Category: Art in Second Life

“We are chased by evil throughout our lives.” Federico Sosa (TheBDKX) states in introducing Dementophilia, his new exhibition at The Vordun Museum and Gallery. “Devils we try to hide, and slowly eat us up from inside, draining our strength. The worst of all evils. Ourselves.”

Dementophilia is described as “an abnormal, obsessive attraction towards insanity, and it is the perfect title for this exhibition. Located in the rear hall of The Vordun, it features eight paintings and eight sculptures, together with a large central mixed 2D and 3D element – the Vortex. Together they personify the darker imaginings from the depths of the mind

The eight images and eight statues are paired, the statues physical manifestations of the paintings, brought forth by the vortex bursting forth from the rear wall of the hall. Each painting / statue represents a creature – or is that an elemental aspect, a beast if you will, of our psyche? In addition, each painting is partnered with a description of the demon it represents:  Enktrik, Zatrunnya, Beltaka, Fenniaq; Nelikaw, Trezykoy, Melkyze, Yiennak; each description reads as the writings of an unsettled mind – and what mind wouldn’t be unsettled seeing creatures such as these rising from the subconscious.

Thus, entering the hall is akin to entering those thoughts beneath our reasoned consciousness; a place where our personal devils reside; parts of our being alien and terrible – yet playing a vital role in forming our personality, again as Federico notes: “Locked inside, they can heal our wounds. Out in the open they reign. Beasts from within. Beasts of love and Pain. Beasts that are on the loose, fighting against the external consciousness.”

Within this exhibition, these beasts have been named, their nature understood, suggesting their keeper is long familiar with them. Their presence speaks to that battle with an “external” consciousness, a mind acutely aware of their existence. A mind willing to make them manifest – or, perhaps, a mind succumbing to their dominance. It is down to us to decide which.

Dementophilia is intriguing in both its concept and interpretation. As manifestations of darker thoughts and desires, they capture the unreality of the subconscious. As pieces of art, they offer an abstract hint of demons from the realms of Hieronymous Bosch.

I did find myself wondering how much deeper the impact of the exhibit might be if presented in a more tailored environment / setting and with an appropriate Windlight, but nevertheless, it still makes for a thought-provoking visit.

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• The Vordun Museum and Gallery (Rated: Moderate)

“The exhibit is in celebratory recognition of the 9-year anniversary of Play as Being (PaB) in SL, and as such, is part of a year-long series of solo exhibits by PaB Guardians.” So reads – in part – the introduction to Elemental,  a set of photo drawings by San (Santoshima) on display at the Art of Being gallery through until the end of October, and to which I recently received a personal invitation to visit from the artist.

A total of 10 image boards are presented within the gallery space – six on the circular outer wall, four on the square central walls. Each panel contains multiple images, which can be viewed in turn by clicking on the panel (for the four images ranged on the sides of the central walls, click the left or right edges).

Thematically, the panels are similar in the images they present; the six outer panels focus on images of birds in flight and a figure with an umbrella. The colour wash in all of them suggest a breezy, perhaps rainy environment the birds and figure and flying / walking (drifting?) through each; thus we get – in part – the title for the exhibit: Elemental. The time of day which appears to suggest different times of day as well, perhaps adding to the title.

The inner four all share the same set of images showing a garden sitting with plants, rocks and trees, again taken at different times of the day. The natural setting for each image, combined with the watercolour-like tones, again suggests the images are Elemental in approach. As you click on the panels to page through the images, it is possible to By clicking on them to page through the images each holds, it is possible to form a story for each.

It’s important to note this is not just a visual exhibition. San has included a special sound scape to accompany the images, so it’s important to have local sounds enabled when visiting in order to enjoy the exhibition to the fullest. “[The] live sound recordings were made in a southern Gulf Island, British Columbia,” San explains. “Outside my cabin door; a raven pair conversing, raven parents with three fledglings, various small birds, and Pacific tree frogs.”

Also, as noted in the introduction to the exhibition, Elemental forms part of a celebration of Play as Being, an in-world group which describes itself as, “exploring reality by using our own life as a laboratory. A thought experiment to see what is left if we put down what we have, to see who we are.” More information on the group, together with a schedule of their events, can be found on their wiki page.

Elemental is a fascinating exhibition – and a peaceful one; a visit prior to closure is recommended.

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• Elemental, Art of Being Gallery (Bieup, rated: Moderate)

“My art primarily explores the freedom on-line communities, specifically Second Life, provide, allowing you to set aside your cultural roles and explore other roles.” Myra Wildmist in introducing her new exhibition Transitions, which opened at the Club LA and Gallery, curated by Fuyuko ‘冬子’ Amano (Wintergeist), on Sunday, October 22nd 2017.

She continues, “Real life cultural roles are necessary for a functioning society, but they are often extremely confining, almost forcing people into pigeon holes of expected behaviour. Second Life gives us all the opportunity to slip out of our pigeon holes and be almost anything we can imagine.”

What follows is a selection of a dozen images offering some remarkable views of Second Life, each with a touch of the personal as then all include Myra herself in their frames – although it would be unfair to call all of them avatar studies; their compositions being such that the avatar forms a part of the overall scene rather than the focus of the image. Even those which do focus on the avatar do so in ways very different to more “traditional” avatar studies, allowing each one to tell its own story.

There are three pieces in the exhibit which might be considered NSFW, but all twelve are richly expressive, and demonstrate a broad range of approaches to photography which mark Myra as a true exponent of her art.

Transistion shares the gallery space with Twain Orfan’s An Exhibition, which I reviewed in September, and a select of four images from John Brianna’s physical world photography.

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

Melusina Parkin returns to the Nitroglobus Roof Gallery for October, with an exhibition called Mysteries, and it is a thought-provoking display of photography.

“Missing faces, veiled ones, obscure looks,” Melusina states in introducing the exhibition. “Statues and mannequins populate Second Life with their mysterious mood. Sometimes they are creepy, sometimes they are gentle, always they are silent.”

Thus, Mysteries presents thirteen images of mannequins, figures and statues captured from around Second Life. Such figures, to be found all over the grid, whether in stores or art events, parks or role-play regions, homes or photography studios, all have some kind of story to tell – be it part of a larger setting or contained within the frame of their own display as a work of art or object of everyday use.

So to, through Melusina’s collection, do they tell a story or stories within this exhibition. The images have clearly been selected with care to project this, Mystery 10 through Mystery 13, for example, are displayed together on two walls, presenting an unfolding narrative – although what that narrative might be is up to each of us as we view the images. Others, such as Mystery 7 perhaps tell a story quite independently of the other pieces in the collection. But however one looks at them, the stories are there, individual or collected, waiting to be heard.

But there is more here as well, if we’re willing to look a little deeper. Our avatars are, in a sense, our own mannequins. Through them, we get to decide not only how we interact with one another, but how we actually appear to one another. We can project – or inhabit – our avatars at will, using them to reveal or hide, project or protect, many different facets of who we are. They are both a window into who we are and a shield by which we can hide the things we do not wish to have seen. Mystery 2 and Mystery 3 perhaps embody this most specifically.

So as Melusina states, Mysteries may present an apparently lifeless population – but in doing so, it makes us wonder about human feelings and thoughts – and particularly, perhaps about our own feeling and thoughts, about our identity, relationship with others,  and our openness.

Mysteries is another nuanced, fascinating exhibition from Melusina; and yet another not to be missed.

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• Nitroglobus Roof Gallery (Sunshine Homestead, rated: Moderate)