Day: September 25, 2020

Bamboo Barnes at Ribong Gallery in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
Bamboo Barnes at Ribong Artspace Gallery, September 2020

Bamboo Barnes is one of the most vibrant, evocative, provocative, and emotive artists displaying her work in Second Life. Hailing from Japan, Bamboo works with digital tools to produce pieces that are strongly assertive, both in terms their narrative depth and their ability to dominate the space they occupy, rich pieces that speak to the eye and mind.

All of this can be witnessed first-hand at her current exhibition, Receding Reality, which opened at Ribong Gallery’s Artspace 2243, and which opened on September 12th, 2020.

Bamboo Barnes at Ribong Artspace Gallery, September 2020

What is born out of me transforms like water: here is an uncertain ego and an inexhaustible feeling for those who have left.

– Bamboo Barnes

This is an extensive exhibition of work that presents pieces in a range of styles that have, per Bamboo’s description, something of a introspective nature about them. The styles themselves offer hints of Dali, Picasso, Warhol, encompassing abstract, pop-art, neo-impressionism, expressionism and neo-expressionism.

Bamboo Barnes at Ribong Artspace Gallery, September 2020

The elements of introspection comes from the faces apparent within many of the painting on offer; faces that oft carry thoughtful expressions or distant looks, suggestive of caught in memory, or are incomplete  or distorted, as if being pulled from half-remembered memories. Those that feature figures rather than facial features equally suggest distant thoughts.

As I’ve noted in the past when writing about Bamboo’s art, the emotions she experiences whilst producing a piece are a central aspect in how it eventually emerges. These emotions may be the result of her own feelings or perhaps those evoked by the music she is listening to, and her own response to the emerging piece. This tends to give her art an added depth, those emotions remaining with it and transferring to the observer the longer one regards it. There is also something almost visceral in her work through her use of colour; this in turn gives her work an attraction that pulls at the attention.

Bamboo Barnes at Ribong Artspace Gallery, September 2020

SLurl Details

Linden Lab launches the Official Second Life Merchandise store

Posted on by Inara Pey
via Linden Lab / RedBubble

Some might say it’s a long time overdue, but on Friday, September 25th, Linden Lab announced the launch of the official Second Life Merchandise Store offering a range of physical world merchandise related to Second Life and Linden Lab.

The on-line store is hosted by RedBubble, and currently comprises a range of SL and Lab branded clothing items and accessories utilising both the “new” and “old” logos, with the promise that more items t come soon, including seasonal and limited time items.

The Second Life store on RedBubble

As with most virtual market stores, the RedBubble Second Life Merchandise Store feature a list of categories down the left side of the page (note: these are a part of the site design, and not all of them may apply specifically to Second Life / Linden Lab). The main part of the site is then devoted to displaying the displaying the essentials on available merchandise, with filter options, and the ability to use at the designs offered with applicable products, rather than the product itself. Obviously, clicking on an individual item will open a page devoted to it, where things like size, etc., can be selected.

A nice aspect of the site is that it appears to automatically recognise your country of origin and presents prices in your local currency. Payments can be made via Credit / Debit card or using PayPal, whilst shipping options are available for “regular” or “faster” delivery. Joining RedBubble allows for faster checkout: your own personal page, a complete order history and tracking option, and the ability to follow favourite merchants on the site (such as Second Life / Linden Lab) and receive notification of new items as they are added to the store.

RedBubble automatically recognises your country of origin (unless using something like a VPN, perhaps), immediately presenting the price of items in your local currency, as seen here, in my view of some of the SL merchandise

I’m not entirely sure why the site features a couple of skydivers snogging as its banner image – perhaps this will change according to some site criteria, but it did strike me as something not really immediately representative of either Second Life or Linden Lab – not that either is particularly easier to pigeon-hole in a single image for those unfamiliar with either.

That very minor niggle aside, the store would appear to be a good move – hopefully we’ll see merchandise such as mugs (Lab Gab mugs have oft been requested), coasters, key fobs and other handy items, as well and more clothing items appearing in due course. Actual Linden Bears would be fun as well, if perhaps harder to produce in  a cost-effective manner.

In the meantime,those interested / curious can hop over the the official store and have a mooch.