Category: Art in Second Life

Yes, a little self-promotion, I’m afraid, wrapped in the guise of two exhibitions in which I’m featured as both the solo exhibitor and as a part of an ensemble exhibition in which I’m delighted to play a small part, sitting amidst some extremely talented artists and photographers.

The solo exhibition is taking place at Maison de la Chouette, curated and operated by the lovely Owl Dragonash, who asked if I would put on a 2-month display there starting with a soft opening early in November. Whilst already available to view, the exhibition will have a more formal opening on November 13th, 2024 at 12:00 noon SLT – which I very much hope those of you who can, will attend.

A further gallery nestled within the Corsica South Coasters area, joining with the likes of NovaOwl and the galleries at Port Emyniad (and locations in between),  Maison de la Chouette is a boutique-style gallery utilising a Tuscan style house, allowing art to be displayed on two floors. This makes for cosy little exhibitions, which is probably for the best where my work is concerned.

And that’s not false modesty kicking-in; I genuinely don’t see my  SL photography as “artistic” or “art”; rather it is primarily intended to be illustrative, and a means of breaking some of the meandering jumbles of thought which appear in this blog. As such, I’m sincerely flattered (and genuinely surprised) when I an asked to display them in-world in either a dedicated exhibition or as part of a larger exhibit.

And a larger exhibit is what you’ll find at the Cloud Galleries Winter Art Market, again curated by Owl. Whilst this has its official opening party on November 19th, 2024 at 12:00 noon SLT, it has already enjoyed a soft opening as it brings together multiple artists from across SL, all of whom are displaying 2 pieces each on a winter / seasonal theme. Those participating include:

Alex Riverstone, AmandaT Tamatzui, BijouxBarr, Carelyna, Ceakay Ballyhoo, Dido Haas, Sina Hastings (Fasina Firehawk, Frank Atisso, Giselle Seeker, Hermes Kondor, Jaminda Galênê Moon (Jaminda Lygon), Jerzzie Reece-Redstar (jerzzie Reece), Jilla Lamar, JueL Resistance, Lizbeth Morningstar, Maggie Runo, Tom Willis (MajorTom Willis), Marnie Morningstar (Marnie Ansar), Owl Dragonash, Pagan Lane, Pieni, Rosie Riverstone (YsabellaRose), TaccaExotic, Tess (Therese Carfagno), Uli Jansma, Wren Parker (Wren Carling), Christian Carter (XJustFriendX), Zia Branner and Yours Truly.

With such a diverse mix of artists and photographers, the Winter Art Market offers an engaging mix of images captured in-world together with original art and photography taken in the physical world and uploaded to Second Life. The setting is suitably wintery, being a snowbound outdoor venue adjoining the Cloud Galleries in Novatron. Also, as might be expected by the title, the art on display is offered for sale by the participating artists and photographers.

So, that’s potentially two exhibitions to visit, both within easy reach of one another (bot that anything in Second Life is ever *that* far out of reach!). I certainly hope you’ll support those participating at the Winter Art Market, and if you can make it to my little exhibition and shindig – then thank you! My thanks to Owl in particular for inviting me – and to the DJ LiTo Team for providing the music for both openings!

SLurl Details

Novatron is rated General.

• Maison de la Chouette
• Cloud Galleries Winter Art Market

As yet another year starts drawing to a close, heralded in the northern hemisphere by autumn’s fade into winter and a time when thoughts inevitably turn to snow-covered landscapes, frosted streets, heavy coats and foggy breath, I decided to spend a little time drinking in the autumnal – or fall, if you must – beauty brought forth by nature by visiting two similarly-themed art presentations currently in progress.

The first is that of Willow (Cutewillow Carlberg), entitled Fall Splendour, which opened at the Monocle Man Gallery on November 10th. I’ve encountered Willow’s art at various ensemble exhibitions over the years, but this is the first time I’ve seen her landscapes offered as an individual exhibition.

Spread across the two floors of the gallery’s main hall, as well as in the foyer and side room,  these are pieces captured from within Second Life to provide images of autumn’s many faces, from golden-hues fields and tries crowned with leaves turning to reds, browns, oranges and yellows, to overcast days when drizzling rain catches us unaware; or in which sunlight plays through rolling cloud caught on the wind to fall as fingers of light to touch castle and tower, and bursts of shadow dim the land, causing it to brood moodily until sunlight returns.

In places seemingly untouched by post-processing, save for cropping and framing, whilst in others looking as if the lightest touch from tools external to Second Life has been felt, Fall Splendour is an engaging series of images perfectly encapsulating the many shades of autumn’s passing.

At BOSL’s Waterfront Café Art Gallery, meanwhile, is a smaller but equally engaging exhibition by Reign Congrejo Capalini (Reign Congrejo). Entitled Falling into Love, and with each of the eight pieces appended With Fall, this is a simply exquisite series of images which appear to be from both Second Life and the physical world which also capture some of the many faces of autumn in all of its rich, vibrant colour – and most particularly with the sense of romance the season can so easily present.

From woodland walks where sunlight slants through tall fingers of trees to dapple the path ahead, to the shimmering beauty of water and trees caught in the light reflected by the mirror of a full Moon to drape itself gently over the landscape, these are images celebrating that many faces and emotions autumn offers. Within them, we might also find reflections of the simple pleasure of sitting under a rustic canopy of leaf and bough as wind and sunlight play across the waters of a still lake, or memories of the promise of warmth and comfort as we walk home under darkening evening skies as light pours forth from windows warmly lit from within and doorways illuminated by lamps as we pass.

Taken together, these are to visually expressive exhibitions presented through very different lenses and eyes, but which are unified by both their beauty and the love of the season felt by both of the artists. With both (I believe) due to run through until early / mid December, their natures allow them to be viewed individually or jointly, depending on your preference.

SLurl Details

• Fall Splendour – Monocle Man Gallery (Club Hub, rated Adult)
• Falling in Love, BOSL Waterfront Café Gallery (Innovation Pavilion, rated Moderate)

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.

SLurl Details

• 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.

SLurl Details

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

SLurl Details

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