Category: Art in Second Life

It’s been a fair while since I last visited Sinful Retreat – nigh-on two years, in fact; and a lot has changed in that time. As such, a re-visit was well and truly overdue, as a flick through the Destination Guide reminded me.

For the longest time, Sinful Retreat was the home of the Janus galleries, a place defined by art both indoors and out, set within a landscape intended to both support and emphasise the art on display, and to present a unique environment that encouraged exploration and discovery. This latter point remains true with the current iteration of the region, as does the unique landscaping, with half of the region raised as a man-made plateau sitting atop and extending outwards from a huge mesa.

However, where the former plateau sat as home to the main Janus galleries and an art street, this one is home to the Janus Manor, and expansive 3-storey building utilising DRD’s Scarlett Hotel. Whilst suggestive of a private home, the Manor is in fact a gallery, and home to an exhibition of art collected over the years by region holders Chuck Clip and his SL partner (and physical world wife) Jewell (FallenAurora Jewell), a collection covering both 2D and 3D pieces.

The collection is richly diverse, demonstrating but Chuck and Jewell’s support of artistic expression in Second Life and the richness and diversity of said art. Within the building, pieces can be found along the hallways, within the alcoves and individual rooms, with each area or room representing a particular artist. Thus, in exploring the Manor one will find art by Layachi Ihnen, JudiLynn India, Xia Chieng, Kayly Iali, Asperix Asp, LashVV, Perpetua1010, paula31atnight, Traci Ultsch, Sheba Blitz, Milly Sharple, and many more. They cover both original paintings and digital pieces produced in the physical world and imported into SL, and pieces produced directly within the platform.

Also to be found within the Manor house are 3D pieces which combine with those outside to celebrate artists such as Bryn Oh, London Junkers, CioTToLiNa Xue, nessuno Myoo, Meilo Minotaur and Livio Korobase, with some of the pieces offering a natural flow between the main house and the neighbouring ballroom, where further 2D and 3D art is to be found. In all, I understand around some 70 artists from across SL are represented, making this one of the most diverse and engaging public collections on display in-world, which it turn makes Janus Manor well worth a visit by anyone with any degree of interest in art in Second Life.

Nor does it end there, as the region comprises multiple locations offer to visitors to explore. The first, and perhaps most obvious in terms of the setting’s main landing point, of these is likely to be the Memorial Garden. Sitting at the top of another rocky plateau – this one rising out of waters in the north-east of the region, the Gardens present a place where those who have lost someone known to them either in-world or in the physical world can have a candle lit in remembrance, and perhaps even a memorial raised to them. Beautifully landscaped, the gardens also offer abroad stairway down to a broad, deep ledge under them – a pace for meditation, tai chi or even gentle conversation among friends.

Sitting at the western end of the platform on which Janus Manor is located is an open-air elevator. It offers the way down to where both the Secret Garden and Studio Chuck can be found. The former is a formal garden sitting behind railing-topped walls, and through which a footpath winds its way, leading visitor past flowers and over water.

In addition, the garden is home to a further collection of 3D art featuring pieces by ArtemisGreece (another of my favourite artists in SL) and Phenix Rexen. Studio Chuck, meanwhile, sits as a home to Chuck Clip’s own art, both 2D and 3D. Beautifully expressive, often wrapped in meaning and metaphor, Chuck’s work is always a pleasure to view, and the Studio is a perfect / minimalist environment in which to appreciate it.

A raised walkway passes over the water at base of the Manor’s plateau from the gardens to reach the land under the platform. Sitting within the shadows here is another little retreat, set within the shadows of the platform overhead and home to a little secret (albeit pointed to by a little gathering of signs), and which may be worth a little exploration – although some additional lighting might be required. For those who prefer, the Secret Garden also connects to a woodland area, beyond which a little horse riding can be found, as can a number of private rental units looking out of the sea – so do be careful and avoid trespass beyond the hedgerows marking them.

For those who prefer an easier means of exploration, the setting does include a teleport system in the form of a directory of destinations. This provides direct access not only to the major locations around the setting, but also those within Janus Manor itself.

A genuinely engaging visit for art lovers and explorers alike.

SLurl Details

• Sinful Retreat (rated: Adult)

Currently open at Carelyna’s ARTCARE Gallery is Second Life is another exploration of the human condition through art by Scylla Rhiadra. Scylla is an artist who has a reputation for getting the grey squishy stuff located within the upper portion of our skulls firing on all cylinders – and for that very reason, I always enjoy spending time within her exhibitions, even if it does mean the four cylinders of my own little brain have to work overtime….

Geometries of the Human is a deftly layered collection of images, thoughts, quotes and themes which offer the visitor opportunities to consider the exhibition along several parallel – and overlapping – lines. The most visual of these themes / lines is the relationship between art and geometry – the latter being perhaps one of the most important (and certainly one of the oldest) branches of mathematics. It is one which has and does hold influence over many aspects of our lives, as Scylla points out in her introductory notes for the exhibition: it has applications in the majority of the sciences (including other branches of mathematics), in architecture, design, and – of course – art. Thanks to the Fibonacci sequence, it is also very present in the natural world.

