Category: Art in Second Life

Shadow Play: Tales of Urbanization of China is a project by a collective entity known as Lily & Honglei (in fact three artists – Xiying Yang, Honglei Li and He Li, based in Beijing and New York). It spans three distinct mediums – the physical world, the virtual world and augmented reality – and combines modern technology with the ancient art of shadow puppetry to present a unique perspective on the changes people in China have, and are, facing.

“Over the past few decades, China has been undergoing urbanization at an astounding pace. In 2013, the newly inaugurated national leadership raised the process to a new gear when it unveiled its plan of converting 70 percent of the population to a city-oriented lifestyle by 2025,” the Artists note in their introduction to the work.

“Such a significant change would undoubtedly transform the character of a country that has been largely agrarian throughout its millennia of history. One may wonder how, and to what extent, the landscape, culture, and daily being of the nation’s people may be altered. As artists, we are compelled to explore and reflect upon the various phases of this historic undertaking.”

Commissioned by New Radio and Performing Arts, Inc., and sponsored by funding from the Jerome Foundation, the  virtual reality element of Shadow Play: Tales of Urbanization of China take the form of a 4-chapter story located on land provided by the University of Massachusetts, Boston.

The four chapters, The Land: Death of the Village Head, The Ruins: Lost Children, The City: Into the Void and The Maze: No Exit, unfold across a series of ornate panels designed to evoke the nature and characteristics of shadow play, and mix traditional Chinese artistry with modern photography and drawings to tell an unfolding story. Each chapter is intended illuminate genuine situation that have arisen in China as a result of China’s shifting (and often enforced) face from those of an agrarian society to a highly urbanised society: clashes during land evictions, child abductions, the rise in suicides among migrant workers, and the impact of cultural and environmental degradation.

To best understand the story, I’m recommend a visit to the Shadow Play website, and in particular to the cast of characters. (this page also provides an overview of the augmented reality element of the work, which can be experienced on iPhones, iPads and Android devices under defined circumstances and using the Layar application).

Once you’ve got a handle on the characters involved, the individual elements of the story are easy to trace.  Each of the panels is quite extraordinary in execution, with some powerful motifs – most noticeably with the faceless forces of the police (who I suspect are representative of the large faceless and remorseless bureaucratic  machine).

The final chapter of the story is in two parts, one on the ground, and the other in the air. The former includes a model of the Great Wall of China in flames. Originally a part of a 2010 installation by the artists called Celebrate, the burning wall stood in that pieces as a statement against the Chinese government’s rigorous enforcement of Internet censorship and filtering. While that message still fits with the narrative presented here, it also further reinforces the narrative of cultural upheaval and separation from past ways of living for so many of China’s population.

The airborne element of the chapter is equally striking: a single lit candle surrounded by faceless police, high-rise buildings and with blood-red tanks printed on the ground around it, offer a very clear symbolism of its own.

Shadow Play: Tales of Urbanization of China in SL is  a quite striking work; although I can’t help but feel one that is not presented here to its best advantage, and would benefit greatly were it to be displayed within its own dedicated skybox. Also, I cannot help but feel that it doesn’t fully utilise the uniqueness of a 3D environment such as Second Life, and that more interactive elements would greatly enhance its power and appeal. However, these asides don’t detract for the artistry evidence in the pieces, particularly the panels representing the first two chapters. which are beautifully striking.

Related Links

• Shadow Play: Tales of Urbanization of China SLurl (Rated: General)
• Shadow Play: Tales of Urbanization of China website

The End of Time estate, comprising a total of seven regions, is a beautiful haven open to the public which offers plenty to see and do. In particular, the estate offers two main venues for art, as well as featuring art displays through the paths and trails that wind through the estate.

The Museum of Second Life Art at The End of Time is a gallery space feature the work from both the virtual and the physical world by a number of artists with in a rotunda style building which, for me, seems to carry echoes of Frank Lloyd Wright.

Currently on display across the two floors of the gallery are pieces by Consuela Caldwell, Orsini Tarantal (RL: Javier Escudero Cuervas-Mons), JudiLynn India, Kynne Llewellyn and Max Bobair. All represent a rich variety of styles and -as noted – mix images captured in the virtual realm with pieces created in the physical realm, thus offering a highly individual gallery space  / exhibition displayed around a central free-form sculpture by Patty entitled Nude Describing a Staircase.

