On Sunday July 20th, the Linden Endowment for the Arts announced the successful applicants for the 7th round of the LEA’s Artist-in-Residence (AIR) programme.
They are: Ais Aeon, BabypeaVonPhoenix Bikergrrl, Ellie Brewster, Uan Ceriaptrix, Giovanna Cerise, Peli Dieterle, Mac Kanashimi, Neeks Karu, Frankx Lefavre, Sowa Mai, Lor Pevensey, KatanaBlender Resident, MarioZecca Resident, FirleFanz Roxley, Searby, Pixels Sideways, Mandel Solano, Betty Tureaud, Octagons Yazimoto and Kimika Ying.
The LEA received over 30 applications, and those selected were viewed as presenting “truly outstanding proposals that represent a diverse range of virtual art.”
The successful applicants will each be allocated a full region within the LEA for a 6-month period. They have up to four months to prepare their projects, which range from full-sim immersions, to innovative builds geared specifically for multimedia works such as sound and machinima. Each installation must be open for a minimum of two months of the 6-month allocation, and it is expected that some will be open in advance of the four-month build deadline. All exhibits must be open to the public by the end of October 2014 at the latest.
In February, and thanks to Jayjay Zifanwe, I carried an article about Project Homeless 2014, a Challenge run by Screen My Shorts Incorporated and the University of Western Australia in partnership with, and sponsored by, the Parramatta City Council.
As I went on to report at the start of the month, no fewer than four entries from noted Second Life film-makers had been selected as finalists in the competition, with a chance of winning in both the machinima and the overall film categories.
The selected SL finalists were: Rysan Fall, Tutsy Navarathna, Vilvi Rae and Secret Rage.
Project homeless invited film-makers of all ages cultures and ability were invited to submit original creative digital content (conventional film and / or machinima) of between 3 and 10 minutes in length, and based on one of 22 themes on the subject of homelessness. Entrants were asked to nominate two of the themes they would like to film, were then allocated one of their two choices and given 30 days in which to submit a completed film on their allocated theme, either as an individual or team entry. Prizes for the competition amount to $10,000 Aus (L$2.28 Million) cash and prizes, with at least $700 Aus reserved for Machinima.
The awards ceremony took place at the Riverside Theatres, Parramatta, New South Wales, Australia, on Friday July 11th, and was attended by some 250 people. Three of the films submitted by the SL film-makers took the top three prizes in the machinima section of the competition, with one of them also awarded the 2nd Runner-up prize overall.
Rysan Fall’s Invisible City, a powerful mixed format piece, featuring homeless people discussing their situations, their lives and their history, and represented by Second Life avatars, took the Best Machinima prize andwas awarded the 2nd Runner-up prize overall.
Taking the 1st Runner-up prize in the machinima section of the completion was Tutsy Navarathna’s Homeless. Combining footage shot in India and in Second Life, this film focuses on the growing disparities between the really poor of the world and the very small minority of the very rich, as well as touching on those who have made homelessness a spiritual choice.
Vilvi Rae took the 2nd Runner-up prize in the machinima section for Sun Dog, an examination of homelessness among young people as its theme, focusing on estimates that around one-quarter of homeless young people in Western countries identify as LGBT, and who cite conflict at home as the main reason for leaving and taking to the streets.
Commenting on the success of his film in both categories, Rysan Fall said:
I can’t express how overjoyed I am at how well this film was received. This is such a serious subject and I wanted to be respectful in the way I presented the message. The message I was trying to convey was that it can happen to anyone. Even through no fault of their own. I was extremely excited to hear that “Invisible City ” came in first in the machinima competition. But I was even more excited to hear that it placed 3rd in the mainstream film competition. It was great to see a machinima film judged alongside real life films. I am honored to be part of such a worthwhile and important film contest.
The overall winner of the competition was Peacekeeper by Joshua Hoareau, the reflections of a former Australian Peacekeeper on his time served in Africa during peacekeeping operations. This entry also took the North Bondi RSL Prize for best film on Returning Veterans.
Congratulations to Rysan for Invisible City in both winning the machinima section and being so highly placed in the mainstream competition, and also to both Tusty and Vilvi. The full awards list can be found on the Screen My Shorts website. A final set of congratulations of course go to the overall winner.
