Category: Art in Second Life

Now open at the Windlight Art Gallery is the September-October 2016 Fellowship exhibition, which features the work of artists Jesse Boren (Tatjab Resident), Cadence Caine (heathermknopp Resident), Kaijah Chrome, MIlly Patton (MillyWH Resident), Bluesrocker Resident, ChloeElectra Resident, KodyMeyers Resident, Pacesoftly Resident, Tisephone Resident, and Inquisitor Titanium, together with Windlight Gallery artists in residence Pam Astonia, Honey Bender and Warm Clarity, Windlight Gallery’s Select Artist, Wicca Merlin, and – yours truly 🙂 .

On offer once again is a rich mix of styles and subject matter – landscapes, avatar studies, some abstract work and some images from the physical world. It is this mix of styles and subject which makes the Windlight Exhibitions more than worth the visit; the Gallery design encourages the visitor to focus attention on each artist in turn whilst at the same time allowing individual styles and approaches to be compared and contrasted, helping one to appreciate further the skills evidence by each artist in creating their work.

I’m particularly proud to be a part of this exhibition: showing my work is not entirely my strong suit, so being offered the opportunity to do so is gratifying. So much so, that if there are artists who are shy about showing their work in public, or find they’re uncertain about how to go about presenting their work in-world, I thoroughly recommend the Fellowship as offering an excellent starting point. Find out more below.

The Windlight Artist Fellowship Programme

In promoting and supporting artists and photographers, the Windlight Art Gallery operates the Windlight Artist Fellowship Programme. This allows artists to apply for free exhibition space at the Windlight gallery for a period of 30 days. Applications are open to artists from across Second Life, and the criteria for acceptance can be found in the Artist Fellowship Programme application form.

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• Windlight Art Gallery (Rated: Moderate)

Now open at the White Canvas Gallery (formerly the Good Days Gallery), curated by Goodcross is Submerged, a selection of aquatic-themed images by Elizabeth (ElizabethNantes), which she calls “an immersive experience” – a description which highlights the unique approach taken in presenting this collection.

Visitors arrive on the edge of a glass-sided pool of water, spray breaking against the rocky edge, the art displayed under the rippling surface. To view the art properly requires jumping into the tank, and then exploring it from beneath the “surface”, where bubbles drift upwards, fish and jellyfish swim and drift by, and a platypus floats gently, watching the ducks swimming above.

Eight of the images – all of which present figures at play on and under the water – are displayed around the inner walls of the tank, and are offered for sale; they face an additional four images arranged on the faces of a cube. The entire impression is that you are fully immersed in the environment – not just by being “underwater”, but very much a part of some of the scenes as those in them look towards you through the water.

This feeling of being immersed is further heightened by the careful placement of transparencies carrying the animated ebb and flow of foamy waves. These give the impression of the water’s surface (see in the centre image and the one above as a dark shade across the upper portions of the images), positioned so that some of those featured in the pictures do indeed have their heads above water. Only one – the image seen on first arrival (and heading this review)- is effectively “out” of the “water”; and even this is positioned to suggest the subject is rising from the surrounding pool.

I opted to photograph the collection against a night backdrop, as that was the local estate time when Caitlyn and I visited. However, tweaking Phototools also suggested that early morning or late afternoon windlight settings with the Sun low in the sky worked particularly well if a background of sky is required.

An imaginative collection presentation creatively presented.

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• The White Canvas Gallery (Rated: Moderate)

Open at the Serena Image Arts Centre, from September 10th 2016, is Eleseren Brianna’s The Curio, a mixed 2D and 3D art installation centred on a gigantic figure and a tale written in the style of a Victorian gentleman’s personal journal.

The gentleman in question is Joseph C.R. Pomfret, who is travelling through Finland as a part of an unspecified group of English families. Whilst lodging in a hotel in Savonlinna, they are invited to spend time at a private fishing lodge owned by one Doctor Koskinen. It is whilst staying there that the group encounters the Enkeli (“the Angel”).

This narrative is presented at the start of the installation, as a large intellibook which offers easy reading of the entries. Beside it, nine images arranged in an arc of easels, stand as a visual tableau of the encounter with the Enkeli. Rendered in a manner suggestive of skilled penmanship, they might be taken as drawings taken from the journal as offered by Mr. Pomfret as illustrations of the remarkable find. In turn, the nine images point the visitor towards the giant angel itself – not that it is hard to miss!

The Enkeli is an imposing figure set upon s sand bar surrounded by a landscape of rugged island in keeping with the journal’s description. Helmeted, with spread wings ruffled and in disarray, his is collapsed on hand and knees, as if exhausted. A great lance is held tightly in his right hand, blunt end thrust into the ground, tip pointing skyward, gripped as if he might be about to lean on it for support to regain his feet. Wooden chairs and a ladder invite visitors to explore the figure after the manner of Pomfret and his companions, while a rowing boat is moored alongside offers a further indication of scale.

The Curio is an interesting three-way piece, balancing storytelling with images and sculpture to present a unique narrative. It remains open through until September 16th, 2016, and a Gatcha / Gacha machine at the start of the exhibit offers all nine of the images and a copy of the journal  in an equally unique way of offering art to visitors.

