Category: Art in Second Life

Raging Bellls opened the August exhibition at her Raging Graphix Gallery on August 13th, with a selection of art by Seiko Blessing (softandred), that will run through until Sunday, September 20th, 2020.

Seiko is a physical world artist and photographer, starting in the latter at the age of 14 and graduating to the role of her high School public relations photographer whilst still a student. In adult life, she has self-published two books of photography and has seen her work exhibited in museums, galleries and coffee houses.

For this exhibition she offers a selection of her Second Life landscape photographs, many of which are linked by heavy, evocative skies, laden with cloud through which sunlight filters. This evens may of the pieces presented what at first glance might appear to be a dour look, but which actually emphasises the settings present within each piece, delineating houses,  trees, animals, boats and so on with a clarity that is captivating.

Others within the selection make rich use of depth of field to offer richly evocative images, each offering a story that easily captures the eye – so much so that I found it a little sad they were relegated to the stairwell area of the exhibit space, and they might easily be overlooked.

Considered in their composition, tone and finish, sometimes framed with in-world props for a little extra depth, Seiko’s exhibit at Raging Graphix serves as an excellent portfolio of, and introduction to (for those unfamiliar with her photography) her work.

SLurl Details

• Raging Graphix Gallery (Heatherwood, rated Moderate)

Etamae opened her first 3D art installation on August 15th, 2020, with Little Boxes at the Hannington Endowment for the Arts (HEA).

Little Boxes. A simple little song or a political satire about the creation of suburbia and associated conformist middle class attitudes and a reminder to us all how easy it is to lose one’s individuality to ‘fit in’.

– Etamae’s introduction to Little Boxes

Little Boxes was written in 1962 by Malvina Reynolds, an American folk/blues singer-songwriter and political activist and initially became a hit for Pete Seeger in 1963. It was written in response to Reynolds witnessing the birth of suburbia in California through the development of tract housing like that seen in Daly City, San Francisco.

It’s a song that can easily be listened to as a little bit of fun or as a genuine satirical warning against the loss of genuine individuality in the face of the marching drive of middle-class idealism, where everyone attends the same schools and universities, seeks the same class of careers, lives among peers with the same backgrounds and careers and wanting the same precisely the same education / career path for their children.

All of this is perfectly reflected in Eta’s installation, presenting as it does five gaily-coloured little house boxes visitors are invited to enter, each one reflecting within it as specific element of the song’s lyrics (with more on the walls outside) that can be read or – with a click on them – listened to. This makes it something of a simple, light-hearted visit, or a piece to give us pause to reflect on the whole question of individually vs. conformity, which has become perhaps even more prevalent in the decades since the song was first recorded – and in far more than just middle-class suburbia.

Whether you opt to look at Eta’s little Boxes as a tongue-in-cheek installation, or an underscoring of Reyonold’s song, it’s worth hopping over to HEA and taking a look at it and the other installations on offer there. In the meantime here’s the song.

SLurl Details

• Hannington Endowment for the Arts ( Xeltentat Enterprises, rated Moderate)

 

Friends on Twitter know that my blogging has slowed of late as I’ve been working on a number of projects. One of these is that of some major updates on behalf of the Phoenix Artists Collaboration (PAC).

Cutting a long story short, after PAC lost the ability to use a dedicated full region, Audie Whimsy and I volunteered space for the group, Audie offering a part of her own Full region, whilst I – as the former curator of Holly Kai Park – was able to secure space for some of the group there (see Providing a home for PAC in Second Life and Phoenix Artists Collaboration: April update).

More recently, it has become apparent this arrangement is not beneficial to the group. The whys and wherefores aren’t important; suffice it to say that thanks to Audie, we’re now able to take the step of consolidating all artists in the group into a single location once again, and we hope that this will allow us to finally kick-start art and other events more centrally, and in the knowledge we have full autonomy in managing our location.

So right now, I’m in the middle of working with Audie to expand the Cherished Melody sky platform to accommodate the 30 artists presently at Holly Kai Park. It’s work that is taking time, as Audie has worked hard to create a unique environment at Cherished Melody, and it’s important that what we do in increasing the platform’s capacity both blends in with Audie’s work without dramatically changing things – and without inconveniencing the artists already there.

As it is, the first eight studio galleries are now in place, complete with the core landscaping and garden space (with room for 3D art displays within the garden). A second group of eight units is nearing completion, and we’re working on developing new exhibition spaces for use by members for their own exhibitions as well as group art displays.

All things being equal, the initial work should be completed before the end of August at which time we’ll start to transition the artists at Holly Kai Park over to Cherished Melody. Once that has been done, we’ll be looking to finally gets started on an active programme of activities and events, including:

• The long-awaited start to group exhibitions.
• Featured Artist exhibitions.
• New teaching / learning opportunities via a new Workshop area that will include lessons being streaming into Second Life by artists and photographers.
• Opening-out the PAC website to allow members to blog about their work, exhibitions they are a part of, etc.

Cherished Melody remains open for visits during the work, and artists already based there do not have to do anything. However, we would ask that if you do drop in,be aware that things are unsettled around the outer edges of the platform, and do please note the Under Construction signs – we don’t want to have people finding a building or garden suddenly dropping on their heads or whooshing off from under them without warning in the construction areas!

Related Links

• PAC at Cherished Melody (Cherished Melody, rated Moderate)
• PAC website

Currently on display at the Kultivate Signature Gallery, curated by Johannes Huntsman, and running through until the end of August 2020, is an exhibition of art from the physical world painted by KismaKSR – or Kisma K. Stepanich-Reidling as she is known outside of Second Life.

Defining Kisma isn’t easy, as she is a woman of many talents – artist, published author, curator (notably working with Reiner Schneiber, head curator for various worldwide Biennales), gamer, therapeutic art life coach, immersive 2D / 3D artist, and currently a creativity teacher-in-training! As an artist, she works in a range of mediums including acrylics, watercolours, gouache, pastels, coloured pencils, graphite, texture paste, stencils, and more. 

I paint what I see inside. I love working in art journals, creating altered book art journals, and taking my creations from the page to the canvas… and on occasion from the canvas to the page! My creative journey is based in watercolours but has taken me into so many mediums that I believe I love acrylics the most. 

I love working in layers… lots and lots of layers, distressing paintings, vibrant colourful paintings, collage paintings and sketch paintings. I also work with encaustic wax and fibres, throwing in the making of journals and fibre weaving to create embellished covers. 

– Kisma K. Stepanich-Reidling

For her exhibition at Kultivate’s Signature gallery, Kisma presents 16 reproductions of her physical world art that fully embody her approach to her subject: all richly expressive, some offering hints of expressionism, others perhaps leaning a little towards surrealism and still others more abstracted in nature. Every piece speak of Kisma’s Intentional Creativity approach to her work: the act of being aware of thoughts, ideas, feelings, and of self, and allowing all of this to inform and shape whatever task is being undertaken – be it making a soup to writing a musical score or – as in this case – producing works of art.

These are pieces that also include subtle cultural undertones to them that can be form in form, style, colour and symbolism. These touches add further depth to Kisma’s work, infusing them with a sense of of humankind’s cultural heritage through the ages – something we tend to too easily lose sight of in the modern age of technology and bustle.

You can find out more about Kisma’s work via her website, and about Intentional Creativity at MUSEA, the Intentional Creativity Foundation.

SLurl Details

• Kultivate Signature Gallery (Water Haven, rated Moderate)