Category: Reviews

A stroll through Moorcroft Village in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
Moorcroft, October 2022 – click any image for full size

It was off to Sansara for me once more for a little more mainland exploration, this time on the advice of Milo Collas, who suggested I might appreciate a wander through the streets and surrounds of Moorcroft, a place that defines itself as the queerest little village on the mainland.

Occupying a full region, Moorcroft is a join effort by members of the Show Society (a group dedicated to enhancing the equestrian community of Second Life through competitive events, shows, clubs, and classes) and their friends, with The Show Society’s founders, Ayame Kintsugi-Moon) (Stable Mum), Teagan Twospirit Kintsugi (DarlingTeagan) plus Pod Heartsong (Podruly Heartsong) leading the charge in mesh and prim pushing and terrain shaping.

Moorcroft, October 2022

In looks, the village appears to have its roots in a number of European countries (France in particular, with touches of Germany and elsewhere. It appears to be built upon the footings of what might have once been a mighty fortress, and is surrounded by the most genteel of countryside settings which blends into the region’s neighbours to the point where in a couple of places, visitors may not actually be aware they have strayed beyond the limits of the village and into the land of its neighbours.

The place I’ve selected to start a visit is the village square, just outside the Moorcroft Information Centre. The latter can provide visitors with information on The Show Society and the events they hold. Moorcroft is obviously an equestrian-friendly location, and the roads and trails winding outwards from the village are ideal for those who have a wearable horse – or who like exploring on foot.

Moorcroft, October 2022

Away from the main roads, the trails and single-track roads wind their way through the region, passing through and around the woodlands, with the longest of them running through the north extent of the region to where a little airstrip sits, which appears to be both a part of, yet separate from, the rest of Moorcroft. It also offers something of a challenging landing: the runway ending in vertical cliffs which tower over it!

The north side of the region is one of several areas which, at the time of my visit still appeared to be under construction (or possibly re-development). There are also one or two uneven points of landscaping within the woods – although these are largely hidden by trees, and the main trails that wind between the tree trunks avoid them and their odd pitfall.

Moorcroft, October 2022

Moorcroft is a place where people can come to level – there are various rentals awaiting discovery – and some of the locals have created some interesting perches.one of these is the Wizard’s Retreat away to the east and sitting high in the rocky hills to provide a commanding view down over the woodlands to the nearby coast.

Proudly LGBTQ+ friendly, offering a mix of architecture that is richly varied and suggestive of a lot of history lying in and around the village, Moorcroft offer plenty of opportunities for exploration and photography and is a charming little jewel sitting within Sansara.

Moorcroft, October 2022

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Karma’s Little World in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
Terrygold Art Gallery: Karma Daxeline 

Currently open at Terrygold Art Gallery (TAG), operated and curated by Terrygold, is My Little World, an exhibition by Karma Daxeline (Karma Weymann).

Located within an environment recognisably put together by Terrygold, and which is itself expressively minimalist and softly reflective of the exhibition’s title, give the sense of moving through a unique world, this is a selection of 20 avatar studies by Karma which might be said to offer a journey through her life within Second Life and a reflection of her love of photography (an additional frame within the exhibition offers the opportunity to view further pieces of Karma’s art).

Terrygold Art Gallery: Karma Daxeline 

Each picture offers a vignette; a single-frame story focused on Karma’s avatar. However, these are not your typical avatar-centric stories. Karma has a natural gift for presenting scenes and settings that are at once minimalist in feel and look, yet deeply expressive of mood; that are characteristically atypical of the normal avatar studies so frequently seen, and all the more richer in content and tone for it; and which offer seemingly ordinary activities laced with the more extraordinary sense of humanity, life and – in some – sensuality – which all again reach far beyond the more usual focus of avatar  expressiveness.

Utilising considered angles, focus and cropping, together with a very real understanding of the power of colour mix or monochrome scale, lighting, and use of shadow, all combined with a lightness of post-processing touch, the twenty images resent within My Little World are among the most richly expressive I’ve seen within Second Life, both in terms of the narrative each contains and for the way the pieces individually offer subtle counterpoints of style and idea within them.

