Category: Reviews

Going west in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
Les Salines, February 2023 – click any image for full size

Shawn Shakespeare suggested I might like to drop into Les Salines, the latest region design from the pairing of Tolia Crisp and Dandy Warhlol (Terry Fotherington), offered under Tolia’s Frogmore brand. And for those who like westerns, it might well hit the spot.

Apparently located on the edge of the “Mojave Desert Refuge, Arizona”, Les Salines offers an interesting and curious mix. On the one hand, it has all the look and feel of the Old West: a town sitting on a desert plain, its wooden buildings lining a couple of rutted tracks, the earth packed and hardened by the passage of uncounted hooves and wagon wheels. Sidewalks are little more than boards fronting the various businesses and laid out over the bare earth between them – doubtless offering little in the way of dry footfalls when the rains decide to pay a visit.

Les Salines, February 2023
Frogmore presents Les Salines: A full region, wild west adventure from Tolla Crisp and Terry Fotherington. Everyone is welcome at Les Salines and Frogmore group members have rezz rights. The town is jam packed with details with visits to the saloon, bank, blacksmith, photo studio, general store, hotel, and much much more! Be sure to check in with the sheriff as well! Everyone is also welcome to join their photo contest and a notecard is available at the landing.

Les Salines Destination Guide entry

A sign indicates the town was founded in the 1860s; but precisely what caused settlers to establish it is unclear, but a mine (or quarry) might be responsible, perhaps being the site of a gold mine; or perhaps, given the local waters, it became a natural place for stagecoaches heading west to pause in their journeys; or perhaps that same water made it a suitable point where the locomotives could quench their huffing thirst.

Dominated by a large hacienda overlooking the town (and another a short distance away, apparently long deserted, Les Salines may equally have grown up as a result of a railhead being established here in order to ship cattle eastwards for and the hungry bellies of America’s growing cities.

Les Salines, February 2023

Whatever the reason, the town, with its fancy signage façades over its various businesses, has clearly seen better days. Their walled flanks and flat roofs all look tired under the heat of the Sun, and stage and brush is starting to intrude into the heart of the town, suggesting its population might be in decline.

The founding of this town is just one of its mysteries; another is the period it represents. On the one hand, the buildings, the stage and reliance on horses and wagon points to a time perhaps in the latter part of the 19th century – say the 1880s or 1890s. This is perhaps supported by the photographer’s studio (photography having moved west in the decades following the US Civil War) and the presence of the rail lines.

Les Salines, February 2023

However, the train sitting on them appears to be hauling fright cars from a more recent era, whilst the overhead cables which switchback their way down the main street look more akin to carrying electrical power than in echoing the taps of a telegrapher’s touch on his key. Not that any are actually hooked-up to any of the buildings their poles stand alongside as they zigzag over the street.

Further mystery is added by the fact that while the Mojave sits mainly within California, it does extend out and east into both Arizona and Nevada – although the Desert Refuge (aka the Desert Wildlife Refuge / Reserve, founding in 1936) sits within the Arizonan corner of the Mojave (a place also, and coincidentally, home to the infamous Groom Lake and also Nellis Air Force base.

Les Salines, February 2023

Of course, Les Salines doesn’t have to reside anywhere in the US west (hence the sign noting in sits on the edge of Nowhere!), but these little suggestions give the setting a sense of mystery and mixed age when allow the imagination to run free when visiting. They also offer lots of opportunities for informal RP for those so minded – although the primary aim is to present a photogenic location; and as the Destination Guide notes, there is a lot to see, indoors and out.

I will note that with shadows enabled I did find my viewer struggled a couple of times when flycamming and / or loading textures, but on the whole, Les Salines makes for an interesting and engaging visit.

Les Salines, February 2023

SLurl Details

Reflections on life’s cages in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
Artsville Gallery: Ava Darkheart – Cages – Birth

I was led to Cages, an installation by Ava Darkheart at Frank Atisso’s Artsville Galleries entirely by chance. The intention had been to drop into Chuck Clip’s The Book of Caligula; however, a SLurl error on the Artsville blog directed us 1,000 metres higher than Chuck’s installation, dropping us neatly into Ava’s exhibition. It was actually serendipitous – Cages had opened in mid-January, and I’d totally missed the announcements about it – and so might actually have missed it entirely before it closes on March 5th, 2023, had it not been for the mis-direct.

Perhaps the easiest way to describe this 6-part installation is as an essay in art, a story of the one journey we all have no choice but to make: that of life.

