Art Deco – or simply Deco – is a style of visual arts, architecture and design that we most recognise as reflecting the period of the 1920-1930s. Drawing on the bold geometric forms of Cubism and the Vienna Secession, and the bright colours of Fauvism whilst also incorporating or stylising architecture, design and art from the Far and Near East and South America, Deco influenced the design of buildings, furniture, jewellery, fashion, cars, cinemas, trains, ocean liners and everyday household objects from radios to ashtrays, table lamps, clocks – and even vacuum cleaners. Even today it is still associated with luxury, glamour, exuberance, and faith in social and technological progress.
However, whilst most readily identified with the decades immediately prior to World War 2, Deco actually arose in the years leading up to the First World War. It took its name from the term arts décoratifs, originally coined in the mid-1870s so that the designers of furniture, textiles, and other decoration in France a form of official status. By 1901, the Société des Artistes Décorateurs (Society of Decorative Artists) had formed, and decorative artists were given the same rights of authorship as painters and sculptors.
In 1912 the Société proposed a major international exhibition of art and design should be hosted in Paris. However, such was the scale of the event that the outbreak of the Great War interrupted proceedings, so it was not until 1925 that the Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes (International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts) was held. Running for seven months, the exposition 15,000 exhibitors from twenty different countries, and it was visited by sixteen million people – and the term Art Deco came into popular, recognised use around the world.
Melusina Parkin: Art Deco Fragments, April 2022
Art Deco has also exerted a strong influence within Second Life, where – in keeping with its physical world namesake – it has been applied to buildings, vehicles, furnishings, lighting, decorative items and so on. One exponent of Art Deco is Melusina Parkin, who offers a range of Deco items through her store, the upper floor of which forms her personal gallery space. As a photographer, Melu is highly regarded within SL – and with good reason; her images are among some of the most narratively rich one can hope to witness, as I’ve commented upon on numerous occasions in this blog.
With her latest exhibition Art Deco Fragments, which opened on April 15th, Melu combines her unique perspective for photography with her love of Art Deco to offer a series of marvellous images that allow the stylistic richness of Deco to speak fully and freely. Using her trademark tight focus and angle, she presents elements of Deco (and also, one might say, touches of Streamline Moderne, the art form that grew out of Deco in the 1930s) in a manner that concentrates the eye on specific elements of buildings (use of geometry, glass, metal, lighting, and so on), that give Deco architecture that richness of look and exuberance of design we cannot fail to find attractive as we come across them in both the physical world in Second Life.
Accompanying the exhibition is the first volume of a four-book series Melusina is producing on the subject of Art Deco. As with Fragments, this first volume Art Deco: Building Details focuses on the details found within Deco architecture. Future volumes will look at building exteriors, interiors and the finer details found within Deco interior styling.
Melusina Parkin: Art Deco Fragments, April 2022
Dedicated to the memory of Sonatta Morales, another Second Life resident and Deco / Retro designer, Art Deco Fragments is both another engaging and a personal exhibition from Melusina.
A cabin at the edge of space. Credit: Space Perspective
Almost a year ago, I wrote about a company called Space Perspective and their plan to offer fare-paying passengers the chance to experience high-altitude balloon flights which, while failing to cross (or even come close to) the Kármán, will give the unique experience in rising to altitudes sufficient enough to witness the curvature of the Earth and see first-hand the tenuous nature of our protective atmosphere. And to do so in unique comfort.
As I reported in Space Sunday: balloons to space, Mars movies and alien water clouds, Space Perspective intend to offer passengers a six hour trip into the upper atmosphere aboard a luxury capsule slung beneath a gigantic helium balloon. And the price? US $125,000 per person – which sounds a lot, but is actually half that charged by Virgin Galactic for a flight lasting around 65 minutes, and who knows how much cheaper than a 12-minture trip aboard a Blue Origin New Shepherd vehicle.
