When the the virtual space of RMB City is talked about, terms like “exploration” “people” and “interaction” frequently occur (See Art 21 Season 5 Fantasy Episode). Here we may  draw on Claire Bishop’s critique of Relational aesthetics to question the user experience of RMB City. In many ways Cao Fei’s project fits the criteria for Relational Aesthetics. It requires users to participate in order for the city to fulfill its artistic goals. However its fails on some levels to attract a wide audience and limits itself to art world regulars and Second Life users attracted to the art world. It could be accused of being “microtopian” and lacking antagonism. While documentation of a population interacting in RMB City exists, such as the nude avatar contest, in my investigations into the project RMB City has been empty at all times of the day. This begs the question, that if it did, at one time, full fill its relational aspects, does it have to continue to do so. Our virtual identities perform for us. While we sleep people can browse and send message to our Facebook profiles. Does RMB City perform in this manner. I can view it when their is no activity happening, but am I viewing the work or simply its documentation? Is RMB City a relational work if it doesn’t continually perform? Or I am to experience the city like much like one might a sculpture?
  
When in RMB City one must question the use of Second Life as a technical support? Created by entrepreneur Philip Rosedale, Second Life is the virtual remnants of a retro future brought into an active space. It was inspired by the “metaverse” in Neal Stephenson’s 1992 science fiction novel Snow Crash. Snow Crash projected a vision of the then emerging commercial Internet, as space people interacted with using virtual reality avatars. Everything from socializing to shopping was done in this environment. While many of these activities occur on the Internet, as we know it, the majority of us do not need a literal virtual world to perform these functions. Fei says she was introduced to Second life in 2006, a time when it was receiving its greatest amount of attention, and real world events such as business and lectures were appearing “in world”.  Since then Second Life has gone through a boom and bust. The initial interest from the mainstream world has, at the moment, dried up. However the community lives on in a future that will quite possibly never be.  It is arguable that Fei’s use of Second Life may avoid the failing of the program and contribute to her examination of Contemporary China, but being able to fully read the project, one might have to wait until it is complete.