Month: August 2022

A musician’s abstract art in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
The Miller Gallery – Ryan Miller

Second Life resident and reader of this blog, Robicheaux, recently forwarded me a landmark to a gallery they came across while strolling through Bay City, together with a recommendation that I pay it a visit.

The Miller Gallery, developed and managed by Kimsy Shamen, is home to the physical world art of Ryan Miller, who has  – by Kimsy? – ben encouraged into Second Life to expand his audience base for his art. While small, the gallery demonstrates the richness of Ryan’s abstract work together with insights into his creative processes and inspirations, this making a visit a highly engaging experience.

The Miller Gallery – Ryan Miller

Sporting an avatar with something of a passing resemblance to him, Ryan Miller has for most of his career been a freelance musician. However, in 2018 he started following along with videos of artist Bob Ross and learning to paint. Some may know Ross as the creator of the television series The Joy of Painting (1983-1994), and which following his untimely passing, became a major You Tube hit, Ross’s very personal (to the viewer) folksy approach to teaching painting and painting techniques encouraging many to give art a try.

Starting with landscapes, Miller found he had a passion for painting, one which quickly caused him to broaden his inspirational horizons which lad him into the world of abstract, and the influence of the likes of Jackson Pollack and Yayoi  Kusama, occasionally mixing in surrealist/magic surrealist elements of Friedensreich Hundertwasser. In doing so, his technique has extended to embrace acrylics as ell as oils and encompass experimentation in texture as well as style, and to even use music and musical instruments as influences, In this, his work has become much sought-after in terms of commissions from collectors, for use with album covers and pieces produced in support of charitable endeavours – fund-raisers, etc.

The Miller Gallery – Ryan Miller

The galley offers 25 pieces of Ryan’s art, carefully placed to make full use of the available space. While primarily all abstract in nature, these are incredibly approachable pieces, and even without the liner note Ryan has provided with each of them, anyone with a passion for art will recognise Kusama’s influence, the touches of cubism that pay homage to Picasso together with the Salon Cubists such as Metzinger, and more.

Supported as they are by detailed liner notes from the artist – some of which include links to his website and others to other resources, these are more than mere reproductions of art imported from the physical world; they are voyages into the eye and mind of the artist (quite personal voyages in places) – which further adds to the sense of vitality to be found in each and every piece.

The Miller Gallery – Ryan Miller

Richly engaging, each with its own attraction (as an amateur musician, I found myself particularly drawn to the two pieces from Ryan’s Frequency series, and longing to her the beat and tones  as I have a fascination with the Theremin which gave rise to Blue Composition), making this a gallery well worth visiting.

SLurl and Link Details

A walk on the Wild Branch side in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
Wild Branch Brewing Co, August 2022 – click any image for full size

Note: Wild Branch has relocated.

Once again I followed Shawn Shakespeare’s lead and headed for a location which has been on my “to visit” list given it has often popped up in my searches of the Destination Guide, but which I had not got around to hopping over to. That place is the Wild Branch Brewing Co.

Nestled in a secluded area of Riverbook, scattered with lush shrubbery & green foliage, the Wild Branch Brewing Co. is a first of it’s kind craft beer brewery experience in Second Life.
Immerse yourself in rustic tranquillity with luxury amenities for the perfect nature getaway.
It’s your time to be adventurous, be secluded, be daring, be free – our retreat lets you do all of that and more. Come visit us to unwind.

– Wild Branch Brewing Co,  region holder Lexy Nexen

Wild Branch Brewing Co, August 2022

Occupying a Homestead region held by Lexy Nexen, with a design by KaidenTray, this is a richly wooded region, rugged in nature and cut into by water, offering a mix of public spaces and short-term rental spaces suitable for the Second Life “vacationer”.

The landing point is located on the east side of the setting, tucked between the pub with its micro-brewery and a cosy art gallery which at the time of my visit featured a modest display of Second Life focused art by Jennifer Steele.

Wild Branch Brewing Co, August 2022

The pub – based on the superb Kierna Ranch design by Cory Edo (a design I’ve been eyeing for potential use on Myvatn – maybe, someday!). sees the large deck of the default build turn into an open-air music and seating area, the pool neatly converted into the dance floor overlooking the inlet cutting into the region’s heart.