Terrygold Art Gallery: Karma Daxeline 

In this, Karma’s art is marvellously supported by the environment Terrygold has provided: the islands of green and autumnal browns, floating as they appear to do within a night sky, suggest moments in time and life, just as do Karma’s surrounding images. And by sitting with those parts of the environment where seating is provided, we can indirectly become a part of Karma’s little world.

When visiting, do make sure you have Advanced Lighting Model enabled (Preference Graphics check Advanced lights Model), and use the teleport disk from the landing point to reach the exhibition space.

Terrygold Art Gallery: Karma Daxeline 

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Pumpkins and things with Cica in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
Cica Ghost, October 2022 – Pumpkins and Things

So, October has rolled around for 2022 (why do the years seem to speed up the older you get?), and with it, inevitably, comes Halloween and thoughts of ghosts, monsters, hauntings, and more, together with their familiars in the form of pumpkins and black cats, bats and spiders.

It’s a time of year when it is hard to avoid such things in Second Life, where the Americanisation of Halloween has very deep roots. Call me a humbug or grumpy so-and-so, but by-and-large I tend to find all that goes on around October 31st largely a bit tiresome and repetitive – although there are exceptions that get me to park my case of grumps at the door and go with the flow – such as the Calas Halloween build (which will be popping up in these pages very soon) and, for 2022 Cica Ghost’s Pumpkins and Things.

Cica Ghost, October 2022 – Pumpkins and Things

Just as with Cica’s September installation of Pink Fairytale took a light-hearted look at fairy tales and childhood stories (see: Cica’s Pink Fairytale in Second Life), so Pumpkins and Things offers an easy-going look at the Halloween period, and the aforementioned creatures, witches and so on – albeit with a little warning from the Master of Macabre himself, Edgar Allen Poe.

Caught under a pumpkins sky (do make sure your viewer is set to Use Shared Environment, this is a setting where black flowers offer toothy, maniacal grins, and large worms slither (some with very human-like arms, hands and faces) as they tower over a landscape of twig-like trees, pumpkin flowers, large pumpkin houses, a blocky little town and the toothy flowers – some of which resemble spiders sitting on sticks, whilst Cica’s black cats are to be found throughout (together with some of Cica’s trademark sit points and dances!).

Cica Ghost, October 2022 – Pumpkins and Things

Again, like Pink Fairytale, this is an installation to be seen and enjoyed, rather than described or shown in still shots. Monsters they may be, but it’s hard to believe any of the characters sitting within Pumpkins and Things would actually do anyone any harm – hence, perhaps the little warning from Mr. Poe, as used by Cica for the installation:

Believe nothing you hear, and only one half that you see

Used in a short story by Poe in 1845, the quote became very closely associated with the California gold rush at the end of the 1840s, when it stood as a admonishment against believe everything said or written about concerning the ease with which the gold rush lead to riches. Here, as well as possibly underlining the idea that for all their looks and teeth and strangest, the characters in Pumpkins and Things really mean no harm, the words might be taken as a little poke to remind us that no-one should really take the Halloween period too seriously, and simply have fun!

Cica Ghost, October 2022 – Pumpkins and Things

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Serene Footman: one of the great hearts of Second life

Posted on by Inara Pey
Isle of May, October 2022

On October 2nd, 2022 Jade Koltai informed us that Serene Footman, her long-time creative partner in bringing together some of the most outstanding region builds witnessed in Second Life, passed away from cancer in August 2022.

To my regret, Serene and I were not closely acquainted in Second Life; although we did exchange IMs at times, and chatted on a few topics. However, I didn’t actually need to converse with him to hear his voice or appreciate his heart: both could be seen and felt through every single region build he and Jade presented to Second Life for the enjoyment of everyone who visited them.

I first became familiar with Serene and Jade’s work back in 2015, when they opened Furillen, a Homestead region modelled on a small isle of that name and itself laying off the coast of Gotland, Sweden’s largest island. By turn a quarry, then a military installation and more recently a conference centre, Furillen’s history was richly and evocatively caught in Serene and Jade’s build  –  and build that set the tone for almost all of their subsequent designs, as well as loaning its name to Serene’s blog.

Furillen; Inara Pey, December 2015, on FlickrFurillen, 2015 – blog post

I say “almost”, because the next design the pair produced was very different to any physical world location (although it did include a reproduction of London’s Battersea power Station), as it offered an engaging and unique homage to English rock band Pink Floyd with Pink Floyd Ate My Sim.

