Opening at 12:00 noon SLT on Tuesday, April 7th 2015, at The Living Room, is a new exhibition of art by Whim (Whimsical Aristocrat), which will run through until the end of the month.
Whimsically Naked comprises – as part of the title implies – a series of nude studies featuring Whim and her models in a variety of carefully posed setting and lighting conditions – which may make the exhibit slightly NSFW.
“Given the time and money I expend on buying clothes in SL, the choice to photograph subjects without clothes might indeed appear a bit whimsical,” Whim notes, in reference to the other half of the exhibit’s title.
“I have long been an admirer of artistic nude photography, and with advances in the lighting model and avatar appearance I feel the technical barriers between creation of realistic art nude images in second life and in that other life are collapsing. This creates the opportunity for me to explore the interplay of posed bodies with careful lighting, creating artistic images portraying emotional states.”
The result is a display mixing colour and monochrome images, primarily of women, but with a couple also featuring the male form. All are striking in execution and presentation, and do indeed underline the narrowing boundary between what can be achieved photographically using models in-world and what can similarly be achieved in the physical world.
Whim notes that having a strong emotional content in her images is of key import to her, and that she’ll use the tools available to her in order to express emotion and engagement within many of her images. Looking at those presented within this exhibit, it is fair to say the emotional content in them is undeniable; as is the power each image has to capture not just a moment or pose in time, but an entire story.
Lazarus Doghouse will be on-hand at the opening of Whimsically Naked, and The Living Room will be presenting a number of events throughout April as well:
I recently had the opportunity to visiting a couple of galleries within Second Life which are owned and operated by two talented individuals who use them to display their own unique artwork.
The Shifting Waves Gallery is operated by Masquerade Snowbear, and comprises two linked skyboxes. The first of these presents Masquerade’s work over two levels – the lower “ground” level, and an upper mezzanine reached by a single open frame wooden stair case; the second is a large single level space around the walls of which Masquerade’s more recent work is displayed.
“I make my art for everyone, not a particular age or clique,” Masquerade says of his work, “I want everyone to enjoy some aspect of my art and hope its seen by everyone.”
His art very much reflects this view, covering as it does a wide range of subjects and styles, rather than focusing on one or two particular areas. This means that as you wander through the gallery, you’ll come across landscapes, portraits, still life pieces, ocean front pictures, indoor studies, and so on, each one of them beautifully finished and presented in a way that not only catches the eye, but draws the observer right into it.
Post-processing features large in Masquerade’s work, and to good effect. The pictures here have all be variously worked on such that each one is truly unique; some retain much of the look and feel of a photograph – in some cases perhaps an ageing photo – while others have the look and feel of a painting, be it watercolour or oil. All of them are enticing, and some are quite haunting in their beauty; during my visit, I found it hard to pull myself away from Shadopan Monastery, such is the ethereal beauty within it.
All of the pieces in the gallery are available to buy, and are very modestly priced; any one of them would be sure to grace any home.
Spiral Silverstar’s art is altogether of a different kind, although no less captivating than Masquerades, and he presents it within his own art space, The Spiral Art Gallery. A long-term Second Life resident, Spiral’s work encompasses 2D and 3 D art and machinima, and he often participates in art competitions and challenges in all three mediums.
For those who, like me, enjoy fractal art, his gallery space offers a special treat, as within it one can find traditional fractal art, fractal kaleidoscope art, moving, layered fractal art, 3D fractals and more, all presented in a light, airy space, utilising a building design by Yumok Latte which is popular among gallery owners.
All of the pieces on display here have their individual beauty, and most feature some form of motion, be it pattern-based, layered, or both. Unsurprisingly, but nonetheless quite beautifully, some of the pieces take you deep into traditional Mandelbrot forms, their patterns at times taking a hypnotic hold over the observer. Other pieces offer Droste effects which are again quite amazing in their complexity and execution, while still others offer quite marvellous scenes which verge on the surreal or the abstract in the most amazing ways.
