Category: Art in Second Life

Milena Carbone (Mylena1992) has opened a new exhibition at Noir’Wen City. Entitled Lux Æterna, it encompasses themes in consideration of religion, humanity and personal belief; elements that are not new to Milena’s work, but are here presented somewhat differently, being projected largely through the work of others, notably Second Life artist Norton Lykin.

Through the exhibition Lux Æterna, I want to express this paradox which is at the heart of my deviant faith in an imperfect God. Our perception of light covers a ridiculously narrow spectrum, and yet this handicap allows us to contemplate incredible beauty. The human species represents a miserable, ignorant, fateful, devastating vermin, trapped in a thin layer of gas on a tiny planet, and yet we have been given the privilege to see, to feel what is. If there is an intention in the universe, this intention is totally indifferent to our fate, and has given us this gift with infinite generosity.

– Milena Carbone

Lux Æterna, “eternal light”, in terms of its religious use, is perhaps most familiar for being a part of the Catholic Requiem Mass, although – and as Milena notes, it most likely dates to Gregorian times. It is a call to God to let his eternal light shine upon the departed as they rest with his saints.

Here, the the idea of eternal light is used both physically and metaphorically. As Milena notes, the light humans can see is limited to an incredibly narrow spectrum; one that, long before we discovered the non-visible (to our own eyes) wavelengths on either side of it, nevertheless allowed humanity to contemplate so much, achieve so much through creativity on both an individual and collective basis, and to perceive the richness and beauty of not only our own planet, but the incredible cosmos around us. Yet, at the same time – and even with our going understanding of the non-visible spectrum this promises to reveal even more to us – humankind so often opted (and still opts) to walk the path of ignorance, even whilst espousing enlightenment.

Metaphorically, this narrow spectrum light through which we perceive everything could be said to reflect our narrowness of understanding of any supreme being that might exist. For so long, we constrained “god” in terms of our own viewpoint – one that, far from putting the almighty at the centre of things, has actually placed mankind so that everything – even the idea of a supreme being – literally and figuratively revolved around us, in what can only be viewed as a arrogant outlook on the cosmos.

And herein lies the first paradox: for just as the cosmos is vast – and made more so as we finally drew back the curtain on those parts of the spectrum we cannot visibly see -and with wonders yet to be understood, so to must any supernatural consciousness behind it be vast. Thus, could it even be aware of humanity, as we sit huddled under the protection of our backwater planet’s thin envelope of atmosphere? And so we enter into Milena’s realm of pondering the nature of God; whom she sees as not no so much capricious for allowing all the woes that can befall us, as some might argue – but simply indifferent  and / or imperfect, simply because they have far too much to do in just keeping the rest of the cosmos going to pay us that much attention.

These ideas are bound together through Milena’s exhibition in a number of ways. As she notes herself, Norton’s art, in its abstracted beauty, informs us about the two greatest elements within the cosmos: emptiness and light. Both are enduring and unalterable; we can see the light of the stars and nebulae, of novae and supernovae, and of galaxies beyond our own,  visual cues to the vastness of the universe in which we sit, whilst the distances separating them appear largely devoid of anything we can perceive, forming an huge and everlasting void around us. To this I would add that through the choice of colours found in the majority of the pieces – the reds, purples, oranges, blues and yellows – we are reminded of the spectrum of light that extends beyond either end of the visible, and thus of the unseen grandeur this sits within the cosmos, and which may yet be found within the the emptiness that sits between the lights of the stars and the galaxies.

And this is only scratching the surface of what is an incredibly simple installation in terms of design and presentation which folds within itself so much food for thought by way of metaphor and suggestion.within the design, for example, is a subtle blending of eastern philosophy and Christian religion: the installation stands as three arms, intentionally representative of the Christian trinity, whiles the empty space at its centre representing the eastern ideal of centring, chakras, inner peace and the natural flow of energy. Elsewhere the the rising stairs might be seen as metaphors for ascendency, an ideal common to both eastern philosophy and “western” religions, if interpreted somewhat differently by both.

Through all of this, Lux Æterna also serves to touch on two subjects that can never be far from thinking when contemplating life, the universe and everything (notably religious themes and similar): those of death and immortality. These are concepts that can be said to be uniquely human, as Milena underlines through her use of extracts from Jorge Lui Borges’s  The Immortals. Unique because – as Borge himself notes, we are the only creature on Earth with an awareness of death and by extension, contemplate immortality. So animals might be said to be “immortal”, simply because they do not share this awareness or live in that ever-present terrible shadow, and as such, they might be said to be “closer to god” than we can ever aspire (and thus the hare-headed figure standing God-like over the scene).

