Probably the most popular exhibit in the Virtual Test Zone gallery is called Mashup Masterpiece.

Mashup Masterpiece exhibit and its author, Marie Crandell

The exhibit project now called Mashup Masterpiece  began with the following “big idea” on the project’s Webpage:

To enable the audience to experience the role of the painter - through visual aids, animation and audio stream - to step into the shoes of the painter and 'paint' an existing painting by a real painter.

The idea then went through the following evolution from design sketch (left) to Second Life prototype (center) to finished exhibit (right).

         

(click on any image for a larger view)

The notion of audio narration was dropped during the SL prototyping stage as the exhibit was quite full already.   In moving from SL to the gallery, the surrounding studio “with a dusty wooden floor with paint splattered over it, …quiet and enclosed, but with a peaceful feeling” was dropped for lack of space.   In SL the finished painting was stripped down through nine color stages and the images loaded in reverse so that the painting 'appeared' before your eyes.The finished exhibit achieved this effect by adding a spin browser to dial through the stages of the painting and a Photoshop-like palette of tools and colors  for visitors to “paint” their own version.

The author of Mashup Masterpiece, Marie Crandell of Plymouth, England is an accountant who has formerly worked as a professional classical dancer and journalist.  She had been in Second Life since December, 2006, and it took her about 100 hours over a four week period to build her prototype.  This profile is quite typical for  our award winners: talented professionals with a year’s  prior SL experience who spent a month building their virtual exhibit.