Day: May 16, 2019

Shattered Egos in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
Lin C Art Gallery: Matt (Thompson)

Shattered Egos is the provocative title of an exhibition of art by Matt (MTH63), which opened on May 11th at the Lin C Art Gallery, curated by Lin Carlucci.

Also known as Matt Thomson in the physical world, Matt is a professional abstract artist and digital designer who, as well as producing some truly fabulous abstract pieces also has a quirky sense of humour, as witnessed by his bio liner notes:

Matt Thomson … approaches his art with innovation, fun and breakfast cereal. Matt believes that art should please the eye and make you feel like a man can paint in a straitjacket. He doesn’t take himself seriously, and his art shows a sense of fun and over dependency on sprouts and curry powder.

– Matt Thompson, describing himself

Lin C Art Gallery: Matt (Thompson)

To use a truism, the beauty of abstract art is oft in the eye of the beholder; or to put it another way, it’s not everyone’s cup of hot brown milky beverage. However, it is among the art forms I particularly enjoy, and I seriously doubt those visiting Shattered Egos will not be captivated by the 20+ pieces Matt presents here.

Rich in colour and contrast, these are pieces that demand exploration and appreciation. Each has a story to tell  – and I urge those visiting to allow each picture to tell its story  as they see it, before using mouse hover / a right click to reveal the name of each piece. By doing this, the manner in which the narrative may suddenly morph – or perhaps be confirmed – is as remarkable as the shifting, swirling colours present within the art.

Lin C Art Gallery: Matt (Thompson)

I’m not sure why the title Shattered Egos has been selected for this exhibition, but I suspect that it is in reflection of the fact that Matt’s work is ego-free. It’s clear from the irreverence he displays towards himself, together with the sheer expressiveness present in the images, it’s clear that each of these pieces has been created with a love of art and free expression, and not as a means of deep self-expression or personal reflection. Hence why, again in his bio liner notes, Matt quotes Oscar Wilde:

Art is the only serious thing in the world. And the artist is the only person who is never serious.

This further makes this selection of art richly engaging and well worth the time taken in visiting the gallery.

Lin C Art Gallery: Matt (Thompson)

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2019 Bid a Linden Bald for RFL of SL

Posted on by Inara Pey

A traditional event during the RFL season is the Bid Me Bald challenge organised by the Relay Rockers. As the name suggests, people are invited to bid (make donations to RFL) to see a well-known Second Life resident go bald for a period of time in-world. First held in 2007, Bid Me Bald is presented as a means to honour those who have lost their hair as a result of their cancer treatment, with those volunteering to participate going bald for one day for each L$5000 raised through donations.

In 2017, to mark the 10th anniversary of Bid Me bald, a new twist was added to the mix when three teams from Linden Lab put themselves up for bidding / donations in Bid A Linden Bald. In 2018, the Lab again put forward three teams for Bid Me Bald, with the team raising the least amount of money will once again go bald for the amount of days equal to the total of the team raising the most, with the time shared among the losing team members.

Those two events between them raised more than L$3.5 million for Relay for Life. For 2019, the Lab is participating with five teams:

  • Customer Account Operations: Dakota Linden, Theresa Linden and Vanessa Linden.
  • Concierge Support: Dottie Linden, Evie Linden, Rocko Linden, TJ Linden, Vix Linden, Volo Linden and Wendi Linden.
  • Land Operations: Constantine Linden, Izzy Linden, Kona Linden and Madori Linden.
  • Tier 1 Support: Acan Linden, Cantara Linden, Ellie Linden, Ginger Linden and Jet Linden.
  • Support Management: Ami Linden, Derrick Linden, Kristin Linden and Maggie Linden.

Bidding officially opened on Wednesday, May 15th and will run through until May 22nd, when the losing team will be up for a haircut at a special event!

Should you wish to place a bid, drop in to the Relay Rockers’ home region. You may be redirected to the main landing point, so just follow the signs to the bidding kiosks. You can make your donation based on the team you’d like to see win – or against the team you’d like to see lose!

The 2019 Bid a Linden Bald kiosks

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