Category: Art in Second Life

Mac Kanashimi’s Snarl in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
Snarl - Mac Kanashimi
Snarl – Mac Kanashimi

Snarl is the name of Mac Kanashimi’s latest art installation, and it really is one of those things that has to be seen in order to be appreciated; frankly, no photograph really does the build justice.

Known for his huge, fractal-based builds, several of which I’ve covered in this blog (see Climbing the Pinwheel (August 2014), The Geometry of Art (April 2014) Enter the Dragon Curves (February 2014)). However, for Snarl, he has opted for something far more organic in form: a huge vine-like tower of rings, curls, loops of fibre-like elements which rises more than 4,000 metres in to the sky above the region in which it sits.

Snarl - Mac Kanashimi
Snarl – Mac Kanashimi

The result is quite extraordinary, some 5,000 items, each with an LI of three, all of which utilise HSL (Hue, Saturation, Lightness) to RGB conversion.This has been set such that lightness has the slowest cycle of conversion, causing the tower  to go from light colours in the lower extremes through to darker colours at the top. Saturation then has a slightly faster cycle than lightness, leaving hue with the fastest cycle.

To appreciate it requires ramping-up draw distances as high as your system can comfortably handle – and this is really worthwhile doing. If you are fortunate enough to have a Space Navigator / joystick which allows you to flycam, I can thoroughly recommend ramping-up draw distance and then flying up the side of Snarl at a relatively slow pace. Watching the curls and twists slowing unfold / pop into view as distinct clumps and then slowly connect to one another, colour washing over them after then have appeared, really does bring home the organic nature of this build.

Snarl - Mac Kanashimi
Snarl – Mac Kanashimi

Do note that when you arrive at Snarl, which rebuilds itself tail-to-top once a day, you will do so at the top, and sans any platform on which to stand. This affords you with the novel (if initially disorienting) experience of falling through the installation, all of the segments of which are phantom, presenting you with a unique “inside” perspective on the build which is worth repeating by flying through it as you examine it.

Snarl is an extraordinary installation, which will remain open through until the end of 2016.

SLurl Details

 

MetaLES at seven in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
MetaLES 7th anniversary retrospect
MetaLES 7th anniversary retrospective

MetaLES, the arts region operated and curated by Ux Hax and Romy Nayar celebrates its seventh anniversary this year, and is marking this achievement with a special retrospective exhibition.

Since its creation, MetaLES has been a mainstay of the arts in Second Life, hosting remarkable installations, a fair number of which I’ve written about in these pages.  These have been designed by some Second Life’s most remarkable and enduring artists, including Alpha Auer, Igor Ballyhoo, Rebeca Bashly, Giovanna Cerise, Cica Ghost, Cherry Manga, Patrick Moya, Bryn Oh, Maya Paris, Betty Tureaud, and Ux and Romy themselves, to name but a few.

MetaLES 7th anniversary retrospect
MetaLES 7th anniversary retrospective

The retrospective presents many of the region’s exhibitions and installations as seen through the eyes of photographer Anita Witt. In typical MetaLES style, the exhibition sits upon a desert-like plain, itself perhaps offering a faint echo of the desert which once surrounded Anita’s own Dryland gallery (itself now gone, but not forgotten).

Above this plain, Anita’s framed photos float, anchored to the ground by rocks, and in places preventing some rocks  drifting off into the sky themselves. Lanterns also rise from some of the rocks, while scattered between them are various objects: here an oversized tea-cup and saucer; there a great stone throne, elsewhere the boxlike form of a piano, and so on, all of which further encourage the visitor to wander and admire the art.

MetaLES 7th anniversary retrospect
MetaLES 7th anniversary retrospective

The images, offered individually or in pairs or small groups, are presented with the name of the installation and the artist responsible for it. For those familiar with the installations staged at MetaLES, it presents a fair trip down memory lane, as well as offering an accessible exhibition for anyone with an interest in in-world art, whether or not they are familiar with MetaLES’ distinguished history.

Congratulations to Ux and Romy on reaching their seventh anniversary, and my best wishes to them both for many more.

SLurl Details

Organic Geometry in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
Organic Geometry - Morlita Quan
Organic Geometry – Morlita Quan

Now open at the Art Gallery the Eye is an exhibition of physical world art by Morlita Quan, entitled Organic Geometry. Presented under her physical world artistic name of MorlitaM, the exhibition presents some 22 images, and is presented with a number of  and several pieces of 3D digital art by Morlita within the exhibition and the gallery entry foyer.