Spiral offers his pieces for sale, again at very modest prices; so much so that those with a deep passion for fractal art could well find themselves repeatedly dipping into their account balances!
In addition, just across the plaza from the main gallery, Spiral has his “Freebies and Bargains” gallery. This offers a number of Spiral’s fractal pieces for sale at – as the name suggests – bargain prices, and a series of animated GIFs which are free to people wishing to take one home.
All told, both Shifting Waves Gallery and The Spiral Art Gallery offer visitors the opportunity to see (and purchase) pieces by two of SL’s finest artists, and both made for an enjoyable and eye-catching visit, so be sure to add them to your list!
Now open through until the end of the month at Max Butoh’s wonderful Dathúil gallery, is an exhibition by Yannick Whoa entitled My Way of Beauty. Featuring a collection of 29 images of people from within Second Life (including a self-portrait just inside the entrance to the gallery), My Way of Beauty presents a series of images that are both a captivating and enigmatic in nature.
The easiest way to explain the exhibition is to quote Yannick directly:
What you see here is how I see my world. I look into people’s faces and find beauty. As a photographer I’m trying to capture this beauty. Often the mystery of that beauty is in the eyes of the model…
For me someone’s beauty is always just a mirroring effect of the way someone thinks or feels. So when I see someone beautiful maybe I just see something that touches me and makes me feel for a person.
It is this idea that someone’s beauty can reflect something within them and lead us towards an empathic response (rather than – for want of a better term – a purely hormonal reaction) which is the first thing to make this exhibition captivating.
Many of us work hard to refine our avatars, sculpting them, creating a desired look, and so on, that in doing so we’re actually defining ourselves through them. Thus, their beauty, how they are or can be perceived may well resonate with others in ways that might not consciously occur us during that process of creation and refinement; so you might say they become the digital windows to our souls – and it is this which almost hauntingly forms the essence of Yannick’s images.
Each image is beautifully crafted in terms of the camera angle, lighting, and so on; I’ve no idea how many may have been posed or how many might be the result of “genuine” on-the-fly moments – the happenstance turning of the camera to find a subject poised in the frame and then capturing the moment before it is lost. I suspect all of them are more the former than the latter, but this is hardly important. What is captured in each of the pictures is more than a moment in time or a choreographed image; it is a story.
And that’s the enigma also present in each these pictures; we have no idea who any of the subjects are (unless we have happened upon them ourselves and thus recognise them through friendship or acquaintanceship). Nor do we have any description or title to any of the framed images which might otherwise guide our thinking around them.
Thus, each will speak differently to each person who studies it (something, one might say, is also a reflection of the old adage, “beauty is in the eye of the beholder”); the story it tells will be unique for each of us. Nevertheless, it is there; a narrative which seems to start most often with the eyes – themselves often the focal point for Yannick when framing an image – and permeates the entire image, drawing us in and eliciting that empathic response.
Yannick notes that we all have a different measure by which to assess beauty, and he’s right – again, the old adage about eyes, beauty and beholders returns to mind. But looking at the images displayed at Dathúil, it is hard not to see the many layers of beauty in each of them. In this respect, I’d venture to suggest that his observation that some might feel him “shallow” for focusing on beauty over inner qualities is unfounded; rather, it is hard not to see the depth of perception and revelation his images both contain and evoke.
As noted at the top of this article, My Way of Beauty is open through until the end of the month, and should not be missed.
Wednesday, April 1st saw the opening on Giovanna Cerise’s installation Line, located on Franz Markstein’s region of Otium. A full sim installation Line is a symbiotic piece within the region, offering a means to appreciate Giovanna’s art in an original setting, whilst also – if you’ve not done so previously – exploring the beautiful setting of Otium itself.
Line presents numerous elements of Giovanna’s art in both 2D and 3D, at least one of which is interactive. These are located both indoors and outside, where you’ll encounter them along footpaths, in doorways, on terraces and further out from Otium’s charming village, along the beach or over the water.
