Nitroglobus Roof Gallery: Dido Haas – Fade to Grey
It was back to Dido Haas’s Nitroglobus Roof Gallery for me for the second of the May / June exhibitions on offer there. Fade to Grey, offered within Dido’s space at the gallery is an exhibition of Dido’s own images, all of which have been rendered as monochrome pieces, with some additionally post-processed to give the impression of drawings.
Dido is perhaps best known for her curation of Nitroglobus Roof gallery where – as I’ve oft stated in these pages – she is able to encourage artists from across Second Life to present exceptional exhibitions of their art. She is also, again as I’ve noted, a gifted photographer-artist herself. What may be less well known is that she is a blogger and Second Life traveller.
Since July 2009 I put a lot of my SL time in writing for my blog ‘Exploring SL with Dido‘, however the emphasize shifted more and more from text to images. In line with this I started to place my best blog images and more private photos in my Flickr account … Being so busy with curating the gallery, I have little time left to make images myself … But sometimes when I am in the right mood I do make images, most of them black/white.
– Dido Haas
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The eight images reflect Dido’s talent for black-and-white images and her love of exploration. They have been captured in various regions around Second Life, including Furillen, Quoted Memories and AEAEA islands. However, seven of the images are all very much studies in narrative, the focus being both Dido herself, and the embodiment of mood and emotion, while the eighth is presented as a self-portrait, finished as a drawing, an arm stretched forward as if in greeting / encouragement. All of them together offer an invitation for us to step into Dido’s Second Life and share in both her artistic view of our digital world and in her personal time in-world.
Small in size, intimate in content, Fade to Grey is a warm exhibition that can be enjoyed for itself – and for those who might like to, Dido suggests viewing the exhibition whilst listening to the most successful single released by British synth-pop group Visage, and which has the same name as the exhibition (and, as it was originally written as an instrumental piece, there’s also this version, if you prefer).
Nitroglobus Roof Gallery: Dido Haas – Fade to Grey
B sori is the name given to a Homestead region by holders Len (Len Mercury) and Twin Clover (poemnletters) that offers a glorious, almost mystical setting well deserving of its About Land description:
Peaceful ⋮ Dreamy ⋮ Romantic ⋮ Lonely ⋮ Nostalgic ⋮ Lost ⋮ Homey … leave your precious memories with your heart
The core of the region sits as a deep crescent of a sand-and-grass reef rising from calm waters and sits under a sky that forms a surrounding dome speckled with the points of distant stars and across which clouds seem to creep spirit-like. Sunlight streams down from above and the waters around the land glow as if washed by a low-lying mist that adds the first sense of mystery to the setting.
B sori, May 2022
The landing point sits at the broadest curve of the island’s sweep, where a cluster of wooden building sit, some with closed walls, others open-sided , the majority of them sitting up on stilts or on old shipping containers in what appears to be a retreat above the sand that has grown organically over time, rather than being intentionally planned. Shaded in part by tall willows and shrubs growing on the roof areas, it is fronted by a broad deck and old terrace while to one side and under the shade of the trees grows a wild garden with potting shed and birdhouses.
Sweeping away from this home-built structure, the arms of the island curve outwards to point towards the north-east, cupping a shallow bay within their protective embrace. Each arm has its own attractions: to the west lay the most enticing wash of blue and flowers, grasses and shrubs in which more colours – yellow, lavender, white, teal – emerge as one walks towards it, a single tree spreading its boughs over the flowers.
B sori, May 2022
An old greenhouse can be found alongside this tree, apparently caught in an instant in time: outside of it blue and white butterflies hang in the air, their stilled wings caught in mid-beat as this rise like a glistening streamer out over the waters of the bay. Within the greenhouse, a little group of butterflies flutter and circle untouched by whatever has frozen their brethren outside. Beyond this, the path continues to the end of the island where another greenhouse offers a further retreat, nestled in the arms of a raised steel walkway.
Travel in the other direction, and a short walk will bring visitors to a shaded deck sitting over the water and a semi-collapsed boardwalk that leads to a small sandbank with more places where people can sit, relax and reflect.
Out on the water, the mist-like glow is actually floating fields of glowing white spider lilies sitting as a garden sitting above the ripples of waves. Spreading out towards the edge of the region, these lilies are home to more places to visit: an iron gazebo, glass piano within; a bed beneath a metal pavilion frame and, furthest from the main island a floating garden of more “traditional” flowers, trees and grass, the home to a little bus shelter. Those worried about getting feet wet when trying to reach or walk through these garden spaces need not fret: the way over the water is quite dry, providing you follow the path.