But it was with the representation of physical world locations that Serene and Jade’s partnership became most well-known, with designs encompassing La Digue du Braek (found in France), Khodovarikha (Russia), Isle of May (Scotland), Louisiana’s Black Bayou Lake, Rummu quarry in Estonia, Chesapeake Bay, Ukivok in Alaska, North Brother Island, New York, to name just some – with both Serene and Jade also producing individual region designs also based on physical world locations as well.

Ojuela, May 2022 – blog post

The major points of all of these designs, alongside them being modelled on places people would likely otherwise have little or not opportunity to visit in the physical world, was the fact they were richly detailed and offered superbly imaginative interpretations of the places on which they were based, given the limitations (notably physical space) found within SL Homestead (and even Full) regions.

A further aspect of these builds which helped distinguish them from other region builds lay in the amount of additional information Serene would provide on them and their physical world namesakes through his Furillen blog which remains (for the time being at least), an excellent reference work in its own right.

Serene was also a gifted photographer, and his images were subject to exhibitions in Second Life, as with 2019 Retrospective, which I reviewed here, and which demonstrated Serene’s wonderfully understated and eye-caching technique.

Black Bayou Lake; Inara Pey, October 2018, on Flickr
Black Bayou Lake, 2018 – blog post

To give people the opportunity to remember Serene, his work, and her partnership with him, Jade has returned Isle of May – one of Serene’s favourite builds – to Second Life, and visitors are encouraged to drop in and recall Serene’s presence in Second Life, the beauty of his work and the joy he brought to all of us in visiting these wonderful creations.

My condolences to Jade and to Serene’s family and friends.

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More about a Green Story in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
Green Story, September 2022 – click any image for full size

I hadn’t realised that it’s been four years since my first visit to Green Story, the Homestead region held and designed by Dior Canis. Indeed, it might have been even longer before I hopped back to have another look, but for a poke from Shawn Shakespeare; admittedly, that poke was given to me at the end of June 2022, so even now I’m being a little tardy in just getting around to a visit and an article, given October is now peeking over the horizon at us!

At the time of my previous visit, which I wrote about in Stories and memories in Green Second Life, the region was very much a place of two halves, one in the sky and one on the ground, and both equally attractive, and which offered a continuity of theme and expression, one to the other.

Green Story, September 2022: “catch a falling star”

So far as I can tell now, Green Story exists in its current iteration as a ground-level build only; I certainly didn’t note any suggestion of a teleport to a sky platform – so if I did miss it, my apologies.  Both the 2018 iteration of Green Story and this are joined, however, by the fact that whilst each has its own landscape, neither is what might be said to be  contiguous location; rather, each exists to offer a series of locations – or vignettes, depending on how they are being utilised – scattered within a landscape which helps to link them as places to be found and appreciated.

In its form at the time of writing this piece for example, the landing point sits on a winding track running towards (or away from, depending on your point-of view), a little railway stations which has perhaps seen better days. Rain falls from a star-filled sky cut through with the ribbon of the Milky Way, and the shadowed forms of the station buildings, their mix of warm yellow lights and bright white platform illumination reflecting of banks of mist, beckon the new arrival with the promise of a warm reprieve from the downpour.

Green Story, September 2022: “the inner light”

This station is a strange hodgepodge of buildings platforms, music store, café, waiting room, and so on, which look as though they have all come together to huddle against the rain rather than being built with intent, a single rail car hunched at the end of one of the lines and suffering the rain in silence. The very oddness of the station buildings – which includes a very cosy artist’s studio floating above the rest as if daring gravity to say something – givens them a unique attractiveness which further draws visitors to them.

Travelling the other way along the track from the station takes the visitor past a little telephone booth before the trail peters on on a shoulder of the hills descending from the south and west to meet the north-facing coast, the course of the trail marked only by the march of a line of street lamps beyond where the trail’s guiding fences end.

Green Story, September 2022: “catspaw”

Further travel from here is either a case of climbing the rough slope of the hill or descending it towards the waiting shore. The way upwards can lead one to where the skeletal form of a cabin occupies an out-thrust of rock. Looking to be only partially complete (and a neat combining of builds by Wendy Keno and Cory Edo), the cabin is nevertheless cosily furnished and offers a comfortable retreat from the weather with an uninterrupted sea view. The path down, meanwhile, offers the way to where a deck sits over the water. Reached via stepping stone, it offers a view to the brilliant arc of the Milky Way as it rises from the north-east to arch over the region in a swathe of starry colour. Also visible from this deck is a little boat sitting far out on the water and laden with pillows and blankets as a further retreat  for visitors to partake.

