Category: Art in Second Life

Melusina Parkin: Closer Looks

Posted on by Inara Pey
Closer Looks, Melusina Parkin
Closer Looks, Melusina Parkin

I received an invitation to preview Closer Looks, a new exhibition of photography by Melusina Parkin, which officially opens on Monday July 28th at 15:00 SLT at La Sociedad de los Poetas Dementes gallery on Mexico MX.

I last reviewed one of Melusina’s exhibitions in May 2014, when she was exhibiting Themes, which featured 42 of her pieces on display at the The Nite’s Place Red Line Exposition Area. Closer Looks presents around 45 of her photographs, taken of various locations around Second Life and which, as the name of the exhibition suggests, presents them in close-up, focusing down on a specific element within each image, encouraging the observer to similarly focus their attention.

Closer looks, Melusina Parkin
Closer Looks, Melusina Parkin

“Watching things from close-up is an amazing practice,” Melusina says in the liner notes accompanying the exhibition. “Isolating an element or detail in a scene, focusing on it, is like when you repeat a word in your mind until it does lose its meaning; it starts then revealing unexpected associations suggesting unusual relationships, showing unforeseen details in it.”

As with Themes, many of these images in this exhibition appear to be drawn from certain thematic elements: cars, structures, ships, skylines, which at first appear to suggest associations between them. However, each picture in fact works on a far more subtle level than that, encouraging the observer to consider the associations which lie not so much between them, but in what is within each of them, and what they start to suggest to the observer’s own mind. It’s an effect Melusina intended to achieve within each of the pictures.

Closer Looks, Melusina Parkin
Closer Looks, Melusina Parkin

“When photographed, the most trivial object, thanks to framing, light, shadows and colours handling, can acquire a completely different than its own actual or usual one,” Melusina notes. “This is what I tried to do in each of these photos. Enhancing the evocative power of daily life objects and landscapes, showing them out of their context or catching their hidden fascination by camera framing and lighting.”

In this, this exhibition stands as something of a comment on Second Life, where the incredible diversity of creative expression can so easily become trivialized or marginalised by the incredible scope and beauty evident is seeing whole regions and estates, where houses, trees, vehicles, and everything else can so easily blur together that we can miss so much. It is only when we pause, when we take the time to focus down on things, that we can really see just how amazing things in this digital world really are and how incredibly different things really are, even when seemingly alike – and how they can so often challenge our own creative perceptions, encouraging us to think of ways and means of doing things, and so further adding to the creative diversity others can see and learn from.

Closer Looks, Melusina Parkin
Closer Looks, Melusina Parkin

All told, another thought-provoking and visually stylish exhibition from Melusina, with each of the images on display on sale for anyone who would like to take a piece home with them.

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A walk through SL’s history on the way to the future

Posted on by Inara Pey
Second Life History
Second Life History

Open now through until the end of July 2014 at LEA23 is Sniper Siemens’ brilliant installation Second Life History, a glorious walk through the platform’s past, marvellously presented in a series of visual vignettes which recapture events which are bound to be both familiar and new to Second Life residents.

From the landing point, one is invited to tread a watery path through a partially submerged park, only the trees, lamp posts and railings visible, the route leading the way from the gates and 2001, through successive years charting the highs and lows of Second Life’s past and present, before climbing a set of stairs towards the open door of the future, and the promise of the Lab’s “next generation” platform.

Second Life History: the arrival of new primitive shapes (2004)
Second Life History: the arrival of new primitive shapes (2004)

Along the way you can meet a Primitar (looking rather broken and forlorn, lying in the water) and various characters who point the way to different events and occurrences represented by information boards and self-contained scenes which evoke those moments of history and / or the emotions to which they gave rise.

So it is you can learn about (or recall, if you’ve been around long enough) such events as the initial Second Life closed beta in 2002, the opening of the gates to all in 2003, the tax revolt later that year, the arrival of the Linden dollar as a virtual currency and the advent of free accounts, Black September (2006), the banking shutdown of 2007, the Lab’s withdrawal from paying VAT on behalf of users in the European Union, and so on.

Second Life History: marking the arrival of the Teen Grid
Second Life History: marking the arrival of the Teen Grid (2005)

Technical innovations are also marked, both by overhead SL version numbers, and by their own little vignettes – LindenWorld, the first viewer, the arrival of the famous blue UI, prims, pay-to-TP teleport hubs, streaming media, open-sourcing the viewer, voice, windlight, viewer 2.0, it’s all here, as well as all the more recent technical innovations on the platform.

To call the installation a delight is an understatment; if you have any interest at all in SL’s history, it is guaranteed to stir memories, raise a smile, and more. There are a lot of cheeky little touches, and one or two personal pieces; one little vignette marks the rezday of sniper’s first avatar incarnation, while further around the installation is a wonderful little poke at Philip Rosedale’s stepping-down as CEO. Similarly, the arrival of viewer 2.0 is announced by the appropriately named (given users’ reaction to the viewer’s arrival) Curveball Resident.

