Mac Kanashimi’s Snarl in Second Life

Snarl is the name of Mac Kanashimi’s latest art installation, and it really is one of those things that has to be seen in order to be appreciated; frankly, no photograph really does the build justice.

Known for his huge, fractal-based builds, several of which I’ve covered in this blog (see Climbing the Pinwheel (August 2014), The Geometry of Art (April 2014) Enter the Dragon Curves (February 2014)). However, for Snarl, he has opted for something far more organic in form: a huge vine-like tower of rings, curls, loops of fibre-like elements which rises more than 4,000 metres in to the sky above the region in which it sits.

The result is quite extraordinary, some 5,000 items, each with an LI of three, all of which utilise HSL (Hue, Saturation, Lightness) to RGB conversion.This has been set such that lightness has the slowest cycle of conversion, causing the tower  to go from light colours in the lower extremes through to darker colours at the top. Saturation then has a slightly faster cycle than lightness, leaving hue with the fastest cycle.

To appreciate it requires ramping-up draw distances as high as your system can comfortably handle – and this is really worthwhile doing. If you are fortunate enough to have a Space Navigator / joystick which allows you to flycam, I can thoroughly recommend ramping-up draw distance and then flying up the side of Snarl at a relatively slow pace. Watching the curls and twists slowing unfold / pop into view as distinct clumps and then slowly connect to one another, colour washing over them after then have appeared, really does bring home the organic nature of this build.

Do note that when you arrive at Snarl, which rebuilds itself tail-to-top once a day, you will do so at the top, and sans any platform on which to stand. This affords you with the novel (if initially disorienting) experience of falling through the installation, all of the segments of which are phantom, presenting you with a unique “inside” perspective on the build which is worth repeating by flying through it as you examine it.

Snarl is an extraordinary installation, which will remain open through until the end of 2016.

SLurl Details

• Snarl (Rated General)