Category: Art in Second Life

Singapore to be Lit Up by Second Life machinima

Posted on by Inara Pey

Lit Up logoLit Up Singapore is an annual international literature festival held in Singapore, organised by Word Forward and The Writers Centre, Singapore Ltd. Founded in 2009, the festival features writers and performers from around the world who come together to celebrate literature, story telling, the spoken word as performance art, and more.

Second Life storyteller Singh Albatros contacted me about Lit Up 2016, which is set to include a unique collaboration between himself and four noted Second Life Machinima makers, something which may open the door for closer ties between The Writers Centre in Singapore and Second Life.

Following the successful UWA 3d Art and  Machinima Challenge, Pursue Impossible, the organisers of Lit Up have invited the makers of the top three winning machinima films – Kobuk Farshore, Tutsy Navarathna and the team of Lilia Artis and Haveit Neox – to each produce a short machinima film based on Singh’s poems and micro-fictions.

Kobuk Farshore, Tutsy Navarathna and the team of Lilia Artis and Haveit Neox have all been invited to collaborate in making films
Kobuk Farshore, Tutsy Navarathna and the team of Lilia Artis and Haveit Neox have all been invited to collaborate in making films to be shown at Lit Up Singapore 2016

“We are delighted the artists have accepted the invitation and commission,” Singh told me. Better known in the physical world as respected storyteller Chris Mooney-Singh, he is the festival’s Artistic Director, and recently his verse novel Foreign Madam and the White Yogi was highly commended in the prestigious Victorian Premier’s Literature Award’s Unpublished Fiction category.

He continued, “We’ll be conferring further with all four after the holiday period, and as Writer in Residence at The Writers Centre Singapore, I am excited to see how these top artists each interpret my work; it will be a fascinating project, and something unique: debuting a virtual collaboration for a physical world festival.”

Chris Mooney sigh, Writer in Residence at The Writers do and Artistic Director for Lit up 2016, will be providing material upon which the three films will be based
Chris Mooney-Singh, Writer in Residence at The Writers Centre and Artistic Director for Lit up 2016, together with his digital alter ego, Singh Albatros

“These diversely talented machinima makers have each been offered a commission to create something for a cutting edge live literature digital arts festival in Singapore,” Lit Up’s media contact, Rahimah Rasith, said of the invitation, when announcing the news on December 16th, 2015.

“In a sense we feel we have been passed the torch by the UWA’s Art Challenge director Jay Jay Zifanwe and the University of Western Australia in forging a creative alliance,” she continued. “Following UWA’s lead we hope to execute other in-world events and stream them live to Facebook.”

If there are sufficient funds available, it is hoped that the festival will be able to fly all four of the machinima artists involved in the collaboration to the 2016 event in November 2016, where they will be able to meet with members of the Writers Centre and with Chris, in addition to seeing their films premiered at the festival and participate in panel discussions on the relationship between virtual art and the physical world.

Kobuk Farshore’s winning entry in the UWA’s MachinimUWA VIII: Pursue Impossible – one of the prize winners offered a commission for Lit Up 2016

This could be the start of an exciting new collaborative effort between art and media spanning the physical and digital worlds, and I look forward to covering this project, and any developments which spin out from it, in the future. In the meantime, I extend my thanks to Singh for contacting me about the project, and extend my congratulations to the four machinima makers.

Tarot mysteries in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
Escenas / Scenes: The Death
Escenas / Scenes: The Death

Scene IV – The Death is the title of the fourth and final part of Ux Hax and Romy Nayar’s 4-part series of scenes entitled Escenas / Scenes, now open at MetaLES. Taken together, all four parts are apparently intended to tell a story, although they are not necessarily being presented in chronological sequence – and the first, second and third parts have certainly been intriguing, with their rich influences of the major arcana from the tarot.

This tarot theme continues, and is perhaps most evident in this final scene, which is subtitled The future dawns, the loneliness will be difficult for us – although how we construct a story from it might well be down to each of us to determine. As with the first three parts of the series, this piece is on a truly gigantic scale; something which quickly becomes apparent on arrival, where you find yourself standing on top of a huge table, complete with an equally large bowl of fruit and two toppled goblets. But these draw the attention only briefly; it is the individuals around or near the table which capture and hold the eye.

Escenas / Scenes: The Death
Escenas / Scenes: The Death

Sitting to one side of the table is Death, skull covered by a cowl, left arm outstretched, on which sits our friend, the crow, messenger of the underworld. Resting her hand lightly on that of Death, and seated alongside him, is a woman dressed in a bridal gown and veil, a goblet of wine delicately held in her other hand.

