Category: Art in Second Life

Friend and artist GoodCross recently opened a gallery of his own – and my sincere apologies to him for getting to this post later than intended. For it’s inaugural exhibition, The Good Days features Immersed by Hills (Hillany Schofield).

“Immersed is  an exhibition about the duality of being an insular individual in a world of contexts, interests, opinions, rules,” Hills says of the exhibit. “Whether it is the so-called ‘real life’ or this, our ‘second life’.”

Around the walls of the gallery space are nine large format monochromatic pieces  depicting uniform female mannequins all striking very similar poses to one another, with the exception of one individual, who is in a strikingly different pose. In a tenth image, which adds a subtle splash of colour, the single figure of an avatar hangs in repose, floating over the floor. Finally, over the central area of the gallery, a slowly rotating box displays two monochrome and two colour images of avatars, either alone or posing before the mannequin-like figures.

The juxtaposition of individuality and living within a world of contexts is clearly expressed in each image; the individual or contrasting figures in each piece a manifestation of the former, the groupings of mannequins presenting the latter.  “We find safety, community and acceptance,” Hills says of our desire to find context among peers, the similarities expressed by the mannequins, “But we also stumble, fall, feel trapped and isolated.”

“So what do we do? We break out, we question ourselves, we go back with the flow. Or we try to dance away the pain.” And thus the individual figures express these latter responses – as do visitors to Immersed. To enter the exhibition space, we must walk between the mannequins, becoming the expression of the individual in their world of contexts, opinions and rules.

Immersed will remain at The Good Days through most of March, with GoodCross planning to hold monthly exhibits in the gallery.

SLurl Details

• The Good Days (Rated: moderate)

Black Box is the title of a new exhibition by Italian artist Terrygold, which opened on Sunday, March 13th, 2016. Located high above the Solo Donna club, home to the Art on Roofs series, Black Box is a compelling series, further enhancing Terrygold’s reputation as an artist with a considered eye for composition, nuance, framing and narrative in her work.

Following on from Ceramic Dolls (reviewed here) and Onirica (reviewed here), Black Box shares some aspects with the previous exhibitions, notably Onirica, whilst presenting new images and models, with the exhibition space itself very much as part of the overall installation in tone and form.

To appreciate Black Box in its fullest, it is essential you have Advanced Lighting Model (ALM) enabled through your graphics preferences. It is not required that you have Shadows enabled as well (which tends to be the heavy hitter when it comes to performance degradation); but as the exhibition space makes use of projected lights, ALM really is essential in order to gain the deepest exposure to the exhibit. Ambient Dark is also the recommended windlight setting.

As with Onirica, the visitor is led through a series of rooms (initially by a blue line on the floor), each of which offers 2D or 3D art (or a mix of both) created by Terrygold, finely lit using projectors, and each piece evocative in its own right. As with Onirica, elements of the exhibition space also form backdrops or elements within some of the images displayed, making for something of an almost recursive experience when appreciating those images. Also like Onirica, passage from one room to the next is, on a couple of occasions, through an element of the displayed art, again adding depth to the exhibition.

With her work, Terrygold always presents a fine eye towards the use of black and white and the inclusion of colour. This was much in evidence in both Ceramic Dolls and Onirica, and is so again with Black Box; and if anything the subtle ebb and flow of colour through the images brings an additional vibrancy to the pieces displayed here, whilst presenting Black Box almost as the third part or a continuing chapter in a series which perhaps commenced with Ceramic Dolls.

As well as ensuring you have ALM and a suitable windlight when viewing Black Box, be sure to came around carefully –   there are places where you’ll need to cam up to catch everything.

All told, Black Box is another exquisite blending of 2D and 3D and environment,  one which comes highly recommended, and which will remain open through until Sunday, April 3rd.

SLurl Details

• Black Box (Rated:  Moderate)

Opening Sunday, March 13th, 2016 at 14:00 SLT is the inaugural exhibition at a new Second Life gallery. The Edge Gallery,is the latest addition to the Windlight Magazine family, forming a part of the magazine’s The Edge brand managed by  Eleseren Brianna.

The Edge is the fashion division of Windlight Magazine, with a focus on the artistic and cultural side of fashion in both Second Life and the physical world. Eleseren, an accomplished Second Life model and designer and the 2015 Miss Virtual World, serves as both editor for The Edge and curator of The Edge Gallery.

The inaugural display brings together artwork by Honey Bender, Wicca Merlin, Danity Mynx, Tempest Rosca, Miele Tarantal and Joanne Vuitton. Many of the images are original pieces by the artists, and are presented in a variety of mediums.

The Edge Gallery is a clean, modern design, reflective of its purpose to showcase fashion-focused art, and the opening will be marked with a performance by live singer  Saintess Laria at 14:00 SLT on March 13th. The exhibition runs through until April 23rd, 2016.

SLurl Details

• The Edge Gallery (Rated:  Moderate)