It is geometry which so often gives art its form. Perhaps the most obvious influences here are those of ratio and proportion – the former notably through the use of the Golden Ratio / Fibonacci sequence, the latter most famously embodied within da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man, which brilliantly brings together mathematics and anatomical science and combines them with art (both classicism, and naturalism). Both individually and jointly, ratio and proportion can do much to give a sense of depth and / or sense of balance which more readily give pieces that have an intrinsic  – if indefinable – appeal.

Geometry therefore helps gives structure to art – much as it does the worlds, the very cosmos, around us. However, the fact that it does can actually be a limitation, particularly through slavish adherence. The rule of thirds, for example, and clearly a geometrical imposition, is intended to offer a rule of thumb within the visual arts; yet all too often it is taken as an immutable rule, any violation of which lessens the finished work – potentially to the point where it should not be considered art. Whilst the first of these views might (to a point, again it depends on the artist’s overall goal) be seen as “true”, the latter most certainly is not.

Thus, within the pieces – and their accompanying descriptions – Scylla presents an engaging exploration of the relationship of geometry and art which is both a celebration of the beauty their interaction can create, and a questioning of the enforced rigidity and limitations they can place on art through consideration of the aesthetics of geometry alone when composing an image, painting or drawing. This leads directly into a wider  context of the exhibition: a questioning of perspectives and – and this is purely my term, not Scylla’s – slavish adherence to doctrines.

At the end of the day, geometry is purely a tool or tool set – an undeniably useful one which has allowed humanity to evolve in terms of knowledge, technology, science and understanding. But like any tool or tool set, it is not all-encompassing; like much in science, it is far from static. Whilst it is perhaps the most widely recognised, Euclidean geometry is far from alone, and since the 1800s in particular, differential geometry (through the likes of the Theorema Egregium and Riemannian geometry), together with computational and discrete geometry, play key roles in our understanding of the cosmos and science (even general relativity is underpinned by non-Euclidean geometry), and can lend themselves to art. Ergo, allowing oneself to be constrained by a specific set of rules or concepts is perhaps not the best position to take.

This is as fundamental a truth in life as it is in science (and art). We are not uniform creatures; each of us is more than shape or form or colour; we have folds and volume (depth). We might all be the result of the same biological processes, but none of us is mass produced; we are all truly unique. And it is in our differences to one another – however those differences might be manifested – that we are perhaps the most precious, because it is through the understanding – and acceptance – of what makes us different which can lead to the best understanding of one another.

For me, this is aptly stated within What Would You Be without Me?, together with the accompanying quote attributed to Dürer alongside it. Yes, an understanding of geometry and its attendant use of ratio and proportion clear enhance the artist’s work – but it is still the subject of that work which should be central to it. Without such a focus, the work is diminished, emptied; the use of geometry pointless. Similarly, if we are unwilling to accept others can have outlooks on life different to our own, and instead seek to ostracism and “other” them simply because of they are “different”,  then we diminish ourselves as well, becoming – if I might mangle Shakespeare here somewhat: a walking shadow, a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage … full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.

Having a belief system or guidelines is not a bad thing – again, without our understanding of geometry, the world we’ve created and our understanding of it and the cosmos in which it sits, would potentially be a very different place. But to quote Scylla – too strong a faith in anything is dangerous. It can blind us to the beauty of creativity and artistic freedoms – and rob us of understanding and wisdom that might be vital to our future existence.

As I noted towards the start of this piece Geometries of the Human is a deftly and deeply layered exhibition, one in which both art and the words accompanying it offer nuanced opportunities for reflection on ideas on life and expression great and small. In its viewing, it is not so much an exhibition which should been seem so much as absorbed – and it is obviously thoroughly recommended to anyone who appreciates art with a message (and a conscience).

SLurl Details

• ArtCare Gallery (Emotion, rated Moderate)

In July of 2023, I has the distinct pleasure of visiting  Auguries of Innocence, a thoroughly engaging exhibition of art by Janus Falls structured around William Blake’s poem of the same name. Within it, Janus echoed and extended ideas found within Blake’s work, uniquely re-interpreting theme through colour and image. As one can tell from my review of that exhibit, I was deeply captivated by the expressiveness found within it, and so – although admittedly somewhat belatedly – I made a point of visiting another collection of images inspired by a poem Janus is currently exhibiting.

Hosted within her own gallery space – Red Dot Gallery – I know Why the Caged Bird Sings presents a series of 14 avatar studies inspired by Maya Angelou’s poem Caged Bird (also referred to as I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, which is also the title of the first volume of Angelou’s autobiography, itself referenced by the poem). First published in her fourth collection of poetry entitled Shaker, Why Don’t You Sing? (1983), the poem is focused on the themes of freedom, racial oppression using the metaphors of the free and the caged bird.