Line: Giovanna Cerise
The focus of the exhibit is an exploration of the concept of the line, perhaps the simplest expression of artistic intent; one which, as it is drawn, painted or created, might lead anywhere. As Giovanna notes in her introduction to the installation, there is a depth and freedom hidden within the line, whether it is expressed in two or three dimensions – and, in the case of some of the works on display here, through a melding of 2D images to create a 3D piece.
All of the pieces found throughout the village and the region are available for purchase, and those familiar with Giovanna’s work may find some of them familiar, having been featured in previous exhibitions she has presented in Second Life. Their presence here helps to lend a sense of familiarity to the village for those who have not previously visited, as corners are turned or buildings entered, and pieces come into view which are recognised, and so offer a welcome.
Line: Giovanna Cerise
What I particularly like about this exhibit is the manner in which the pieces on display within the village blend with their surroundings. They are placed against walls, lie across the cobbles of footpaths and terraces, and so on. Thus on the one hand, there is a distinctly street art feel to them, and on the other they present the feeling that the artist has stolen through the village unseen, leaving these drawings behind to tantalize the locals and attract visitors’ attention, with both of these feelings drawing one onwards through the village to discover what else might be waiting around the next corner, under the next arch or against the next wall.
A number of LMs are supplied with the introductory notes, which can be obtained on arrival via the note card giver. These can help you find some of the pieces on display more easily. However, rather than leaping around the region, I do recommend taking the time to explore on foot (although do keep in mind there are some private homes within the village and off-shore); that way you can not only discover and appreciate Giovanna’s work as you wander, you can also fully experience Otium’s own Mediterranean beauty.
Bryn Oh’s latest installation on her home region of Immersiva opened on Sunday, March 29th. Entitled Lobby Cam, it is, in keeping with her previous works there, a full region installation; albeit one which, on the surface at least, seems a lot less complex than pieces such as Imogen and The Pigeons or the more recent The Singularity of Kumiko. But as we know with Bryn, all is not always as it may first appear to be.
Bryn has always embraced the so-called digital divide, and by doing so remove it somewhat from people’s view. Her virtual work has often incorporated elements of her physical world artistry, while her work in the physical world has frequently encapsulated her virtual art. Lobby Cam takes this a stage further, as it places a number of Bryn’s paintings front-and-centre within the installation, which itself appears to have its origins painting possibly inspired by a trip to Sasakatoon and the surrounding region of Saskatchewan in Bryn’s native Canada.
The artwork is on display in a lobby-like gallery to one side of the region – although this is not the lobby to which the title of the piece refers. Here visitors can obtain a HUD (free of charge) which presents the wearer with a journal forming the hub of an unfolding story. From here, the visitor can progress through the gallery space, reaching a wall on which is mounted a copy of the painting on which a good part of the installation is based. As this is approached, the wall breaks apart, allowing access to the rest of the region.
Most of this is given over to fields of wheat which stretch off to the horizon, and from the midst of which a huge wooden grain elevator rises bluntly into the sky. This is not just any grain elevator, however; it is No. 888, originally built in Keatley, Saskatchewan in the late 1920s as a part of the Saskatchewan Wheat Pool, but which was moved in the 1980s to North Battleford, some 137 kilometres (86.5 miles) north-west of Saskatoon, where it was restored as a museum.
Such grain elevators where once widespread across the prairies, and early photographs of Saskatoon itself show just such an elevator located alongside the railway tracks on the edge of the town, forming something of a focal point. Within Lobby Cam, the elevator sits as a focal point within a broad spread of wheat, like some tall ship riding the sea, the rippling wheat, which moves to the SL wind, the waves beneath its prow.
Given its size, the elevator is a natural destination, and there are several floors within it to be explored, including the upper floor which links back to the HUD-based story, which I’ll get to in a moment. Further across the fields, towards the south-east corner, sits the battered bulk of an old Toronto streetcar, doors and windows broken, a part of it boarded-up as vines wind their way through it. Elsewhere amidst the wheat visitors will also find the rusting hulk of a old pick-up truck, sitting like a raft in the middle of a yellow ocean.