Second Life machinima makers should keep their eyes on the UWA Second Life Blog for upcoming news on the next UWA machinima competition – MachinimUWA VII: Transcending Borders, which is set to have a prize pool of at least L$500,000. I’ll also have the details of the competition available on these pages, once announced.
Holtwaye ArtSpace is a new gallery space which opened towards the end of June. Located on the adult-rated region of Holtwaye, the gallery is co-managed by Waynenz, who is also responsible for the beautiful Toru, the Enchanted Forest (and now apparently closed), which I last visited in February 2014, and Holter, who took charge of curating the gallery’s inaugural exhibition.
This opening exhibition features a mix of art, sculpture and media pieces by Tomais Ashdene, Chuckmatrix Clip, Awesome Fallen, Fordis Flores, JJ Goodman, Fuschia Nightfire, Bryn Oh and Wanenz himself, presented in a gallery space which is itself a modern statement of art, designed by WayneNZ.
Fuschia Nightfire’s Art of the Artists perhaps sits as the centrepiece to the exhibition, and requires media streaming to be enabled. Doing so will initiate a machinima created by Nina Chaplin featuring a montage of ever-changing scenes of paintings by Nina of SL art installations featured at the UWA by Claudia222 Jewell, Cherry Manga, Nish Map, Sledge Roffo and Fuschia herself, all of which are played on and through a set built by Fuschia, and set to the music of Obisdia.
Bryn Oh presents a mix of images and sculptures from her own installations, and Chuckmatrix Clip also presents a number of his sculptures (do note that some of the works by Chuckmatrix and Bryn are also displayed outside of the gallery building). Awesome Fallen and Tomais Ashdene present two exhibits of images entitled El Principio and Olio respectively. Waynenz has both a display of his own, a selection of digital art using typeface entitled Unleashed, and also teams-up with Fordis Flores and JJ Goodman to present a collaborative digital comic using SL-based photography.
Holtwaye ArtSpace: collaborative digital comic, Fordis Floris, JJ Goodman and Waynenz
This is a fascinating inaugural exhibition for what is, as I’ve mentioned, a very stylish and engaging gallery which makes fabulous use of space to present series of exhibit areas suited to a variety of uses. I look forward to further visits in the future.
In February, and thanks to Jayjay Zifanwe, I carried an article about Project Homeless 2014, a Challenge run by Screen My Shorts Incorporated and the University of Western Australia in partnership with, and sponsored by, the Parramatta City Council.
Film-makers of all ages cultures and ability were invited to submit original creative digital content (conventional film and / or machinima) of between 3 and 10 minutes in length, and based on one of 22 themes on the subject of homelessness. Entrants were asked to nominate two of the themes they would like to film, were then allocated one of their two choices and given 30 days in which to submit a completed film on their allocated theme, either as an individual or team entry. Prizes for the competition amount to $10,000 Aus (L$2.28 Million) cash and prizes, with at least $700 Aus reserved for Machinima. In addition, stand to have their films exposed on the international stage.
Now Jayjay brings word that no fewer than four Second Life machinima artists are among the finalists in the challenge. They are: Rysan Fall, Tutsy Navarathna, Vilvi Rae and Secret Rage.
Rysan Fall presents Invisible City, a powerful mixed format piece, featuring homeless people discussing their situation, their lives and their history,
Tutsy Navarathna’s Homeless combines footage shot in India and in Second Life to present a film focusing on the growing disparities between the really poor of the world and the very small minority of the very rich. The film also touches on those who have made homelessness a spiritual choice, such as the Sadhu and on ethnic minorities, such as gypsies, who can also find themselves without a permanent home.
Sun Dog by Vilvi Rae, takes homelessness among young people as its theme, focusing on estimates that around one-quarter of homeless young people in Western countries identify as LGBT, and who cite conflict at home as the main reason for leaving and taking to the streets.
In How Did I Get Here Secret Rage presents a story about the connection between addiction and homelessness, and just how precarious our lives really are.
The award ceremony for the challenge will be held on Friday July 11th, at the Riverside Theatres, Parramatta, New South Wales, Australia.