However, rather than charting this journey in as Shakespeare did, through the seven stages from birth to death (As You Like It Act II, Scene 7) or as a reflection of both admiration and ultimately ironic sense of despair on the human condition (Hamlet Act II, Scene 2), Ava instead presents a set of vignettes which encourage us to consider six aspects  – six “cages” – of life which may both constrain us and also define us as individuals. In doing so, she challenges us to consider a range of subjects, natural and social / societal.

Artsville Gallery: Ava Darkheart – Cages – Emotions

Presented around a central foyer / event space, the installation comprises six numbered rooms, which can be visited in numerical order, if so desired, although outside of the first room, it is not unreasonable to say the others might be visited howsoever the feet wander. The entrance to each is marked by white chevrons on the floor of the foyer hall, and whilst blank from the outside, can be seen to be a keyhole from within each room – a rather nice metaphor, perhaps for the keys to life and unlocking understanding.  Alongside each entrance, Ava sets out the title of the cage presented within, together with a short text piece to challenge the grey matter into action in considering each vignette.

In total, the six themes, in their default order, are: birth, the body, roots / the family, emotions, work, and the brain. Each offers a static vignette representing the core focus. Each is carefully considered with very little within it to be overlooked, with both obvious and more metaphorical elements awaiting discovery.

Artsville Gallery: Ava Darkheart – Cages – The Body

Take Birth for example: the baby floating within the cage is clear enough, as might be the seabed-like setting in which both reside (suggestive of amniotic fluid and the pre-birth “memories” some claim to have of floating within their mother’s womb) – but don’t miss the little red-crowned crane frozen in mid-dance as a potential stand-in for the stock of childhood stories. Then there is the cocoon bag sitting to one side; not only does the name evoke thoughts of the womb within the womb, it allows us, via our avatars as they sit within it, a means to recapture a sense of warmth, protection and nourishment which carried us into the world.

Some of the commentary is more direct – such as the text panel for The Body’s Cage (The Flesh), speaking as it does so eloquently on matters of gender and the growing divide between personal identity and the increasing (and unbalanced) demands for conformity / regression to purely binary outlooks some in society are demanding (despite nature as a whole rarely being truly binary). Meanwhile, there is such a subtle play on human relationships offered within The Roots Cage (The Family); contrast the reproduction of The Last Supper on the wall behind the family group, the babe-in-arms – and the look on the face of the man with burger and coffee in his hands as he keeps his head and eyes turned away from the conversation; and don’t overlook the little bench outside with its lone light, and all that might say about familial separation and loneliness.

Artsville Gallery: Ava Darkheart – Cages – Emotions

I could work my way through all six – the use of the peacock, the Jaguar, the apple tree and colours with The Untamed Cage, and so on – but this is an installation designed to get the visitor’s grey matter churning on the subjects and their motifs, and as such, I really have said far too much here. As such, I do recommend a visit before Cages draws to a close in early March

SLurl Details

The wilds of Perpetuity in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
Perpetuity, February 2023 – click any image for full size

Camis Sierota (Camis Lee) and Tamara Sierota have once again redressed their homestead region of Perpetuity, returning it to what could be referred to as a North American theme, the region having spent a while dress as a European for part of late 2022 (see: A European styled Perpetuity in Second Life). However, unlike the last time I visited the region when it was dressed in something of an American theme (see: Perpetuity, USA in Second Life), for the start of 2023 the region offers a look of the Great Outdoors, and in doing so could represent almost anywhere in the wilds of the United States or Canada.

Surrounded by tall mountains on three sides which dip down to touch an open sea on the fourth, the region is cut through channel of water which may have started life as an inshore freshwater lake prior to the waters within finding a choice of routes outwards to reach those laying beyond its shores.

Perpetuity, February 2023

In doing so, it has split the land into two distinct areas, with an additional pair of low-lying banks of grass, shrubs and reeds poking slender fingers above the channel’s shallows. In meandering through the setting, these waters offer a place for the local wildlife to drink, and the local waterfowl and birds to swim and or / hunt.

Along both of the channel’s shores and on the pair of low banks might be found elk, bears, beaver, cranes and ducks, while overhead geese circle as if trying to determine the best approach for a watery touchdown and a bald eagle passes by, possibly looking for a perch from which it can watch for salmon or other fish straying too close to the surface and offering themselves as a possible catch of the day.

Perpetuity, February 2023
The larger of the two landmasses is where the major signs of habitation might be found. To the east, sitting on a flat-topped rise in places buttressed by rocky cliffs, sits a small homestead ranch.

This is a place where sheep and dairy cattle are reared and horses kept, the latter sharing a pair of interconnected corals with the sheep. A single large barn provides indoor protection for the animals when needed as well as marking the landing point for visitors, whilst the stone-and-wood built ranch house is cosily furnished in keeping with its rustic western looks.

