Now open at Club LA and Gallery, curated by Fuyuko ‘冬子’ Amano (Wintergeist), are two small exhibitions by Lyra Romanas and Io Bechir. Both offer avatar self-studies, and whilst very individual in styles and approach; they complement one another in a side-by-side exhibition.
“As an artist, I am first and foremost driven by an inner creative force, something captures my interest, a process takes form and a journey starts towards a finish product,” Lyra says of her work. “I like to explore my creativity through different platforms, such as painting, drawing, sculpturing, graphics, photography, digital art etc. I developed an interest for digital art mainly through SL, a wonderful playground when it comes to creating fantasies and make them come to life in a picture.”
Contained within a small studies or workspace, the images are presented in a space suggestive of an artist’s workspace, albeit without all the clutter. Thus, in entering this space, it is as though we’re entering Lyra’s own space to appreciate her art even as she is creating.
Of the images, they stand both as individual pieces and also as three stories, each of four frames apiece, and which we are invited to imagine and extend. In this, they are very much reflective of Lyra’s approach to her art: offering pictures that are very much alive, and very much in the moment, as Lyra notes. “I have a formal art education. But when I create I follow no rules or guidelines regarding my art, I just go with what’s right in the moment.”
Across the hallway can be found Io’s selection of art, which might be considered NSFW, involving nudity as it does. I’ve been a fervent admirer of Io’s work since first encountering it, and am always pleased to have the opportunity of seeing more of it. Her self-portraits are always richly evocative and rich a narrative, and the seven images she presents here more than demonstrate this.
Each of the seven has its own story to tell, but I confess that of all of them, Three Hours Early (seen above, right) utterly captivated me; the composition of the image is simply sublime, and the depth of emotion caught within it utterly stunning.
Both Io and Lyra will be on display at Club LA through until October, and can currently be seen alongside the photography of Carolyn Phoenix / Sirenis, which I reviewed in August 2018.
The Astral Dreams Project has opened a further round of artist exhibitions. As I noted in July, when the installation first opened in July, the aim of the installation, itself a reproduction of the Piazza di Spagna in Rome, was to celebrate Italian arts and creativity in Second Life. However, for the latest exhibition, Oema Resident, the installation’s curator, has thrown her net a little wider.
Occupying the two 3D galleries (one of which occupies to location of the Keats-Shelley Memorial House) are home to exhibitions by JadeYu Fang and Giovanna Cerise. Both are striking artists, perhaps best known for thematic installations of their own.
For Astral Dreams, both offer pieces that appear to be influenced by some of those installations pieces. Giovanna, for example, includes a piece reminiscent of Clinamen Read here for more) and an element of From the Worlds to the World (read here for more). Meanwhile, JadeYu includes pieces that are reminiscent of her OpeRaAnxiEty (read here for more) among the selection of pieces for her exhibit.
Of these artists, I confess to be drawn to the images and imagery of CybeleMoon – who creates the most fantastic stories through her art; the remarkable studies by Dido Haas, who has a way of capturing the very life of her avatar; the fabulous digital forms by Cullum Writer; and Lam Erin’s painting-like landscapes and waterscapes.
Which is not to say I don’t have an appreciation of the work by the other artists; truth be told, all over something eye-catching or unique. Together they all make an interesting exhibition, one that will be open through until at least the end of the month.
The Dirty Grind Independent Artist community is celebrating its fifth anniversary over the weekend of Friday, September 7th through Sunday, September 9th, 2018 with a Carnival of the Arts. The weekend will be marked by live music sets throughout the three days, and also art displays by Enola Vaher, Toysoldier Thor and Silas Merlin, who appears at the Dirty Grind as the celebration’s featured artist.
The focal point for the event is a newly revamped venue building, where the artists can be found, and a stage area has been established in the back lot area. Inside the building, 2D and 3D art Enola and Toysoldier is located on two floors to one side of the building, with Silas’ 2D pastel art from the physical world and his 3D mesh sculptures created for Second Life can be found at the back of the building, again on two floors, facing the stage area.
The music event kicks-off from 15:00 SLT on Friday, September 7th, and at the time from writing, the schedule looked as follows:
Time
Friday 7th
Saturday 8th
Sunday 9th
14:00
—
Shannon Oherlihy
Wald Schridde
15:00
Davis Cisiszer
Thunderfoot Lorefield
Lexie Smith
16:00
Strum Diesel
Phime Alcott
Winston Ackland
17:00
The Matthew Show
Senjata Witt
DimiVan Ludwig
18:00
Jamba Losangelas
Grace McDunnough
The Vinnie Show
19:00
Twostep Spiritweaver
Bearsheart
Effinjay
20:00
Benski Korhonen
Suzen Juel
Ethan Kamaboko
However, given that events can always undergo last-minute changes, be sure to check the Dirty Grind website for updates or changes to the schedule.
