital uses a laser cutter to print the full transcript of a virtual friendship that lasted for a couple of months before ending abruptly. Fading memories and a long and everlasting conversation log fashion delicate paper scrolls encapsulating the connection. Ultimately, Avital presents these pieces as “artifacts” in a large scale installation doubling as a memorial site for the virtual friendship. The artist performs a eulogy with the installation based on software analysis of the conversation log and the memories from her direct experience of the friendship via her avatar. Moving forward, she’s zeroing in on notions of role-play in social VR, particularly, the uncertainty around identity and the impact of parallel worlds that are created. In addition to visual art, she also plans to tackle some of these issues via academic writing.
http://danm.ucsc.edu/people/avital-meshi
Follow her on Instagram @avitalix