Meanwhile, the Subway Gallery offers  a very different ambience, with the façade of a run-down quarter of a town somewhere, complete with the backdrop of industrial noises. The Subway’s latest exhibition opens at 14:00 SLT Wednesday, January 14th, features an extraordinary retrospective exhibition of poster art by Dana Pinkerton, and which celebrates the tenth anniversary of her rezday.

On display are some 30-ish posters Dana has created over the years, each featuring other avatars in what is a striking and very individual approach to portraiture. Many of the images on display feature SL DJs (Dana herself is a DJ as well as an artist and club owner), and may be familiar to some from the profile pictures of the subjects. The exhibit space itself has the feeling of being divided into two halves: the first room features posters with a high level of ambient lighting and more muted, natural colours, while those in the back room of the gallery are far more vibrant in colour and have something of an 80’s movie poster look about them.

During the opening event, a limited number of selected works, signed by the artist, will be available for sale, and there is an open invitation for those so interested to attend.

Wander the estate, and you’ll find other art on display – such as the “trash-art” sculptures by ZTAR Magic , a member of the LastPlak Collective. The estate also usually features Feather Boa’s remarkable “Butterflies” exhibit as well, displayed along an open-air walk, but is currently on loan to Art Forest through until the end of January 2015.

I’ll have more on End of time and my return blogging visit under a separate title; in the meantime, I’ll leave you with the relevant SLurls.

Related Links

• End of Time main arrival point (Rated Moderate)
• Museum of Second Life Art (Rated:  Moderate)
• Subway Gallery (Rated: Moderate)

Currently on display at her e-mage gallery space is Melusina Parkin’s latest exhibition.  Intriguingly entitled Wrong Pics, it offers a series of images which “are the outcome of a long work of selecting, re-thinking, and editing quite good photos, with the aim of enhancing a meaning the subject could inspire, by extreme manipulations of its features.”

The result is a collection of 16 pictures which demonstrate various unintended photographic errors such as over-exposure, colour saturation, incorrect lighting, inadequate focus, double exposure and so on, can enhance, rather than diminish, an image. It’s an outcome referred to as “fautographie”, a term popularised – although not coined – by photographic historian Clément Chéroux in his 2003 book Fautographie: petite histoire de l’erreur photographique (“Fautographie: story of the photographic error“) – which Melusina points to as influencing her exhibit. The idea that an image born of accident rather than design  – what what Chéroux refers to as “photography by default” – can be as striking as anything deliberately composed or edited.

This is something of a challenging exhibition, because by it’s very nature it is founded on something of a dichotomy. “Fautographie” emphasises the way in which the accidental or unplanned photograph can be as artistic as any other photo. Yet, in order to demonstrate this, the images on display have had to be deliberately manipulated to achieve the desired results.

Not that this is any criticism of Melusina. For one thing, this dichotomy is not lost on her: at the back of the gallery lies a small plaque bearing a quote from William Gibson: It is possible to photograph what isn’t there; but it’s damned hard to do. For another, given the tools we have at our disposal in SL, it is pretty much impossible to accidentally produce a double exposure or an unintended reflection, or a lens flare,  or to over-expose an image or jostle the camera during a long exposure. So just because things have been manipulated here doesn’t necessarily detract from the exhibit as a whole, or its intent.

Located in the cosy upstairs gallery of the Pixel Bean Coffee House is a baker’s dozen exhibition of pieces by Whiskey Monday. Originally intended to run through until the end of December 2014, the display remains open for the present – but you may well be advised to visit it sooner rather than later, in case there are plans in hand to replace it with work by another artist.

Whiskey’s compositions are always remarkable; beautifully composed and edited, each one presents a striking image and / or theme, and this series of pictures carries the collected title of Selected Letters, a title which at first may seem a little confusing, as the subject matter within the pieces might seem well removed from communications or letters, the images appearing to focus more on aspects of self-expression and matters of place and identity,  But really, aren’t all of these  – our sense of self, our feelings of place and identity, and such, all little missives we send to ourselves – and to others?

The prints on display at the Pixel Bean Coffee house are available for purchase, should you desire to have a piece of Whiskey’s work in your virtual home.

Related Links

• e-mage gallery SLurl  (Rated: Moderate) – Melusina Parkin
• The Pixel Bean Coffee House (Rated: Moderate) – Whiskey Monday