The art displays are compact, but deliver a good sense of the work of the three artists. Enola’s 2D art – featuring both SL photographs and also drawings – is displayed on the upper floor of the gallery space she shares with Toysoldier Thor, and is an evocative mix of images. On the ground floor, Toysoldier presents a mix of his 2D paintings and 3D art, which is always captivating to see.
Silas Merlin remains one of the artists I deeply admire. His work in pastels is extraordinary, and while perhaps a little on the small side, the pieces presented at the Dirty Grind serve as a welcome introduction to his 2D work for those unfamiliar with it – and I do recommend seeking his art out whenever you have the opportunity to do so. His 3D work is perhaps more familiar to people in Second Life, being very popular among collectors, and the pieces he’s selected for this exhibition again present a good cross-section of his sculptures for those wishing to familiarise themselves with his 3D work.
So, do make a point of hopping along to the Dirty Grind over the weekend and wishing them a happy anniversary.
Update: Sea Monsters has closed. SLurls have therefore been removed from this article.
Open through until the end of September 2018, is Sea Monsters by Citta Wiskee. Created on a homestead region, it forms both an art exhibition and a place to visit, and offers a unique environment for explorers.
Sitting under a stormy sky lies a series of green islands caught within a dark sea. The largest of these islands is ringed by the others, and forms the landing point. Wooded and devoid of buildings, it is home to little water drop spirits, with more scattered across several of the other islands. Tiny and white, these little spirits offer a greeting to travellers or play instruments or paddle leaf boats on a pond or simply watch / listen. But they are not the only inhabitants of this region islands; there are others around the islands and some quite literally watching over them.
Sea Monsters
Look up, and you’ll see glowing jellyfish “swimming” through the air – the clouds high above them looking so much like waves of the ocean when seen from below. Light beams seem to penetrate the clouds, eddying and swirling in circles as dust floats, plankton-like through the air, while on the horizon a constellation of pinpoint lights maps the outline of a humpback whale. But these are not what is likely to hold your attention.
Look around the sky, and you’ll find two actual humpback whales floating in the air, heads dipped towards the island as they look back at you benignly. Not far from them, circling slowly above the dark waters is a plump blue whale carrying a garden on its back. Click on it, and you can sit on a couple of poses to ride with it – or click the rope ladder hanging from the whale’s flank to ride daredevil-like.
Sea Monsters
There is no direct way between the islands other by flying, which is a little bit of a shame, but each offers something of its own little vignette to be enjoyed. On one a piano awaits a player, on another a swing seeks a rider, while on all of them more little water drop spirits can be found. One of these islands is home to a little movie theatre, showing an odd little slide-show film, cushions set before the screen for those who want to watch.
And the art? That lies underwater, and potentially easily missed for those who don’t look. Arcing around the east side of the central island is a submerged gallery displaying Citta’s art. Most of the seventeen images in the display reflect the theme of the region (or is that the theme of the region reflects their content?), with whales and other sea creates prominent within them. All are presented on mesh “paper” that appears to be flexed by the watery currents and include the play of water over their faces.
Sea Monsters
This gallery space, with a drowned woodland bordering one side, forms a garden-like space, glowing planets forming a soft carpet among which can be found ruins and places where more water drop spirits play. Overhead, beluga and humpback whales share the waters with rays and schools of small fish.
The art itself is reflective of moods or feeling – notably being on one’s own whilst wishing for something. As such, they are quite able to strum the heartstrings whilst also being beautifully framed and presented to visitors, the muted colours adding to the stories they have to tell. Again, it would be nice to have a more obvious way of moving between island and underwater gallery other than flying, but this is genuinely a very minor point.
Sea Monsters – hitching a ride
When you have done exploring and viewing, but don’t want to leave, keep an eye out for the paper boats floating on the water. They offer places to sit and reflect for one or two people.
An atmospheric, otherworldly setting, offering opportunities for photography as well as presenting some evocative art of its own, Sea Monsters makes for an entrancing visit.
Opening on Wednesday, September 5th, 2018 at the National Museum of Caledon, is an exhibition of the physical world photography of Phrynne, Dean of Commons at Caledon Oxbridge. Entitled Land, Water Sky, Phrynne describes the exhibition as a record of some of the places in North America she has visited and loves.
The upper floor and the centre in the lower floor contain photos of the Genesee River Gorge as the river flows through Letchworth State Park [the] oldest state park in New York … Also on the upper floor are photos taken on Oahu of sea and sky and wildlife. Downstairs are photos from Vermont, West Virginia, Ohio, Maryland and Minnesota, landscapes both wild and tame.
The resultant images in the exhibition are dramatic in tone and scope; particularly those of the Genesee River Gorge, which is presented in loving detail – although as Phrynne notes, the falls within the gorge are not easy to capture in a single frame, except at distance.
