Category: Art in Second Life

Dryland, Anita Wit’s full region art gallery, is to close.

Over the years, Dryland has been the home to a range of remarkable and entertaining exhibitions, and has been a popular destination for photographers and machinima makers.

My own first visit to the region was relatively late in the day, December 2012, even so I was immediately struck by the desolate splendour of the place. My last visit was in November 2013, for Ziki Questi’s Lost Second Life, which is still on display in the rear part of the gallery.

Anita has given notice of the closure in a snapshot posted to her Flickr stream. In it, she explains her reasons for letting the region go, and passes on her thanks to all who have been involved in the region as artists exhibiting their work, as photographers and machinima makers, and as patrons and visitors.

There is no set date for the closure, although Anita is looking to the latter half of March, advising those wishing to avail themselves of Dryland:

I thought I’d give you all a fair warning in case you have photos or machinimas to make that requires a Dryland background, or if you’d just like to hang out one last time before it’s all gone.

I’d like to add my voice to all those who are passing on thanks to Anita for all of her work in developing the region and curating so many exhibitions there. Dryland will be missed.

With thanks to Caitlin Tobias.

Polychronies, Gem Preiz’s latest exhibition of his RL fractal artwork opened on Monday February 24th at the Le Bronx gallery. As with his recent exhibits Cathedral Dreamer, and Ride The Universe, both of which I’ve reviewed in these pages, it’s a fascinating exhibit, with some seventeen of Gem’s pieces on display across seven rooms.

As with his previous exhibitions, there is a central theme to this piece; this one somewhat a mix of ancient astronauts and futuristic science-fiction. It seems a race of ancients one populated the universe and built great temple-like structures and enormous cityscapes which have survived them. Having stood empty for millennia, these great structures now stand as an enigmatic reminder of a much older race as our own descendents reach outward to the stars. Yet who or what that race was, and how they may or may not be related to us, remains a mystery perhaps hidden in the depths of these magnificent temples.

To get to the exhibition, teleport down from the region’s landing point to the ground (Le Bronx). You’ll arrive alongside the gallery’s foyer, where you can pick-up a catalogue of paintings featured in the exhibition, which also includes the backstory. There’s also a freebie spacesuit on offer if you feel like really getting into the mood. Three circular teleports are available to transfer people to the exhibition space itself.

Here Gem’s work is displayed within a series of interconnected rooms, with two or three pieces mounted on the walls per room. Semi-transparent walkways direct you through the exhibit, passing through some of the images or through bare walls along the way.  The images themselves are truly stupendous, and Gem has done a huge amount of work to bring his pieces into SL and present them in what are effectively seamless montages up to 50 or 60 metres in length. Such is the wealth of detail, I’m not sure the pictures here are going to do any of them justice; they really do have to be seen.

As with Cathedral Dreamer,  a powerful feeling is evoked when camming slowly over the incredible structures displayed in each painting; the three-dimensional feel within each of them makes one long to be able to step into it, to see the tall towers reaching into strange skies from within, to look out over their majestic vistas and feel the light of the alien suns which have warmed them through the long millennia and, ultimately, step into their myriad rooms and discover the secrets they hide. In short, to truly be an astronaut explorer making the most incredible archaeological finds of human history.

Polychronies is another marvellous examination of the beauty of fractal art, and for those who have the physical in-world space, one which can be enjoyed at home, as each of the pieces on display is also available for sale.

Definitely not one to be missed.

Related Links

• Polychronies, Le Bronx SLurl (Rated Adult)

I enjoy a little bit of science-fiction, as regulars here will know; I also like a little touch of the surreal as well. Given both are in evidence in artist and photographer Ronda Saunders’ Time Tunnel / Eyelands exhibit, I was bound to want to take a look.

These are actually two individual installations linked together to form a whole. The first, Time Tunnel, is where explorations start. The second part of the piece, Eyelands (or Eyeworld), is based upon on a piece Ronda created and exhibited at the Nitroglobus gallery in February / March 2013.

I have to admit, the warning sitting alongside the stargate-like wormhole which forms the starting-point for your journey into these immersive spaces isn’t entirely reassuring. Cybertech industries thanks you  for using their intra-dimensional transport systems it reads, kindly enough. However, it then continues, And accepts no responsibility for your safety. Eep! Other warnings are visible which may discourage the faint-hearted; however, follow their guidance, and you’ll be quite safe.

Step through the event horizon of the wormhole, and you enter a rotating tunnel which leads to a further walkway. Beyond the protective walls of the surrounding tunnel strange life forms can be seen: plasma-like creatures, swirling, rising, falling and moving as if on an invisible tide. Between them flit and flicker other creatures, their eyes protruding stalk-like, while groups of lights, mindful of the Phoenix Asteroids¹, zoom by.

At the end of the tunnel sits a teleport system, set to deliver you to the second half of the exhibit. It is here that things get very surreal.  Rocky outcrops float in a strange sky, the two largest of which can be reached by wood-and rope bridges. Upon these, tall, mushroom-like plants grow, their tops featuring eyes which turn, split, swirl and slide in a series of repeating patterns, and from which more eyes cascade in silent torrents to the ground under them. Between these growths are more eyes, flittering back and forth skittishly, while grass-like expanses of eyes of all sizes seem to ripple in an unfelt breeze.

It’s a strangely hypnotic landscape (more so if you have the music stream on); one I’m not sure words and images really do justice; as such, I can only urge you to go and see this remarkable piece for yourself.

Related Links

• Ronda Saunders’ Time Tunnel and Eyelands SLurl (Rated: Moderate)