A north-south footpath runs through the landing point and between the pub and the gallery; To the south, it descends to where a finger of an island points westwards, home to a second, outdoor bar, again with its own DJ space. To reach this, on crossing the channel of water separating the main island from the smaller, the path turns past one of the short-term rentals on the region, a small cabin sitting on a deck built out over the water. Beyond the bar, the path continues to where a kayak rezzer sits on the water for those fancying a paddle around the waters of the region.

Wild Branch Brewing Co, August 2022

Northwards, the path doglegs to run along the coast, passing a fenced-off campsite (also available for short-term rent) and a corner rental cabin before turning west to reach further rental cabins clustered either side of a waterfall and pool. A further pool of water sits between the pub and the camp site. Offered as a possible swimming hole fed by another waterfall, this is also a haven for local wildfowl.

The inlet cutting to the heart of the region offers 7-seas fishing and also, at its south-western headland, a further rental property, a substantial 2-storey cabin offering more space and seclusion than the other rentals on the region. Both fishing and cabin are best reached via the kayak mentioned above, although obviously, be aware the cabin might be rented already, and so privacy might be expected. The eagle-eyed might also spot paddleboard rezzer on the shingles of the inlet, whilst another rezzer alongside the 7-seas fishing presents floats for those who fancy cooling down while splashing around in the waters of the inlet.

Wild Branch Brewing Co, August 2022

Surprisingly devoid of an accompanying soundscape – outside of the cracking of a fire in the campsite -, which does leave the setting a little less immersive than might otherwise be the case (no birdsong in the trees? no rumble or splash of water tumbling from vertical or stepped falls?), Wild Branch Brewing Co., is still nevertheless highly photogenic and an attractive visit.

(Note, these is a region surround present that might not be obviously reflected in the photos here; this is because my viewer decided it did not want to fully render the entire surround, so rather than having chunks of it “missing” and random lines crossing through the sky, I opted to de-render the surround.)

Wild Branch Brewing Co, August 2022

SLurl Details

  • Wild Branch Brewing Co. (Riverbrook, rated Moderate)

Ekphrasis: the rhetorical nature of art in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
Artsville: Angelika Corral – Ekphrasis

Now open within Gallery 1 within Artsville, the arts hub operated by Vally Lavender (Valium Lavender) and managed / curated by Frank Atisso is Ekphrasis, a selection of highly visual pieces of art by Angelika Corral, a Second Life photographer of note, and former co-operator of Daphne Arts in SL.

Comprising 10 individual pieces which – I believe – started as Second Life avatar studies, but which have been have been subject to considered post-processing to present a set of unique images created by the artist with the express intent of evoking a response from all who see them. But not, however, a purely emotional (or even visceral response); rather, the intent is evoke responses along more ekphrastic lines.

In its simplest form, ekphrasis is the use of one medium of art (traditionally the written word, be it prose, poetry or lyric) attempts to define and/or describe the essence and for of another, and in doing so, illuminates the art to a wider audience through its description. Some of the pieces I write in this blog on art exhibitions, of example, might be said to be examples of ekphrasis, in that they attempt to present an interpretive commentary on the art to which they relate. A motion picture based on a novel might also be seen as a latter-day form of ekphrasis, bringing the essence and form of the novel to an audience, allowing them to absorb and interpret it more freely than through the written word itself.

Artsville: Angelika Corral – Ekphrasis

In this, such interpretive broadening can be said to be rhetorical; they seek to persuade the audience towards a given reaction or response. Within her exhibition, Angelika embraces this concept, presenting ten images she encourages us to consider and interpret. to develop our own narratives and stories as we examine them; to allow thoughts and reactions to explore the spirit, if you will, of each piece. The fact that the narratives I see may differ from those you see, matters not.

And therein lies, perhaps, the broader genius of this exhibition; “traditional” ekphrasis is generally considered to be a rhetorical device – the words use by the poet or storyteller illuminating the art to which it relates. While this is certainly true here, it might be said that the images Angelika presents are themselves rhetorical devices; when we observe art, we do so entirely subjectively, our views coloured by our own sensibilities – hence my mention of an emotional / visceral response to any piece of art above.