At the head of the table, helping himself to a bunch of grapes is the Devil, whom we originally encountered in the second part of this series. On the table in fromt of him lie the other cards of the major arcana previously seen in Escena / Scenes – the Hermit, the Chariot, the Scales of Justice, the Wheel of Fortune,  the Fool and the Tower. Facing the Devil, and standing at the far end of the table, stands Temperance, pouring forth another goblet of wine.

Escenas / Scenes: The Death
Escenas / Scenes: The Death

Of all the characters here, only the veiled woman might seem a little out-of-place. At least until one considers the High Priestess of the tarot. Originally called La Papessa, or “The Popess”, a woman shown in papal gowns, and a triregnum. Later, it became the High Priestess, and catholic influences removed, to be replaced with more subtle hints – the pillars of Boaz and Jachin, which also have symbolism within freemasonry, and between which the High Priestess is usually depicted as sitting.

In this tableau, it would seem the bridal gown might be symbolic of La Popessa, and the idea of the church as the “bride” of Christ, echoing the more catholic elements of the early tarot, which the tall candelabras standing either side of the chairs on which she and Death sit  might be seen as symbolic of the pillars of Boaz and Jachin. There is also, perhaps, something else here: a subtle inference of the relationship between religion and death.

Escenas / Scenes: The Death
Escenas / Scenes: The Death

So what are we to make of all of this, the four scenes taken together? One possible interpretation might be that taken as a whole, this could be seen as a commentary on our relationship with death: the one aspect of the tarot which has been present throughout, if not always visible until this point in time. His is a presence which can be seen is the old woman’s struggles to escape the hole in EL Tiempo / The Time: in the presence of the Hanged Man himself in Decisiones / Decisions: and the vanishing / materialising cradle in El Miedo / The Fear. They are images which remind us that Death is ever-present, and can call on us at any time.

Hence the use of the tarot, and the religious symbolism such as the allusion to the church through the High Priestess and the boxed presence of what appears to be a set of rosary beads on the table. Through the one, we attempt to divine our fate, and through the other, we seek comfort from our fear of death. Yet the fact remains, Death is always our companion; never seen, but always present, playing our fates like a deck of cards. And thus he presides at this table, and through the unfolding tableaux Ux and Romy have presented.

But that’s just one idea; you might well see things differently.

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Art at the Park: six talents in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
Holly Kai Park: Art at the Park
Holly Kai Park: Art at the Park

As I recently reported, Art at the Park, located at Holly Kai Park, re-opened on Thursday, December 17th, 2015 with an exhibition featuring six very talented individuals, some of whom you may be familiar with through their art, and some may be somewhat new to you, given they haven’t widely exhibited their work in-world. They are:  Boudicca Amat, Kess Crystal, Jaydn Firehawk, Johannes1977 Resident, Nico Time and CioTToLiNa Xue.

The re-launch of Art at the Park has been a personal project for me, as regular readers will know, having been asked to take over curating the park’s art events by estate owner Nber Medici. As such, when it comes to previewing this exhibition. Given this, rather than writing a review of the exhibit itself, I thought I’d offer some thoughts on why I wanted these particular six people to be a part of this inaugural exhibition for the re-launch.

Boudicca Amat
Boudicca Amat

Since its original inception in 2008, Art in the Garden / Art at the Park (to give the programme its original and continuing titles) has tended to offer a mix of art from photographers and artists in SL on a rotating basis, with special events added to the mix. In taking over the role of curator, this was very much something I wanted to continue, and it will hopefully be the hallmark of exhibitions and shows at Holly Kai Park going forward.

As a part of reworking the Park, Nber and I also agreed that we wanted to try to focus as much on artists and photographers who may not be “regulars” on the SL exhibition circuit as much as those who might be regarded as “established” exhibiting artists. This decision also played a role in the selection of these six people for the re-opening exhibition.

Kess Crystal
Kess Crystal

This latter point is why I’m especially thrilled that Boudicca Amat and Kess Crystal accepted invitations to display their work at Holly Kai. Both are extraordinary talents in art and photography, but neither has particularly sought to offer their work for in-world exhibition – and i personally feel that SL’s art and photography scene is the poorer for it as a result. I’m sure anyone who has seen either Boudicca’s Flickr stream or Kess’ Flickr stream will agree.

Both ladies present very different styles, and somewhat different approaches to their work, but the end results are unmistakable in the deep of narrative and emotive power evident in their finished pieces. I’ve always found the studies they each produce to be deeply compelling because of this, as well as deeply admiring their individual techniques and skills in developing their images. I also really hope we’ll get to see more of their work in galleries across Second Life.

