Category: Art in Second Life

As I’ve said a number of times in this blog, I’ve been an admirer of Monique Beebe’s work ever since her first exhibition in Second Life in 2017, and have since covered many of her exhibitions in-world. Over the years Moni has shown herself to be expressively rich through her art, and a growing experimentalist when it comes to medium and form. Her work generally carries a sense of narrative and is often subtle in subtext, as well as often containing a highly sensual nature. Individual exhibitions often thematically driven, and she has worked both entirely with images captured in-world which have then been carefully digitally enhanced and processed, whilst more recently has been experimenting with the use of AI driven tools as an adjunct to her art.

With regards to the latter, in October 2023 at the Kondor Art Centre, operated and curated by Hermes Kondor, Moni presented a fascinating series of AI images combined with video editing to provide On the Move, 14 captivating images-in-motion (see: Artistic digital fusions in motion in Second Life). For November 2024, she is once again back at the Kondor Art Centre with a further exhibit utilising this combined AI / video loop approach in an exhibition she has called Oblivion.

Comprising some 20 2D pieces on the gallery’s walls, supported by a series of free-standing and mobile pieces, Oblivion comes without liner notes from the artist, leaving the visitor free to interpret the images without any potential bias towards meaning. Further, whilst the techniques used are much the same as those witnessed in On the Move (for those who recall that exhibition), this is not what I’d call a “sequel” to that exhibition per se; rather I’d suggest that Oblivion is an expansion of the idea of generative art in motion as presented through On the Move, but one in which there is perhaps no singular theme but rather an interweaving of idea sand reflections.

On first inspection, the images might trick you into believing they are static in nature. However, when you enable media playback in your viewer (if not already enabled or autoplay is not set) by clicking the “motion picture” camera icon in the top right of the viewer window as it sit between the volume control button and the audio streaming button, and then click any one of the images, then it will come to life in a looping playback.

As noted, the themes / ideas expressed in the pieces do vary. Some appear to offer fairly direct commentary on the human condition (Sheep, Maze, Time, for example) others might appear to be more abstracted whilst still having reflections on life and / or times (Mind Fuck, Trip through Years, Big Mouth, for example). Yet others touch on science-fiction/fantasy laced (perhaps) with quiet whispers on our stewardship of the planet; one in particular (Dutch Tulips) seems to offer an link back to On the Move in terms of its presentation and motion.

However, those are just my thoughts on the pieces, and as such, they are entirely subjective and swayed by my personal outlook; how you might view them might be worlds away, the lack of liner notes from Moni leaving us entirely free to view and interpret, as noted. This also extends to the free-standing pieces occupying the floors of the gallery; clues to their intent might be found in their titles, but how we respond to them and regard them is down to each of us.

All of which makes for a richly engaging – and at times almost mesmerising – selection of art, one that offers a considered further exploration as to how rich and unique art produced with the assistance of AI tools (as opposed to solely through the use of such tools) can actually be. As such Oblivion is well worth the time taken in visiting it. Oh – and if you find you end up with multiple pieces playing, with some distracting your focus, just toggle the media playback button off/on.

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• Oblivion, Kondor Art Centre (Royal Tea, rated Adult)

I dropped into SLEA 6 recently to visit a quite stunning installation / environment, mixing art, film and literature and events, all brought together by Asah (AsahelVerne Absinthe).

Entitled Tractionist World, it offers a visualisation / recreation of a pivotal scene from both the first volume of Philip Reeves’ quartet of novels, collectively known as the Mortal Engines Quartet (the first volume being Mortal Engines) and – more particularly  – the 2018 film Mortal Engines, produced by The Lord of the Rings trio of Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens, and based on their screenplay adaptation of the first book in the series.

Whilst the film received a mixed audience and critical response, there is no doubting the strength of its visual effects – notably in the presentation of the mighty city of London, the undisputed king of the “traction cities” rumbling around the Great Hunting Plains of Europe and Central Europe, as it chases down lesser cities in a cycle of “municipal Darwinism”.

And it is London, complete with its pair of massive bronze lions resembling the (much smaller) Landseer Lions of Trafalgar Square, topped by the gleaming beauty of St. Paul’s Cathedral and fronted by its massive union flag doors, which forms one of the focal points of Tractionist World.

