Category: Art in Second Life

If there is one thing region designers / owners tend to love in Second Life, it is lighthouses. Over the years, I’ve visited and written about hundreds of region designs around the grid, and one of the most common elements to be found across them is the humble (or grand, or steampunkish or fallen or … and so on!) lighthouse. And they reside not just on public regions either; they can oft pop-up on private region homes (so much so that a couple of estates around Blake Sea actually requested tenants stop using lighthouses as island décor!).

And to be fair, they can be an eye-catching sight – I admit to photographing more than a few in my travels and frequently use one of SL’s most famous lighthouses: that of Blake Sea – Crows Nest (itself modelled after Fastnet, off the southern coats of Ireland) as a backdrop for photos of boats and aircraft.

Give their extensive use, lighthouses present an interesting topic for a photographic exhibition – as witnessed by the Queen Bee Gallery July exhibition at Hannington Endowment for the Arts (HEA). A Tribute to Second Life Lighthouses features no fewer than 38 images of lighthouses from around Second Life, captured by Ferugina Luna.

Offered in a range of styles: individual pieces, themed groups, lightly processed, untouched and significantly processed, triptych style, and do, on these are images that cover all of the various types of lighthouse to be found within Second Life – inland, coastal, tall, short, with accompanying keeper’s house, standing alone, guarding sea routes or looking out from beaches or cliffs…

To be sure, thirty-eight is a lot of images to take in. On the one hand, they reveal that when all is said and done, there is a little number of individual variants to be found within SL (excluding those that are custom-built). It means there is a certain amount of repetition to be found within the images – the aforementioned fallen lighthouse, for example. On the other, by having so many images to hand it is possible to see the many individual ways in which region owners and designers put them to use to make a statement about their land; while the same design may appear in multiple images, the manner in which each is used can be quite individual.

There’s something else in this as well – seeing the same design from multiple angles can do much to “place” it in terms of the possible inspiration behind it. Thus, A Tribute to Second Life Lighthouses offers visitors a twofold treat: images of the subject matter from around SL, and an opportunity to consider where on Earth some of the inspirations for the building designs come from. For me, I found myself looking at photos from around the UK; others might well be put in mind of famous lighthouses from their part of the world. My one regret with this exhibit is the in-world locations where the pictures were taken isn’t evident.

SLurl Details

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

In the wake of the Linden Endowment for the Arts winding down almost a year ago (see: Linden Endowment for the Arts to officially close), a number of in-world arts group were created in an attempt to fill the void left by its departure so as to offer artists a range of facilities and opportunities in lieu of those presented by the LEA.

Well none can in all honesty provide anywhere near the extensive facilities and opportunities presented by the LEA (that’s the advantage of having the Lab sitting behind you), several have gone on to offer artists rich opportunities for the exhibition of their work. One of these groups is the United Artists of Second Life (UASL), operating out of the Mainland and presented facilities on, and over a full region.

UASL is a relaxed group of artists in SL that share and communicate regarding various art events and opportunities open to the artist community. We encourage people to use their imagination and to continue to learn different methods of creating art. We fully support other artist groups. As well, we manage and host our own events.

– from the introduction to United Artists of SL

As with many arts groups and galleries, UASL provides opportunities for artists to display their work. But they also offer more besides including:

• A sandbox area.
• A learning centre for talks, presentations and instructional sessions.
• Ground-level display spaces available for rent by group members (art sales currently prohibited), with displays subject to group rules.
• An events space.
• A supporting website complete with an in-world HUD for accessing it, and the ability for group members (preferred) to write blog articles.
• A paintball arena.

The main landing point is on the ground level, which is also home a a 2D gallery space, the sandbox, the aforementioned display spaces upcoming rental areas and the learning centre. Teleports from here access exhibition spaces for artists, located in the sky overhead. These are called Performance, Prodigious and Utopian. Each comprises three units of four display areas apiece stacked one atop the previous.

At the time of my visit, Prodigious was the most active, with the following artists using it:

• Level 1: Chris Craft (ChrisCraft Undercroft), Skyler Morningstar Arel (SkylerStormySky), Riannah & Chelo and VanessaJane66.
• Level 2: Karma Weymann, Tempest Rosca-Huntsman and John Huntsman, Barry Richez,
• Level 3: London Junkers, MarieMadeleine38, VarianBlake, and ZackHerrMann and Storie’s Helendale (GlitterPrincess Destiny).

Further information on UASL can be found through their in-world group and by visiting the UASL website or region.

SLurl Details and Link

• UASL main landing point (Karpov, rated Moderate)
• UASL website

Currently open at the Carmel Art Community, is the Carmel Summer Art Fair, organised by Martha and Robert McFarren. It features an open-air display of art along the Carmel seafront road, offering visitor the opportunity to appreciate the art on display and pop into the local beach-side shops.

The festival is interesting in that it comprises Art from Robert McFarren and his guests, and five headline artists who were in turn given the opportunity to invite – if they wished – up to two artists each whose work they appreciate, to also exhibit two pieces of their own work.

This means the overall line-up is as follows:

• Robert McFarren: CybeleMoon, Michel Bechir; John Huntsman, Tempest Rosca-Huntsman, Kisma Reidling, Secondhand Tutti, Viktor Savior, Anouk Lefavre and Pavel Stransky.
• Raging Bellls: Dhyezel Ravenhurst and Kody Meyers.
• Seiko Blessing: Micki Blessing and yours truly.
• Bliss Enchantment.
• Bubbles Song: Mara Telling and Lynx Luga.
• Nils Urqhart Aneli Abeyante and Terra Merhyem.

Given the number of artists participating, the art on display presents a broad mix of styles and approaches. The focus does lean towards landscapes, but there is still a fair and attractive mix of work.