A typical Space Perspective flight. Credit: Space Perspective
Obviously, both Virgin Galactic and Blue Origin have the added attractions of allowing passengers to experience microgravity for about three minutes and then collecting their (unofficial) astronaut wings on their return – neither of which are part of Space Perspective flights; which “only” rise to around 30-32 km. However, the watchword for Space Perspective trips is going to be a level of comfort well beyond anything Virgin Galactic or Blue Origin can achieve.
Just how much comfort has now been revealed by Space Perspective as they start to move ahead with the design of their full-scale Neptune capsule. In particular, the company has released a 3D interactive model of the capsule’s interior, demonstrating the 4 pairs of passenger seats located on other side of the capsule, the central bar / snack area alongside the access door.
The bar area and boarding door on Neptune. Credit: Space Perspective
In addition, the capsule has mood lighting and includes something necessary for a 6-hour flight: a lavatory (complete with its own window of its own so those needing it can continue to enjoy the view!). The passenger seats are designed to conform to the sitter’s body to offer maximum comfort and are fitted with fold-away tray tables. Potted plants add to the overall ambience while the floors and walls of the capsule covered in fabric to absorb sound and add to the sense of privacy.
Finally, the bar can be loaded with snacks and beverages in according with passenger’s preferences, whilst a central information display and wall-mounted tablets provide information on a flight. In addition the cabin will be equipped with wi-fi connectivity back to Earth, and heads-up displays may be included in the windows to help point out locations of interest visible beneath the clouds some 20 kilometres below the capsule as it cruises at altitude.
A view across Neptune, with the toilet on the left. Note to low-level lighting. Credit: Space Perspective
Flights will comprise a land-based launch From the Florida Space Coast with a 90-minute ascent to cruising altitude. The capsule will remain at its cruising altitude for around two hours before starting an equally gentle descent with a splashdown on water where the will be met by a support ship / yacht that will offer comfortable facilities to the passengers while the capsule is recovered, and then return them to land.
Should problems occur with the balloon during any phase of a trip, ground controllers can command the capsule to detach and drop aerodynamically to an altitude where parachutes can be deployed to slow the descent and cushion splashdown.
Space Perspective has recently secured a further US $40 million in funding to allow development of the full-scale Neptune capsule to proceed, and has secured the first of three hoped-for patents relating to the capsule’s unique structural design. In addition, the company states it already has 600 people who have paid for seats on flights, which are due to commence in 2024.
SLS: WDR Halted, Rocket to Return to VAB
In what is fast becoming something of a humiliating train of events in trying to get its first Space Launch System (SLS) rocket ready for launch, NASA has abandoned the critical wet dress rehearsal (WDR) and will be returning the rocket to the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) for a series of updates.
As I’ve reported over the last few week, the WDR is a last, critical step in ensuring the rocket and all its support systems – the mobile lunch platform, the propellant loading system, the launch control systems, etc., are ready to make a launch attempt. After been rolled out to launchpad 39B at Kennedy Space Centre, the WDR started on April 1st, and should have lasted three days.
However, that initial attempt had to be twice scrubbed as a result of issues within the supply of nitrogen gas (used to help purge and cool part of the launch system) to the vehicle. Correcting these issues took several days, prompting a further delay in resuming the test to make way for the launch of the Axiom Ax-1 private crew to the space station from the SpaceX facilities at neighbouring Pad 39A (see: AX-1 Artemis, ESA & a galaxy far, far away).
Launch Complex 39 at Kennedy Space Centre: in the foreground, the SpaceX / Axiom AX-1 stands on launch pad 39A. In the distance sits the NASA Artemis 1 SLS rocket on pad 39B. This picture was taken on April 6th, 2022. Credit: NASA
The intention had been to resume WDR processing on April 9th, but on April 7th, a fault was detected in pressure valve in the rocket’s upper Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage (ICPS). Rather than delay the test for at least a couple of months by returning the rocket back to the VAB to fix the faulty valve, NASA determined a process by which the test could continue with only “minimal loading” of the tanks on the ICPS, and pushed the resumption of the test back until at least April 12th to allow the necessary procedures to be properly revised.