Johannes1977 Resident
Johannes1977 Resident

Johannes1977 “John” Resident is well-known in the art community as an artist, photographer and entrepreneur. His work has been widely displayed in Second Life and can be found on his Flickr stream and at his in-world gallery.

I first encountered John’s work at Angel Manor, where he was exhibiting a series of images he took while on deployment with the US Marines (in which he is a serving officer). Since then, I’ve never ceased to be drawn to his work, wherever it is displayed. His range of styles and approaches is such that any series of pieces his produces tends to be completely fresh and original in and of itself – as demonstrated in his display at Holly Kai Park, which features six images of his mother’s beloved Germany, which are dedicated to her memory.

Jadyn Firehawk
Jadyn Firehawk

Jaydn Firehawk and Nico Time are two Second Life photographers I’ve admired for a good while, and as such, very much wanted to feature them at Holly Kai Park.

Jadyn’s work covers both the physical world and Second Life, and as she notes in her biography, is often informed by her disability, which she notes has bestowed a mantle of intensity in the way she sees the world. At Holly Kai, she presents two sets of studies to visitors:one in colour, the other in moncohrome. Both demonstrate that photography from the physical world can and does translate into the virtual as a means of artistic study. Be sure to visit her in-world gallery.

Continue reading “Art at the Park: six talents in Second Life” →

Announcing Art at the Park: Dec 2015 – Jan 2016

Posted on by Inara Pey

blog header

The following is taken from the Holly Kai Park blog:

The first in the new series of Art at the Park exhibitions opens at Holly Kai Park at 12:00 SLT on Thursday, December 17th, 2015, and will run through until Sunday, February 7th, 2016.

The exhibition features the work of six Second Life artists and photographers who between them offer a rich and diverse approach to virtual art: Boudicca Amat, Kess Crystal, Jaydn Firehawk, Johannes1977 Resident, Nico Time and CioTToLiNa Xue.

To mark this inaugural event of the new programme, there will be a special gala reception on Sunday, December 20th, 2015, featuring the music of Erin68 Frog. This will commence at 12:00 noon at The Pavilion, and formal attire is requested. Further details will be pushed in this blog in due course.

About the Artists

Boudicca Amat

BA - selfie - coloured 512x512“I make pictures. I hope you will like them,” is how Boudicca Amat disarmingly describes her work.

It’s a description which hides a remarkable talent for the visual and creative process which results in truly remarkable pieces of art – as anyone who has seen her Flickr stream will be only too aware.

Mixing original images with those inspired by classical artists or artistic styles, Boudicca’s work is painstaking in its composition, encompassing everything from developing poses through backdrop design, costume and accessory sourcing, building, camera placement, the shooting process, post processing, through to finished item. It’s a process which takes days but which yields incredible images, and it all originates from an initial idea which might take weeks to germinate before she’s ready to begin the process of turning the idea into a finished piece.

Art at the Park marks the first public exhibition of Boudicca’s work, and we’re pleased and honoured she accepted the invitation be a part of this exhibit, and hope that this exhibition will be the first of many for her.

Kess Crystal

Kess Profile 512The multi-talented Kess Crystal has been involved in Second Life since 2009. She is the owner of !Exodus! Rock Club, which will be celebrating it’s sixth anniversary in 2016, and she is also the Marketing and PR Manager for MadPea Games.

Kess has been an active SL photographer for some two years now, and is entirely self-taught. She focuses primarily on avatar photography, noting that “Second Life avatars are beautiful and the options are numerous; but behind each one is a person with thoughts and feelings and I try to capture some of what is going on for me personally behind the screen in each of my pictures.” The results are stunning, as can be seen from her Flickr stream and her blog.

Holly Kai Park also marks the first time Kess has been a part of a public exhibition of Second Life photography and art – we hope that it won’t be the last.

Jaydn Firehawk

Jadyn FirehawkA professional geographer and an amateur photographer, Jaydn was born in the Philippines and raised in the United States, where she has lived and worked in numerous locations: Quezon City in the Chicago area, up-state New York, central Connecticut, San Francisco, Santa Barbara, Berkeley, Washington DC and New Jersey. She now resides in central Texas.

Jaydn’s photography, which can be seen at her in-world gallery, is informed by her training as a geographer and by the fact she suffers from bipolar disorder, which she notes has bestowed a mantle of intensity in the way she sees the world.

Jaydn’s disability has also given rise to her founding the Pixel To Pixel Foundation, which matches donors and sponsors with people in Second Life with genuine disabilities, providing the latter with a small weekly stipend of Linden Dollars to help them with their SL time. You can find out more about Pixel To Pixel through this article.

