Category: Art in Second Life

Either find your place or lose yourself in the grid of impressions and projection. Second Life is about you and the ability to find your own fascination. Find yourself. Position yourself. Be a part of the world which your imagination can create.  Take a picture!The lights are on you.

Thus Hills (Hillany Scofield) introduces The Recreation, one of two exhibitions of her art (and the art of others) she is currently showing at her gallery The Ladies Room. She goes on to note that The Recreation draws inspiration from an installation she provided for the 2016 Indie Teepee festival. However, for me, it stands as a marvellous expansion of her March 2016 exhibition Immersed, hosted at The Good Days Gallery (read here for more).

To appreciate this exhibition, it is essential you have Advanced Lighting Model (ALM) enabled in your viewer (via Preferences > Graphics), as it makes extensive use of projectors (you do not need to have Shadows enabled as well).

As with Immersed, The Recreation presents a set of large format images, before which stand faceless, female mannequins. Within this grouping is a pose system, and – as per  the introduction – visitors are invited to jump on it and create their own images within the space (a second pose system is located to one side as well).

Outside of the central display, the walls of the gallery offer further images under the title The Walls Are Alive. Also being examined by the faceless mannequins, this mix of slide show and projected images presents pictures taken by visitors to The Recreation who have taken Hills’ invitation and used the pose system. She notes that more will be added to this collection as the exhibit continues.

As an examination of the juxtaposition between physical life and virtual life, The Recreation is completed by text and verse which encourage us to ponder the realities and opportunities of both. It is also within the frame of juxtaposition – in this case individuality (in the shape of those taking photos of themselves in The Recreation) and uniformity (in the shape of the faceless mannequins), that this piece reflects (dare I say recreates?) much of the ambience and presence of Immersed.

When visiting, I also encourage you to tour Your Shine Through, Hills’ the second of Hills’ current exhibitions at The Ladies Room (to the right as you enter the gallery), which presents a series of monochrome pieces. Sensual / erotic in nature, they provide a story of intimacy between lovers.

SLurl Details

• The Ladies Room (Stylora Island, rated; Moderate)

Saturday, January 28th, 2017 marks the formal opening of the latest exhibition at The Edge gallery, curated by Eleseren Brianna. The Edge is the fashion division of Kultivate Magazine, with a focus on the artistic and cultural side of fashion in both Second Life and the physical world.

Taking part in the exhibition are:  Delypop Cresci, Calima Dufaux, Hikaru Enimo, Algezares Magic, Ruby Ornamental, Apocketfullofbutterflies Resident, Khronoz Resident, Beatrice Serendipity, and Catalina Staheli. Layka63 Resident had also been scheduled to exhibit, but having been absent for more than a week, Eleseren has had to offer a selection of her own work for display.

The majority of the pieces on display across the gallery’s three levels are avatar studies, although some are given an added twist in that they are by some recognisable names from the world of Second Life modelling. The range of styles within the exhibition is varied, and the contrasts between approaches to subject matter and framing making for an interesting point of examination of the pictures and artists as one progresses through the gallery.

However, that said, I admit to being somewhat biased when it come to art; I much prefer images which suggest a narrative or offer the imagination licence to take flight. Static poses bereft of a deeper connection tend to have me passing over them perhaps a little too quickly, and I did find this to be the case at times with this exhibit.

But where I did find that narrative / challenge to the imagination, I found it to be strongly evoked, to the extent that I was drawn back, and into, to the work of some of the artists over and again, making this a rewarding visit that had my camera – and eyes – lingering as grey cell cogitated and reflected.

The February exhibition officially opens at 14:00 SLT on Saturday, January 28th, with a live music performance by Dimivan Ludwig. Formal dress is requested.

SLurl Details

• The Edge Gallery (Water Haven, rated:  Moderate)

“I always find that life is like a certain road. A path you walk on from birth to death. While walking that path you constantly can choose which direction you go,” Elin Egoyan states when introducing her exhibition Life Is A Journey, now open at the Paris METRO Art Gallery. “But also you are sometimes forced to go a certain direction, if you like it or not. Because of things that happen with or around you your path can suddenly make curves or slips into a total different direction then you ever could have imagined.”

