The Digital Gardens of the Internet

A few years ago, my grandmother passed away.

She was 101. I couldn't be too angry of her going because not many people get to live that long. Still, I receded from social spaces and logged in to only one map whenever I could bring myself to enjoy VR at all. I stopped writing here and didn't explain where I had gone. Apologies if you were someone who enjoyed my work at The Metaculture and felt a sudden absence.

Within that time were a few people who would occasionally check in on me. One of them was a vtuber and entertainer named Regenstorm.

In April 2024 I got a wacky idea. Virtual Desktop has a chroma-key ability that works with mixed reality headsets. Could that be used to let people visit my real-world art workshop? I asked Regenstorm if they would be willing to try out the idea with me.

The following is what resulted:

Here's how the experiment worked. I scanned my art studio with LIDAR software. Those are typically found on iPhone apps these days with the right phone model. I then ported the scan into VRChat and set a local toggle for the mesh. When I press a button, the mesh can turn on and off for myself while my VR visitor still sees my room scan.

I can use this to create a working mixed-reality atelier and take online art commissions to the next level. For internet artists, commissions are a constant bread and butter that helps to pay their bills and cost of materials. Now, painting someone's portrait isn't just an email volley of "I want my character to look like this or that". It's no longer just transactional, it's personal.

When the painting is done, the visitor can receive a physical copy of a painting if they don't want a digital one. Because they "visited" you in VR, they have more than a commission.

They have a memory.

---

Time passed and Regenstorm ended up needing a boost a few years later due to some life hiccups. Concerned, I turned to the painting sitting in my art studio. This memento of the experiment was sitting around when it could be on someone's wall. Why not use it to do some good?

So, I held a fundraiser with help from The Strange Pear, an online art gallery within VRChat that hosts monthly art shows. Oz Pearsall ran the event and people bid on prices within the gallery's Discord channel.

The painting went for $585 with all proceeds going directly to Regenstorm.

I am now packaging this artwork to send to someone who will keep this physical memory on their wall. As I varnish the piece and get it ready for wrapping, I think of when Regenstorm and I took a picture together in mixed reality with the VRChat camera while laughing. I think of how we hugged each other and thought, "this is gonna change everything".

There's been a phrase emerging lately called "digital gardens". This is often used to describe personal blog sites and wiki spaces, but I think it can mean any place online where knowledge is gathered and tended carefully. I think we also find these spaces within live service platforms when people have no other place to put that knowledge or find immersive solutions to be more convenient.

Our current internet sucks. But what doesn't suck are the digital gardens like the Pear where we can congregate together and share art that means something to its people. We can share knowledge of materials, hold workshops, and hone craft our away from more consumer-focused crowds. These digital gardens don't just hold knowledge, but are also places where the knowledge is exercised, fine-tuned, and tested with the people who care the most about it.

One painting auction helped a person. What happens when a larger ecosystem sprouts from this idea?

To explore the philosophy of digital gardens, click here.