Category: Reviews

Sans Titre: an essay in art at Nitroglobus in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
Nitroglobus Roof Gallery: JadeYu Flang – Sans Titre

Now open at Nitroglobus Roof Gallery, curated by Dido Haas, is an engaging exhibition of 2D and 3D art by JadeYu Fhang. This doesn’t actually say a lot, because the fact is, JadeYu never fails to engage the grey matter with her art; her work is constantly evocative and provocative, brining forth a narrative with which to draw her audience in.

However, this exhibition comes with a slight difference in terms of a deliberate haziness of intent on the part of the artist, a haziness intended to further engage the observer’s eyes and minds.

Nitroglobus Roof Gallery: JadeYu Flang – Sans TitreThis haziness starts with the exhibit’s title: Sans Titre (“Untitled”, or if you prefer, “Without Title”), which as JadeYu notes, is an intentional step so as not to sway visitors with preconceptions ahead of arriving at the gallery and witnessing the work first hand. This haziness then continues through the works themselves, the intention being to leaving interpretation of at least the 2D elements to the eyes and thoughts of the beholder.

Which is not to say there is not a central theme running through this exhibition, or that it is  in any way random in content or execution. Rather the reverse: the theme is made clear; however, the artist’s intent it more about using the theme as a basic framework with which to allow us to view the works and generate our own understandings of the drawings presented, rather than have the images serve to underscore the theme itself.

Nitroglobus Roof Gallery: JadeYu Flang – Sans Titre

This actually brings me to an awkward crux: how best to offer insight into Sans Titre without impinging my own (and ultimately subjective) description of that theme, and thus colouring your reaction to the images and 3D sculptures? As such, this review is a little more circumspect than my usual offerings relating to exhibitions at Nitroglobus, as I’d rather try to keep JadeYu’s desire to provide a framework of theme, rather than direct people to specifics – so I’ll minimise things by quoting her own words:

Let’s call it a matter of violence inside bodies, facial expressions (3D) leading to the intention of erasing the other person, as suggested in the images (2D). The papers around the women? These papers indicate words, insults and other ignominy which are thrown in women’s faces throughout their lifes. Words loaded with hatred and violence “the killing words”. Nothing is written on the papers… it’s up to you to imagine what could be there.
Why women?
They are like the symbol, the mirror of those who through a brutality, a destructive will seek to destroy. To destroy everything that in no way corresponds to fluidity and natural roundness. Flexibility and openness is not the order of the day, the preference is for the square shape and it must be respected, locking up any will to exist outside the frame.

–  JadeYu Flang

Nitroglobus Roof Gallery: JadeYu Flang – Sans Titre

With those words to guide you, I’m go to say anything else, other than to say that – again as is usual with JadeYu’s work – San Titre is stunningly visual in both the 2D and 3D art presented. Instead, I’ll leave you to pay a visit and both witness and cogitate JadeYu’s work and the realities it explores, for yourself.

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A Photo Café in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
Photo Café, April 2023 – click any image for full size

I’m starting this piece with an apology. In early March, Kika Yongho dropped me a note card about her new parcel Photo Café, which had just opened at that time. With all that’s been going on in the past month, the note card slipped down my “to visit” list to the point where I didn’t get around to popping along until Easter, a month after I’d received the invitation to visit.

Occupying a little under a quarter of a Full region utilising the private region Land Capacity bonus, Photo Café is defined as a place where Second Life photographers can socialise and participate in moderated text chat about all things related to photography and photographic art in Second Life. The location – and its related group ~ Photo Café – Photographers ~ is operated by Kika Yongho, Duraya Resident, Kapaan Resident and DaneAlbion Resident.

Photo Café, April 2023

The setting is open to all to visit, with visits commencing on a sky platform where acceptance of the local Experience is required to progress. It sits as a disused railway cutting arcing between two tunnels in what might be a rain forest style of environment and with the second of the tunnels forming the teleport point to the ground on attempting to walk through it after accepting the local Experience.

The teleport leads to the “mouth” of the tunnel at ground level. Primarily designed by Violette Rembrandt and SL partner Lucifer Morningstar – the couple behind the Wonderland 2.0, a place I wrote about in November 2022 – the setting continues the tropical / rain forest theme whilst folding into it a sense of fantasy and other-worldliness in which strange giant fungi and floating islands vie with tall trees, tumbling falls, all watched over by a full Moon and a ringed planet under a blue, star-spangled sky.