B sori, May 2022
Those who need the comfort of a cuddle but have no-one to give them one need only look to the sky over these water gardens to where a globe floats, vines and grass growing within and through it. Sitting inside it and at home on the grass is a large teddy bear who is more than happy to give and receive a hug!
Throughout this deceptively simple-wounding region design is a wealth of detail I’ve not touched on here, but can be appreciated by all who visit. Such detail includes the décor around the landing point and within the buildings, where it mixes with the furnishings to give the structures a rich sense of life and of being used. Further out, there are many more touches and places to sit, whilst the paths out over the spider lily fields are watched over by exotic dandelion-type plants.
B sori, May 2022
A delight to visit and photograph – and use as a backdrop for avatar photography – B sori is a genuine jewel of a region design and a visit is thoroughly recommended.
Sunday, May 1st, 2022 saw the opening of a new iteration of Bryn Oh’s Lobby Cam, a brand new iteration of an installation first unveiled in 2015 (see: Bryn Oh’s Lobby Cam).
As with the majority of Bryn’s work, Lobby Cam is set within a narrative universe she has created, and so sits with her two other installation currently available for public viewing: an updated version of Hand (which I reviewed in 2020), and the more recent The Brittle Epoch (reviewed here). Made possible by a grant from the Canada Council for the Arts, Lobby Cam is an entirely new build – new mesh models, soundscape, scripting – and a new narrative for visitors to follow.
My artwork in Second Life is one long narrative which began in 2009. Each new work I create is a chapter in this story, and in the case of Lobby Cam it is 110 years before the events of the Brittle Epoch and Hand which are being exhibited within the Immersiva and Bryn Oh regions.
– Bryn Oh
Bryn Oh: Lobby Cam, May 2022
As is common with Bryn’s work in Second Life, a visit to the installation commences at a set landing point. Here, for those who have visited Bryn’s work previously, a HUD can be obtained with a simple click, and will attach towards the top right of the viewer window. Those new to Bryn’s work or who have opted to previously tell the viewer to “Forget” they are a part of it, will need to join Bryn’s local Experience in order to access and use the HUD as intended.
Click the top right icon when the HUD – which is a diary – is “open” and it will minimise to free up screen space. Click the icon to expand it again.
An eccentric man discovers an impossible channel on his TV. This begins a story where you determine the ending.
– Bryn Oh on Lobby Cam
Bryn Oh: Lobby Cam, May 2022
Pass beyond the walls of the landing point, and those who remember the original Lobby Cam will doubtless recognise the sea of wheat within its fenced fields and the distant, hulking form of grain elevator 888. Originally built in Keatley, Saskatchewan in the late 1920s, the elevator formed a part of the Saskatchewan Wheat Pool, although it has since been relocated and serves now as a museum. However, just as the real elevator served as a local focal point in its day, so too does Bryn’s version of it in Second Life, beckoning people to hurry towards it.
However, giving it to such a temptation will result in visitors missing some key elements in Lobby Cam. As Bryn notes, this is an unfolding story, key elements of which are formed by missing pages from the diary HUD. These are scattered on the ground in various places (such as the path leading away from the landing point and the road pointing towards the grain elevator. Clicking on one when found will “add” it to the diary (the HUD icon will turn to colour). Opening the diary (if closed) and paging through the pages by clicking on them will reveal the entries as they are “added”.
Bryn Oh: Lobby Cam, May 2022
As well as the grain elevator, there are other new elements within the installation – such as the low barn sitting in the middle of one of the wheat fields. These should all be visited, wherever they lay (so sit well out in the landscape) and touched – as Bryn notes, people should pretty much click on everything, inside the grain elevator and outside of it – as some will be interactive and offer up secrets (such as links to Bryn’s videos) or objects.
Key among the latter are an envelope, pen, ink, and paper. Collect them alongside the pages of the diary, and you can further involve yourself in Bryn’s universe by interacting with another of her characters, Fern, as she explains:
[With them you can] write a letter from the main character [of Lobby Cam] to Fern. If you click the red mailbox on the train platform you can send this message to me directly by e-mail. I will respond to all letters sent and this will end the story. Depending on what you write. I will write as Fern would reply to your message.