“Inspired by nature,” Morlita says of the exhibit, “This collection tries to show an abstract concept about the beautiful nature’s shapes with a strong touch of the geometry, always guided by the feelings.” Abstract the images may be, but the influence and inspiration of nature is evident within each piece presented here, the majority of which lean towards monochrome, while those incorporating colour do so in a soft, subtle and – dare I say – organic manner.

Organic Geometry - Morlita Quan
Organic Geometry – Morlita Quan

The geometry within the images seems to exist on two levels. On the one, we have very clear geometric inferences: the use of grid lines, the balance of shapes within the images,  division of elements within each image; all of which are immediately apparent. Then there is a more subtle geometry of form and shape, gentle sweeps of line and form, repeated over an over, much like the gentle, organic geometry of the petals on a plant. All of this adds to the depth and captivating beauty of the images.

There are two additional dimensions to this exhibition as well, the first of which is sound.  Morlita is a musician as well as an artist, and is working on the final elements of a noise experiment album. Organic Geometry presents a sound scape through local sounds (not the music stream) which adds further texture to the exhibition. The other element is poetry, a piece, My Gaia, Gaia of My, written by Morlita to accompany the exhibit can be found in the note card introducing it,  which can be received along with Morlita’s biography via the board at the entrance to the gallery.

Organic Geometry - Morlita Quan
Organic Geometry – Morlita Quan

I admit to being a newcomer to Morlita’s work, despite her having exhibited widely in Second Life. I will, however, be keeping an eye out for future exhibitions she mounts.

SLurl Details

UWA: call for Immaterial entries in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
Via UWA
Via UWA

While the Grand challenges came to an end in December 2015, with the awards for Pursue Impossible, the University of Western Australia is still involved in supporting the arts in Second Life, both through the UWA Gallery and through various exhibitions.

Launching the latter, and announced on Friday, June 24th, is IMMATERIAL, with an open invitation for 2D, 3D and machinima artists to enter.

The theme for the exhibition is “Immaterial”, and is described as being about light, shadows, textures, motion, and ideas. The announcement states the theme is intended to::

Highlight the technologies of SL as a medium for creative expression. We especially want work that uses advanced techniques, in addition to objects per se, including but not limited to:

  • Mesh
  • Materials
  • Projected light and shadows
  • Avatar and object motion/animation
  • Advanced scripting/interaction
  • Particles
  • Pathfinding

As this is an exhibition and not a challenge or competition, there is no judging panel and no cash prizes. Instead, all entries will be documented, and an exhibition catalogue will be published on-line as part of the UWA Studies in Virtual Arts (UWA SiVA) journal series.

The deadline for submissions is 23:59 on July 31st 2016 at 11:59 PM SLT, and entries will be displayed in the UWA Gallery as they are received. The exhibition will be on display for at least two months, but calls for entries for subsequent shows may overlap.

General guidelines for entries are:

  • Artists may submit up to one entry each in 3D, 2D, and/or machinima. Collaborations are encouraged, so if you participate as a named collaborator on any entry, you may also submit a separate entry as an individual.
  • Land Impact limit for 3D work is 200. Sound and light emitting objects should be carefully crafted in consideration of other nearby entries. Objects that might impact other nearby entries may have to be placed on a platform to isolate it. In such cases a poster and TP device will be placed in the gallery. Any entry with excessive script lag may be refused or returned for revision.
  • 2D entries should reflect the theme and must be images substantially created in SL. Post-processing (e.g., Photoshop effects) should be kept to a minimum.
  • Machinima entries can be of any length or subject matter as long a they are substantially produced using SL as the primary medium and conform to other criteria listed here. A poster and/or screen shot will be placed in the gallery and in the exhibition catalogue along with a link to the machinima.

For the full entry guidelines, including how to submit your entry, please refer to the UWA Immaterial call for entries.

Good luck to all who enter!

Additional links

Terrygold’s Windows in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
Windows
Windows

Windows is the title of a new exhibition by Italian artist Terrygold, which opens at 13:00 SLT on Monday, June 20th. Located high above the Solo Donna club, home to the Art on Roofs exhibitions (use the teleport board from here to reach the exhibition proper), Windows is another series of Terrygold’s compelling avatar studies, some of which are set within sash window frames, indicating one aspect of the exhibition’s title.

