Category: Art in Second Life

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.

If you didn’t get to see Metamorphosis last year (which I sadly didn’t), I cannot recommend a visit to Quarry Hill highly enough.

Related Links

• Metamorphosis SLurl (Rated: Moderate)

Now open at MetaLES is Romy Nayar’s brilliant Sparkys, quite possibly the most engaging art installations to be seen in Second Life so far this year – and one quite possibly set to remain so in people’s minds. It’s an immersive, interactive piece which offers charm and fun to visitors – although it’s worthwhile taking your time to explore, or you might miss out on the major interactive element.

Visitors arrive in a land formed of greyscales. Colour seems to by almost entirely absent; tall slits, hinting at something overhead, rise from the surrounding grey/white water lapping at one’s ankles; a single set of step leading upwards to… nowhere, it would seem. However, climb the steps and an elevator will descend, offering you passage upwards to a multi-level town, precariously balanced atop the high stilts.

Houses, shops, stations, restaurants, parks: all sit at differing heights, all connected by various means: railway train, balloons, rickety-looking walkways, fragile seeming bridges, elevators – all of which make the act of exploring the town a joy in itself. For the daring, there’s even the opportunity to grab hold of the legs of a young man who has invented his own little gyrocopter, and ride with him as he flits back and forth between one house and another, the latter (I’m guessing) that of his log suffering mother, who keeps her attention square on sweeping the front path, rather than offering him encouragement in his madcap adventures.

As you wander this grey world, you’ll likely start to notice that some of the local residents are experimenting with paintbrushes, attempting to add a little colour here and there. This is because one enterprising young man has discovered the titular Sparky’s, bee-like creature that produce paint, which he is collecting, and (again, I’m guessing), his mother is making available to the townsfolk. The problem is, of course, that colour is a new concept here, so the locals aren’t entirely sure what should go where…

This is where visitors can help. Find your way to the little old lady operating a small market stall, and you can obtain a paint HUD. Join the group listed in the note card accompanying the HUD (just copy / paste the group link into local chat and click on it) and you’ll be able to help paint the world yourself, simply by selecting options in the HUD menu and then going to mouselook and   left-clicking / dragging the cursor.

Get your position and draw distance right, and a lot of fun can be had. don’t worry about spoiling the environment – all the paint is prim-based and will “dissolve” after a while, although if a lot of people are slapping paint around, you might find prim limits are hit and have to wait a while for things to clear.

All told, Sparkys, as mentioned, is one of the most delightful, engaging and fun installations currently in Second Life, and will be open to explore through March and April. Do take your time when exploring, and be sure to cam around a lot – every platform has a little story to tell (complete with local sounds), which further adds to the delight and fun.

Related Links

• Sparkys SLurl (rated: Moderate)

Update, October 10th: Cammino e Vivo Capovolto and Ocho Tango have relocated to Retrospect.

As is evident in these pages, I am something of a fan of Mistero Hifeng’s mesh sculptures in Second Life, having written about his work in both in January of this year and in October 2014. So when he contacted me to inform me he has now moved his gallery and shop to a new location, and invited me to pay a visited, I was only too happy to do so.

Now located on one half of Blossom Land, a Homestead region shared with the Ocho Tango dance venue, of which more anon,  Mistero’s new gallery retains the minimalist feel and rich atmosphere of his last location, whilst also offering visitors something new to experience.

Gone is the coastal feel, with a partially flooded beach across which Mistero’s works are seemingly scattered at random. Instead, the land is almost entirely flooded, the only relief coming from a number of scattered trees a single stone bridge arching over water, and – of course – Mistero’s art.

The latter have all been carefully placed across this watery landscape in such a way as to stand either as individual pieces, rising from the water or occasional sitting on a little sand bank of their own. Great use is made of the available space, the water surrounding most of the pieces on display tending to direct one’s focus solely on each sculpture, while the trees provide an interesting framing for some of the pieces, and the bridge has allowed Mistero to make a little vignette of his work, focused on what (I believe, at least), is a new piece, E’ Rubero per te la luna (And for you, the Moon, Rubero – seen immediately above), which is a very striking piece.

Another piece I don’t recall having seen before is Un vita quasi umana (A life almost human), which can be found towards both the centre of the gallery space and towards the west side. More familiar pieces such as Volare (Fly) are also present, and always pleasing to see, together with Per Te, which I’ve always found evocatively powerful and edged in love / tragedy.

To the north of Mistero’s new space, and linked to it by both a series of paving stones forming a narrow path and the span of another stone bridge, lies Ocoho Tango, sitting atop a broad, flat plateau. This is a place which may well need no introduction to some; but one which I’d wrongly assumed to have vanished from Sl a while ago – so finding it alongside Mistero’s gallery came as a pleasant surprise. It also marks Blossom Land as a place to which I’m liable to be making frequent return visits, both for Mistero’s art and for the opportunity to dance!

Mistero’s work is, to me at least, deeply evocative, and his original gallery space displayed it well enough. With this new space at Blossom Land, however, he has gone even further, presenting a richly layered environment and atmosphere which allows each piece to come to life before you. As such, if you’ve never seen his works gathered in one place, I do recommend you pay a visit.

While there, don’t forget you can still TP to her store and purchase most of his pieces there, all of which can be resized. The teleport can be found alongside the landing point, and also offer a quick way up to Ocho Tango.

Related Links

• Cammino e Vivo Capovolto – new location (Rated: Moderate)