Now open at the Lin C Art Gallery, curated by Lin Carlucci, is an exhibition of art by Janine Portal. Untitled, it is a fascinating display of art perhaps not often seen in Second Life, utilising animations and prims to present remarkable collage pieces with a surrealist edge that are quite captivating to see.
At first glance 2D art, Janine’s work is actually more complex than a flat prim canvas. By layering elements together and using animations, she creates pieces that not only incorporate motion (something often seen in 2D art in SL) but which can also offer changing perspectives and one cams over them.
I’m a first life artist, but I’ve also been making art in Second Life for a few years now. Visual effects that I could only dream about on paint and canvas can be realized here in prims and textures and, for that, I’m grateful. Sometimes I use my own images in my work, but I nearly always add found images, most of them in the public domain. This sort of visual collage seems to me to be very similar to the musical practice of “sampling.” I find a bit of this here, a bit of that, there, add unique elements and then weave and layer what I have into a new and pleasing whole.
– Janine Portal on her art.
The result is some of the most unusual art and effects I’ve seen in Second Life for a while, each piece offering an unexpected view of what might otherwise appear to be and ordinary scene or photo, or presenting a melding of ideas and / or narrative this is quite engaging.
To full appreciate Janinie’s work, it is essential a couple of recommendations she offers are followed. firstly, set your local environment to CalWL, if possible. Secondly, rather than standing still when looking at her images, gently cam or tilt from side to side to witness the changing collage / effects, even with the pieces that already appear to be animated. If you have a flycam capability using a Space Navigator or joystick, this is really idea to witnessing the changing face of the images.
I could wibble on about the pieces presented in this exhibition, but really, this is art that should be seen to be fully appreciated, simply because of the way in which it has been created and presents itself to the eye. What I will say is that as well as the mobile elements of the art, there is a marvellous blending of styles and ideas, with some images incorporating layers photographs, others offering almost cartoon elements and still others built from what might be almost classically styled paintings, all of which adds further depth to an already intriguing exhibition.
However, the best way to appreciate Janine’s art is to see it first-hand, so I’m going to suggest that you hope along to the Lin C Art Gallery between now and November 13th, 2018 and have a look for yourself.
SLurl Details
- Lin C Art Gallery (Hana Aloha, rated: Moderate)
Inara Pey: Living in a Modemworld 