Johannes1977 Resident

Johannes ResidentJohannes1977 Resident, better known to his friends as John, is a veritable powerhouse in Second Life. His art has been displayed widely in-world, he is the founder of Windlight Magazine, operating both the Windlight Art Gallery and sponsoring the UWA Art Gallery. He is also a member of the Linden Endowment for the Arts Advisory Board.

In 2015, John co-founded Team Diabetes in Second Life in 2015, officially representing and supporting the American Diabetes Association. And if all this weren’t enough, he is also a DJ and club owner!

In the physical world, John serves as an officer in the United States Marines, and has been deployed to Iraq twice and once to Afghanistan. While on deployment, he would take photograph as a means of documenting his view of the wars in both Iraq and Afghanistan, some of which have been featured in exhibitions in-world.

For Art at the Park, John presents The German Collection, a set of images of his mother’s beloved Germany, which he dedicates to her memory.

Nico Time

NicoNico describes himself as a Second Life explorer and an audiophile who enjoys the amazing scenery and mesh fashions found across the platform, as well as the music scene and getting to meet people from all over the world.

His love of Second lie is evident throughout his photography (and his videos), which can be found on his Flickr stream. Nico’s work has also been celebrated in-world at a number of exhibitions and galleries.

“I’m always taking pictures here and there along the way,” Nico says of his work, “Because some of the things I see you just wouldn’t believe!”

CioTToLiNa Xue

Ciottolina XueCioTToLiNa has been involved in Second Life for almost seven years. A 24-year-old university student of veterinary medicine in Italy, she is disarmingly modest about her SL times and her growing interest in artistic expression.

With no prior graphics or 3D modelling experience, she has been learning both over the course of the last six months, and the sculptures and paintings presented at Holly Kai Park are a testament to how much she has already achieved, although she modestly feels she has much to learn, her time mostly taken up with her veterinary studies.

CioTToLiNa’s sculptures can sometimes be found among the art at the Art on Roofs exhibition area, and in August / September 2015, she displayed some of her work at Inara Pey’s Impressions exhibition at LEA-6. Art at the Park marks her further major exhibition with other Second Life artists, and her sculptures can be found throughout the park, both among the 2D artist display decks,along the boat moorings and near to the parkland paths and trails.

 

We’re sure these talented artists will offer something for everyone visiting Holly Kai Park during December and January, and we look forward to seeing you there as well.

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Pursue Impossible: celebrating art and machinima in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
Image courtesy of UWA
Image courtesy of UWA / Eliza Wierwight

 

On Sunday, December 13th, 2015, the Grand Finale of the University Of Western Australia’s (UWA) Pursue Impossible was held at the impressive UWA-BOSL Grand Amphitheatre. During the event, over L$500,000 was awarded in prizes to artists, machinima makers and those who took part in the audience participation competitions. The last in an impressive line of grand challenges organised under the umbrella of the UWA, the event was a very special celebration of artistic expression in Second Life.

Pursue Impossible took its theme from the UWA’s clarion call to students in the physical world to achieve their fullest possible potential by studying with the university. For artists and machinima makers it sought to have them consider what their “impossible” might be – personal, part of their lives or those they know, or a consideration of the things we deem to be impossible, but which yet be overcome, or illustrations of how the virtual encourages us to reach beyond the possible, etc.

The Grand Finale was hosted by the UWA’s Jayjay Zifanwe, with the UWA’s art curator, FreeWee Ling also on hand to announce the special Curator’s awards in both the art and machinima categories.

Opening the event, Jayjay said:

Today brings to an end the 6th year of the major art challenges at UWA, with 59 artworks by 61 different artists (2 entries were collaborations) in the running for the 3D Art Challenge and 43 machinima for MachinimUWA VIII: PURSUE IMPOSSIBLE.

As announced on the web previously, this winners ceremony also marks the end of the yearly cycles of major art and film challenges at UWA. UWA still remains, the UWA Art Gallery still remains, and is in fact renewed, as FreeWee will take the helm fully when it comes to art, without me meddling, and we have a new partner for art as well, as the Main UWA Gallery will be renamed the Windlight-UWA Gallery as Windlight Magazine will be providing support for the art initiatives that FreeWee will run in 2016. Much thanks to Johannes1977 for helping to make this happen.

It’s been an absolute pleasure for me to work with all of you over the course of these challenges, and over the years, and especially to those who went above and beyond the call of duty to make all of this a success. Thank you FreeWee Ling, curator of art at UWA & RL Honorary Fellow at UWA. Thank you LaPiscean Liberty, co-host for MachinimUWA VIII, champion of machinima of Second Life. Also much thanks to those who have provided support and sponsorship which sees the overall prize pool standing at more than L$500,000 across both art and machinima.