So here, Angelika offers pieces that through their structure and form, themselves take on the role of narrator; they subliminally encourage us – through our own preconceptions / moods – to drive our personal narrative in a direction that is purely in-the-moment; a narrative that will more than likely shift and change the next time we view each one – be that an hour or a day or a month hence.

Artsville: Angelika Corral – Ekphrasis

Engaging, complex and a visual personification of a concept dating back to ancient Greece, Ekphrasis presents a thought-provoking exhibit of art.

SLurl Details

2022 SUG meetings week #32 summary

Posted on by Inara Pey
Bella’s Nocturne, June 2022 – blog post

The following notes were taken from the Tuesday, August 9th, 2022 Simulator User Group (SUG) meeting. They form a summary of the items discussed and is not intended to be a full transcript. A video of the entire meeting is embedded at the end of the article for those wishing to review the meeting in full – my thanks to Pantera for recording it.

Server Deployments

No deployment plan notes were available on the forums at this time of writing this update.

  • On Tuesday, August 9th, the simhosts on the Main SLS channel were restarted without any deployment, leaving them running simulator version 573176, comprising infrastructure updates.
  • On Wednesday, August,10th, all RC channels will updated to simulator version 573931, adding Premium Plus support to llGetObjectDetails() in LSL.

The long-promised new llReplaceEnvironment and llSetEnvironment should now go out in week #33, as Maestro had found a couple last minute bugs, which required the addition of an ability to override them at altitude and so prevented their inclusion in this week’s RC deployment.

Available Official Viewers

No changes to the current crop of official viewers at the start of the week, leaving them as:

  • Release viewer: version 6.6.2.573358 – formerly the Maintenance 2 RC viewer, dated August 1, promoted August 4 – New.
  • Release channel cohorts (please see my notes on manually installing RC viewer versions if you wish to install any release candidate(s) yourself).
    • Maintenance (N)omayo RC viewer, version 6.6.3.573882, August 5.
    • Profiles RC viewer, version 6.6.2.573372, issued July 21.
    • Izarra Maintenance RC, version 6.6.2.573282, July 20.
  • Project viewers:
    • Love Me Render (LMR) 6 graphics improvements project viewer 6.6.2.573263, July 21.
    • Performance Floater project viewer, version 6.5.4.571296, May 10.
    • Mesh Optimizer project viewer, version 6.5.2.566858, dated January 5, issued after January 10.
    • Copy / Paste project viewer, version 6.3.5.533365, dated December 9, 2019.

In Brief

  • More general discussion on parcel ban lines, security orbs and road / water / air vehicle travel (mostly, but not exclusively related to Mainland. This included BUG-231802 “Prevent vehicles from entering parcels their riders cannot access”), which is now being queued-up to be worked on at the Lab. While this will not help with aggressive orbs, it will help with issues of vehicle entering parcels set with restricted access and the passengers being ejected.
  • Scripted simulator communications:
    • Several people have reported llInstantMessage() is failing at times. This is proving hard to reliably reproduce, but the Lab is nevertheless investigating.
    • llRegionSayTo is also reportedly failing at times, but again, more investigation on this is required before definitive conclusions can be drawn.
    • These led to a wider discussion on simulator communications – please refer to the video for details.
  • Pivot points / object hierarchies. Following the discussion on these at the last Content Creation User Group (CCUG) meeting (see here), a Feature Request Jira has been raised (BUG-232445) and a bare-bones forum thread opened. Commenting on the linking of the two ideas, Rider Linden noted:
The whole discussion about object hierarchies is/was a bit tangential. Strictly speaking the two are not related. (It is a nice to have, but would be a huge multi-month effort to pull off).
  • For other general discussion and comments, please refer to the video below.

Sweetwater Valley in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
Sweetwater Valley, August 2022 – click any image for full size

It was off to Heterocera once more after Shawn Shakespeare passed me the Landmark for Sweetwater Valley, an utterly engaging region-sized retreat set out as cliff-top parklands running around the edge of a narrow passage of water which has over time, cut its way into the landscape to leave a lone table of rock rising between cliffs and open sea.

Sitting on the north-east coast of the continent, the setting has been designed by Selena XOXO. The landing point sits on the southern side of a broad bricked path as it arcs around the top of the cliffs, and is set a short distance back from their edge.

