According to the New York Times, Chinese experimental artist Cao Fei, known in Second Life as China Tracy, is creating the world’s first virtual art installation. RMB City is a virtual city in Second Life that is meant to be an artistic commentary on the rapid industrialization of China. The virtual city will incorporate elements of famous Chinese landmarks such as the Forbidden City, the Great Wall, and Tianamen Square.

Lombard-Freid Projects, a New York art gallery, is currently exhibiting RMB City. The exhibit is part art showcase and part real estate sales office. Cao Fei is offering art collectors and virtual real estate investors a chance to sponsor individual structures in the city for prices as high as $120,000. Sponsors get two years access to their structure in RMB City and a commemorative artwork at the end of their “lease”.

If Cao Fei is able to get those prices, she may just find herself in the 2009 Guinness Book of World Records for “Most Expensive Virtual Object”. She would be dethroning Jon “NEVERDIE” Jacobs, the current recordholder, who purchased an asteroid space resort in Entropia for $100,000.