Audience Participation Awards

There was a total prize pool of L$82,000 for the audience participation challenge, split equally between the 3D art and machinima categories. This saw members of the public invited to submit invited to what they thought the top 10 items in either or both of the categories would be, as decided by the Pursue Impossible adjudicating panel. In all 5 cash prizes were on offer, ranging from L$5,000 to L$12,000 in each category.

Prize 3D Art Audience Participation Machinima Audience Participation
1st Prize L$12,000 Lalie Sorbet Karima Hoisan
2nd Prize L$10,000 Elle Thorkveld Lalie Sorbet
3rd Prize L$8,000 Morituna Watanabe Pearl Grey
4th Prize L$6,000 Pearl Grey Zakali
5th Prize L$6,000 Lira Savira / Vivian Shan (L$2,500 ea) MAagicfairy Merlin

Art Awards

Note that SLurls are given with the titles of all winning pieces, and all the entries into the Pursue Impossible 3D art challenge can still be viewed at the UWA art gallery.

There were no fewer than four 10th places winners, all tied on a total of 16 points from the judge’s selections. The four winners each received a L$1,250 prize and were:

Mistero Hifeng: "Dream", one of the 10th place winners in the UWA's Grand Art Challenge Pursue Impossible
Mistero Hifeng: “Dream“, one of the 10th place winners in the UWA’s Grand Art Challenge Pursue Impossible

The ninth through seventh place prizes, all of L$5,000 each, were awarded to:

Due to a 5th place tie, there was no award for sixth place.

Sharni Azalee 0 PLANET: Earth; RACE: Human
Sharni Azalee: “RACE: Human – PLANET: Earth“, 9th place winner, in the UWA’s Grand Art Challenge Pursue Impossible

The top five winners were::

The Bridge by Alpha Auer - the 1st place winner in the UWA's Pursue Impossible Grand Art Challenge
The Bridge by Alpha Auer – the 1st place winner in the UWA’s Pursue Impossible Grand Art Challenge

UWA Special Prize and UWA Curator’s Choice Prize

In addition to the prizes above, the Pursue Impossible 3D Art Challenge featured three additional awards: the UWA Special Prize and the UWA Curator’s Choice Prize, and Jayjay’s Personal Choice prize, which was awarded to mark the conclusion of the Grand Art Challenges and the fact that since they were conceived in 2009, Jayjay has never had the opportunity to vote on any entries other than as a member of the adjudicating panel. These were awarded as follows:

Continue reading “Pursue Impossible: celebrating art and machinima in Second Life” →

UWA Pursue Impossible Grand Finale: the end of an era in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
The UWA-BOSL Grand Amphitheatre
The UWA-BOSL Grand Amphitheatre

The Grand Finale of the University of Western Australia’s Pursue Impossible 3D art and machinima challenge will take place on Sunday, December 13th, 2015 – and you can be a part of the audience.

The event will be held at the UWA-BOSL Grand Amphitheatre, starting at 06:00 SLT, when the winners, as determined by the judges, in both the 3D art and the machinima categories will be announced.

The challenge took its theme from the UWA’s clarion call to students in the physical world to achieve their fullest possible potential by studying with the university. For artists and machinima makers it sought to have them consider what their “impossible” might be – personal, part of their lives or those they know, or a consideration of the things we deem to be impossible, but which yet be overcome, or illustrations of how the virtual encourages us to reach beyond the possible….

Pursue Impossible - Frankx Lefarve: Child of Light
Pursue Impossible – Frankx Lefarve: Child of Light

There have been some amazing entries in both the art and machinima elements of the challenge, as I hope my coverage of Pursue Impossible n these pages demonstrates.

The awards are open to public attendance, with 59  artworks and 45 machinima in the running for a share of the L$500,000+ prize pool, as well as L$41,000 in prizes available to those who entered the Audience participation Challenge to try to match the top 10 entries as defined by the adjudicating panel (of which I am a member).

However, this will also be a grand finale in another way as well, as it signals the end of the international 3D art & film challenges which have been run in Second Life by the UWA since 2009.  While the UWA will continue within Second Life, and Freewee Ling will continue to run art events as she has over the years, major UWA events in the future will be dependent upon funding being made available.

So, please help make this a very special set of awards, and come along to the UWA-BOSL Grand Amphitheatre.

If you’d like to tour the 3D art pieces entered into Pursue Impossible, you can find a complete list of entries with landmarks on the UWA blog. Similarly, links to all of the machinima entries can also be found on the UWA blog.

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