With congratulations and best wishes to all four finalists.
Gemmy’s World is the latest exhibition of fractal artwork by Gem Preiz. Occupying one half of La Maison d’Aneli at Virtual Holland, curated by Aneli Abeyante, the exhibit opened on June 24th – and my apologies to Gem for not having been able to attend the opening.
The approach taken to the pieces on display is rather unique, the art depicting the imaginary world of a young boy, as Gem explains:
Gemmy is my nephew, a wide-eyed amazed little boy, who spends a good half of his life to dream about the other half.
He is the age where every indistinct shape can become a character with whom he populates his imaginary universe, coloured with the thousand shades of the autumn, because it is the season of sweet chestnuts and fireplaces. As he understands nothing to the adults, everybody looks like animals who get lost in secret meetings and night-patrols, in fights and in wild pursuits.
It is a world full of movement, jumps, somersaults and contortions for, nothing is more boring than to remain sat quiet doing homework while there are so many adventures to be lived, of huts to be built and of caves to be explored. A world with dangers also, those who haunt his bad dreams, but which won’t make him anything worse than to spoil his breakfast chocolate.
He opens you for a while his picture book, and it doesn’t much matter what you will see there: in any manner, he would tell you his stories without even realizing that you are listening to him.
This back story brings the 30 fractal prints on display vividly to life; these are no abstract pieces, they are wondrous places conjured from the fresh and invigorated mind of a young boy. Here are worlds populated by fantastical creatures rising up together or swirling through high corridors of air. Some appear to be on confrontation with one another, others perhaps more playfully competing with each other, and some simply enjoying their freedom of being.
Look closely, and what might appear to be one great creature changes to become many, and what at first seems to be a rolling, roiling, alien sea is yet more creatures or boats or both. There is a dynamism here which is given added depth as we see each picture through Gemmy’s young eyes. Follow the pictures around the exhibit space, and a story seems to suggest itself, each image a portrait of one or more of the protagonists within it. Subtle reminders of the exhibition’s roots in childhood imaginings lie scattered across the floor in the form of toys to be encountered as one explores.
Gem states he used a recent UWA competition which posed the question, “what makes us human?” as the inspiration for the piece. While he did not participate in that competition, it did give him pause for thought as to what his answer might have been, had he done so. This led him to consider the power of imaginative expression, which first arises in childhood.
He goes on to explain, “And it is during childhood that this creation power rises with the strongest intensity, as if children’s inner world was already too immense to contain only what they know about the reality. That’s why comic strips speak to them so much: they suggest them unknown, unusual, visual universes, at an age when it is by the glance that they learn most.”
I freely confess to being a fan of Gem’s work, and have been since first being invited to one of his exhibitions; there is a vibrancy and life to his pictures which I find marvellous. Gemmy’s World is no exception, and I have no hesitation in recommending it.
Nino Vichan’s latest installation opened on Wednesday June 18th. Located at Influence Art Gallery, which is curated by yvan Slade and MacKena Soothsayer Reflections is a wonderfully immersive piece combining colour and sound in a most hypnotic manner.
The installation is in two parts. The first is a conventional display of images by Nino, presented as vivid paintings, of elements of the second part of the exhibit. These are ranged around the gallery space and are available for sale should any in particular catch the eye.
The main part of the exhibit lies above, and is reached by right-clicking the golden sphere floating just above the floor of the gallery space, and selecting Teleport.
This takes you to a large sphere in which colour and sound literally flow. Multi-hued columns float gently around; colours ripple underfoot; particles rise, float, shimmer, rotate, fall; stars gleam and light flares and turns. Within and around all this, the air is filled with music with a slightly tonal nature, reflecting and enhancing the movement of light and colour.
Within those words lies a veritable cosmos of meaning and interpretation, all suggested by the mix of colour, light and sound which draws the observer in; the soft shine to the changing shades and hues a counterpoint to the tonal elements of sound within the music, yet working with it to lull the mind, encouraging release, leaving one entranced without realising it, floating while seated.
On Sunday July 20th, the Linden Endowment for the Arts announced the successful applicants for the 7th round of the LEA’s Artist-in-Residence (AIR) programme.
Inara Pey: Living in a Modemworld 