Photo Café, April 2023

Central to the setting is a huge and ornate gazebo – the unmistakable work of Elicio Ember – which serves as the focal point for meetings  and discussions, its floor area circled by chairs and sofas, the rule of debate / discussion mounted on boards. A small art garden forms the centrepiece to the gazebo whilst the columns and upper reaches are draped in vines and plants, helping it to blend into the surrounding landscape.

Within this space is a little secret, one that continues the fantasy theme. It’s not entirely obvious in nature. In fact when I cammed around the meeting area and saw what lay under it, I anticipated the teleport would lead down to it; so I was intrigued when I found myself high up in the sky, standing within one of Desert Blossom’s Void Dreamscape scene rezzing environments and a choice of over 40 scenes waiting to be rezzed. Getting back to ground level from the Dreamscape also had me a little mystified, as I didn’t spot any obvious teleport (although I did find the Flower Gate leading outside), so resorted to using Firestorm’s Teleport History to drop back down to the ground.

Photo Café, April 2023

Oh? What’s that? How do you find the way to the Dreamscape? I’ll let you find that for yourself. All I’ll say is, ladders that appear to go down through holes may in fact go up. Also, remember, teleports here are experience enabled, so you may want to try walking on / through the ladder, rather than trying to touch-teleport (I had to bump into it a couple of times for it to work). How the scenes might be used is a matter of choice – but they do make interesting photography backdrops.

As well as the gazebo, with its curtain of waterfalls backing it, the location offers other places to sit and relax, including a beach house and – sitting high-and-dry on the rocks – an aged submarine.

Photo Café, April 2023

I gather discussion groups are held every two weeks, on Saturdays at a noon SLT, with the most recent having been on April 8th. More information on the location and the group can also be found at the Photo Café website, where information on events and transcripts of past discussions can also be found by those interested in joining the group.

Once again, apologies to Kika for not writing about Photo Café any sooner.

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Cica’s Happy Town in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
Cica Ghost: Happy Town, April 2023

For those who have visited and enjoyed Cica Ghost’s region-wide art installations in Second Life over the last decade plus, her build for April 2023 may well raise a sense of nostalgia and memory, whilst retaining its own originality.

Happy Town, which opened on April 7th, 2023, presents a whimsical townscape with a rather unusual feature: everything in it appears to be made of, or covered by, sewn and stitched fabrics, or has been knitted. The land sits as a patchwork quilt, buildings appear to have wall coverings which have been sewn onto them, indoors and out. Even the trees are strangely two-dimensional, their tops looking like snare drums over which green baize has been stretched and onto which flowers have been sewn, before being sat on their sides atop hemmed and sewn trunks. Even the sky appears to be a grey blanket into which the clouds have been stitched like so many patches to cover holes or tears.

Cica Ghost: Happy Town, April 2023

It is an engaging and imaginative setting, a place where only the citizens appear to be organic – and even these are not human. Instead, this is a town apparently populated by anthropomorphic cats who tend happy-go-lucky sheep, chickens and pigs whilst also working as the local mechanics. And even then, I’m not sure the sheep or chickens are actually being “kept” so much as also being local inhabitants.

True, they might for the most part be clustered in what might be taken for a central meadow, along with their barns and hen-houses whilst hemmed in (so to speak!) by a low fence with a single opening; but equally might this not also be the local park where the locals have simply come for some weekend fun? Certainly, the hi-fiving chickens seem to be having fun and the sheep – whilst possibly not related to Shawn the Sheep, look as capable as him.

Cica Ghost: Happy Town, April 2023

The buildings are a curious mix – some on the ground, others up on stilts, some as wide as they are tall, some with pipes entering or exiting them. It is here that for those of us with long memories might feel that hint of nostalgia, as there is something about Happy Town this brings forth memories of Cica’s 2014 Small Town. This is further aided by the presence of the little cars and the road winding through the town. While both are different in nature to those of Small Town, sitting in one of the cars and setting out along the road brings back memories of driving around Small Town.

As well as the car to drive (you can be sure they are roadworthy thanks to the cats looking after them!), Happy Town includes places where you can dance, places to sit, ladders to climb, and a little theatre where another memory from Cica’s past builds: one of her animated stick figures as seen in the likes of Ghostville offered as a movie to be enjoyed.

