Category: Art in Second Life

Until I remembered the invite sitting in my inventory, I hadn’t realised it’s been over a year since my last write-up on art exhibitions at Konect Art Gallery, operated and curated by Gonzalo Osuna (Jon Rain). Why this should be the case, I’m not sure – but in that time, the gallery has relocated and downsized a wee bit. Nevertheless, a return visit was most welcome, as was the reason for making it – to see a further exhibition of Mareea Farrasco’s art, which is a couple of weeks into its exhibition time at the Gallery.

Mareea is an exceptional Second Life artist who has a talent for taking the pictures she captures in-world and turning them in elegant digital paintings through a gentle and considered use of post-processing. Her work encompasses portraiture, landscapes, and still life that can represent an image reflecting a moment in time, or offer the suggestion of a large narrative for the observer to create / interpret, and can even touch upon the metaphorical in tone and meaning.

Miscellaneous is a selection of 16 images that between them incorporate all of the above, and which also highlight other aspects of Mareea’s work I so appreciate. These include the way in which she can bring a sky to life in a landscape image, for example, to give it depth and mood; her eye for angle and depth of field; her ability to bring forth the subtle richness of colours present within nature without any sense of them being overblown.

Most clearly in this selection is Mareea’s love of pastels to cast a story and / or mood. Within the landscape pieces the soft colours speak to the calmness and beauty of a late summer field or the quiet of an autumn’s evening; meanwhile, her use of greyscale and blue tints provide a sense of winter and of a sea storm angrily reaching the shore. Then there is the use of soft focus / depth of field to draw the eye to a specific aspect of an image, in one place particularly married perfectly with a minimalist view (Bon Voyage) so as to offer an entire story through just a pair of walking boots, a shoulder bag and a hat.

Where deeper shades / colours are in evidence,, these again frame stories the mind is free to interpret, and metaphors of expression that can hold our attention, the colours offering a richness of expression without overwhelming the eye.

Poised, captivating and suitable for gracing any SL home, Miscellaneous is a rich sampling of art is an engaging exhibition that should be running for at least (I believe) the next couple of weeks.

SLurl Details

• Konect Art Galllery (Carpathian Island, rated Moderate)

No matter whom we are, where we live, or what we do, there is a constant in life that transcends all others we may share or have in common: the passing of those we love and / or hold dear.

Losing someone close hurts – the realisation  that someone we have always had in our lives or who has grown so close to us they have become a part of us is simply no longer there to touch, hold or just look at – can be devastating. that it is almost inconceivable we should ever be without them; that they will never again be seen, heard, spoken to or touched. The accompanying grief we feel is something many have tried to quantify down the years – hence the so-called “five (or seven) stages of grief”; which may have unfortunately given rise to the idea that grief is just something you have to “go through” and life will be “normal” once you’ve done so.

But the reality is that grief is a much more complex state of being. As Simon Shimshon Rubin notes, bound within grief are biopsychosocial aspects, those which the so-called “stages of grief” tend to focus on: anxiety, depression, traumatic response, our reactions to those around us, etc. But there are also other aspects to grief, what Rubin called “Track 2” aspects: our connection with the deceased, the closeness shared and emotional involvement. These are harder to quantify, because they are unique to each of us; they both define the depth of our grief and drive the more outward biopsychosocial aspects, as such they are central to any clinical understanding of grief, again as Rubin notes.

More particularly, these “track 2” aspects help structure how we maintain that connection with the deceased, retain that sense of closeness, and come to terms that while we may never physically see them again, they are, nevertheless still a very real part of us. And this in turn can give rise to moments of deep and personal revelation, understanding and even creativity which in turn help us reach an internal sense of equilibrium following our loss – something that cannot be measured by marking “stages” (in whatever order they are encountered), or in terms of time; but whish are so experiential, they are with us in varying degrees and ways throughout the rest of ours lives.

Such is the case with the current exhibition and setting CybeleMoon (Hana Hoobinoo) has created at her Dark Wood Gallery. Will We Meet Again No More is both a memorial to, and celebration of, the life of her partner Nick, who recently passed away, and a means for Cybele to help herself express her loss through the positive act of creativity. Stepping into it is very much of stepping into the world they shared, and opportunity to understand their bond of love and companionship, and to help Cybele remember Nick as her fellow traveller, lover of photography, gifted creator (through his cooking), confidante and friend.

From the recreation of the garden space she and Nick made at their home, through to the images on the surrounding walls, to all of the little touches – the ship’s wheel (referencing Nick’s time in the merchant marine and their mutual love of sailing), the globe (representing their travels together), the pint of Guinness… – offer us the opportunity to know Nick just a little bit, and share in Cybele’s time with him, and better understand her loss. It is also presents Cybele with the opportunity to maintain contact with her own creative core at a time when doing so is unlikely to be easy – hence why the exhibition also frames some of her more recent pieces of digital art as well as remembrances of Nick.

