Open now through until December 29th is an ensemble exhibition organised by ViktorSavior. Entitled Out of Mind – Inner Galaxy, it features the work of a dozen Second Life artists.
The art is offered alongside the poetry of Alena Witt, who is also one of the artists, alongside of ViktorSavior. The remaining ten artists are: Amethystreignn, AngelinkaNega, jessamine2108, OrpheusofDarkness, RichardGrataineSuoh, Sleksanas, TaraAers, Ava Jhamin, Lanka Milligan and Vita Theas.
Out of Mind – Inner Galaxy
The setting is somewhat ethereal: a temple-like structure with columns of which hold aloft a sky of blinking star-like lights over which clouds pass, mirroring the mist the issues from the base of the columns and above a marble floor, two sides of which are limned with tear drops of light.
The art is set between the columns, alternating on each of the “walls” with poems by Alena. The latter are presented in Russian, but touch a poem to receive a note card with the poem in both Russian and English. The art – up to three pieces per artist, is displayed vertically – again, touch a picture for a note card on the artist responsible.
Out of Mind – Inner Galaxy
With the images focused on avatar studies, the exhibition offers an interesting insight into different styles and approaches to avatar art, with fantasy perhaps taking centre stage among the majority of the images presented. The theme stands as a excellent companion to the idea of expression of how we perceive ourselves and projection that inner self outwards and create a world around us we project through this virtual realm.
Small, rich with colour and presentation, this is an interesting and expressive exhibition.
Now open at Club LA and Gallery, curated by Wintergeist are two very contrasting exhibitions of art; the first in 2D and the other in 3D. Both will remain open through into the new year, and make for an interesting demonstration of art and creativity in Second Life.
The 2D art is presented by Reesla Chau, a Second Life photographer from Japan, who offers a portfolio of 16 avatar portraits focused on her own avatar in various locations around the grid. It’s a fascinating series of images richly showcasing Reesla’s eye for creating a scene and her use of angle and soft focus / depth of field.
Club LA and Gallery: Reesla Chau
In terms of the latter, I’d particularly draw attention to Summer Visit, on the wall immediately to the left on entering her exhibition space. But for one or two giveaways around the trees and leaves. it could so easily have been taken in a park in the physical world. Way Back is similarly engrossing due the the sheer realism folded within it.
Others in the series offer a digital take on classical portraiture-as-paintings – notably Windmill, The Moonlit Night and Country Road During Summer Vacation, the latter two of which again demonstrate Reesla’s marvellous use of depth of field. However, what is most engaging about Reesla’s work is her ability to tell a story with her photographs; every one of the 16 here whispers and entire story to those who stand before them.
Club LA and Gallery: Reesla Chau
The 3D art is presented by Moki Yuitza is entitled Rainbow Flakes. It’s a piece best seen with the viewer set to midday, rather than the region’s default time, and with local sounds enabled in order to hear the specially composed music by Daddio Dow.
Describing this piece isn’t easy; perhaps the best means of doing so is to refer to it as a coloured mobile of geometric forms set within a rainbow grid and turning slowly, it’s motion seemingly driven by the the gentle tones and vibrations of the music.
Club LA and Gallery: Moki Yuitza
It’s a fascinating piece, potentially hypnotic in form, colour and tone, and should be seen equally from both inside and outside of the surrounding grid in order to be full appreciated. However, fully quantifying it is something that’s very much an individual task. If not a mobile, I’d personally view Rainbow Flakes as a living kaleidoscope, free to change form and colour at will.
Itakos Project – Overlapping Realities: On Mars You Only See What You Wanna See! by Jean Toussaint Tosi
I’ve long been a supporter of the use of Second Life as a medium for artists to present their physical world art to audiences they might otherwise not be able to meet. While there are other means for 2D artists in particular to be able to present their work – their own websites and photo-sharing platforms such as Flickr / Smug Mug, for example – Second Life presents something of a unique opportunity to allow an audience to experience more of a uniquely “personal” involvement when witnessing physical world art and photography in-world.
Hence why I was drawn to Overlapping Realities, at The Itakos Project, an exhibition featuring the work of Jean Toussaint Tosi, a Corsican born, Paris residing photo artist. As well as providing the mean to witness Tosi’s work, the exhibition marks the start of a new series of exhibitions at Itakos Project, one that adds a unique flavour to physical work art being shown through Second Life, as gallery founder and creator Akim Alonzo explains:
With Overlapping Realities the Itakos Art Gallery inaugurates a new experience and exhibition concept: to show works by artists who have no presence in the Second life virtual world.
