The Salt Satyagraha Online: Gandhi's March to Dandi in Second Life

Mixed reality performance, 2008

Over the course of 26 days, from March 12 - April 6, 2008, using a treadmill customized for cyberspace, I reenacted Mahatma Gandhi's famous 1930 Salt March. The original 240-mile walk was made in protest of the British salt tax; my update of this seminal protest march took place at Eyebeam Art and Technology, NYC and in Second Life, the Internet-based virtual world. For this performance, I walked the entire 240 miles of the original march in real life and online in Second Life. My steps on the treadmill controlled the forward movement of my avatar, MGandhi Chakrabarti, enabling the live and virtual reenactment of the march. Post reenactment I created a number of artifacts including 3D rapid prototyped printed sculptures and three monumental 17' tall cardboard sculptures of my avatar as extracted from Second Life.

Documentation:
Visit my Flicker pages for extensive documentation. Visit the blog for the project: http://saltmarchsecondlife.wordpress.com/