All of these pieces are perhaps emblematic; a commentary on the passage of time and the changing of ways. They also help to attract one’s attention to elements of the unfolding story. As mentioned above, the HUD obtained at the start reveals a journal. Initially, only the first few pages can be read but, explore the region and you’ll come across more, which are automatically added to the journal as you do so, allowing more of it to be read. I’ll not say too much more on this, other than you should take a little time in your explorations, as there are pages and more to be found.
Lobby Cam
Throughout the build, there are many references to some of Bryn’s other works, some obvious, some perhaps less so. Such motifs are not uncommon to her work, and they add both depth and familiarity to her pieces.
In the default windlight (I’ve taken the liberty of using a different windlight in the images here), the entire installation has something of a “rough” look to it colours in places – such as on parts of the grain elevator – can look a tad odd to the eye, which the old Toronto streetcar might at first look like a badly-made model. However, this is entirely intentional.
As already noted, the entire installation is essentially the recreation of a painting; thus, the colours and rough uneven surfaces and (in places) blocky finish to various elements in the installation are all redolent of the colours and textures found in the original painting.
Bryn’s work can often be taxing for some computers, and Lobby Cam is no exception, although Bryn has once again put considerable effort into minimising any loss of performance that might be experienced. She also offers some notes on how to lessen the potential impact and improve your experience – including trying SL Go (Bryn has no affiliation with the service, but recognises it as a means by which those on lower-end systems can perhaps better enjoy the installation). These notes can be read directly in-world at the HUD dispenser, or obtained via note card by clicking the information board above the HUD dispenser, or via Bryn’s blog, which includes the introductory trailer video I recommend you watch, if you haven’t already.
Lobby Cam offers-up another intriguing piece from Bryn, which as noted at the top of this article may initially appear less complex than some of her other work, but which is actually beautifully layered.
Beq Janus is an artist clearly inspired by the work of Maurits Cornelis (M. C.) Escher. For RFL of SL 2013, she produced models of Waterfall and Tower of Babel. In 2014, she offered Metamorphosis, inspired by Escher’s pieces of the same name, and which included additional influences and themes drawn from Escher’s life, as a symbol of the promise as we journey towards a cure for cancer.
Now Metamorphosis is now back, located over the Quarry Hill region of New Babbage, and it is a veritable masterpiece of art, rich in symbolism as well as capturing so many elements and nuances of Escher’s work – and also, if one looks around, Beq’s previous Ecsher-inspired builds.
The most prominent influence from Escher in the piece, as Beq notes, is that of the artist’s 1939 wood print Metamorphosis II. However, elements of both Metamorphosis I and Metamorphosis II can also be found. Also evident, again reflecting Escher’s work and the influences in his life, are elements of the little Italian town of Atrani – most notably the church and surrounding houses.
“Recreating a two dimensional work in three dimensions has its challenges, and more so when the work is deliberately faking the third dimension,” Beq notes of the challenges in bringing Escher’s work into the digital realm. But there are also opportunities, as she also notes, “it also gives you freedom to play with the unseen areas. I have tried to make the sim explorable, with tunnels and caves that lead you through the rocks, past stalactites and back round into the central square. I am sure that there are places I have not intended to make still waiting to be found.”
As such, this is a fascinating build to explore, one filled with many paths one might follow through it, originally intended as a reflection of the RFL of SL 2014 theme of journeys; both the global journey towards finding the ways and means to eradicate cancer from our lives, and the individual journey those of us afflicted by cancer, or who support those struck by cancer, take in dealing with the disease. In fact, one might also say the installation resonates with this year’s RFL theme as well; offering us a walk through art inspired by the past as we look to the future and a world without cancer.
This is also a build which makes fascinating use of light and shadow, encouraging the visitor to experiment with windlights, sun position and the camera.