The Itakos Project – Overlapping Realities: Vision #12 by Jean Toussaint Tosi
As Akim goes on to note, while Tosi is an artist with no virtual presence in Second Life, thus very much making his work as fitting the aim of this new series of exhibitions, his photography carries with it a cinematic look as feel that is both rich in presence and style, it can also be surrealistic in look and tone. In doing so, it can be said to both reflect the richness, depth, and sometime surreal nature in having a virtual life, and so becomes a fitting bridge between SL and the aims of the exhibitions it inaugurates.
Offered in monochrome, these prints are quite marvellous in scope, forming sweeping panoramas rich in story. Some have a dark or coy sense of humour about them, while the surrealism can clearly be evidenced in pieces like On Mars You Only See What You Wanna See! (seen at the top of this article). Nor is that all; in places, Tosi’s photography offers commentary on life (She’s Waiting on the lower floor of the gallery hall and shown below) and / or issues such as the climate (Waves, aka Vision #7).
Itakos Project – Overlapping Realities: She’s Waiting by Jean Toussaint Tosi
I am above all, a serious humorist photographer. Just a dreamer who loves all kind of pictures! I’m never satisfied but I always try to do the best I can. Many thanks to all the dreamers who follow me!
– Jean Toussaint Tosi, describing his work
Drawing on elements of fashion, fantasy, science fiction and Hollywood, coloured – despite their monochrome nature of the pieces in this exhibit – with Tosi’s vision and outlook, Overlapping Realities is a marvellous exhibition in its own right and serves as an excellent introduction to his art as a whole; each of the images here link directly to his Flickr stream for those wishing to see them in full and explore the rest of his work.
Itakos Project – Overlapping Realities: Vision #6, by Jean Toussaint Tosi
An official opening for Overlapping Realities will be held on Saturday, December 14th, 2019 starting at 13:30 SLT.
Cica Ghost returns to The Sim Quarterly with a new installation. Donkeys opened on Thursday, December 12th, and it is once again a delightful and light-hearted installation. As the name suggests, it is a place with a certain focus on domesticated equus africanus asinus. However, within it, visitors can find nods to many of Cica’s past installations and work, all of which means that it is place that is guaranteed to raise a smile, whether as a result of discovering Cica’s work for the first time, or because of the Donkeys and their heart-warming looks or because of the flashes of recognition brought about when coming across those familiar touches.
The donkeys, with their oversized ears and curious, confused looks, sit within a grassy, hilly land from which palm trees rise. Around this landscape sit Cica’s familiar finger-like houses, some of which are closed, others of which offer little vignettes. Ladders climb up to some, while others sit close enough to the ground to be entered without assistance.
Donkeys by Cica Ghost – The Sim Quarterly
Within these houses are interactive elements – seats, dances, surprises – and reminders of works like 50 Cats (see 50 cats in Second Life) and Strings (see: Cica’s beautiful Strings and stories). When exploring, it is essential you mouse over almost everything in sight in order to find opportunities for sitting and dancing – and for hanging around! For those who prefer, three sailing boats sitting on the waters around the island each offer a little perch from which to watch the comings and goings of others.
But really, it is the donkeys that hold the attention; there is something quite touching about their soulful and at times slightly confused or worried looks; it’s hard not to to be drawn to them. Watched over by seagulls and some of Cica’s snails, they stand on their own or in little groups as if conversing. Nor are they entirely static – mouse over some and you’ll find additional sit points and poses.
Donkeys by Cica Ghost – The Sim Quarterly
Following on from Rocks, Cica’s previous installation at The Sim Quarterly, Donkeys is another charming setting – one that offers just the right amount of lightness and cause for smiles given the time of year. When visiting, it is recommended you have local sounds enabled.
Now open at La Maison d’Aneli, curated by Aneli Abeyante, is a multi-level collaborative installation entitled Lalawoodwhich is quite the most unconventional – and potentially controversial (for some) interactive installation I’ve seen in Second Life for quite a while.
Designed by Onyxxe, Iono Allen, JadeYu Fhang and Theda Tammas, Lalawand is difficult to quantify. Intended to be humorous, it is also in part pointed, perhaps controversial, irreverent (with what appears to be a healthy dose of self-satire), anarchic and – perhaps most of all – unconventional.
You never heard of LALAWOOD? What a pity! It is the best playground in Second Life. A kind of LEGOLAND, just without the first L. Yes you understand well. Finally a place where you are allowed to show off your talents, value and persona without any restraints … You will meet kings, queens, godfathers, godmothers and many other successful gods. You even can bump at Philip Linden while wandering around.
– Onyxxe, describing Lalawood
Lalawood, La Maison d’Aneli
The installation comprises six levels, including the landing point where something of an introduction to the installation is to be found, together with instructions on how to best view the installation. From here there is a teleport to the first actual level of the installation itself.