Personal, an opening of the heart, rich in images from the physical and digital realms, Will We Meet Again No More is engaging and moving. Through it, and the words Cybele offers with it, I find myself feeling not so much the loss she undoubtedly feels, but a sense of having to come to know Nick just a little. My thanks and warmest hugs to Cybele for, respectively, allowing us this to share a sense of her time with Nick, and for her loss.

SLurl Details

• Dark Wood Gallery (River Hill, rated Moderate)

P.S. If you are unfamiliar with Cybele’s work, I cannot recommend it highly enough; she is an extraordinarily gifted teller of tales through her images, photographs and words. With regards to the latter, I thoroughly recommend taking time to read her blog / website, if you have not previously done so.

Currently open at the 22 Art Space in Bellisseria, operated and curated by Ricco Saenz and Randy Firebrand, is a shared exhibition of images by two Second Life photographers – Dutch Ireman and Evie – that is built around the theme of Duet, or pairing. Although as Randy and Ricco explain in the exhibition’s introductory notes, the theme was actually suggested by the art offered by the artists, rather – as is more usually the case – the theme informing the art that is offered:

The concept … was born more or less by chance. At first [we] selected four pictures of each artist’s established production and suggested that Evie and Dutch complete the sets of images in a way that would make some sense to them. The results came with a positive surprise: even if each photographer … provided the gallery with photos that could be arranged in sets of two. In other words, the concept for the exhibition just emerged from that: there were duets – both of pictures and of ways to think of those photographs.

Thus, through the rooms at 22 Art Space, are hung eight images by Dutch and eight by Evie, each artist offering them as complementary pairs (4 pairs from Evie, four from Dutch). The images in each pair are able to stand as both an individual pieces in their own right and as one half of a broader story. Take, for example, Dutch’s Connecting and Connected, located on the upper floor of the gallery. Each offers a statement on human connectedness that can be appreciated in its own right; but they also stand together as a pair of images that give a wholeness to that theme of connectedness and connection.

Given that each artist was given free reign over how they took the four images initially selected by Ricco and Randy and added to them to offer a selection for the exhibition, that both Evie and Dutch both independently arrived at the idea of pairing off their images (rather than simply adding and additional four, either randomly or based along a single collective theme) is genuinely intriguing. It also speaks to an interesting harmony between their individual approaches to the the exhibition that further this idea of  duet: their individual voices as photographers coming together in unison in how they present their pieces as individual pairings.

And just as a duet can comprise contrasting harmonies and  / or voices working together through the combined singing of different lyrics or one offering the melody, the other a descant around it, so too does Duet. Evie, for example, presents images that largely have darker backdrops and /or deeper colours, forming, one might say, a “descant” to the “melody” of Dutch’s work, with its bolder, vibrant mix of colours and backdrop, with both harmonising their their respective use of tone, angles and lighting.

Completed by various items placed around the gallery that help underpin the idea of duets and pairings – a rug with the yin-yang pattern, a pair of shoes, tennis rackets and balls –  Duets is a small, engaging exhibition that run through until December 11th.

SLurl Details

• The 22 Art Space in Bellisseria (Grenouille, Bellisseria)

Melusina Parkin is, as I’ve oft noted, one of the foremost photographer-artists in Second Life. Her work is always rich in content, style and interpretation, always offering the most unique views of our virtual world through composition, angle and focus, here exhibitions carefully crafted around a given theme. This is once again the case with her latest exhibition Ordinary People, which has just opened across all three exhibition halls at Vibes Gallery, curated by Eviana Robbiani, presenting three dozen images captured from across Second Life that brings the uniqueness of candid photography to the platform in both images and subjects. As such, this is, among all of Melusina’s unique exhibitions, one of the most captivating.

Candid photography is the technique of capturing an image of one or more persons without creating the appearance they have been specifically posed; whether or not the subject(s) in the photograph are aware of or consent to the image being captured is entirely secondary to the image itself (although if they are entirely unaware of the photograph having been taken, it might be referred to as “secret photography”). Candid images can be taken indoors or out, and in the latter regard share a strong overlap with street photography (which may not be focused on streets, despite its name, but can often feature people in natural situations within street settings).

In truth, and in regards to secret and street photography, Ordinary People contains a mix of both within its overall theme of candid photography, offering images of people going about their lives, seemingly oblivious to the presence to the camera. However, these is more to be found here; for these are not images from the physical world, be have been captured entirely within Second Life, and their subjects are not avatars but what we might refer to as static NPCs – non-player characters.