Alongside of the art festival, the Carmel Art and Crafts features an exhibition of Alps photography by Nils Urqhart, and the garden pavilion a further exhibition by  John and Tempest Rosca-Huntsma. All of which makes for an ideal visit for any lover of art in Second Life.

As one of the invited artists, I’d like to thank Seiko for inviting me to join her at the festival; it is an honour and pleasure to be able to do so.

SLurl Details

• Carmel Summer Art Fair (McFarren, rated Adult)

Long-term Second Life resident DimiVan Ludwig – Dimi to his friends – is a man of many talents: business owner, musician and photographer. As a business owner, he created and ran the Hummingbird Café between 2006 and 2011, and is also the owner of the Duval Pub. As a musician, he was a regular performer at both, and at venues across SL, including Menorca, the first live music venue in Second Life (2005) and recently re-created in-world.

As a photographer, DimiVan works both in the physical and digital worlds, and his work from both is currently the subject of an exhibition at the Kultivate Signature Gallery.

The introduction to the exhibition notes:

He calls himself a novice, but those who have seen his photographs would say otherwise. He frames his shots with the final product in mind, editing very little in post production. He uses his Nikon d3500 to shoot real life landscapes. In Second Life, he prefers to snap portraits utilising the features provided by LUMIPro. 

On witnessing the pieces on display, I would have to agree to the first part of this statement: there is a natural framing to the pieces, whether avatar study, physical world portrait or landscape (from either realm), that presents the subject matter in singular depth that is a delight to witness and marks Dimi as having a natural eye for photography.

Presented across the three floors of the gallery space, there is also a certain thematic approach to way they have been laid out. On the lower floor, the focus is predominantly from Second Life, presenting on the one side avatar studies (although with a couple of portrait images from the physical world), and on the other Second Life landscapes. On the middle level are photos from the physical world, whilst the upper is reserved for Second Life images of a more intimate / adult nature and which should probably be regarded as NSFW.

I admit to being particularly drawn to the pictures on the mid-level. This is not to say I do not appreciate the SL photographs – I do. But there is such a depth and marvellously natural set to each of the images from the physical world, that they naturally draw the eye; in fact I’d go so far as to say that one in particular demonstrates that as well as having a flair for capturing the natural world, Dimi potentially has a keen eye for astronomical photography.

Another excellent exhibition for Kultivate, featuring a gifting artist.

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• Kultivate Signature Gallery (Water Haven, rated Moderate)

As is undoubtedly obvious to regular readers, I’m a bit of a space fan – astronomy, space flight, science fiction – but I have to confess that until recently, I’d never actually written about the Spindrift Space Gallery in Second Life.  In fact, until I was talking to Pooky Amsterdam about the special edition of The 1st Question event honouring Paradox Olbers (see: The 1st Question in Second Life (with Ebbe Altberg)), the gallery had completely fallen off my radar – so I thought it time I returned for another visit.

The gallery was established by Paradox in (I believe) 2007, and features the work of artists from the Intentional Association of Astronomical Artists (IAAA), including pieces by Kara Szathmáry, the IAAA’s Vice Prresident and CFO-Treasurer.

As the IAAA notes, art has always held a special place in the history of exploration. Artists often accompanied explorers on their journeys, providing paintings and sketches that would later enthral audience on their intrepid return. Some actually financed their own expeditions to “far-away” lands: south America, the Middle East, the Orient – specifically to paint those distant “worlds” and present them to patrons and audiences. In the 1870s, American artist Frederic Edwin Church perhaps became one of the first “space artists” of the modern era when he went to the Arctic regions to specifically paint the northern aurora as well as the icebergs of the Arctic Sea.

That tradition of art accompanying exploration has very much been a part of the space age. While artists cannot physically travel into the solar system or outer space, they can offer images of the Final Frontier, bringing us images of the fantastic – interplanetary space ships, future civilisations, alien worlds and so on, as well as realistic portrayals of the possibilities of planetary exploration, the worlds of our solar system and those we’ve detected around other stars but have yet to see through our own eyes or those of our robot emissaries. And of course, art has also given life to the imaginings of science fiction authors.

All of this is reflected at the Spindrift Space Gallery. It features images by George Richard, Ron Miller, the inimitable Rick Sternbach, perhaps most famous for his work in connection with the Star Trek franchise from The Next Generation through Star Trek Voyager, in which his designs, images and conceptual art helped shape our view of the 24th century.

Also featured is the art of the aforementioned Kara Szathmáry, with a stunning series of pieces that reflect our unique relationship with the cosmos that has existed throughout history: stars that helped us navigate the oceans (Arrival), played a role in beliefs and cycles of life and even romance (Grandfather’s Spirit – Rolling Thunder, If Not for You), and that our voyages into space are, at their heart a very human undertaking: inspirational, emotional and, for families left behind, worrisome (In Pursuit of Paradise, Bon Voyage).

An exhibition of work by Steve Hobbs  presents marvellous images of our solar system and explorations within it: Huygens descending through Titan’s atmosphere, Japan’s Hayabusa spacecraft at asteroid 25143 Itokawa, Voyager 2 at Uranus and Neptune, the Russian Luna 16 sample return mission and more, as well as views of of the planets and moons of the solar system. Another panel provides a tribute to the writings of Sir Arthur C. Clarke, including a rather Robert Redford like interpretation of Alvin, the protagonist of Against the Fall of Night.

From science fiction to science fact by way of astronomy the Spindrift Space Gallery offer a unique, static exhibition of space art and a little slice of SL history.

SLurl Details

• Spindrift Space Gallery (Spindrift, rated Moderate)