– Bryn Oh on Lobby Cam
Note that Bryn’s replies really are individually written in response to your own words, not pre-prepared responses. Also, please keep in mind the last time she did this, she received several hundred e-mails, so it understandably took her a little time to respond to all of them!
Finished to resemble a painting – the use of the elevator, if I recall correctly from 2015, having been inspired by a painting Bryn either saw or created (my apologies to her for forgetting which, or possibly mis-remembering), Lobby Cam is deceptive in all it has to offer, and as such, is definitely more than work seeing. For those who need additional context, both Hand and The Brittle Epoch are also open to viewing, SLurls below.
With thanks to the Canada Council for the Arts for their continued support of Bryn’s work.
Luane’s World, May 2022 – click any image for full size
There are a number of places to which I enjoy making repeat visits as each year unfolds. One of these is Luane’s World, and within it, Le Monde Perdu (The Lost World), the public Full region by LuaneMeo and Gorba McMahon, which at the time of my May 2022 visit, was dressed for spring.
I’ve visited the region a number of times over the years, and have always enjoyed my time there. For Spring 2022, the design offers a setting that mixes an outer swirl of land with beaches on two of its seaward sides, which encompasses a central island sitting within waters that can reach more open waters through two narrow channels.
Luane’s World, May 2022
On my arrival, I couldn’t help but be reminded of the Summer 2021 design for the region, thanks to the open nature of the landscaping, the presence of the beaches and the northern view out over water to the private residences that form part of the overall estate. There’s a sense of continuity between the two, despite this being very different in look and content – something I always enjoy when visiting an evolving region, as it gives its designs a sense of history.
The landing point includes horse and bicycle rezzers for those who fancy a ride, and teleport signs to reach the estate’s rental office, Luane’s store and the region’s second public space, Luane’s Magical World, located high overhead. I’ll also point out here that as well as the bicycles and horses, there is a little motor boat on the region’s inner waters that can be used to putter around the channels and out into the northern waters.
Luane’s World, May 2022
There are two bridges relatively close to the landing point. To the east, a small humpbacked bridge spans one of the two channels leading out from the the heart of the region, providing access to a meadow where horses graze. To the south, the second bridge reaches over the water to the central island with its more formal garden and gazebo retreat (and a further bridge that reaches the far side of the outer curl of land.
As well as this gazebo, there are several other structures scattered across the region. These take the form of a little café offering a view across the the island as it sits with its back to the landing point, a little shrine sitting in the shade of giant oaks, an old fort sitting up on a hill, another gazebo just down below it and ruins close by, the remains of an old church (the TLG Chapel Ruins that are a personal favourite) that occupies another hill across the region from the fort, and a pavilion where more refreshments might be had.
Luane’s World, May 2022
The paths around and through the region are grassy for the most part, natural flower-lined avenues ideal for walking or horse riding (although there are some using stepping stones or marked by trimmed logs. Given this is Luane’s World, there are multiple places to sit and pass the time. These can be found everywhere: on the beaches, in and on the roof of the fort, along the routes of the grassy paths, on and over the waters – and even in the air, courtesy of the region’s hot air balloon.
And, obviously, there are multiple opportunities for photography, whilst touches of art in the form of statues can also be found as you explore.
Luane’s World, May 2022
Luane’s World has always been a place in which wandering and losing oneself comes easy thanks to its rich, natural beauty and matching soundscapes. With this Spring 2022 rendition, this is all very much still true; whilst up in the sky, Luane’s Magical World retains its sense of winter fantasy for those who already miss snow-heavy scenes (and which I’ll likely visit later in 2022!).
Love can be scary only because you realize you care about someone as much as you care about yourself. You open your hearth knowing that it could be broken, however being vulnerable is the only way to allow your heart to feel true pleasure, joy and excitement, and make you feel that true bond and energy that is pulling you to belong to the other.
– from the introduction to Gravity at Nitroglobus Roof Gallery, May 2022
Over the years – as I recently noted in writing about the gallery’s 10th anniversary – Nitroglobus / Nitroglobus Roof Gallery has been the home to some of the most remarkable exhibitions of art I’ve witnessed in Second Life down the years; so much so that singling one out over the others is practically impossible. However, I have to say there is something very special to be found within Gravity, an exhibition of work by Lika Cameo that will be open throughout May 2022 at the gallery.