Operations in fact resumed on April 14th – and almost immediately came to a halt due to propellent loading issues with the liquid oxygen. No sooner was this triaged and fixed than an over-pressure situation was detected within the liquid hydrogen tank, again bringing operations to a halt. After reviewing the situation again, NASA tried once more to resume propellant loading in a “modified” state, only for a hydrogen to be detected leaking from an umbilical line connecting the core stage to the mobile launch tower, again bringing operations to a halt.
The cause of the leak was found to be with the same nitrogen feed / purge system that caused the original problems at the start of the WDR process on April 1st. As a result, NASA announced late on April 16th that all WDR activities are now curtailed, and the rocket will be rolled back to the VAB to allow the problems with the nitrogen umbilical system to be addressed, and the valve in the ICPS to be fixed or replaced. The roll back will also be used to further investigate the liquid hydrogen over pressure issue on the core stage tank.
No date has been given on when the roll-back will occur – there will be a further meeting to discuss this on April 18th. However, the move does mean that any Artemis 1 launch is unlikely to come before July at the earliest. However, to present further delays once the vehicle has been returned to the pad, mission managers are said to be considering – assuming the WDR runs flawlessly – moving directly from the test to launch readiness preparations without again returning the vehicle to the VAB for post-WDR inspections.
Tempura Project, April 2022 – click any image for full size
April saw some excitement / concern over the future of one of the longest-running public spaces in Second Life, when news surfaced that Japanese Tempura Island looked set to close its doors. Calls were made for Something To Be Done – and fortunately, the Lab was able to step in and add the region to its growing list of spaces preserved under its Second Life Region Preservation Society (SLRPS) banner.
I confess that while I’ve visited Japanese Tempura Island on numerous occasions in the past, I’ve never actually blogged about it. The main reason for this is because during those visits (back in around 2010-2013), the system I had just couldn’t handle the load, and while my present system has the “umph”, I have to admit that it fell off of my “destination radar”. However, while the recent news has brought the region sharply back into focus, I’m actually not going to blog about it now; I’ll reserve that for a future article.
Tempura Project, April 2022
Instead I’m going to focus on another Tempura region – the Tempura Project. Initiated at the time when Japanese Tempura Island’s future was in doubt, the aim of the project was initially to offer a setting that emulated the original’s look and feel (whilst using mesh to replace some of the original’s older prim elements) and preserve all that made the original so popular among Second Life residents.
The project has been led by Tribish Tammas, whom I first got to know through The Muse region (see: Finding The Muse in Second Life and A new Muse in Second Life for more), and while the original is now being preserved, by the time this was confirmed by Linden Lab, more than 70% of the region had been completed. As a result, the team decided to push ahead and complete the first stage of their work.
Tempura Project, April 2022
From day one it was never meant to be a duplicate of tempura but take the elements that made it such a peaceful place to relax. So people will have the classic version and something a bit more up to date to choose from 🙂 . Our focus is on places to relax with people you care with. Also great for taking photos. Certain elements are fixed in place – the bridge, tai chi , meditation, and the ball room; others will evolve over time. Hence the project name.
– Tribish Tammas
Given the original goals of the project as stated above, and the fact so much of the work had been completed prior to the original coming under the protection of Linden Lab, it should come as no surprise that Tempura Project does reflect the original in general look and feel. However, this does not mean the Project should be in any way dismissed. If there is one thing that has been noticeable with SLRPS is the fact that, as good as the project is in preserving regions, it actually does little to retain their original broader functions and the activities that were once organised within them (an example of this can be see with the SS Galaxy, once a healthy venue for events from weddings to mini-golf to skydiving and clay pigeon shooting contests and so on).
Tempura Project, April 2022
As such, Tempura Project is designed to be a living space, evolving in reflection of the uses to which it is put by visitors and the suggestions they pass on for possible additions and activities that are in keeping with the overall aims for the setting.