Cica Ghost: Happy Town, April 2023

Delightful and light, Happy Town will be open through April for people to enjoy.

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A Blue Finch spring in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
Blue Finch, April 2023 – click any image for full size

Blue Finch is the name given to a Full private island designed by Second Life couple Grant Wade (GMi7) and Dianna Wade (DiaMi7) which has been featured in the Editor’s Picks and Nature and Parks section of the Destination Guide. A Moderate rated region, it offers a warm greeting to visitors:

Welcome to Blue Finch Ridge. Uniquely beautiful and enchanting. with a rustic warm quiet charm. Romantic hideaways but please No adult activity. Be respectful.

Blue Finch About Land description

Blue Finch, April 2023

This is a place of serene beauty, one which at the time of my visit lay caught in the colours of spring. It sits as if a part of a rugged coastline, a rocky island cut off from the surrounding hills of its brethren courtesy of the not-to-distant see having stretched its finger deep inland, flooding the lowland to surround the island, leaving it sitting within a deep inlet or bay, the main channel of which sweeps inward from the north-west.

Across the island and tucked into its south-east corner where it is sheltered by the nearby hills, sits the landing point, occupying a pier gazebo as it extends out over the water. It is here that visitors can join the local group, read about the region and offer their support towards the region’s upkeep and their appreciation of the settings or teleport directly to the event / activity areas within the region – but I obviously recommend using your pedal extremities to explore the setting – and take your time doing so.

Blue Finch, April 2023

As the About Land description notes, this is place to visit and appreciate for its beauty. Offered under a basic EEP day setting, the region is well suited to almost any daytime settings, and I hope the images here demonstration, having been taken using my default personal EEP settings.

Once across the bridge and on the island, there are numerous paths for visitors to follow, with stepping stones and bridges of various kinds ensuring the waterways cutting through the land do not hinder and path of exploration.

Blue Finch, April 2023

All of the paths lead to somewhere interesting, be it the little fishing hamlet along the south side of the island, the pottery centre up on a high plateau, the old castle that serves as the movie centre, sitting over a wide cavern forming the gateway to the north-side beach, or more directly down to the eastern beach. And this is barely scratching the surface of the region.

Throughout the region are multiple places to sit and pass the time, look-out points, the event spaces, and various public buildings where time can also be spent – my favourite being the little coffee house. And all of it is wrapped in an engaging soundscape.

Blue Finch, April 2023

However, this is not a place to be written about – it is a place that should be appreciated first-hand  – as such I’ll finish with a couple more photos and a strong recommendation you drop in and see Dianna and Wade’s work for yourself.

Blue Finch, April 2023
Blue Finch, April 2023

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A trio of Kultivate art exhibitions in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
Kultivate Windlight Gallery, April 2023: Captainofmysoul, Veruca Tammas and Jamee Sandalwood

Now open at Kultivate Magazine’s Windlight and The Loft Galleries are a trio of exhibitions, one of which recently opened, the others of of which have been open a while (and so may be coming to an end – be warned).

The newer of the exhibitions is an ensemble selection of art waiting to be found in the ground floor level of the Windlight Gallery within its main hall. As always with the Kultivate ensemble exhibitions, it features a rich cross-section of artistic styles, with a focus on Second Life-derived landscape art.

Kultivate  Windlight Gallery, April 2023: Angel Heartsong

The participating artists comprise captainofmysoul, Sheba Blitz, Angel Heartsong, Johannes Huntsman, Jamee Sandalwood, Hannah Starlight and Veruca Tammas. Of these, Angel Heartsong offers an engaging series of images of Jade Koltai’s Panjin region, a place I wrote about in A Red Beach in Second Life. With little (or very light) post-processing, these are images which perfectly capture the spirit of the region.

Along the wing of the ground floor between the staircase is a second exhibition, with works mixing Second Life landscapes with avatar studies. This features the work of Pam Astonia, Reya Darkstone, Jesse Janick, Vaness Jane, Anouk Lefavre, Kalina Sands, and Jamee Sandalwood (again). Tempest Rosca Huntsman is also listed, but at the time of my visit was not displaying within the group.