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• The Curio, Serena Image Arts Centre (Rated: Moderate)

Go placidly amid the noise and haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence.

These opening words from Desiderata by Max Ehrmann, a prose poem possessed of a mythical history of its own, are the thematic foundation upon which Joslyn Benson  (Jolivea Tyran) for her exhibition at Dathúil Gallery, which is open now, and runs through until the end of September 2016.

All Is Quiet Now presents eighteen avatar studies, all but one of which are monochrome in nature. Many of these are nude, so may not be suitable for viewing at work. All are finely nuanced pieces, subtle in form and tone, powerful in emotional expression.

“Silence: the absence of sound; silence: the placidity of mind; silence: the sense of being,” Joslyn says of the collection, “Moments of stillness where all that’s left is our own thoughts … and to find comfort in unspoken words.”  it’s a beautiful summation of a series of pieces which perfectly frame the power of silence and expression to convey so much, whether we are with a loved one or friend, or caught in a moment of personal reflection or thought.

I frequently refer to narratives and stories when reviewing art; it is something I tend to seek, as it often has as much influence on my response it a piece as either my admiration of the artist’s skill (which, particularly in reference to the artists invited to display at Dathúil, tends to be considerable), or the initial emotional response I feel towards it. With All Is Now Quiet, I found this idea of narrative given additional depth in some of the studies offered.

On the one hand, there is the story we immediately perceive in looking on them for the first time. But on returning to these particular images, a second narrative is so often suggested. Take Once Was, for example, or The Way We Were. Each is suggestive, by title and pose, of regret or sadness; the apparent loss of something between two people. But look away, spend time with the other studies and then return. You many find each of these pieces now  suggests something else: rather than regret or sadness, they represent a moment of pause as those depicted within them reflect on their love for one another and what the other person means to them.

Suddenly, we are witnessing not the recognition of something lost, but of something which still very much alive between the subjects of these pieces; with comes the suggestion that. shortly after the image was captured it is acknowledged as figures come together once more in a kiss or a warm embrace. With other images, the shift in narrative comes when we alter our own perspective from that of observer of an image in a gallery, to that of participant in the scene depicted. All of which make these studies, as noted, marvellously nuanced in tone and subject.

Once again, Lucy and Max have brought another extraordinary talent to Dathúil. All Is Quiet Now is an exquisite collection of images, which are individually compelling as well as perfectly evoking the emotional power of silence.  Stunning.

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• Dathúil Gallery (Rated: Adult)

Surreal Cube is a complex art installation conceived by art archivist Art Blue, known for his celebrations of virtual world art and artists, including The Surreal Tower (of which Surreal Cube could be considered a direct descendent), Art Walk on the Moon (which you can read about here) and A Room for Ferrisquito (which you can read about here).

As with many of Art’s installations, Surreal Cube is enmeshed within a lengthy narrative (provided in note card form at the landing point), involving an attempt to save Earth’s art heritage (in this case, works by Molly Bloom) by building a gigantic space ship – the Surreal Cube – in which the art should be preserved. Those familiar with science-fiction and / or Art’s previous works and activities elsewhere may recognise some of the references within the story, such as Vulcanicus and the passing mention of billionaire SR Hadden – who featured in the late Carl Sagan’s seminal (and only) science-fiction novel, Contact.

While the central focus of the exhibit is Moll’s work, the installation includes contributions by Juliette SurrealDreaming (who is also the exhibit curator), Hyde Hackl, Mistero Hifeng, Gem Preiz, and Moewe Winkler., some of which are placed one inside the next, matryoshka doll style. Mistero’s  sculptures are to be found around the perimeter of the region – perhaps those who came together to witness the landing of the great cube ship before it was frozen in time by Dr. Kawoom, who can be found in one corner of the sculpture parade.

The ship itself sits slightly canted over the dark waters of the region, caught in the moment of landing by Dr. Kawoom when it was realised it was too big for it’s intended landing space. The surface of this vehicle, designed by Gem Preiz, features his trademark fractal designs, which periodically change across the cube’s faces.

Within the vessel lies an aquatic environment designed by Moewe Winkler, occupied by alien life forms and over which a ghostly pirate ship stands-to. Here, also, is a short story by Juliette SurrealDreaming, and an LM giver to visit the Second Life Surreal Tower exhibit. At the very centre of the cube lies an enormous egg designed by Hyde Hackl, within which lies a garden and the gallery of some two dozen pieces of Molly’s art (part of which can be seen in the banner image at the top of this article).

If all this sounds a little confusing, visitors are offered a choice of ways to find their way around. The first is to take the Meta Harper chair, available at the landing point. This takes control of your camera, carrying you a visual tour through the exhibit. The second is to use the network of teleport discs found throughout the installation and which offers the best way to examine each element of the exhibit in turn. In addition, there are various interactive elements – poses, a ridable flying horse – to be found and enjoyed.

The Surreal Cube has a twin available in OpenSim, and the installation will also feature at the Santorini Biennale, running from September 1st through to October 15th, through a video of the exhibit filmed by Wizardoz Chrome. After October 15th, the core of the Surreal Cube will be cleared away, remaining only in OpenSim, and the cube in Second Life used to house further installations curated by Juliette SurrealDreaming.

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• Surreal Cube (Rated: Moderate)