Through its structure use of mixed meter and irregular rhyme, Caged Bird is again a powerful statement oppression and hope for a brighter future. It’s a message that, in a world where basic human caring, acceptance and social concern are increasing seen as something to be reviled and differences in outlook, gender, sexuality and – yes, race – are reasons to ostracize and condemn, the poem stands not only as a reminder of the past, but also a very real underscoring of the fact that the oppression not only continues, but is spreading insidiously; that all of us who have an ounce of human dignity and compassion need to be firmly raising our voices against it, such that those who might otherwise find themselves caged by the ignorance of others might again have their voices – their rights and freedoms – accepted and restored.

In this, the art of I know Why the Caged Bird Sings presents a visual essay, one running sequentially through the gallery’s space from entrance (where Caged Bird can be read), and around the lower floor back to the upper and thence around the images there, which carries us from images of captivity to freedom and from sorrow to happiness (again reflecting the poem’s (admittedly more layered) mixing of joy and sadness).

Within these images, Janus again shows a consummate skill in using visual contrasts  – light and dark, tone and shading, depth of field and focal point – to draw us into her art and the story it has to tell – as deftly as Angelou uses anapest and iambic meter and stressed and unstressed pairings of ideas   to draw us into the meaning of her poem.

In exploring these pieces, it is also hard not to escape the feeling there is a further message here; one directly connected to our digital world. Second Life is a place that, for many of us, is liberating; through it we can give wing to our innermost truths, wants and desires through the expressiveness of our avatars ad / or our creativity. It presents us with a place where the bars of life in whatever form they take – physical, mental, social, familial, etc., can be escaped (if only, admittedly for a time) and we can find comfort, joy, happiness – even acceptance. Given we have been so fortunate to be able to experience this richness and freedom of expression, do we not owe it to ourselves and those around us to ensure that no matter who and where we are, such freedom is to be as open, as cherished as available to all who seek it within the physical world?

SLurl Details

• Red Dot Gallery (Turtle Falls, rated Moderate)

Saturday, July 29th, 2023 saw the opening of an exhibition of photography and art from the physical world by Theresa Hermit at the Original Campus Gallery within St. Elizabeth’s University.

I believe this is the first time I’ve witnessed Theresa’s work, but am unsure as to whether this is her first complete exhibition, or the first to be widely advertised. The term “introducing” is used in the advertising, but I gather from chatting with Pat Wheelwright, Director of Residential Living at St. Elizabeth’s, that Theresa has displayed her work there in the past (she is also both the university’s Art History teacher and current president), but these may have been limited in terms of audience, being only advertised within the university’s membership. Either way, I’m glad to have had the opportunity to witness this exhibition, which offers quite the showcase for Theresa’s multi-faceted artistic talents.

In the physical world, Theresa holds a Bachelor of Fines Arts (BFA) degree and has recently completed her Master of Fine Arts (MFA). For those not clear on the difference between these and the Bachelor of Arts (BA) and Master of Arts (MA), the latter two usually centre on the scholarly, academic and critical study, whilst the BFA and MFA centre on professional artistic practice within the chosen field of study. Her work encompasses multiple mediums including watercolour (including gouache), oil, and printmaking, whilst also enjoying drawing and  – as demonstrated in this exhibition – photography, where she also develops her own images as well as taking them.

The latter is located on the ground level of the gallery space – the exhibition covering a total of three floors within the gallery – presenting a fascinating series of black and white photographs, mostly taken at a farm in Connecticut. These show a keen eye for composition whilst the use of black and white film brings a sense of time and age to the buildings, furniture and hardware which is sublime in giving a deeper sense of narrative and history that might otherwise have not been apparent.

Within this selection are also images quite fittingly captured at a property once owned by Edward Steichen. He was both a pioneer in the craft of fashion photography and, more particularly in this case, often credited with elevating photography into a recognised art form – and I have little doubt that were he to view the images here, he would embrace them as such.

The middle and upper levels of the gallery  – and the stairways linking them – are host to a selection of Theresa’s paintings covering a range of subjects. In this, and as Theresa herself notes, she is not so much led by the artistic opportunity of something she sees, but by the emotional response she feels towards what she sees. This is perhaps most clearly seen within Darkness Falls, a painting of sunflowers set against a backdrop of smoke / dust, painted as a personal response to the events of September 11th, 2001.

Theresa also notes that she eschews “realism” in many of her paintings in favour of her emotions (what she refers to as her work being “representational”), and this further adds a personal depth to her paintings. Again, take GGP Wedding; this is a reflection of the wedding of Theresa’s great-grandparents, taken from a photograph of that event. Within it, the newly weds are shown almost ghostlike; figures and details blurred – a perfect reflection of an event that might be recalled from a time when the eye and mind were too young to capture and imprint all that was seen firmly into memory, allowing the details to become misty over time.

What is also striking about this exhibition are the notes Theresa provides (click the small, wall-mounted signs offered close to the entrances of all three levels of the gallery space). These offer a richness of information, examining the origins of the photographs and paintings, the influences that helped inform their creation, and insights into the approaches she takes to her work. These notes help carry us into Theresa’s creative processes in a very personal way.

A genuinely personal, engaging exhibition, and my thanks to Cayla (YumiYukimura) for the invite to visit!

SLurl Details

• Original Campus Gallery, St. Elizabeth’s University (Dark Dreamer, rated Adult)