Kultivate  Windlight Gallery: Reya Darkstone and Anouk Lefavre

Upstairs, meanwhile, and spanning both arms of the gallery’s mezzanine level which forms The Loft Gallery, is a richly engaging exhibition of single-frame stories by Myra Wildmist.

Always an evocative artist,  Myra is a regular exhibitor at Kultivate, and never fails to engage the eye and mind. Within this selection of art – which has been open since at least early March, she offers a series introspective pieces mixing monochrome and colour to present what might be seen as both a potentially personal series of images that reflect moods and emotions which are simultaneously recognisable and understandable as they all reflect feelings and dispositions we have all experienced for ourselves.

Kultivate  The Loft Gallery, April 2023: Myra Wildmist

With their rich cross-section of art and technique, these three exhibitions, housed within a single space, make for a rewards visit.

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A Small Town Green returns to Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
Small Town Green, March 2023 – click any image for full size

Shawn Shakespeare pointed out to me that, after a extended absence from Second Life, Small Town Green is once again open for visitors to appreciate.  This being the case I recently jumped over to take a look.

The work of Mido Littlepaws, Small Town Green (or Small Town, if you prefer) is a place which has featured in these pages a number of times in the pas. My very first visit being almost a decade ago (!) in the summer of 2013 – although I didn’t actually write about it until winter of that year. Further visits followed through until 2016, when the Mido halted her builds for a while, although Small Town Green re-appeared in 2019, which marked the last time I wrote about it.

Small Town Green, March 2023

To be honest, I have no idea if Mido has has iterations of Small Town Green between then and now, but I’m happy that I’ve been able to rediscover it thanks to the nudge from Shawn; Mido has a way of building highly attractive region settings which are fun to explore, with this one taking the form of two islands, hugged in the arms of surroundings hills.

The largest of these two islands has the landing point located on it, sitting on a curled tongue of land holding within it a small, round bay open to the outer waters on one side, where a wrought iron and wood bridge arches over a narrow neck of water. This curling spit of land touched the ruler-like wall of a raised tramway, itself separating the land from a pair of wooden piers, one of which offers the opportunity to take a kayak out onto the water – possibly the easiest way to reach the second (and smaller) island.

Small Town Green, March 2023

I admit that I initially took the smaller island to be a private home whilst initially exploring, and so didn’t pay it too much attention. However, it appears to be open to the public if you do opt to paddle over to it, and despite what looks like a little bit of unfinished landscaping, it presents a charming bath house reached along a lantern lit path overseen by a bamboo copse and bamboo fencing.

Back on the main island, a path follows the curve of the landing point’s tongue of land, offering two directions of exploration. The first runs west and then north, passing through a little field of brightly coloured flowers and past a ruined house with little places to sit and relax, and thence over the little bridge mentioned above. Eastwards, the path also swings to the north after a short walk, passing between tramway and an expanse of nanohana to offer a choice of two further routes.

Small Town Green, March 2023

The first is a grassy trail running between trees and sheltered by their boughs, and the second a waterfront boardwalk arcing around the bay’s inner shore and under the outstretched arms of sakura trees which have sprinkled their blossoms on the waters. Both of these routes recombine at a set of steps leading up to the arched gateway of a little town sitting on the north side of the island, the path linking with the one from the little bridge in the process, the two thus forming a looped a walk around the little inlet.

The little town carries with it a very western sensibility, comprising two cobbled streets that cross one another and are marked at their extremes by arched gateways under which the cobbles pass and end. Two pubs vie for attention at point the two roads cross one another to form an erstwhile town square, the signs of the hostelries staring at one another from opposite diagonals, possibly seeing who will blink first. They share the streets with a mix of business places, some backed by what might be townhouses. 

Small Town Green, March 2023
The majority of the builds here are, admittedly, shells, with the exception of two places of refreshment. The first is Murphy’s Old Ale House as it looks across the square at its rival. It boasts a cosy interior, complete with a little furnished apartment over it, reached by a separate doorway. Just down the street and alongside the steps connecting town to aforementioned looping paths, sits the Café Expresso 

Throughout all of this, there are numerous places where visitors can sit and pass the time during a visit, and it would be remiss of me not to suggest viewing the setting under its intended EEP settings (World → Environment → make sure Use Shared Environment is checked). It really gives this iteration of Small Town an extra sense of depth and romance.

Small Town Green, March 2023

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