Category: Art in Second Life

Landscapes and a warning in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
Kondor Art Square, May 2025: Mareea Farrasco – Landscapes

Landscape photography is an art I greatly admire. Within Second Life it offers a means to capture settings and places which – the nature of the platform being what it is – might otherwise prove transient for a wide variety of reasons. Through the images taken of them, we might revisit places which might otherwise have vanished forever, rather than aging and changing with time and allow us multiple opportunities to revisit and appreciate.

As a demonstration of this, the Kondor Art Square, part of Hermes Kondor’s art hub, is hosting an exhibition of exceptional Second Life landscape art captured by Mareea Farrasco. Comprising 20 images gathered from across Second Life, the collection is called simply Landscapes, with each piece capturing its subject uniquely and beautifully. Each has been carefully and perfectly post-processed to give the impression of having been painted, adding a further sense of depth to their presentation, as well as demonstrating the validly of such editing when performed by an artist who understands the proper use of the tools at her disposal.

Kondor Art Square, May 2025: Mareea Farrasco – Landscapes

These are places which may be recognised by seasoned SL explorers – or, equally, they may not. However, whether or not you happen to recognise any given place is the collection doesn’t actually matter. What is of import is the beauty within each piece.

In this, Mareea’s eye, framing and editing combine to produce pieces which are immediately and richly engaging, drawing one into each of them in turn, offering hints of narrative and suggestions of memory. They speak to the purity of art in its ability to portray and present beauty for its own sake, without necessarily carrying a deeper meaning.

Kondor Art Square, May 2025: Mareea Farrasco – Landscapes

“Landscapes with a message” is very much the theme of the second exhibition I’m covering here: that of Blip Mumfuzz’s Landscapes from a Lost World, currently open at Serena Art Centre.

Blip is another artist whose work I admire immensely, hence why I cover so many of her exhibitions. Like Mareea, she has an innate ability to draw us into the heart of her images, together with an ability to direct our focus and weave stories. Her use of colour, angle and editing is such that her images can have both clarity and at times border on the abstract.

Serena Art Centre, May 2025: Blip Mumfuzz – Landscapes from a Lost World

Blip’s art is often capable of speaking to a wider theme; and such is this case with Landscapes from a Lost World. Set within an environment – the abandoned, fading structures of an old farm – specifically created by Blip in which to display them, and which is thus as much a part of the exhibition as the images, the exhibition actually presents a mix of landscape images and life studies, all focused on a message highly relevant to the physical world in which we currently live.

However, rather than offer my own interpretation of the setting and images, I’ll instead offer Blip’s own description and, like her, leave you to follow the advice on viewer settings and explore the exhibition so that the images, indoors and out, to speak to you within the framing of Blip’s words.

Serena Art Centre, May 2025: Blip Mumfuzz – Landscapes from a Lost World
In the face of the imminent climate-induced collapse of our modern technological civilization, the decrepit farm carries a multiplicity of meanings: societal decay, ways of life forever lost, economic and social collapse, and stands as an indictment of the sociopathic billionaires who are abandoning the rest of humanity and all its magnificent achievements in order to save themselves and to hold onto their power as long as possible.
Looking back from a time 25 years in the future, the images, which are scattered around the “farm”, should be seen as nostalgic dream images of our lost world.  A world that was once, within living memory, alive and vibrant; full of life, culture, love, hopes, and dreams, now being destroyed by the greedy and powerful.

– Blip Mumfuzz

Serena Art Centre, May 2025: Blip Mumfuzz – Landscapes from a Lost World

Two very different, be equally engaging exhibitions open through May 2025, and I recommend both to your eyes and thoughts.

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Art and simulacrum at Nitroglobus in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
Nitroglobus Roof Gallery: Manoji Yachvili  – Simulacrum 

Drawn from the Latin, simulacrum (“likeness, semblance”) entered the language of European art during the late 1500s, when was originally used to refer to a painting or statue directly representing someone or something (most notably a god or deity). However, by the 19th century, it had come to express an artistic endeavour – notably an image – formed without the substance or qualities of the original (e.g. to use a more modern example: a photocopy of a photograph of a painting).

It is a term which is particularly relevant today thanks to the rapid rise of generative AI tools, and the manner in which they can be used to literally churn out prompt-based images over and over without any genuine artistic input or understanding of the actual desired request or the inconsistencies, anachronisms and outright errors present within the final product.

