Day: February 5, 2023

Maddy’s artistic Reflections in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
Onceagain Art Gallery: Maddy – Reflections

Now open at Onceagain Art Gallery, curated by onceagain (Manoji Yachvili) is a new exhibition of work by Maddy (Magda Schmidtzau). Entitled Reflections, it is a further selection of art combining elements of art drawn from Second Life and the Midjourney AI art programme.

I’ve been fascinated by Midjourney since first encountering it in later 2022, and have tracked how it has been leveraged by a number of artists and artist-photographers in Second Life. However, I have to admit that my enthusiasm for the application itself has cooled somewhat since Midjourney founder and CEO David Holz openly admittedly in an interview with Forbes magazine that the company has trained its AI tool by essentially plundering digital image datasets – including Flickr, which is popular with SL photographers – without regard for copyright or consent, which has understandably upset a lot of professional  and amateur artists and photographers alike.

Which is not to say work by Maddy or others in SL utilise copyrighted material; it’s just that appreciation of work produced purely through Midjourney should be balanced against this knowledge, and we should be forewarned in how we use it.

Onceagain Art Gallery: Maddy – Reflections

With Reflections, Maddy has used Midjourney to enhance her own Second Life avatar compositions, creating a series of  original pieces intended to evoke a sense of mood and melancholy intended to convey the the essence of the subjects presented within each piece.

The result is a selection of atmospheric portraits offered within an equally atmospheric setting which sets the mood perfectly for viewing and appreciating each piece in turn.

The pictures themselves are presented in monochrome and / or soft, minimalist tones which gives each or an extraordinary depth and emotive power. Within each there is a lightness of post-processing touch on Maddy’s part that further breathes life into each image, further encouraging us to view them as reflections of the essence of people, rather than digital doppelgängers, so to speak.

Onceagain Art Gallery: Maddy – Reflections

A superb selection, well worth visiting and appreciating.

SLurl Details

Sunday February 5th: Mole Day 2023 in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
The great beacon tower of Pharos, on the east coast of Nautilus. built by Garden Mole, it is one of several builds within Nautilus designed to add to the mythology of the continent and its discovery by Magellan Linden

Sunday, February 5th, 2023, marks the annual Mole Day celebrations in Second Life, and all SL residents are invited to attend festivities at the Bay City Fairgrounds, North Channel.

First held in 2010, Mole Day honours the members of the Linden Department of Public Works (LDPW), affectionately known as the “Moles”, resident builders and scripters contracted by Linden Lab to work on a wide range of (predominantly) in-world projects.

Since their inception, the Moles have have been responsible for many of the larger mainland development projects – most notably Bellisseria and the Linden Homes, although they created many of the more famous sights in Nautilus as well as undertaking initial development of Zindra, the Adult continent, the futuristic-themed Horizons.

Within the Mainland, they also maintain all of the Linden infrastructure etc., and beyond that they also produce Premium membership and have built all of the games and other places accessible via the Portal Parks.

However, their very first project was developing Bay City itself – hence the City’s annual celebration honouring them.

Normally held on the same day as Groundhog Day in the United States, the event is now in its 12th year, and will take place at the Bay City Fairgrounds on February 6th commencing at 11:00 SLT. The event will feature DJ GoSpeed Racer of KONA stream followed by a live performance from Wolfie Starfire at 12:00 noon SLT.

About Bay City and the Bay City Alliance

Bay City is a mainland community, developed by Linden Lab and home to the Bay City Alliance. The Bay City Alliance was founded in 2008 to promote the Bay City regions of Second Life and provide a venue for Bay City Residents and other interested parties to socialize and network. It is now the largest group for Residents of Bay City.

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