Like avatars, they are made of pixels; like statues and mannequins, they don’t talk nor move. They could be seen as objects, as a part of décor, but at a closer look they are revealed to have expression, and their still poses show activity… 

– Melusina Parkin

NPCs occupy a unique place in Second Life. they are neither avatar nor statute, as Melusina notes; and while they are not “alive” in the manner in which we occupy our avatars, nor are the entirely devoid of life; again, as Melu points out, they carry facial expressions that given them a certain depth of life, and their presence within a region or setting, whilst frozen and in the manner of décor, actually brings life to the environment in which they are found.

Thus, the images in this exhibition are very uniquely layered in their composition and presentation. Within two of the gallery halls, the images are presented in black-and-white, and in the third, they are offered in warm colours. The former carry within them the sensation of everyday life: people coming and going from work, out and about sight-seeing, and so on. The latter suggest calmer, warmer moments: taking the time to read the paper, a walk through a garden with a loved one, sitting on a bench and (perhaps) feeding the birds: their colour giving the impression of calm and easy-going conversation.

Then there is Melu’s always considered use of angle, focus and cropping, which here leads to a rich sense of life waiting to be found in many of the images – such as those featuring crowds crossing the street, or the suggestion of activities going on just outside of a frame in which we only see the legs or hands of the subjects, rather than their entire bodies. On top of this comes the care that clearly went into creating each image, from the selection (or creation) of the location through the selection of the characters and their placement, the lighting and the shot itself – all of which gives each of the pieces event more life.

And this sense of life continues within the gallery halls themselves, where many of the characters featured in the pictures have returned to witness the results of Melu’s work. All of which makes for a truly engaging exhibition.

SLurl Details

• Vibes Gallery (Isola Del Giglio, rated: Adult)

Talefeathers is – as far as I’m aware – my first exposure to Poppy Morris’s art in Second Life. Currently open at the Janus Gallery II within Chuck Clip’s Sinful Retreat arts hub, this is an engaging display of physical world art spread across the two levels at the gallery.

Hailing from Canada, Poppy commenced her art career in the world of paint, but has since expanded her expression to include textiles, new media and sound, and more. Her work as an artist and performer – Poppy often performs live as a sound artist- has been displayed before both domestic and international audiences, gaining considerable recognition. In particular, she uses her work as a means of exploring our relationship with technology, utilising “traditional art techniques such as weaving and dying alongside those of machines and micro-controllers. Most recently (in terms of her time in Second Life) she has started using machinima as a means of artistic expression.

An example of the latter forms the centrepiece to Talefeathers, Entitled Chrysalis Circuitry, it is the result of a commission by New Music Edmonton, and features images by Poppy together with music she composed with musician Allison Balcetis (who also performs in the video). A ballet of music, light and sounds, the piece edges on the psychedelic in places but is also an aural and motion rich form of abstract expressionism that is both flowing and in places atonal, thus offering a rich reflection of the genre’s many forms through a living piece of imagery and music.

Around the video screen on the lower level of the gallery are nine pieces of Poppy’s 2D art, with a further 20 displayed around the walls of the upper level. It’s a richly diverse selection of pieces that also might, in places be said to be thematically grouped.  Take, for example six of the pieces along the lower west wall of the gallery. These feature a range of bird-like creatures (some very definitely avian in nature, some apparently wearing masks), all of which – thanks to their titles – carry something of a social commentary. Meanwhile, and above them are four images focused on deer that also, through their titles, also appear to offer reflections on emotional responses.

Across the gallery from both of these sets, and occupying both upper and lower levels, are what might be regarded as more “traditional” landscape and plant paintings, but which again offer further food for thought in their distinctive titles. In this, the title given to this exhibition becomes clear; the tale reflecting the fact that all of the paintings have a story contained within their individual canvases, the feather perhaps a reflection of the avian nature seen within many of the piece. In fact, these might be said to be stories in two parts, depending on whether we opt to view them simply as they hang on the walls – as I would initially recommend –  or through the lens of the title Poppy has determined for each piece – which I would suggest as a follow-on activity, and only after appreciating / interpreting all of the pieces sans any reference to their titles so as not to be influenced in your initial interpretation.

By doing this, it is possible to view, as a singular example, Memories of Renewal both as a piece that celebrates a spring evening, with flowers in bloom set against the backdrop of a sky reddened by a setting Sun. At the same time, taken with its title, it sits as a reminder that, when it comes naturally rather than as a result of human error or mischief, something like a forest fire (suggested by the red backdrop to the piece) is actually nature’s way of natural renewal and rebirth (as presented by the foreground blooms).

Thus, Talefeathers is a visually engaging collection of art awaiting discovery, with Chrysalis Circuitry offer a unique insight into how Second Life can be a canvas for modern performance art and expression through machinima, and I recommend both during their month-long (I believe) stay at Janus Gallery II.

SLURL DETAILS

• Janus Gallery II (Sinful Retreat, rated: Adult)