Those familiar with the original will recognise the inspiration for the landing point, bridge and dance hall, together with the two small islands bracketing the bridge. The latter continue to offer tai chi to one side, while the other round island sits as a Zen garden set out for yoga. The great hall might not be as big and impressive as the original, but it holds its own secrets beneath its dance floor that offer opportunities for swimming, message, the luxury of a steam room and more.
Tempura Project, April 2022
This is not the only underground element to the setting – but finding the other will take a little ingenuity. All I’ll say is: look for the wall with the Tempura mural. Elsewhere, much of the landscape retains the look of the original but is also smoother and a lot “cleaner” in form; much of the glow that permeates the original is absent from Tempura Project, and I feel that this is to the better. The landscape also offers more in the way of seating and cuddle spots waiting to be found by explorers. Elsewhere – and also awaiting discovery by the keen-eyed – is an underwater walk, whilst the wizard’s house offers both an excellent view over the lake to the grand bridge and forms a further cosy retreat.
With enough of its own touches combined with those aspects reflecting Japanese Tempura Island, the Tempura Project offers an engaging alternative to the original, the features unique to it clearly adding to its appeal. Given the popularity of the original, and the fact it has always tended to remain constant, rather than gently evolving, Tempura Project may well offer those looking for a quieter sense of relaxation with the tonic they are seeking.
Tempura Project, April 2022
My thanks to Eliza Cabassoun for first informing me about Tempura Project. Note that the images here are not using the region’s sunset EEP setting.
Songs for Ukraine is a series of concerts being organised by Jenaia Morane in support of the people of Ukraine as they face the on-going aggression from the Russian government. The idea is to encourage Second Life users to help support Ukrainians through a peaceful venue featuring live music and where they can learn about ways and means to make direct donations to recognised international organisations on the web that are engaged in providing humanitarian support and assistance to Ukraine.
The concerts are being held every Saturday within a venue that recreates a section of an underground (subway) station – such as the Kyiv Metro – where many Ukrainian people have to live and shelter from Russian bombs, shells and missiles.
The space is small and a little crowded but full of hope. It’s designed to give people a taste of what the Ukrainians are experiencing, including the incredible joy, hope, and courage generated by their music.
– Jenaia Morane
The next concert is the series will take place on Saturday, April 16th, commencing at noon SLT and will run through until 15:00 SLT. The musicians participating are:
Denny Mac (noon to 13:00).
Max Kleene (13:00 to 14:00).
Raspbury Rearwin (14:00 to 15:00).
Joining the local group will provide information on future concerts.
Songs for Ukraine – music stage (dancing also available)
Those wishing to provide practical assistance to the people of Ukraine are encouraged to do so via the following resources:
The Ukrainian Red Cross – The Red Cross is often on the front lines of war serving to help those affected by armed conflict. The Ukrainian Red Cross is currently assisting people inside the country by aiding evacuations and providing shelter, food and basic necessities.
World Central Kitchen – established in 2010 WCK),deploys chefs directly to disaster areas to provide hot meals to those in need. WCK is currently working in Ukraine and along its borders in neighbouring countries.
GlobalGiving Ukraine Crisis Relief Fund – GlobalGiving is raising funds to support locally-led organisations throughout Ukraine. Any donations to the fund will provide essentials for refugees, from health and psychological support to education and economic assistance.
Vostok SOS – a Ukraine-based non-governmental organisation (NGO) dedicated to assisting areas of conflict within Ukraine. The Vostok SOS is currently accepting donations to help aid local people, evacuate the vulnerable and provide trauma support after shelling. Credit card payments are also accepted through Libereco, a Vostok SOS partner.
Voices of Children (VOC) – created in 2015, VOC has been providing psychological support to children affected by war in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Ukraine through art therapy, video storytelling, mobile psychologists and more – all of which is now being provided to children across the country.
Kyiv School of Economics – has created an initiative to provide equipment (protective wear such as kevlar vests and protective helmets) to relief and emergency organisations in the front lines (e.g. State Emergency Service of Ukraine, the Ukrainian Paramedic Association and the Ukrainian Territorial Defence Force).