Second Life History: a whimsical look at Philip Rosedale vacating the CEO's chair
Second Life History: a whimsical look at Philip Rosedale vacating the CEO’s chair (2008)

While exploring the build, don’t miss the web icons; clicking these will take you the official blog posts on the subject being displayed / discussed. These include the very first official blog post from Philip Rosedale in 2004.

This really is a marvellous installation, and shame on me for not having found the time to write about it any sooner. If you’ve not already dropped-in, I really do urge you to do so before the end of July; I seriously doubt you’ll be disappointed!

Given the subject matter, it seems only appropriate that I close with yet another look back at LindenWorld from August 2001.

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Curious about art and the LEA? Why not pop along to their first Office Hours?

Posted on by Inara Pey
LEA Gateway
LEA Gateway

The first Linden Endowment for the Arts (LEA) Office Hours will take place on Friday July 25th, between 10:30-11:30 SLT.

LEA committee member Solo Mornington will be hosting the event, which will take place at the LEA Gateway.

The meeting is open to all (subject to region limits!), and those interested in art in SL, the work / purpose / structure of the LEA, etc., are invited to bring their questions.

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UWA Transcending Borders challenge: L$1.03 million in prizes

Posted on by Inara Pey

On Monday July 21st, 2014, the University of Western Australia (UWA) announced the opening of their new combined Art and Machinima challenge, Transcending Borders, which brings together their 7th MachinimUWA and their 5th UWA Grand Art Challenge into one event.

Transcending Borders is sponsored by  Tom Papas & SciFi Film Festival, LaPiscean Liberty & SL Artists, AviewTV, Taralyn Gravois and Arts Castle Gallery, TheDoveRhode and Peace is a Choice and S&S Gallery of Fine SL Art, Jon Stubbs & UWA Student Services, as well as The UWA Virtual Worlds Project, and the prize pool is an impressive L$1,030,000, with a further L$240,000  available as special audience participation and other prizes!

Those wishing to participate are free to enter either the art or the machinima challenge – or both, if they wish; just so long as all entries are received no later than midnight SLT on October 31st, 2014. Winners will be announced in December 2014.

Entrants are invited to interpret the challenge theme, Transcending Borders, in any way they please. It might refer to transcending borders between space and time, or the past and present or the present and future, the borders separating nations or cultures or languages, or any one of the many borders we encounter as we navigate our physical and virtual lives.

The major rules in submitting any artwork or machinima to the challenge are (please also refer to the UWA blog post for the full set of rules and requirements):

  • Artwork entered should be able to be interpreted by the casual viewer as representative of the theme. If the link to the theme is difficult to ascertain, it should be referenced in a note card accompanying the work
  • Any submitted artwork should not exceed 150 Land Impact, and should preferably by submitted with COPY permissions, and art entries are limited to one per entrant
  • Machinima entries should preferably be no more than 4 minutes and 30 seconds in length, although this is not a “hard” rule
  • There is no limit to the number of machinima entries which may be submitted by an entrant, however, the average viewer should be able to determine how any given film fits with the theme; if this is difficult to ascertain, it should be referenced in the notes accompanying the film on the web
  • All submitted machinima must be made specifically for this challenge, and must include “For The University of Western Australia’s MachinimUWA VII: Transcending Borders” in the opening credits.

Art submissions should be made via the art entry receiver at the UWA Art Chellenge Platform in Second Life. Machinima entries should be uploaded to any publicly-accessible location, but preferably to YouTube or Vimeo, and the details of the entry (name, creator, location, etc.) supplied to Jayjay Zifanwe and LaPiscean Liberty in-world or by e-mailing the details to Jayjay (jayjayaustralia@hotmail.com).

L$515,000 in prizes in both the art and the machinima categories, with each category having a L$100,000 first prize.

Furthermore, the machinima category has an additional special UWA Prize for the best machinima which features one of the Winthrop Clock Tower, the Sunken Gardens or the Somerville Auditorim.

There are also two special Curator Prizes, one for art and one for machinima (the latter will be awarded to best film which features one artwork from the current art challenge or a winning entry from past UWA art challenges).

For full information on the challenge, including infromation on the theme, all rules, submission guidelines, prizes (including audience participation prizes) and details of the judging panel, please refer to the UWA blog post.

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LEA announce AIR 7 selection

Posted on by Inara Pey

LEA_square_logo_60On 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.

Solkide Auer's The Timewalkers, LEA15. from AIR Round 6
Solkide Auer’s The Timewalkers, LEA AIR Round 6

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.

Xineohp Guisse’s The {Lost} Garden of Sundarya Lahari - LEA AIR Round 6
Xineohp Guisse’s The {Lost} Garden of Sundarya Lahari – LEA AIR Round 6

All openings will be announced in the LEA blog.

 

Second Life films top-out the Project Homeless machinima awards

Posted on by Inara Pey

HomelessIn 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 and was 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.

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With thanks to Jayjay Zifanwe.