An Underwater World at Le Monde Perdu in Second Life

Luane’s Underwater World, July 2022 – click any image for full size

It might not seem that long since I last wrote about LuaneMeo’s Luane’s World – largely because it isn’t; I covered the spring look to the region just a couple of months back, in May 2022 (see Spring 2022 at Le Monde Perdu in Second Life).

However, I have good reason for returning so quickly to the region of Le Monde Perdu (The Lost World), because Laune, again working with Gorba McMahon, has made the Summer 2022 build a place to be enjoyed by both land lovers and those who enjoy dipping under the waves in either human form or as merfolk, as she presents Luane’s Underwater World.

Laune’s Underwater World, July 2022

With this iteration, the setting presents a south-facing arc of land sitting with its back to the rest of Luane’s estate, which embraces a wide and relatively deep bay within its protective arms. The south-facing arc of the land forms a sweeping curve of sun-bleached sand with many places set across it for people to sit or cuddle as gulls wheel and turn overhead, and waves break gently against the sloping sand.

Behind the beach, the land rises sharply but not precipitously or to great height; just enough to present stepped uplands sliced into from the north by a tight inlet, and whose grassy hills carry a suggestion of this being a Mediterranean setting, courtesy of the Tuscan style villas, houses and outlands scattered across them. Furnished within and showing outward signs of being occupied, these are actually public spaces as well, offering further places to sit and pass the time – and, as with the beach, plenty of opportunities for photos.

Luane’s Underwater World, July 2022

However, do be aware that behind the villa occupying the north-east lowlands, there is a trail and bridge leading into the neighbouring regions of the estate. These regions do have private residences scattered across them, so do please take care to avoid trespassing when wandering in that direction.

Throughout the landscape, there is a gentle sense of peace and of time passing slowly; a vibe that this is a place where nothing seems to happen as the minutes and days tick one to the next. But dive into the waters of the bay, and it becomes apparent something has happened here at some point. Caught in the arms of the land and sheltered under the waves is a world which at one time lay above the waters that now guards it.

Luane’s Underwater World, July 2022

This is a place rich in colour, with corals and anemones bloom, oysters hold great pearls, shark, fish, dolphin and turtle swim – and the ruins of an ancient civilisation stand in silence, the wooden wreck of a once proud sailing ship close to hand.

Exactly what caused this place to drown and when it happened is unclear – and actually unimportant; for who is to say this place was ever once above the waters of that bay? Perhaps the ruins and statues here were not carved by human hand, but by those of the merfolk they appear to celebrate?

Laune’s Underwater World, July 2022

What is clear is that here, among the corals and anemone, watched over by sea creatures great and small, are many more hiding places where lovers can rest in one another’s arms, photographers can find ready to be used within their arts, and those who simply want to sit and pass a little time can find peace. Some of these may well be out in the open and easy to spot, but others are tucked away and may require a little effort to find – but it will be time well spent, and are welcoming to both human and merfolk.

As always, Laune’s World offers much to see and appreciate with this Summer 2022 build, and I recommend that rather than reading my twaddle, you go see for yourselves!

Luane’s Underwater World, July 2022

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Traci’s Formless in Second Life

ArtCare Gallery: Traci Ultsch – Formless

Currently open through to mid-August 2022 at ArtCare Gallery, curated by Carelyna, is Formless, a collection of 24 monochrome collages by Traci Ultsch, built using photographs and paintings, some or all of which might just be unfinished – hence the title: Formless.

Traci is typically self-effacing about the art on show, stating:

This exhibit follows on from the ‘Crash’ and ‘Overdose’ works from 2021 in being concerned with more personal subjects, this one specifically dealing with more recent events … They are not what they are. Or maybe they are, who am I to tell anyone what to think about any of this. Maybe it’s just a self indulgent ego driven attempt at getting attention in some over dramatic way.
ArtCare Gallery: Traci Ultsch – Formless

For those who may not have witnessed either Overdose (reviewed here) or Crash (reviewed here) these were very personal pieces (Overdose dealing with the two faces of addiction, Crash a exploration of the nature of art and its relationship with both the artist and the observer); heady and rich subjects for exploration. Here, the pieces are – on the surface – more esoteric in nature; but they are far from being merely an attempt to gain attention, offering as they do a richness of expression and reflection on the likes of life, love, human nature, age, and relationships.

To start with, let’s take the manner in which they images have been set out; a huge amount of consideration has been given to theme, point and counter-point. Grouped into sets of three, each set with its own collective title. These triplets have then bee set out in pairs, two sets of three per wall, each pairing linked by their respective titles, which offer a mix of counter-point to one another (e.g. Just Like Heaven / Just Like Nothing) or a continuation of a central idea (e.g. Don’t Wake Me Up / I’m Dreaming of You).