And therein lines the raison d’être for this design: not s much as a place to be explored in the traditional sense, but as a place where people can come, relax, share (intimately, if they wish, given much of the furniture scattered around includes cuddles / adult poses), take photos of themselves within the various vignettes – art studio, cabin, deck, telephone booth and so on (several more await discovery as one wanders) – or simply remember or lose oneself in thought.

Green Story, September 2022

In this latter point, it doesn’t matter that the art studio floats over the back of the station buildings or a single window frame is suspended alone on a hill slope; what matters is how the mind, the eye and / or the camera opt to use the locations within this region, be it for expression or escape.

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Fading Melu: unique expression in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
Melusina Parkin: Fading Melu

Almost two years ago, Melusina Parkin presented her first collection of avatar-centric images.  Just Melusina was very much an experimental collection; as Melu noted herself at the time, portraiture and taking images of her avatar were entirely outside of her focus (no pun intended), her work to that point being largely directed towards landscapes, architecture and design.

However, Melu is a uniquely gifted artist; she has the ability to identify angle, eye line, subject and focus to present intriguing picture in which it is possible to define a single line of narrative or dialogue that naturally leads one to perceive a story far broader than the canvas, and which at the same time can draw us along subtle lines of thinking. In bringing these techniques and approach to portraiture, Melu presented series of self-studies which, while obviously set and posed, were nonetheless utterly natural in style and tone, and completely captivating in their potential to tell stories – as I wrote at the time.

Now, two years on, Melusina has returned to the subject of self studies with Fading Melu, a collection of images centred on her avatar and with the same rich potential for weaving stories – but which are very different in tone and approach; something she set out intentionally achieve, as she noted to me as we discussed the collection just ahead of its September 10th, 2022 opening.

Melusina Parkin: Fading Melu

Comprising some 23 pieces Fading Melu offers portraits which are linked by three major elements: they are mostly set against a dark background; they carry a sense of being over-exposed; they utilise a depth of field that ensures both subject and backdrop (where visible) are intentionally out-of-focus.

This latter point might sound counter-intuitive; sure, depth-of-field can be used in many ways – most obviously by “fading out” a backdrop / the “less important” and either focusing the eye on the foreground subject or the specific element within an image that caught the photographer’s eye; but to blur the entire image, subject and all? After all, and as I noted in writing about Just Melusina:

“Traditional” portraits tend to be exercises in power and / or ego, however subliminal. The subject and their pose is what counts, the clothes they wear, the backdrop to their sitting, etc., are all merely accoutrements to the central theme of look at ME. Even self-portraiture can follow a similar route [so] the end result tends to be the same: to push their audience into a single track of emotional response. 
Melusina Parkin: Fading Melu

Thus, in blurring each image within Fading Melu, Melusina is literally blurring how these portraits might be perceived, and so potentially making their narrative harder to define.

But in doing so, Fading Melu – to me – achieves two goals. First, because subject and background are both equally out-of-focus, we cannot so easily discern what may have driven the thinking behind each one’s composition and presentation. Thus interpreting them becomes much deeper and more personal, our reactions formed more by our own outlook and perception rather than any subtle hints in direction presented by the artist.

Second, Fading Melu might be said to offer a commentary on the human / avatar relationship. Our involvement in Second Life brings with it a certain investment in our avatars; for some, this can be superficial in terms of how our “real lives” permeate our avatar in terms of looks, behaviour, etc; for others the investment can run very deep. Either way, the fact remains that no matter how we try, we can never fully inhabit our avatars; there is always something of a divide between avatar and self. Thus, through their intentional out-of-focus finish, these are pieces that might be seen as offering a subtle underlining of this entire “me / not me” dichotomy.

Melusina Parkin: Fading Melu

Thus, within Fading Melu we have another multi-faceted collection of images capable of stirring the grey matter, and which serve as a superb expansion and enhancing of ideas first seen within 2020’s Just Melusina.

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