The Oahu images are admittedly a little more mixed in the impressions, the leave, but are more than compensated for by the images captured in Vermont, Maryland, etc. These are again rich in composition, and offer both intriguing views and a little humour – as witness by Grasshopper Observer and What Do You See?
In all, some 34 images are offered in the exhibition – all of which are for sale -, which makes for a further eye-catching display of art at the museum, which will remain open through September. Should you enjoy your visit, do leave a comment in the guest book; while an offering towards the continued upkeep of the museum would also doubtless be appreciated by Star (astarynite), the museum’s curator.
Now open through until the end of the year is Tah’s (Tahiti Rae’s) latest full region installation, Gates of Oria. Tahiti has a reputation of building immersive, often deeply expressive installations in Second Life. I first visited one of her installations, 4077 MASH, a homage to the television series and a commentary on war, in 2014 (read here for more), and then was totally captivated by her Love, Henry installation from 2015 (read here for more) and by EVRE in 2016 (read here), her evocative, complex examination of consciousness, connectedness and time.
Gates of Oria does, in many ways, share the same roots as both Love, Henry and EVRE. As with both of those installations, it is very much a journey; one that, like Love, Henry, is intended to stir the emotions, tripping them into play by engaging our imaginations. At the same time, and like EVRE, it takes us on a physical journey through numerous worlds, the very triggers for engaging our imaginations and teasing our emotions, which vary in their themes from light to dark, reflecting the fact that fantasies come in many shades.
They say it takes 300 years for an oak tree to grow; 300 years for it to live; And 300 years for it to die. Perhaps our fantasy love took 300 years to grow; An eternity to live; And never dies. Maybe .. it’s real.
– Tahiti Rae, Gates of Oria
This is an installation designed to visually, aurally and musically connect with visitors, as is explained at the landing point. Along with the viewer’s Advanced Lighting Model, enabling local sounds and the music stream for the installation is strongly recommended. I’d also suggest setting draw distance to around 300 metres, so the fullness of the larger spaces can be more easily seen without interruption. As the landing point also notes, proportions can be a little off in places, so when travelling a little playing with ALT-click camera movement and the use of the mouse wheel (or using the CTRL-8 / CTRL-9 / CTRL-0 combinations) can be required, particularly in the spaces where the backdrops appear intended to blend with the build.
Exploring the installation can be achieved in one of two ways: by teleporting to the ground and then travelling to the Gates themselves (additional telelport points within statues), and returning to the ground after each visit to make the next. Or, for those short on time, a note card listing the landmarks for all ten worlds can be used to hope directly from one to the next. The former of these approaches again echoes EVRE, except here there is no need to seek out the teleport points, they are found within groupings of statues. As such, and while the statues offer text to set the scene for the world to which that connect, there is no reason the note card LMs cannot be used to move between the different worlds once an initial visit to ground level has taken place.
Fantasy … can be such a risk; such a deep mystery; and profoundly the strongest certainty ever known.
– Tahiti Rae, Gates of Oria
I’m not going to run through all of the worlds; they are for you to experience for yourself. Suffice it to say all are very individual in tone and design, although some motifs can be found in more than one. Some openly demand exploration and can be extensive – such as Labrinto, which is perhaps the set piece of the installation; others are not quite as straightforward as might first appear to be the case, requiring equally considered exploration as there can be many details so easily missed in a quick walk / cam through. Deathless, for example, holds a certain Game of Thrones echo awaiting discovery. Still others are more open in nature, settings designed to allow the imagination to simply take flight – as with 4 Suns.
Within several of the worlds, art by CybeleMoon (Hanna Hoobinoo) can be found. Always fantastic in scope, these images give further flight to the imagination. Emotions are also stirred by the audio stream which, although occasionally interrupted by the briefest of adverts, offers music Tah states she has selected specifically for the installation. Drawing heavily from the world of film (and where else, given the installation is about fantasy and imagination?), the music does add further depth to Gates of Oria – although I admit that I’m perhaps a little biased here in my response, as the stream features pieces by some of my own preferred composers / arrangers, from the likes of M83, Taro Iwashiro, Bear McCreary, and the amazing Ramin Djawadi, through to several of the established greats of cinematic soundtracks: Morricone, Williams, Horner, Eidelman, Arnold, and more.
A series of events are planned throughout Gates of Oria’s run, details of which can be received by subscribing to Tah’s group at the landing point.
There are some minor niggles we encountered – falling through apparent solid objects in a couple of places, while the Eagles in Labrinto steadfastly refused to work for me (I simply right-clicked them for the guide description in the build floater); some of the guidance given was also a little confusing (“Exit far right corner” rather than “Exit to your right”). However, Gates of Oria is nevertheless evocative, imaginative, fully deserving of the time needed to explore and appreciate it.
Inara Pey: Living in a Modemworld 