Nitroglobus Roof Gallery: Manoji Yachvili  – Simulacrum 

Of course, those using such tools diligently will argue that they are merely a tool; when balanced with a critical eye and the use of other tools to refine, enhance and correct, they can be used to produce richly diverse pieces that do have originality within them. This is actually not an unfair summation, as far as it goes.

The problem¹ here is that the vast majority of users of such generative tools don’t exercise skill or talent. They prompt, wait, publish, often using minor variations of the same prompt ad nauseam (“make the woman’s hair colour blue”) to produce a stream of near identical images (as all too often seen on the likes of Deviant Art). There is little originality within such pieces when compared one to the next; worse, there is little in the way of critical review, and those aforementioned errors are allowed to persist. Worse still, all this repetition (complete with errors) is fed back into the data pool, further diluting it and increasing the regurgitation of vacuous elements to form what amounts to self-perpetuating simulacrums, devoid of originality and talent.

Nitroglobus Roof Gallery: Manoji Yachvili  – Simulacrum 

This constant cycle of regurgitation and repetition without originality is explored by Manoji Yachvili (onceagain), in her exhibition Simulacrum, currently on display at Nitroglobus Roof Gallery, curated by Dido Haas. It is also very much a personal expression of Manoji’s own increasing sense of artistic loss and frustration as she sees creative expression, skill and progress within art and artistic experimentation vanishing in a rising tide of banality.

Reality no longer exists, it has disappeared, crumbled by the media and modern technologies that propose images that do not refer to reality, that receive meaning only from other images and that are perpetually regenerated, thus remaining increasingly disconnected from what was originally real. Everything I see has an appearance and the power of appearance, without a faithful external image and therefore devoid of the original vitality.

– Manoji Yachvili

Nitroglobus Roof Gallery: Manoji Yachvili  – Simulacrum 

To achieve this, Manoji presents a collection of original paintings that are richly expressive whilst clearly echoing the banality and emptiness of the kind all too easily spewed forth by generative AI. Through the use of simple, repeated elements – masks, faceless figures, and muted colours – she beautifully conveys the empty, expressionless redundancy so common within generative AI art.

Yes, these are all paintings utilising common themes elements – but each of them is completely original in form and presentation, allow it to stand on its own as a singular, unique piece carrying with it an ability to speak to each of us differently. Thus, these are pieces that reach beyond the artist, offering a richness of expression and meaning, standing not as the result of a collection of prompts, but as a prompt for our imaginations to take flight within them.

Nitroglobus Roof Gallery: Manoji Yachvili  – Simulacrum 

In doing so, Manoji establishes the genuine power of art through the hand, eye and talent originating from within the artist, making this a beautiful expressive collection, each piece standing in its own right as a genuine work of art.

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  1. Please note that within this article, I’m intentionally avoiding issues of copyright and ownership in relations to the “training” of generative AI tools, because while these are clearly of concern generally, they are not the focus of the exhibition being reviewed.

Bryn Oh’s Imogen and the Pigeons in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
Bryn Oh: Imogen and the Pigeons, May 2025

Bryn Oh’s Imogen and the Pigeons first appeared in Second Life over a decade ago. Like all of Bryn’s art, it was deeply immersive, experimental, and offered a depth of narrative that might be seen as both challenging to navigate with its layered themes, and visually engaging. Also, as with most of Bryn’s work, it sat within her broader narrative universe, started with her Rabbicorn story, with its most direct link to that universe being via The Singularity of Kumiko, which was both a physical prequel to Imogen and the Pigeons and as sequel – so to speak – to Imogen’s life, focusing as it did on the story of Imogen’s daughter.

However, whilst I have attempted to follow all of Bryn’s creativity within these pages, Imogen and the Pigeons is a work that escaped my attention back in 2013, so I was pleased to be able to pay a visit to it following its extensive update and return to Second Life, where it re-opened on April 25th, 2025.

Bryn Oh: Imogen and the Pigeons, May 2025

As noted, this is a story sitting within Bryn’s broader narrative universe. But  this does not mean you necessarily need to have specific knowledge of that universe; the central themes of Imogen are accessible to anyone visiting, and the layering of ideas and themes allows the visitor the opportunity to peel them open howsoever they wish and however deeply they wish, be in during a single visit or over multiple visits or as a result of witnessing and allowing what they’ve encountered to whisper quietly to them during and after a visit.