The scale of London is impressive, despite the limitations of scale and size imposed on it by a Second Life region; throughout Asah has fully captures the multi-level nature of London, crowned by the cathedral and its hidden menace, neatly surrounded by gardens and footpaths, with streets and buildings stacked one above the other from the bulk of the great engine room at its base, where captured lesser cities are ingested for materials and power.

Outside of area such as the control centre, the engine room, and the Cathedral, the buildings within the city are mostly empty – but with good reason: not only is London a representation of the the machine city from the world of Mortal Engines, it also provides gallery spaces for art exhibitions.

At the time of my visit, the city was hosting two such exhibitions – although Asah informed me more are in the planning stage and will be appearing soon. The one of these exhibitions is hosted – appropriately enough – in the city’s Museum, a place where artefacts of the “old tech” are revered and studied. Entitled Steampunk Goddesses, it features AI art by TaccaExotic and Princess Soobania (Soobania).

Above this, and in the room behind the city’s control room, is an further exhibition of AI generated art, this one by Lalie Sorbet. Entitled Anima, it presents – in Lalie’s own words – an exploration of “the expression of the passionate relationship between humans and animals through time.”

Also located within the city’s engine room is a stage for hosting music events (with a further such space up in one of the airships overhead). In terms of getting around London, there are a number of stairways and walks linking various levels, but by far the easiest route down (and up!) is the elevator at the back of the control centre.

The city is part of a larger scene making up region, one depicting the climatic show-down between it and the Shield Wall of Batmunkh Gompa, as it protects the anti-tractionists of Shan Guo – a place Thaddeus Valentine is determined to over-run – with the great airship station of Airhaven floating above. It is within Batmunkh Gompa that the main landing point for the setting resides, complete with teleporters to carry visitors around (simply walk onto a teleport disk to activate it and right-click the beams).

There are a number of points of interest within the Shield Wall to explore – and the opportunity to find a little air car rezzer available to scoot around in. Beyond the wall, meanwhile, is the beauty and peace of Shan Gao, together with floating islands of rock, such as the Lighthouse. The best way to visit the latter, Shan Gao, and Airhaven is, as noted, the teleports at the landing point.

As both a place to visit, and an art / events venue, Tractionist World is an absorbing and engaging visit.

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SLEA is rated Moderate

• Tractionist World Landing Point
• London City Museum
• London City Control Room

The third exhibition at the Kondor Art Museum, a part of Hermes Kondor’s Kondor Art Centre, features a total of six artists exhibiting theough the gallery’s halls. They comprise: Mareea Farrasco, Sina Souza, Ilyra Chardin, Zia Branner and Thus Yootz, with Hermes himself rounding out the six. Some of these artists art among my personal favourites for their depth of expression and presentation, so this has been an exhibition I’ve been wanting to drop into since it opened on October 17th, 2024.

As with the first exhibition at the the Museum in April 2024, Ilyra Chandin’s 3D pieces occupying the foyer of the gallery building, as well as at the entrance and on the roof.

To the left of the entrance, the first hall in the museum houses a selection of pieces by Thus Yootz, someone who is, in my opinion, one of the most expressive and at times artistically experimental artists in Second Life. Here she presents 10 pieces that very much demonstrate these facts, with landscape pieces in monochrome and colour mixing with gorgeous and expressive line and wireframe styles.

Following Thus, and occupying the rear hall of the museum’s lower level, together with the hall to which it leads, is a two-stage exhibition by Sina Souza, another highly expressive artist I admire. The first part of this selection is a series focused on the colour red, some of which carry something of a social commentary. Beyond this is the right-side hall, containing seven colour / monochrome pieces, all equally evocative.

Upstairs, the two halls feature a selection of Mareea Farrasco’s always-engaging Second Life landscapes and avatar studies, and across the landing, Zia Branner’s abstract paintings. Again, both of these artists have a unique approach to their work, and I never fail to be drawn into their images and art.

Rounding-out the exhibition, again in the front hall to the right of the entrance, is more of Hermes’ own quite superb photography from the physically world as he takes us on a further visit to Lisbon’s Reservatorio da Patriarcal, also known as the Water Museum. Captured in a black and white, these are quite studding photos in terms of their focus, angle and contrasts of shadow and light which bring the walls and walkways of the museum to life in an almost tactile way; one can literally sense the smooth hardness of the metal railings and steps and the soft roughness of the stone.

In all, an engaging series of art displays from six equally engaging artists

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• Kondor Art Museum, Kondor Art Centre (Royal Tea, rated Adult)