Day: July 9, 2024

July 6th, 2024, saw the opening of the latest immersive installation by Second Life’s foremost and award-winning multimedia and immersive artist, Bryn Oh.

Herself a digital alter-ego – or perhaps digital incarnation might be a better term – of a Toronto-based artist; although I suspect they would prefer to consider Bryn as a personality with standing in her own right and as unfettered as possible from any sense of human identity. Given Bryn’s success over what is more than 15 years, and the recognition her work has gained in digital, virtual and physical spaces – including her work being the subject of a course taught at York University,  Toronto since 2020 -, this view of her being an independent entity is not unreasonable.

Much of Bryn’s work exists not only in the virtual, but within a universe of her own creation, stories, themes and characters all wrapped within a unique timeline and travelling through environments and worlds throughout unique yet interconnected. They are also individually and collectively – if to a defined degree – reflections of elements from Bryn’s physical world incarnation.

All of the stories and characters are pieces of my life, and the characters are often portions of my personality. It is like a diary of sorts that takes place in a parallel world to our own where technologies advanced at different speeds.

– Bryn Oh

I have been fascinated by Bryn’s work for more than a decade, and have at times attempted to plumb the depths of her work – perhaps at time making presumptions with which she might not agree but has always had the grace not to single out. In 2020 she was certainly kind enough to to discuss her work for this blog (see: Hand and the art of Bryn Oh – in her own words).

With Skyfisher, Bryn presents another chapter in the unfolding stories of some of her familiar – for those who have followed her work  – characters in a further expansion of her universe, which also sees the return of a number of settings and motifs. As such, it is perhaps not so easy to follow in all is complexities as a pert of an ongoing series; however, it is not unfair to say that it also stands – as all of Bryn’s installations do – on its own merits as a story.

The Skyfisher wore a headdress fashioned from deer antlers and twigs. Strings with fishing hooks attached hung from them as she walked slowly down the street towards the spot she had gone to many times before. It was an area where winds converged. Gusts from the rooftops and breezes snaking in from the alleyways all met to make a whirlpool of air that lifted the hooks and strings above the ground. They floated behind the Skyfisher, like a sharp nimbus.

– Bryn Oh, The Skyfisher

For those who do wish to recap – as the saying goes – on “the story so far” (although in this case it is more a matter of understanding the backgrounds to some of the characters and the universe as a whole), then Bryn provides a list of videos which encompass the essential storylines, and which I’ve taken the liberty of listing below.

• Juniper (2011) – a video poem about one of Skyfisher’s main character.
• Hand (2020) – the story of Flipper, which first appeared in Second Life in 2016, before also being realised in Sansar in 2019 and then returning to Second Life in 2020. This forms Part 1 of a trilogy rounded-out by Skyfisher.
• The Brittle Epoch (2021) – following Flitter and friends through a further adventure, and Part 2 of the trilogy.

In addition, Bryn also recommends watching Standby (2013), a trio of poetic narratives.  To this, I’d also suggest those who really want to gain insight into Bryn’s worlds, I’d suggest a run-through of her own multi-part commentaries.

As with The Brittle Epoch, I don’t want to delve into the story of Skyfisher too much; it is a naturally unfolding narrative in which visitors once again follow Flitter and her friends through something of an adventure as they follow the title character through a unique cityscape.

It is essential visitors use the shared environment, and have media enabled and on auto-play; the installation both has unique sound effects and features an English language narrative, once again recorded by Kaneha Atheria.

The latter can be heard on entering locations where it is available, or by clicking the white circular “speaker” buttons found at such locations. For those who prefer and / or form whom English is a second language , notecards containing the narrative which can be read or copy / pasted into a suitable translation tool. Click the glowing moths located close the the speaker buttons to obtain the notecards.

I would advise visitors to take their time exploring the routine through the various settings; there is a lot to discover in addition to following the main narrative, some of which might be obvious, some of which – such as various poems by Bryn – might be easily missed (such as the one in a photo booth). There are also references to Bryn’s wider universe waiting as well.

Prize Draw

To mark the opening of Skyfisher, Bryn is holding a prize draw featuring one of her sculptures, The Dancer, valued at US $350. Details are as follows:

• Tickets can be purchased via the Marketplace at a cost of L$300.
• The draw will be open through until July 31st, 2024, when the winner will be picked at random.
• The winner will be contacted, and will need to supply a shipping address. Bryn will ship the statue at no charge to the winner.

The Dancer is cast in bronze and stands approximately 15 cm (six inches).

Rich is story and detail, Skyfisher is another engaging, immersive and presenting a rich tapestry of characters, events and Easter eggs for following of her tales, and one deserving of the time given to exploring it.

SLurl Details

• Skyfisher (Immersivist, rated Moderate)