That said, there are core themes throughout Bryn’s work, and these are very present within Imogen, as Bryn explains:

My artistic focus is in the way modern society is affected by technology, ranging between human/machine and machine/machine relationships. Often we consider technology to open channels for people to interact and engage socially, however, the opposite can occur where people become isolated within their own personal bubble, separate and witnessing the world from a distance almost as a product with brittle popularity. My work expresses a yearning for meaningful connections within the new technological realm that often contains human remoteness. I build virtual reality environments that convey the juxtapositions between human emotion and machine sentience. I combine poetry with a melancholy narrative that explores the themes of connection and belonging.

– Bryn Oh

Bryn Oh: Imogen and the Pigeons, May 2025

In terms of presentation, Imogen is richly immersive and takes advantage of some of SL’s most recent updates, such as the use of reflection probes and dynamic mirrors. Core to the installation is Bryn’s own Second Life Experience, which should be accepted on arrival if not a part of your active Experiences. Given all of this, the installation should really be viewed using an up-to-date viewers with, if your system can manage it, at least mirrors being enabled, together with Use Shared Environment set and have local sounds enabled.

It’s also particularly pertinent to remember that Imogen is designed to be both immersive and interactive – a lot of the initial parts of the installation rely on you finding your way forward, and some of the time this may not seem obvious. As such, do be sure to mouse-over things you may find – particularly things which look like they may be buttons or switches.  In this latter regard, I’m not just talking about the in-world “audio” buttons you can press to hear recitals of the poems that form the written narrative for the story; there are also those that will open doors and portals.

Bryn Oh: Imogen and the Pigeons, May 2025

Be prepared to put some effort into getting around – routes are not direct (although some are volume-triggered teleports, making transitions between chapters in the story fairly straightforward). When you initially find your way outside, for example, the journey does not end at the water’s edge, but you’ll have to have to exercise care and have a keen eye in order to make your way upwards. However, like Bryn, I’m not going to point you towards where you should go or what you should do.

I have said in the past that I think of my artwork here in virtual worlds almost as paintings you can enter and explore. The beauty of a painting, the immersion of cinema and then meshed in with a new type of open ended freedom of movement combined with interaction. There are many new and interesting techniques to experiment with inside the virtual art form. The one which I brought up at the beginning, that ties into my new build Imogen and the pigeons, is creating immersion within the artistic environment by creating scenarios which challenge the viewer.  I generally don’t put out text or arrows to tell the viewer where to go or what to do.  I feel this can break the immersion so I let the viewer discover on their own. 

– Bryn Oh

Bryn Oh: Imogen and the Pigeons, May 2025

So, what is the story behind Imogen and the Pigeons? As Bryn notes above, it is very much about our relationship with technology. Set in an age where an individual’s memories can be recorded, and then potentially edited, spliced, etc., it explores questions of existence, the human condition, the juxtaposition of connection with others and isolation from them as so often exists when it comes to our increasing reliance on technology for our interactions. Also within it we might find questions concerning our own identity and how we project ourselves in the eyes of others – how willing are we to amend our own histories, intentionally alter our memories and actions when verbalising them, in order to appear more acceptable, more desirable, in their eyes?

Within this, there are many subtexts and other avenues of question those exploring Imogen might find or be prompted to explore. In this I would urge you to observe everything you see at least twice; from the titles of books waiting to be found to drawings on walls to those scattered across a floor in as if torn from a sketchbook and thrown into the air, pretty much everything you encounter within the chapters and scenes, rooms and spaces, throughout Imogen will have something to say.

Bryn Oh: Imogen and the Pigeons, May 2025

Even were the route straight-forward, this layering of ideas and subtext is such that Imogen and the Pigeons is not the easiest or nor the most direct narrative to comprehend as one moves through it. Patience and an open, inquisitive mind are essential to both finding your way through the many scenes and rooms and in coming to an understanding as to what might be being whispered to you by your subconscious, as you find your way from the opening scene and back to it.