Sweetwater Valley, August 2022

To the east, this path runs straight and true, passing an ice-cream concession before dropping down a stairway to sit just above the water’s edge. Here, a small wharf sits and a gondola can be taken for an (automated) ride around the base of the offshore island.

Westward, the path curls gently north, passing the entrance to the park from the local highway and also by an old Ferris wheel, to become something of a headland sitting between open waters and the mouth of the gorge. Here sits a tiered area for relaxing and / or dancing, and where steps descend to where a carpet of flowers sit under the shade of trees and a further hidden place to sit and contemplate or cuddle can be found. A further waterside wharf can also be found here, tucked below the terraces, allowing people to hop off (or onto) the automated gondola as it circles the waterway.

Sweetwater Valley, August 2022

The centre island can be reached via the span of a single high bridge sitting atop three tall arches as they march across the waters of the gorge from the western cliffs. This bridge offers access to a waist-high paved footpath which circles the island, occasionally dipping down towards the waters below or providing access to terraces and places to sit.

Facing the bridge as it reaches the island is a set of stairways leading up to the flat top of the island’s plateau, passing by way of a shortcut linking it to the setting’s landing point. The top of the island is a place given over to dance and music, where Elvis is busy swinging his pelvis and Samuel L. Jackson is shruttin’ his funk in moves John Travolta could only dream of in Pulp Fiction. OK, so maybe they are not actually Elvis and Mr. Jackson, but you get my drift…

Sweetwater Valley, August 2022

Finished with a custom soundscape and environmental settings (although it looks good under a variety of the latter), Sweetwater Valley is rich in detail, with sculptures scattered throughout and little touches than encourage one to stay and explore (including a farther ride on the water, for those who spot it under the island!). Yes, there are a few places where the grass and flowers disconcertingly march away from rocks and edges to float in mid-air, but not enough to in any way put one off.

Above all, this is a pace that lives up to its About Land description, requiring very little more to be said about it other than – go see for yourself!

Beautiful hangout with good music, and an awesome dance area. Take that someone special on a romantic Gondola ride. Lots of cuddle spots.  

– Sweetwater Valley About Land

Sweetwater Valley, August 2022

SLurl Details

This week with Seanchai Library – August 8th-12th

Posted on by Inara Pey
Seanchai Library

It’s time to highlight another week of storytelling in Voice by the staff and volunteers at the Seanchai Library. As always, all times SLT, and events are held at the Library’s home in Nowhereville, unless otherwise indicated. Note that the schedule below may be subject to change during the week, please refer to the Seanchai Library website for the latest information through the week.

Monday, August 8th, 19:00 Mark Twain Shorts

Samuel Langhorne Clemens (1835 –1910) known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, entrepreneur, publisher, and lecturer. He was lauded as the “greatest humorist the United States has produced”, and William Faulkner called him “the father of American literature.”

Caledonia shares selections tonight, including his humorous story “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County” published in 1865, and based on a story that he heard at Angels Hotel in Angels Camp, California, where he had spent some time as a miner.

Tuesday, August 9th

12:00 Noon: Russell Eponym

With music, and poetry in Ceiluradh Glen.

19:00: The Last Cuentista

There lived a girl named Petra Peña, who wanted nothing more than to be a storyteller, like her abuelita.

But Petra’s world is ending. Earth has been destroyed by a comet, and only a few hundred scientists and their children – among them Petra and her family – have been chosen to journey to a new planet. They are the ones who must carry on the human race.

Hundreds of years later, Petra wakes to this new planet – and the discovery that she is the only person who remembers Earth. A sinister Collective has taken over the ship during its journey, bent on erasing the sins of humanity’s past. They have systematically purged the memories of all aboard – or purged them altogether.

Petra alone now carries the stories of our past, and with them, any hope for our future. Can she make them live again?

Caledonia Skytower read Donna Barba Higuera’s 2021 winner of the  Newbery Medal and Pura Belpré Award.

Wednesday, August 10th, 19:00: Seanchai Flicks

A special for Star Wars month as the Seanchai cinema space plays host to videos and throw popcorn around!

Thursday, August 11th, 19:00: Keep it Brief!

100-word stories with R. Dismantled.