Art and Spirituality on Second Life: A Participant Observation and Digital Quest for Meaning

This participant observation study is a search for the holisticessence of the spiritual or inspirational in the artwork on Second Life, a digital metaverse. I focused on one island—Spirit Mountain. After, negative first impressions, I surveyed its offerings, tracked my wanderings, interviewed two of its artists, documented the evolution of one artist’s work and her inspiration, and attended one of the Immersive Events. Then I analyzed and compared these artists’ work in search for its holistic essence. In my digital quest, I learned about the repeated spiritual importance of the color blue, natural forms, water, and light. Deeper questioning revealed how SL is an artful place that can heal sadness and loss, achieve good—help suicide survivors, find stress release. Finally SL helps connect people and groups on international scope, whereby they become teachers.