And yet still, there is that eternal light of the cosmos surrounding us and reminding us of the richness and of everything; a light we cannot help – and indeed always should – contemplate in humility and reverence, simply because of the beauty it enfolds, and the encouragement it gives for us all to expand our thinking beyond the petty.

SLurl Details

• Lux Æterna (Noir Wen, rated Adult)

Currently available at Mareea Farrasco’s IMAGO Gallery for visitors to appreciate is an exhibition of avatar studies by Liz Winterstorm (TinLiz) that is – in four words – beautifully and emotionally expressive.

Presenting 28 avatar studies, all of which are either black-and-white or soft monochrome, every one of the presented works is powerfully evocative in its narrative and emotional content, each one perfectly framed and presented, making the entire selection an extraordinary must-see exhibition.

Taken without external post-processing enhancement – Liz notes she simply does not have the patience to learn PhotoShop, these are images show that Liz has an innate grasp of lighting, and the use of light and shadow through her selection of Windlight environments in order to express her pieces.

While the selection is untitled (other than Liz Winterstorm at IAMGO), there appears to be a twist of thematic threads running through the images. The first might be seen as purely reflective of emotional states arising from a relationship – particularly those images that involve two figures. There are emotional responses anyone has likely experienced through the ups and downs and turmoil that are a part of many (all?) relationships.

The second thread, equally as evocative, might be seen as a considered reflection of the way many of us have felt at one point or another through the past year: loneliness, emptiness, of wanting things to be over, separation, of  being unable to escape (the world’s woes?), anger.

It is this layering of ideas – or at least, suggestions of ideas – that gives this exhibition its depth. But it is not the only thing; as noted Liz has a magnificent approach to using the natural environment through Windlight settings and framing to create pieces that are genuinely visually impressive. Just take a look at Shunned as an example, the use of a pure white lighting and background, coupled with the pose and row of seats gives the piece a quite remarkable depth and emotional focus that can be felt within whichever narrative thread you choose to follow.

As a second example of this narrative and visual richness, take Apocalyptica; it’s title alone is powerful and the imagery fully reflective of either theme.  But there is perhaps more here; within the picture is what seems to be a direct reference to the Finnish band itself and the lyrics from their single Life Burns. And this abundance of narrative and imagery flows across all 28 pieces in the exhibition.

Very definitely not an exhibition to be missed by those who appreciate Second Life art and photography.

SLurl  Details

• IMAGO Gallery (Broken Mountain, rated Moderate)

Now open as the end-of-year exhibit at Raging Graphix Gallery, curated by Raging Bellls, is Impressions, a selection of pieces by Tresore Prada Hawkins (Tresore).

I first became familiar with Tresore’s images through her involvement in the Phoenix Artists Collaboration, and admit to being attracted to her work, which mixes both landscape pieces and avatar studies – the latter in particular always framing a narrative or message.

Presenting some seventeen images, Impressions follows through on its title in a number of ways,all of which combine to capture and hold the observer’s attention. First, they are obviously statements of the impression Second Life has on Tresore as both an observer of the virtual world and as an artist; they allow us to see the things that have attracted her eye and caused her to create a memory of them. Secondly, they allow her to offer a story for any of the given scenes she has captured, either directly through the image itself or through the suggestive nudge of the title to a piece; so they might be said  to offer us an impression of both setting and the artist as a storyteller

On a third level, they offer us an impression of how Tresore views the changing seasons of the year, with the selection of pieces, whether through their depth of colour or through other hints, offering us glimpses of summer, autumn (and harvest) and – most notably – winter (and the holiday season). Finally, and most importantly, there is within each an every piece, an impression of mood / emotion / feeling that reaches out to make each of us not just a witness to Tresore’s art, but also a part of the story waiting to be found within each image.

I say “most importantly”, because while many photographers are taken by a scene, finding its evocative nature as a door to them framing a narrative or to presenting a mood or feeling within a stated pose  / presentation, Tresore is one who starts with the idea of what she’d like to say, and work from there, as she explains:

I have found in SL photography a perfect outlet, as it allows to create from scratch what I want to say. I can take up to one week to create one of my pictures. I carefully research the clothing, colours I want to use, objects, scenario, pose.  I Search for the region that suits it best and the light that will create the feeling I am looking for. There is quite a great deal of love, work and time behind each of my images.

Tresore Prada on her art

This again gives her images an added depth, further attracting our eye and mind to each piece, and adding an additional attraction to any visit to Impressions.

SLurl Details

• Raging Graphix Gallery (Heatherwood, rated Moderate)