It’s a thoughtful and somewhat philosophical statement, leading into a somewhat introspective piece, revealing some of Elin’s physical world while throwing open the doors to those broader questions we all tend to ask ourselves from time to time on the subjects of life, purpose, progression, growth  – or as Elin succinctly puts it, “what for (bleep) sake is the purpose of this stroll through life?”

At first glance, the introduction and notes given under the title of the exhibition might seem as odds with the exhibition itself. Displayed within the gallery are 24 pieces of Elin’s physical world art, together with a number of supporting in-world creations. The paintings are all bold statements, some decidedly abstract in nature, others more pictorial. Some stand alone, others carry a theme, existing as both individual pieces or joined forming natural sets of images – this being most notable in the selection of Dreamtree paintings, linked as they are to one another and the poem A Tree, A Dream.

However, the link between exhibition title and musings on life can be found on a number of levels. All of the paintings, all of the in-world creations by Elin reflect her own journey in life, her travels in self-discovery, learning and finding those things which bring her joy. Similarly, several of the pieces reflect the idea of life’s journey directly and through their titles. Then there is the rich use of colour and form, reflective of the richness of life and the fact that our journey is rarely straight, and at times choices must be made.

All of this makes Life Is A Journey something of a thought-provoking exhibit for those willing to look beyond initial impressions. But so to does it reinforce the simple pleasures life can bring us: the use of line, colour and abstraction in these paintings make each of them a genuine pleasure to appreciate.

Some hold that “real life” art doesn’t translate well into the virtual medium of Second Life. I tend to disagree. There is no reason why the full richness of an artist’s talent and intent cannot translate into the virtual medium any less well than a post-processed or cropped image originally captured in Second Life, and Elin’s pieces more than exemplify this simple fact.

SLurl Details

• Life Is A Journey, Paris METRO Art Gallery (Paris Couture, rated: Moderate)

I first encountered the art of Elo (Elorac Paule) at the Nitroglobus Roof Gallery in an intriguing and key-catching display entitled Always Closer (see here for more). I was therefore delighted to learn from friend (and arts) Owl Dragonash, that Elo would be exhibiting Ray of Light, a selection of her work at Commune Utopia.

For those not familiar with it, Commune Utopia is a Bohemian community within Second Life with over 1800 group members. Founded by Sedi (Seductive Dreamscape), the commune celebrates creativity, passion, laughter, music and art, and fosters a caring, inclusive environment all are welcome to visit and enjoy – and join, if they wish. Owl handles a lot of the music aspects of the commune, and details on events can be found both on her blog, and on the official Commune Utopia blog.

With Ray of Light, Elo presents fourteen of her captivating studies, most of which should be considered NSFW, and all of which contain considerable expression. One or two among them may be familiar from Elo’s other exhibitions, but this doesn’t in any way reduce them experience of seeing them here. These are emotive, seductive and physical pieces, rich in their allure and perfectly suited to being displayed together.

Offered in a large format and in an outdoor environment, these are very much personal studies, focused on Elo herself. As such they reveal a number of facets of her personality, and dip into some of her explorations of sensuality in Second Life. Coupled with the fact many of the images have nudity (hence the NSFW note), this personal, sensual aspect to the pieces might be taken to mean the visitor is perhaps cast into the role of voyeur.

However, I’d suggest this is not the case. For the majority of the pieces, whether colour or monochrome there is far more of an invitation for us to become partners within the  scenes set by the pictures, rather than the suggestion that we are furtive observers. This adds a layer of emotional response: the desire to reach into these pictures, caress and share is powerful.

Ray of Light is an excellent exhibition, offered in a setting which invites wider exploration as well – be it the small art studios perched around the exhibition area, or the rest of the region as a whole.  Recommended.

SLurl Details

• Ray of Light (Commune Utopia, rated:  Adult)