Category: Art in Second Life

Currently on display at the TerpsiCorps ARTWerks gallery is an ensemble exhibition featuring the art of Luly Boop (Lulyboop), Bamboo Barnes, Isadora Alaya (Otcoc), Sabbian Paine and Myra Wildmist. Located in the former Dionysus Workshop Pavilion area, which has been converted into five individual exhibition spaces very much in keeping with the rest of the TerpsiCorps environment.

“My biggest passion in Second Life is photography,” Luly states of her work. “For the last two years, the photography has allowed me to communicate my thoughts, my emotions, to tell histories. SL gives me the ideal setting to do all this.” This is certainly true of the pieces she offers here. Self studies, each has its own story to tell, with three in particular depicting Luly’s relationship with her art.

“In the last year Photoshop has allowed me to expand my ability to express myself through pictures,” she continues, “I intend to learn more about this tool because it allows me to capture SL not always as it is, but use virtual world to give space to my imagination.” Thus, My Thoughts…, My Goal… and My Dreams… – while perhaps NSFW – are beautifully rendered and processed through Photoshop to reflect the beauty of Luly’s relationship with her art – a woman and her camera.

Bamboo Barnes is a self-taught artist who first started capturing images in 2012. “Very soon Second Life art installations became my biggest favourite theme, and they are a reason I continue to log-in to Second Life. I don’t deal with change well in the real world, but with my art, I don’t like to express myself the same way for too long; that is boring.”

Again, the seven images she offers at TerpsiCorps richly reflect this drive to see her work change – to evolve. Focusing on the art installations of others, each piece is richly evocative and richly presented. Each is very different from the last – although something of an abstract theme is present in several of them.

Sabbian Paine has been capturing the world of Second Life through his lens since early 2009 when he was introduced to the world of Second Life photography. What started out as a hobby quickly became a passion, offering him a freedom to create images of depth and beauty, reflections of an environment he sees as a immersive 3D world filled with art. The seven images Sabbian presents here stand as a magnificent testimony to both his work and viewpoint.

With four pieces offered in monochrome and three in soft tones, there really are marvellous images, each one deeply evocative and rich in narrative.

Isadora Alaya (Otcoc) is a name from SL photography I had not been familiar with prior to visiting TerpsiCorps gallery, where she is exhibiting the largest number of pieces among the first four artists, with nine pictures on display. seven of these are essentially black and white / monochrome studies covering a range of subjects, with two richly coloured and in strong contrast to the others. all are beautifully executed pieces, which comprise pictures of locations within Second Life and studies of art displays  – notably by Haveit Neox – which present a diverse series of statements on our virtual world, each one fully capable of capturing and holding the eye.

The last exhibit on offer is a small installation by Myra Wildmist entitled Your Vagina is Art, a seemingly self-explanatory title, although the installation is far more subtle than the name implies. With images, quotes, observations and new items, complete with an interactive element, this appears to be an installation designed to combine art and a degree of social / sexual commentary. I leave it to you, should you visit, to determine whether it speaks to you or not.

All five exhibitions have been available at TerpsiCorps for the last couple of months. As such, and while I’m not clear on when they might close / be changed, I do suggest that if you plan visiting, you do so sooner rather than later, just in case.

SLurl Details

• TerpsiCorp ARTWerks (TerpsiCorps Isle, rated: Adult)

Now open at Galerie des Machines, Paris Couture and curated by Olympe (OLYMPES Rhode), is Steampunk Moods, a celebration of steampunk and Victorian technology, with a touch of ecological commentary. The exhibition features art by Gem Preiz, Melusina Parkin, Haveit Neox and Bénédicte Petiet.

“Straddling the reincarnation of the past and a certain idea of ​​the future, Steampunk is primarily an aesthetic current of literary origin before developing on a multitude of other media,” Olympe states in the introduction to the exhibition. “A temporal paradox, it mixes centuries of fiction, Jules Verne, [Herbert] George Wells, popular culture, films, comics and other video games.” The art presented within the gallery’s halls reflects this in a most eclectic mix of 2D art spanning the virtual and the physical, and which mixes what might be termed “traditional” steampunk imagery with more familiar Victoriana and interpretations of the future.

The ground floor of the gallery features a selection of Gem Preiz’s stunning fractal art, and the first glimpse into the future. It’s well established that I’m a major admirer of Gem’s work, and the pieces selected for this exhibit reflect why. Gem’s fractal art is hugely evocative in painting visions of the future; they encompass everything from cosmology through issues of ecology and human development,  touching – richly so – on concepts of architecture,  design and culture.

Several of these factors are touched upon within the thirteen images presented here – but so to is a sense of mechanisation. Several of the pieces have the look and feel of great engines – or parts of engines; others seem to suggest great cogs and wheels. There are also other reflections of steampunk: hints of lenses, twists of grill work and plating that are almost decorative in look and feel – the finery that can so often be found in more delicate pieces from the era. Each image is uniquely beautiful and  – literally – multi-faceted, demonstrating Gem’s multi-panel approach to his art that allow him to offer marvellously high-resolution pieces of his original art.

On the floor above Gem’s exhibit is an extensive display of in-world photography by Melusina Parkin, featuring steampunk elements found throughout Second Life, both large and small and presented in a suitably metal-walled environment. Many of the images present objects and scenes in Melu’s familiar close-up style, focusing our attention on specifics, rather than a broader scene, while still conveying an entire story to a piece. Several of them present familiar steampunk themes – powered airships: both dirigible and boat-hulled. Propellers also feature, while there are hints of Verne and Wells to be found.The models of Battersea Power Station, dating from the 1930s, might seem a little incongruous. But given it is an iconic emblem to industrial power, it is somehow fitting.