Nitroglobus Roof Gallery: Lika Cameo, Gravity
An exploration of the nature of love, Gravity presents a series of images created by Lika that reflect, either individually or in groups of three, poems on the subject. The majority of the latter are by Celestial Demon, and are not what you might call “traditional” sonnets such as Barrett Browning’s Sonnet 43. Rather, there are more deeply focused on specific emotions both light and dark that accompany out love for another.
The imagery created by Demon’s words is powerful; within the poems we can find obsession, freedom, contentment, happiness, need, desire, comfort … Along with them are three further poems on love. Two are by Pablo Neruda and the third is by Lika herself, and offer the aforementioned more traditional approach to expressing thoughts and reflections on the subject.
Nitroglobus Roof Gallery: Lika Cameo, Gravity
Taken on their own, the poems offer considerable insight into the nature of love its push/pull / yin/yang nature it embodies.
Alongside of them, Lika’s art is literally poetry in images. As a mixed media artist, Lika has an extraordinary ability to offer expression and narrative through her pieces. Preferring to work in black-and-white / monochrome (there is one colour trio included in Gravity), she fully demonstrate this ability within this exhibition. There is a stunning richness of life and motion within every single piece on display, a richness that does more than reflect the emotions of the poems, it becomes a visual synonym for the emotions expressed within the poems.
Nitroglobus Roof Gallery: Lika Cameo, Gravity
What is particularly stunning with Gravity is the mutualistic symbiosis between art and poetry. All of the pieces, whether singletons or trios, stand independent of the poems to which they have been paired, making this an exhibition that can be enjoyed purely as a visual immersion. Similarly, if one chooses to do so, the poems can be read and appreciated without reference to the images alongside time. When taken taken together, however, they mutually benefit one another and Gravity takes on a depth of life and meaning that captivates.
With this in mind, and while I could prattle on at length here about Gravity, I’m going to spare you and instead genuinely urge you to see the exhibition for yourself.
Occupying two rooms at Frank Atisso’s Art Korner gallery is an exhibition of avatar studies by Mila Maesar that opened on April 28th, 2022. Perfectly Imperfect marks the first time I’ve had the opportunity to study Mila’s work in detail, and while there doesn’t appear to be any liner notes to accompany the exhibition, this doesn’t diminish it at all; it actually enhances it, allowing the interpretation of the individual pieces and the exhibition as a wholly subjective exercise, driven by one’s own mood at the time of a visit.
The majority of the pieces are head-and-shoulder portraits, although there are some broader images to be found within the collection. At first glance, the images appear to be split between the two rooms simply through the used of colour or tone: monochrome pieces appearing within one room and colour in the other. However, things are not entirely that clear-cut; whilst the darker room does have predominantly black / white or monochrome pieces, there are also hints of colour to be found; whilst in the lighter room, colour predominates, but monochrome pieces are also to be found.
Art Korner Gallery: Mila Maesar
All of the pieces carry a richness of narrative, stories in part suggested through their titles. Several are evocative of iconic images: Waves, for example, carries with it a suggestion of Neve Campbell and Denise Richards as seen in promotional posters and images for the film Wild Things; alongside of it, Honey Pie offers echoes of David Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust.
Art Korner Gallery: Mila Maesar
Whether such touches are intentional or merely my own subjective response to these two particular images, I’ve no idea; but I found similar touches in some of the other images, and through them, a part of my own connection to them.
But if there is a theme within this exhibition, what might it be? I found myself driving to the idea of duality and self. Again, this is in part suggested by the title of the piece, and – obviously – by the images themselves and also the setting.
Most of us who come to Second Life do so in order to find a means of self-expression, a part of which is embodied through our avatars. For the majority of us, this gives rise to avatars that tend towards a view of perfection: an idealised view of who we are / would like to be. But while they might be perfect, we, as their operators remain imperfect, perhaps even conflicted.
Our moods and outlook change – hence perhaps the use of light and dark rooms to display these shifts – whilst our avatars remain constant throughout; perfect in looks, perfect in relationships, perfect in appeal. Even in situations where we’d end up a complete mess – or at least less-than attractive – such has being smothered in honey or splashed in paint, our avatars remain an image of perfection.
This dichotomy between this digital perfection and the imperfections of “real life” is perhaps most clearly represented within Open Up *(seen to the right of this article). It is an utterly startling and fabulously presented piece, with a depth of expression and potential for narrative that completely captivates.
But however you opt to interpret Perfectly Imperfect for yourself, make no mistake; these are visually striking and richly engaging pieces.
Inara Pey: Living in a Modemworld 