Humanity & Inclusion (H&() – an international non-governmental organisation supporting people with disabilities in areas of conflict, poverty and disaster. H&I workers have arrived in Ukraine to assess how it can help distribute medical equipment, provide post-operative care for the injured and provide mental health support. Donations will go toward supplying emergency kits and rehabilitation and mental health support sessions.
Additional resources and means to support the people of Ukraine can be obtained via a note card provided at the event venue – look for the easels with the image of Paddington Bear on them both at the landing point and in the subway venue.
Songs for Ukraine – the above-ground landing point and dance area
So, why not hop along to Songs for Ukraine and enjoy the music – and don’t forget to visit the various resources to offer practical support for Ukraine.
Kondor Art Centre, April 2022: Bamboo Barnes – Metaphysics
Bamboo Barnes has a new exhibition, one that opened at Hermes Kondor’s main gallery at the Kondor Art Centre on April 14th, and like all of her work, it is a rich collection of images that offer food for thought through a presentation of vibrant colour and imagery.
Entitled Metaphysics, it offers a visual reflection of the themes explored through the branch of philosophy that shares the same name: the study the nature of being and identity; of causality, and possibility; of space and time; of consciousness and the relationships between mind and matter; of potentiality and actuality. In other words, the fundamental nature of reality.
Kondor Art Centre, April 2022: Bamboo Barnes – Metaphysics
Or to put it another way, metaphysics asks questions such as Who Am I?Who are you? What is there? What is it like? Through her words and images, Bamboo offers her own explorations of these questions. Her words set the frame for the exhibition, her paintings and images standing visual essays on the ideas she presents in her words.
Though I’ve never drowned There is a sense of drowning. In a crowded train. You are the only one on the train. In the life of the person next to me. His parents, whom I will probably never cross paths with, his family, whom I have never met, his childhood memories, joys and sorrows. His family’s very separate friends, jobs, partners, and the loneliness and past they carry with them. I am alone in the midst of it all, like a spreading ant’s nest. I drown in it, the dark and bright air constricting me, and I gradually become a black spot. Unable to open my eyes, I continue to watch the black dots disappear.
Kondor Art Centre, April 2022: Bamboo Barnes – Metaphysics
Thus, within the images we might find commentary on the nature of self; the causality of emotions on perception and outlook, and vice versa. And, ultimately whether we are ever really or genuinely joined as beings or is it merely an illusion brought about by these more esoteric interactions?
Because, how can we really be joined, share, unite, when ultimately, a part of us – our true inner self – forever stands apart, an observer, aloof, separated, able to ponder those questions free from the influences they seek to explore, but which actually govern and encompass every passing moment of life? A core being that forever sets us apart within ourselves; a part of society’s nest, but separated from it.
Kondor Art Centre, April 2022: Bamboo Barnes – Metaphysics
The images themselves are typical of Bamboo’s style: a marvellous mix of colour and form, each one captivating and eloquent in its expression of life and content, making this a further exhibition to be enjoyed for the art in its own sake, as well as for Bamboo’s explorations of self and reality.
Gatsby Hotel – One More Light RFL 2022, April 2022
The house on my right was a colossal affair by any standard–it was a factual imitation of some Hôtel de Ville in Normandy, with a tower on one side, spanking new under a thin beard of raw ivy, and a marble swimming pool and more than forty acres of lawn and garden. It was Gatsby’s mansion.
– “Nick Carraway” in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby
These are the words that strolled through my head when I came across the Destination Guide entry for the current build at One More Light’s home region in Second Life. Even before reading the accompanying text, the image for the entry had me leaping to thoughts of the palatial West Egg home of the enigmatic Jay Gatsby in Long Island and the focal point for much of what occurs in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s enduring novel.
Gatsby Hotel RFL events, May 2022
So you can imagine my pleasure when on arriving in the region I found the primary building within it – a grand hotel – named for Fitzgerald’s ultimately tragic character. However, this is not a further take (for there have been several in SL) on the novel or any of the films it has inspired, but rather a vacation and events venue established to offer visitors a taste of the roaring 1920s and the opportunity to help raise funds for RFL of SL’s 2022 season.