And if all this sound cryptic, it is only because I do not want to spoil things for you or for Bryn. There is a depth and richness to Imogen that perhaps reaches beyond the likes of Hand and other environments Bryn has created; an almost perfect balance of narrative, adventure, questioning, reflection, warning and mystery (I’m still boggling about the poem of the writer, and whether her name and her appearance are an intentional reference to a producer of immersive adventures with SL, and if so, what it might potentially mean).  Thus, this is an installation which really should be experienced and cogitated upon directly and not offered through a watery translation as I might otherwise give.

Bryn Oh: Imogen and the Pigeons, May 2025

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Cica’s Rocks and Drums in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
Cica Ghost, April 2024: Rocks and Drums

Cica Ghost’s latest turn of whimsy opened in Second Life towards the end of April, bringing with it another opportunity to leave the weight of the world behind and just have a little fun and let a smile or six crease your lips.

Rocks and Drums is another charming setting featuring giants, strange houses, beautiful flowers, vehicles, dancing, and a sense of fun. It comes with a line from  American singer, songwriter, poet, painter, author, and photographer, Patricia Lee “Patti” Smith, If you don’t have what you need, just rock with what you’ve got!

Cica Ghost, April 2024: Rocks and Drums

Given the core aspect of this installation is rock, it’s an apt quote. This is a place of rocky hills, rocky cairns, stone of primitively-hewn rock, and most notably rock giants and strange houses hewn from rock. Some are on the ground, other balance precariously on the top of stacks of flat rocks or rocky plinths. Like the stone giants, the houses are topped by tufted grass-like hair.

Across the land, grass and flowers grow tall, and people can wander freely. The stone giants are not the only creatures here, huge friendly treemen can also be found, and can rocks with fair-sized teeth!

Cica Ghost, April 2024: Rocks and Drums

While the houses on the ground are easy enough to access, those atop rock piles and plinths present something of a problem.  However, the answer comes in the form of flat rock tablets. Some have balloons attached, others are propellor-driven. Simply step up onto one as it reaches the ground and then allow it to carry you elevator-like up to one of the houses.

Those who fancy a shot of making like Fred and Barney can jump on one of three rock car rezzers and go for a drive around the setting. And of course there are Cica’s familiar dance stations and places to sit. So, go on over and let Cica’s creations raise a smile. Her shop means you can even bring some of them home with you if you like!

Cica Ghost, April 2024: Rocks and Drums

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2025 Raglan Shire Artwalk in Second Life: call to artists

Posted on by Inara Pey
Raglan Shire Artwalk 2024

The Raglan Shire Artwalk is one of the staples of the SL art calendar, and for 2025 the 20th Artwalk will take place between Sunday, May 18th and Sunday, June 15th, inclusive.

Running across four weeks, the Artwalk is popular event among artists and residents, often attracting over 150 artists, who display their 2D and 3D art across the regions of Raglan Shire. All the displays are open-air, with 2D art is displayed on hedgerows in and around the regions, while sculptures and 3D art is displayed in a number of designated areas, all of which allows visitors to both appreciate the art and explore the Shire regions.

Qualifying Art

For the purposes of this show, qualifying art is defined as original representations of RL photography, painting, drawing, printmaking, collage, and digital fine art that can be displayed on a prim; and SL photography, manipulated SL photography and SL sculpture. AI-generated art and pictures of RL crafts, such as beadwork, leatherwork, etc., are not part of this show definition.

Call to Artists

A Call For Artists for the 2025 event has been issued for those wishing to participate, and key points about the exhibition in addition to the above, are as follows:

  • It is a non-juried show.
  • Artists can display more than one piece if they wish.
    • 2D artists (“flat” art – photos, paintings, etc.) will be awarded a maximum of 15 LI. Individual pictures should be 1 prim, including the frame, and pieces should not exceed the height of the hedgerows against which they are displayed. No hovertext allowed.
    • 3D artists (sculptures, etc.), will be awarded a maximum of 500 LI for up to three pieces of work. Artists are requested to state the LI per piece in their application, together with its overall dimensions (length, width & height). Note that any piece exceed 10m in any of these will require special permission from the organisers.
  • In addition:
    • Sales of art are allowed, but tip jars and floating text are not allowed.
    • All art must be rated PG / G – so no nudity, please!
    • Group membership will be required in order to display work.
    • Touch-based landmark / biography givers may be included, but will count against an artist’s total LI allowance.