To enjoy the exhibit the most, it is advisable to set your viewer to Ambient Dark (or a similar windlight) on arrival, and also make sure ALM is enabled so you get the full benefit of the projected lights. Instructions on how to do this are provided for Firestorm users at the arrival point, which also contains the first three images in the display.

Windows
Windows

Once your viewer is set, Step on to the brick path. Bordered on either side by hedges, this takes you past four further nude images of the artist. The two on the left feature her standing behind an open window and on a window ledge; both are intimate portraits, casting the onlooker into the role of photographer or lover. The two images on the right present her standing before part of a much larger set – one which the brick path directs you towards.

Here street lamps light the way to the façade of a gaily painted town house, sitting at the end of a “street” whilst window-fronted boxes hand in the dark sky around and over you as you make your way to the entrance to the house, within which sit 17 further new works.

Windows
Windows

The Windows theme takes a slight different here; the images are absent any sign of sash windows, being instead transformed into windows in their own right, each one providing us with just a glimpse of a story within it, or framing a moment in time. Throughout all of them is Terrygold’s trademark use of black and white with just a hint of colour – noticeably red – to capture our attention.

The stories offer here are many in form. Some of this images suggest purely artistic nuances, other sway towards the sensual, while some are openly erotic. Tacchi Cherry (literally “Cherry Heels”, seen above, left) is actually quite startling in the charged eroticism it carries; while alongside of it, Orologio (Clock) is equally startling in its layered meaning of our relationship with time – and its mastery over us.

Windows
Windows

Available to buy, each of the images here is bound to catch your attention, marking this as another superb exhibit  by and outstanding photographer. Windows formally opens at 13:00 SLT, as noted above, and will remain open through until Sunday, July 10th. Recommended.

SLurl Details

When art and stories combine in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
Stories at the Park - Holly Kai Park
Stories at the Park – Holly Kai Park

Sunday, June 5th saw the second of Holly Kai Park’s series Stories at the Park, which is run in partnership with Seanchai Library.

Presented by Seanchai Library, Stories at the Park is held alongside each of our Art at the Park exhibitions, and offers writers and poets the opportunity to produce stories and / or poems based on any of the art on display by our Visiting Artists at Holly Kai Park.

Writes are invited to produce a 100-word story (known as a “drabble”), or a poem of up to 100 words on any of the displayed art which inspires them. The collected stories and poems are then read, either by the original author or a member of the Seanchai Library team (if you prefer not to speak on voice) during the Stories at the Park exhibition, which is generally run mid-way through the current Art at the Park exhibition.

The event on June 5th featured Caledonia Skytower, Trolley Trollop and Kayden Oconnell reading stories and poems they and Rosedrop Rust (who was unable to attend the reading due to work commitments) had written to the works of our Invited Artists for the May / June exhibition, Ceakay Ballyhoo, Eleseren Brianna, JudiLynn India, Lantana Silverweb, Slatan Dryke and SisterButta.

The authors  have graciously given us permission to reprint their works in the Holly Kai blog for those unable to attend the event, and this post is to encourage readers of this blog to follow the links below to have a read.

To make things easier, the stories and poems have been split by artist, and each piece is presented with an image of the painting or work which inspired it. In addition, some of the works include an audio recording of the reading for your additional enjoyment:

Holly Kai Park - Stories at the Park and Art at the Park
Holly Kai Park – Stories at the Park and Art at the Park

As things got a little delayed with this session of Stories at the Park, the current exhibition will remain open at Holly Kai Park through until Sunday June 19th – so please do visit and see all of the works displayed by our visiting artists and see the images which inspired these stories and poems first-hand.

Calling writers and storytellers

If you would like to participate in Stories at the Park by submitting one (or more!) stories and / or poems for the next session in July, Please contain either myself or Caledonia Skytower in world for information on what to do. You don’t have to read your finished works yourself if you don’t want to – the folk at Seanchai Library can do that for you – but of course, you’re also more than welcome to read your works if you enjoy doing so.

Our next exhibition at Holly Kai Park will not be starting until early July, so as not to clash with events like SL13B and the RFL of SL weekend (and to allow us to complete some further renovations at the Park!). We’ll of course let those participating in the next Stories at the Park know both the date of the event and when the next exhibition is available for viewing as soon as our artists have set-up.

In the meantime, please enjoy the stories and poems linked to above!