As a Relay for Life of Second Life (RFL of SL) team, One More Light were the recipients of the 2021 Spirit of Relay award, and Gatsby’s is their latest themed fund-raiser for RFL.
Within the setting, you can not only be transported back to the 1920s in style, but you can also book a room at the hotel during its main fund-raising period (which opens on May 5th and runs through until May 15th, 2022), and be free to make use of the hotel’s facilities and attend the various events being held throughout that period (and which are also open to the public at large – as is the the hotel and its grounds, outside of the rooms and suites for guests).
Wearing 1920s regalia is not a stated requirement for visitors, I would suggest those opting to stay at the hotel might be advised to do so, and period costume can also help immerse casual visitors to the setting – something that is helped by the novel approach to getting to the hotel.
Rather than dropping people in front of or within the hotel, the landing point delivers visitors to a road tunnel below the hotel. Here, a period car can be rezzed and used to drive up to the hotel. The car may be a British MG Roadster dating from the 1950s, but it suits the mood of the setting and offers a nice touch.
Emerging from the tunnel, the road presents itself as a cobbled coastal way running along the shore of Long Island beneath a bright summer sky. It would have perhaps have been nice to see the “weather-beaten cardboard bungalow” Carraway stayed in as one sweeps around the long curve of road that ends at the entrance to the hotel, but again: this isn’t intended to be a take on the book itself; Gatsby is simply a title by which to evoke the period – although that didn’t stop me looking for possible links (real or imagined!) to Fitzgerald’s novel.
Cars can be parked in the walled and fountained courtyard below the hotel proper, where a trio of period vehicles already sit. Note that one of these is a prize in a raffle to help with the hotel’s goal of raising funds for One More light and RFL, and has been donated by Surplus Motors.
Gatsby Hotel – One More Light RFL 2022, April 2022
Up the steps from the car park sits the hotel’s main building. Whilst not a great stone-built edifice in the style of Gatsby’s mansion, this wood-face giant shares some common elements with its namesake; the frontage either side of the entrance has what appears to be relatively young ivy climbing the walls, intended to evoke a feeling of age, for example. The grounds sit as a mix of formal and informal gardens and lawns, whilst the rear wings of the main building embrace a terrace suitable for hosting the overspill of a grand party such as Gatsby was renowned for throwing – even if he rarely participated.
The ground floor of the hotel holds the majority of the public spaces: the reception, lounge, restaurant, bar, coffee house, gentleman’s billiard room and indoor pool. The floors above offer as range of rooms and suites that can be reserved via the booking form noted above. At the time of my visit, an art gallery looked to be in the process of being set-up, the doors from which providing a means to access a terrace on the north side of the hotel that spans the gap between it and a grand galleried theatre, complete with stage and ideal for hosting events.
Gatsby Hotel – One More Light RFL 2022, April 2022
For me, a further touch of Fitzgerald’s story can be found towards the rear of the hotel. Below the winged terrace, and reached via twin stairs, said a lido and swimming pool. While an inviting and charming setting, it carries with it faint echoes of (particularly) of the climatic scene with Robert Redford’s Gatsby in Jack Clayton’s 1974 film. This is made all the more poignant for those looking for elements of the book (again, I would emphasise, such are not the focus of the setting, but rather nice-to-find hints – whether intentional or otherwise – for those who do enjoy the story) is the little pier extending away from the grass and beach below the pool. Looking at it, I could almost imagine Gatsby standing there, wistfully looking out to where the green lit of the Buchanan‘s dock light blinks.
But whether or not you are a fan of the book (and / or its multiple film versions), the Gatsby Hotel makes for photo a worthwhile visit for photography and for helping to raise funds for RFL of SL. Congrats to Lily, Abigail and the One More Light team for their hard work.
Gatsby Hotel – One More Light RFL 2022, April 2022
Inara Pey: Living in a Modemworld 