Registration

Those wishing to display their art should complete and submit the 2025 Artwalk Registration Form by no later than 21:00 SLT on Tuesday, May 12th, 2025.

Raglan Shire Artwalk 2024

Event Dates

  • Tuesday, May 12th: applications close at 21:00 SLT.
  • Friday, May 16th (after 09:00 SLT) and Saturday May 17th: Artist set-up days
    • Hedgerow space for 2D artists is on a “first come, first serve” basis.
    • Areas within Raglan Commons, Heron Shire,  Athen Shire, and Morning Shire will be designated for sculpture set up – available locations will be designated with with a marker.
  • Sunday, May 18th: Artwalk Opens.
  • Sunday, June 15th: Artwalk closes.
  • Sunday, June 15th (after 21:00 SLT) through Tuesday, June 17th: takedown of works.

Event Contacts

In-world contact preferred.

  • Artwalk Director: Linn Darkwatch.
  • Artwalk Assistant: Panacea Pangaea.
  • Artwalk Assistant: Kayak Kuu.
  • Artwalk Assistant: Karmagirl Avro.
  • Questions may also be asked through the Friends of Raglan Shire in-world Group.

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Koexistenz in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
KOEXISTENZ – April 2025

KOEXISTENZ is an immersive new art space created by Eta (etamae) & Jos (mojosb5c) I recently had the opportunity to visit, courtesy of an invitation from Eta. An experience-driven installation, it presents a unique blend of real-world images, digital art, 3D elements, movement and contrasts.

The installation stands as two elements: the Landing Point platform and the main sky platform. The former offers information on how to best view the event. I’d summarise this by saying:

  • The installation is best seen using a PBR viewer.
  • If you can, raise your graphics quality to at least High (Ultra is recommended, but TBH, unless you have a really high-end system / monitor, High works just as well).
  • You accept the local experience via the large “tablet”, to allow you to use the local teleport system.
KOEXISTENZ – April 2025

There is a recommendation to used the local Shared Environment – but to be honest, given the options present within the installation, whether you do or not is a matter of choice.

That said, I would recommend flicking to it, if it is not already selected on arrival, as it tend to show the Landing Point to its best – and its worth looking around (and under!) the platform before right-clicking the teleport disc to be transferred to the main installation.

KOEXISTENZ – April 2025

KOEXISTENZ has no set theme; rather it brings together multiple aspects of artistic expression – as described above – allowing visitors to simply immerse themselves in the installation and allow it to speak to them. In this there are two things to note on starting explorations.

The first is that the installation comprises three spaces, with two further large tablets between them. Touching either tablet will open a dialogue, allowing you to select one of eight different ambient environments. It’s worth taking time to experience the installation through each of them – that order you do so isn’t important – as they can change perspectives and views in the most subtle of ways.

KOEXISTENZ – April 2025

The second is that it is worth taking time to cam out and around the entire structure of the installation as a whole, if you can. There is a mix and flow of geometry to the structure that adds a further subtle complexity to the installation. It has its own unique beauty which should be witnessed in full.

Throughout the three chambers of the structure is a visually engaging mix of 2D and 3D elements – with some of the latter floating below the transparent floor, with some of the 2D pieces also animated. Reflection probes are used to huge effect, rendering beautiful results across the surfaces of floating tears, floating spheres glass-like statues and within the marble of the egg-like mounts of many of the pictures. Spheres revolve, cubes spin, bouncing ambient light over their flat faces. Changes to the ambient lighting via the tablets brings in to full relief the murals on some of the faces of the tent-like ceilings overhead. Everywhere you look there is something to see and admire.

KOEXISTENZ – April 2025

The division of work by the artists – the entire installation reflects their joint deep dive into the intricacies of Blender – is such that Jos created the physical space, Eta the lighting, art and images infusing some of the surfaces. Thus they offer a co-existence of styles and expression, ambience and art.

There is a rich layering of chaos and order throughout; pieces animate and move of their own accord,  images ripple and flow, blobs vie with more regular frames to hold pictures, geometric forms and shapes impose order whilst reflections chase one another randomly as the lighting changes.

KOEXISTENZ – April 2025

Simply marvellous and not to be missed!

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