Perpetuity, February 2023

Westwards, the land splits, part of it sloping down to meet the waters of the inner channel, part of it rising as a rocky-sided hill crowned by a tall wooden watch tower. This overlooks the northern coastline as well as presenting a grandstand view back over the region towards the high mountains. Both the tower and the lowlands can be reached via a grassy trail running down from the ranch before it divides, and this can be followed on foot or horseback (take a ride from the rezzer at the barn or were your own if you have one).

Before reaching the water, the trail down slope – also used by local elk to reach and partake of the waters – passes by a small single-roomed cabin. Like the ranch house, the barn and the watch tower, this provides a place for folk to sit and relax and perhaps enjoy a cuddle or two. An outdoor fire pit and chair offer a superb view back eastwards along the water’s channel to where the spout of one of the two geysers the region boasts can be seen rising against the backdrop of a more distant headland.

Perpetuity, February 2023

The geysers sit at the eastern extent of the second of the main islands, sitting at a point where the land turns northwards to form a promontory helping to separate fresh water from salt. Their spouts rise from two circular hot springs, three smaller pools sitting between them, the group all hinting at a degree of volcanic activity relatively close by.

Behind them, the land rises quickly, punctured by outcrops of rock and home to more of the fir trees which also sit on the larger island. This is a place where more wildlife might be found, including bison and squirrels, moose and more elk. Along the trail rising up the island’s slope visitor will come across a litter of bear cubs who are busy helping themselves to the contents of picnic baskets, there being no sign of humans to keep guard over the bounty.

Perpetuity, February 2023

To the west, the island reaches a flat-topped brow overlooking the waters separating the region from the surrounding mountains and their hills. This hilltop is home to another cabin, this one larger than the one down by the channel below, offering a little more comfort to those who wish to rest here a while. An outdoor well provides fresh water whilst moose and chickens keep an eye on the property.

This is another setting perfectly put together by Camis and Tamara, one which is – as always with Perpetuity – highly photogenic, and is a place finished with a fitting sound scape.

Perpetuity, February 2023

With thanks to Shawn Shakespeare for the suggestion of a further re-visit.

SLurl Details

Maddy’s artistic Reflections in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
Onceagain Art Gallery: Maddy – Reflections

Now open at Onceagain Art Gallery, curated by onceagain (Manoji Yachvili) is a new exhibition of work by Maddy (Magda Schmidtzau). Entitled Reflections, it is a further selection of art combining elements of art drawn from Second Life and the Midjourney AI art programme.

I’ve been fascinated by Midjourney since first encountering it in later 2022, and have tracked how it has been leveraged by a number of artists and artist-photographers in Second Life. However, I have to admit that my enthusiasm for the application itself has cooled somewhat since Midjourney founder and CEO David Holz openly admittedly in an interview with Forbes magazine that the company has trained its AI tool by essentially plundering digital image datasets – including Flickr, which is popular with SL photographers – without regard for copyright or consent, which has understandably upset a lot of professional  and amateur artists and photographers alike.

Which is not to say work by Maddy or others in SL utilise copyrighted material; it’s just that appreciation of work produced purely through Midjourney should be balanced against this knowledge, and we should be forewarned in how we use it.

Onceagain Art Gallery: Maddy – Reflections

With Reflections, Maddy has used Midjourney to enhance her own Second Life avatar compositions, creating a series of  original pieces intended to evoke a sense of mood and melancholy intended to convey the the essence of the subjects presented within each piece.

The result is a selection of atmospheric portraits offered within an equally atmospheric setting which sets the mood perfectly for viewing and appreciating each piece in turn.

The pictures themselves are presented in monochrome and / or soft, minimalist tones which gives each or an extraordinary depth and emotive power. Within each there is a lightness of post-processing touch on Maddy’s part that further breathes life into each image, further encouraging us to view them as reflections of the essence of people, rather than digital doppelgängers, so to speak.

Onceagain Art Gallery: Maddy – Reflections

A superb selection, well worth visiting and appreciating.

SLurl Details

A Red Beach in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
Panjin, February 2023 – click any image for full size

Jade Koltai is back with another region design which continues the work she began with the late Serene Footman: delivering to Second Life a setting reflective of one of the more intriguing and/or unusual locations to be found in the physical world.

Located in the biggest wetland and reed marsh in the world, some 40 kilometres from Panjin City, Liaoning Province, northeast China, is Bohai Bay. It sits at the mouth of the Panjin Shuangtaizi River, and it is home to the Panjin Honghaitan Scenic Area. Composed of shallow seas and tide-lands, the location is also home to an extensive growth of Suaeda salsa, one of the few species of plant that can live in highly alkaline soil to which it has given the region its more well-known name: the Red Beach.