Passing through the display of Melusina’s art brings visitors to a second hall, where Haveit Neox’s contribution can be found. This takes the form of an iteration of his installation, The Miniature Goal, first seen in 2014.  Within it, Haveit asks, “What if our physical world shrunk in proportion to the resources we drain from it?” As I wrote back in 2014, this is a fascinating piece; here it perhaps offers a slightly different look at steampunk. The technology of the latter is somewhat based on the consumption of fossil fuels and other natural resources, consideration of the consequences are perhaps not so at odds with the core theme.

Above the floor featuring the physical world art of   Bénédicte Petiet. Again, the canvas here is broader than what might be regarded as “traditional” steampunk. Like Melu, Bénédicte presents the most of his images in close-up: machines, wheels, pistons, gears, relays … all are presented here. So to are what might be considered elements from outside the realm of steampunk itself: cars from the recent past, and even street scenes. With the exception of the latter – which appear to be a mini-exhibit in their own right – the rest of the images suggest something almost “retro-futuristic”: the past we can recognise presented through a digital medium of their future.

All told, a multi-faceted exhibition, well worth exploring.

SLurl Details

• Galerie des Machines (Paris Couture, rated: Moderate)

Now open at MetaLES, curated by Ux Hax and Romy Nayar, is Journey into Communication, an installation by Nevereux. Mixing 2D art, words and 3D settings, it presents a quirky but thought-provoking journey into the ways in which we communicate which all contains a degree of social commentary and some insight into the artist herself.

Nevereux introduces the installation in a completely self-effacing manner, “So here you’ll find everything you need (aside from few artistic skills) so to waste your most precious 77 minutes. Due to a fortunate series of coincidences, you’ll find a brand new iPhoneZ and a handsome pencil on the ground. Sure I’ve also got lots of decent pictures, but they’re all just kinda boring. Keep yourself awaken by sniffing the paint(ings) on the walls.”

This drastically undersells the installation, reached via teleport from the MetaLES landing point. The art is ranging in a circle around a slightly undulating snowy landscape. Pictures hang from the sky, and are mounted within small sets related to their subject matter (those on signals from space, immersion, and similar, are presented within the shells of what might be a space station, for example).

At first, the installation can be confusing – however there is logic to it. A raised stage sits in the south-east corner, with a door marked Enter beneath it. This is the starting-point, and visitors should progress from here in a clockwise direction around the display areas. The first of these poses the question about how we look at the world: through the limits of the screen – be it television, computer, ‘phone and so on – or through the richness of knowledge and imagination presented by books. After this, we are warned – again in a self-effacing comment: This is where it all gets a bit surreal.

Surreal things might be in places; but so to are they rich in depth and meaning – pointed to by way of the labels each has. “The images you see here are concepts,” Nevereux states. And they very much are – and more. They are reflections and thought on life, how we relate to one another, to the world around us, our condition – even on the way life has been reduced to a matter of consumerism. In many these ideas are clearly offered, either directly or through the support of accompanying text; in others, they are more obscure, encouraging one to take time considering them.

This is a provocative exhibition in that it demands thought and consideration when visiting. There is even, as noted, a small section offering insight into Neverex herself – and it is beautifully presented: through the words of a poem. Bitter-sweet, poignant and rich in imagery, this alone make a visit worth while.

SLurl Details

• Journey into Communication (MetaLES, rated: Moderate)

Now open at the Club LA and Gallery, curated by Fuyuko ‘冬子’ Amano (Wintergeist), is Behind the Avatar, an exhibition of images by Panteleimon Aeon. On display are eleven pictures (one of which forms a free gift to visitors) by Pan, which present Second Life as it might be seen through the eyes of an avatar, and in which we’re being allowed to share.

Each picture features a setting and a solitary avatar – mainly Pan himself, although Like Dreaming of Angels  and …Through both clearly feature a female avatar, and  Isoldes Remorse might feature a woman under the hat and coat.

The avatars are mainly presented from the rear or in a three-quarters profile from the rear. In this way, they are not necessarily the central focus of each piece – although our eyes are obviously drawn to them. Rather then become come a part of the image, blending, if you will, with their surroundings whilst also offering a glimpse of what they might be reflecting upon whilst looking at the scene themselves.

I was first introduced to Pan’s work by Sorcha Tyles. At the time I commented, “Pan’s work is visually striking, combining a sense of posed set piece with natural flavour. The result is that while each may well have been composed, so to could each have been easily caught as a moment from the subject’s life; a frozen instant of an unfolding story, the subject unaware they have been so captured.”

This is again very much the case with the images in this selection, offering as they do a wonderful sense of depth, emotion, and feelings. Each very much carries a story within it, combining avatar and setting into a whole – whilst also allowing us to more metaphorical see from behind the avatar – and through the eyes of the artist himself.

As such, this is an expressive display, and a superb means to gain familiarity with Pan’s work for those who have not previously encountered it. Behind the Avatar can be found on the mezzanine area to the right of the main gallery entrance, with stair leading up to it from the garden end of the hall.

While visiting, be sure to check Transitions by Myra Wildmist, which I reviewed at the end of October, and Visions by Kimeu Korg.

The latter is another set of studies of Second Life, often featuring and avatar or avatars, some of which are beautifully humorous, while others weave a story in the observer’s mind. All are beautifully executed and the exhibition as a whole should not be missed.

SLurl Details

• Club LA and Gallery (Amaro, rated: Moderate)