To describe the five primary levels of the installation would be to spoil the element of discovery and perhaps unduly influence personal interpretation of Lalawood. suffice it to say each includes interactive elements, starting with the “iLala” music player that provides a music track to accompany your exploration of the installation (it is essential you have local sounds active). These interactive elements combine in-world objects and those presented to your inventory you are asked to add to your avatar.
Perhaps the easiest way to define Lalawood is that it is an exploration of self and the role of ego in our Second Life persona. In this, it raises topics we may well find familiar through our experiences in Second Life (the roles of sex and drama), and a sideways look at many of the attractions / activities people find within the platform (artistic expression, creativity, the ability to generate income), and how these might affect, challenge and change us.
Lalawood, La Maison d’Aneli
In this, the presentation of the themes might best be termed anarchic; some may seem to border on being insulting to those who engage the the various pursuits noted above (art, etc.) – hence why a sense of humour is emphasised in the instructions for the installation. However, there is a strong dose of self-irreverence on display by the four artists themselves as they satirise themselves as much as anyone else.
How one responds to Lalawood really does come down to a mix of personal sense of humour and ability to interpret the various elements found throughout its different levels. I confess that while I found myself smiling in places, in others I found things perhaps a little forced, while the inconsistency of teleports (some are interactive click-to-TP, others open the map and require a manual TP) a little distracting as the latter drew me out of any sense of being involved in the installation. So I’ll leave it to you to plumb the depths of the installation and draw your own conclusions, lest anything I might add here unfairly biases your experience.
Shuǐmò, or shuǐmòhuà (suiboku-ga in Japanese or “ink wash”), is a type of East Asian ink wash painting that uses different concentrations of black ink to create an image. It first emerged in Tang dynasty China (618–907), and is marked by the emphasis of the brushwork being on the perceived spirit or essence of the subject, rather than directly imitating its appearance.
Within Second Life, it has become a form of art exquisitely brought to life by FionaFei, who uses it to produce the most extraordinary 3D art installations. I was first introduced to her work at One Billion Rising in 2019 prior to visitingd her Shui Mo Gallery to see Wo Men Dakai, an art-as role-play environment she created using shuǐmò that had its inspiration on Joss Whedon’s Firefly series (see: Captivated by FionaFei’s art in Second Life).
I made a return to the gallery on December 10th, after Miro Collas pointed me to an announcement Fiona made via Flickr concerning her latest shuǐmò piece. Entitled Reflection, it presents a to-scale painting as a marvellous 3D environment, about which Fiona notes.
In this exhibit, I am utilising Second Life’s virtual platform to provide a new perspective on this traditional art style by adding depth, making what has traditionally always been portrayed as 2D paintings into 3D sculptures. When the viewer looks into the art, they are looking into a 3D space, and depending on the angle they are viewing it from, the art changes.
– FionaFei, describing her shuǐmò art
Shui Mo Gallery: Reflection
In this respect, Fiona is very much what Bryn Oh refers to as an Immersivist: an artist who makes use of virtual 3D environments such that the sense of immersion felt by an observer is more intense because as well as viewing the art as a static piece, they can become an active participant in it simply by moving through the piece and witnessing it from different angles.
In this respect, I do recommend stopping at the entrance to observe Reflection as a static observer first (perhaps in Mouselook). This reveals its richness as a painting. Then, after you’ve done this, either move or flycam around it to reveal the additional depth it presents as it beautifully transitions from traditional Chinese ink painting into a 3D sculpture that reveals many facets, each a painting in its own right.
Reflection is actually one of two shuǐmò installations on offer. The other might be described as a foyer / events area, sitting immediately beyond the huge red doors of the landing point. This includes elements from Fiona’s SL16B installation Umbrella Landscape. Interactive, these sit as part of a landscape where water falls to a pond of Koi and on which interactive umbrellas float. Painted board walks running from the red doors provide access to Reflections (to the left as you face the exhibition space) and a second gallery area to the right.
This second space contains Rising, an installation Fiona created for the One Billion Rising in Second Life 2019, part of the annual global event to raise awareness of the plight of women and girls who face violence and abuse in their daily lives, and the staggering fact 1 in 3 women on the planet is beaten or raped during her lifetime.
Shui Mo Gallery: Rising
Rising represents those women who have experienced abuse who have finally been able to break free of the pain that they’ve experienced, literally rising from the darkness they have experienced. The particle figures are all hand-drawn, while the abuse they have suffered is additionally indicated by the bruised hands also being lifted up out of the darkness.
Nor is this all. The entrance hall containing the landing point includes a collection of 6 more pieces of art by Fiona. These are 3D pieces that represent scroll paintings combining both shuǐmò and guóhuà (“natural”) styles of Chinese. These are exquisite pieces, some of which are animated, and all of which are available for sale.
Shui Mo Gallery: paintings
Fiona’s art is captivating in both form and style, marvellously capturing a traditional form of Chinese art and bringing new life to it.