Panjin, February 2023

This is because the Suaeda – also known as seepweed – turns the river-mouth red between the months of mid-summer and September and October every year, when the colour of the plant reaches its deepest, richest crimson ahead of the onset of winter. From a distance, it causes an 18 kilometre long stretch of the river and bay to look like it has a beach of red sand, although there is no actual sand between the plants.

An obvious tourist attraction, the area is mixed with paddy fields and hosts one of the most complete ecosystems that can be found: more than 260 kinds of birds, including the endangered black beaked gulls and crown cranes (thus giving it another name – “home of the cranes”), and 399 species of wild animal. In 1988, the area was awarded state-level nature protection, and has also been nominated to join the International person and biosphere protectorate network.

Panjin, February 2023

Cut through with river channels, much of the landscape is off-limits to Chinese nationals and tourists alike, although there are a number of vantage point people can go to – locations such as Yishui Yunzhou and Langqiao Aimeng – where wooden boardwalks have been built out over the seepweed, allowing visitors to see the plant without actually interfering with its growth. For those who would like a closer look, there are also boat rides along the river channels, which may offer a better way to see some of the local wildlife.

All of this has been marvellously captured – as one would expect – by Jade in Panjin, a stunning Homestead region design. Caught in the arms of an off-region surround, the region offers an estuary-like setting, open waters to the west and the shallows with the year’s growth of seepweed protected by the arms of the bay.

Panjin, February 2023

From the landing point on the west side, wooden walkways point eastwards, vying with the splayed fingers of water channels which appear to reach inwards over the red plant from the coast, rather than reaching outwards from the river towards the sea.

Steps descend to the red spray of plant growth, allowing visitors the wade through them, whilst open-sided pavilions might be found on the boardwalks or surrounded by the static tide of seepweed, offering places for visitors to sit and pass the time.  Further seating is to be found along the banks of some of the water channels, places which are also home to red-crown crane, a frequent visitor to the actual Red Beach.

Panjin, February 2023

This is a genuinely elegant region design, of which elegantly captures many different aspect of the both the Red Beach and the Panjin Honghaitan Scenic Area., with the flat aspect to the region, the extensive use of canola flower cut through with water channels and dotted her with hints of green to suggest rice growths and presided over by the odd tree and the outstretched boardwalks, gives the impression the region is a lot bigger than first appears.

As always, this is definitely a location in Second Life worth visiting, given most of us likely wont get to witness it first-hand in the physical world.

Panjin, February 2023

SLurl Details

  • Panjin (Overland Hills, rated Moderate)

Tayren Theas at Elven Falls in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
Elven Falls: Tayren Theas

My attention was drawn back to Elven Falls, the art collective operated by Ant (AntoineMambazo) and Ares Hax, with the announcement of an exhibition by Tayren Theas within one of the the collective’s main galleries (Gallery 3). The visit to the exhibition also gave me the opportunity to drop into her boutique gallery, also found within the collective (just on the right as you walk down the main thoroughfare from the landing point towards the three main galleries at the far end).

Tayren has been a Second Life resident for over 15 years, and is both an artist and business owner. As a life-long fan of the fantasy genre, Tayren’s early years in Second Life were marked by establishing her business with designing fantasy clothing. Doing so introduced her to photography in Second Life through the act of modelling her designs, and this allowed her to gradually fold her love of art and drawing held since childhood.

Elven Falls: Tayren Theas
Through her photography – which comprises images captured in Second Life and then post-processed via photoshop and other tools – often presents fantasy women of all types: mermaids, fairies, witches, queens, gypsies and more besides. She also offers landscape images, abstract art pieces, wildlife images and more.

The exhibition within the collective’s Gallery 3 has something of a Valentine’s feel to it, celebrating love and expressions of loving feelings, while presenting a range of images which are engaging in both their richness and in their reflections of the work of classical artists such as Austrian symbolist painter Gustav Klimit and Czech painter Alphonse Mucha, among others.

Elven Falls: Tayren Theas

Stating with a glorious series of portraits in the foyer of the gallery, the exhibition proceeds to either side (I would recommend turning to the left first), the collection takes you through a journey encompasses the magic of matrimony, the mischief of naughty undies and the marvel of a kiss in its ability to communicate so much between two people.

Within Tayren’s boutique gallery are samples of her broader art, in which can be found the aforementioned landscape, abstract and wildlife art  – and more.

Elven Falls: Tayren Theas

This is the first time I’ve witnessed the broadness of Tayren’s work, and believe she offer a unique and rich well of art that is well worth taking the time to visit.

SLurl Details