ArtCare Gallery: Traci Ultsch – Formless

Within the individual sets of three is a richness of metaphor that helps direct one to thoughts on the ideas of love and life, age, relationships, and so on. Some of these are richly expressive in their simplicity of approach, yet deeply layered in potential meaning.

The left and centre pictures within I Wish You Were Dead, for example, with the twisted shape (shrivelled leaf? slug?) offer both an evocation of the central wish in the most visceral of ways (assuming the object is a slug), and also – with it’s shape mindful of female genitalia – a cruel twist on the wish focused on barrenness / loss of sexuality.

ArtCare Gallery: Traci Ultsch – Formless

However, there is a risk that in saying this much, I an artificially constructing a framework around these pieces outside of the artist’s core intent – which may equally be to offer a series of pieces we can chose to interpret through the lens of our own life experience and the events that have most recently affected us. As such, I’ll close my ramblings here and encourage you to visit formless via the SLurl below.

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A Rain-Washed Soul in Second Life

Rain-Washed Soul, July 2022 – click any image for full size
Rain-Washed Soul is an immersive sound environment nestled into nature, complete with guided meditations, Tibetan singing bowls, and of course the soothing sounds of rain and thunder. Have a cup of tea, meditate, relax and be one with your surroundings while listening to the healing and renewing sounds of rain and thunder.

So states the Destination Guide entry for this little setting, a part of The Nature Collective, designed by Emm (Emmalee Evergarden), and it was more than enough to guide me to Rain-Washed Soul.

Rain-Washed Soul, July 2022

Located on the northern arc of Heterocera, and tucked between Route 6 and the railway (with access directly off of Route 6), this is a parcel-based setting intended – as the description above suggests – to create a little haven of peace and retreat for those who need it.

The landing point for the locations sits on a covered boardwalk that effectively links the two halves to the setting, which overall has an east-west orientation.

Rain-Washed Soul, July 2022

To the west, surrounded by trees and with its back to the neighbouring parcel (reached through a gate in the fence), is an A-frame retreat, reached via a walk through a light tropical shower. It offers a place of meditation for individuals or groups, with a cosy little shelter for two close by. This is a place rich in local sounds, and visitors are encouraged to turn up in-world sounds and try the local bells, etc., to appreciate the local soundscape.

At the eastern end of the boardwalk the land is a little more open, with a stone terrace with a little information kiosk, together with places to sit, waterfalls, and a further immersive soundscape, with everything watched over by the local wildlife.

Rain-Washed Soul, July 2022

As with all locations connected to The Nature Collective, Rain-Washed Soul is participating in TNC’s summer hunt (July 18th through 21st, 2022) – details available from the signs within the setting.

A simple, charming little place to visit, with plenty of opportunities to recharge the batteries and forget worries!

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Abyssal – the art of Abyss Artful in Second Life

Kondor Art Centre – Into the Future Gallery: Abyss Artful

Abyss Artful is one of Second Life’s foremost avatar photographers, with pieces so highly regarded they have been used in the promotion of events such as SL19B. Her work – available on Flickr – centres on sci-fi /cyberpunk and fantasy, although not necessarily exclusively so, and all of which are rich in narrative.

Given Abyss has been active in Second Life for 13+ years, and has a deserved reputation for her work, it’s perhaps surprising to learn that Abyssal 1, currently on display at the Into The Future gallery at the Kondor Arts Centre, is the first exhibition of her work Abyss has mounted in-world.

Kondor Art Centre – Into the Future Gallery: Abyss Artful
Some 30 pieces are presented across the gallery, from the lower flower through the mezzanine catwalk to the roof. They may not have been produced specifically for this exhibition  – but this does not meant there are any the less for being seen. Rather the reverse, in fact, as the selection offered brings home the sheer richness of expression and story Abyss puts into her work.

These are genuinely pieces that do not require extended exposition on my part; each one marvellously speaks for itself. So, this being the case, I’m going to shut up and encourage you to go see for yourselves!

Kondor Art Centre – Into the Future Gallery: Abyss Artful

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WillowWood’s wild beauty in Second Life

WillowWood, July 2022 – click any image for full size

WillowWood is the name given to a Full private region leveraging the additional Land Capacity bonus which is held by Doc Battitude. Largely open to the public, it features landscaping by Dandy Warhlol (Terry Fotherington) and at the time of my writing this, it was a feature location in the Editor’s Picks section of the Second Life Destination Guide.

The About Land description for the region sits slightly at odds with the design of the land – describing this region which is mindful of a wild coastal region somewhere in the temperate regions of the northern hemisphere as, “a once thriving town reduced to ruins and secluded happy places”. However, while there is little sign of any former conurbation within the region, there is absolutely no doubting its beauty and restfulness.

WillowWood, July 2022

The landing point sits toward the south-west of the region, and sits before a table of rock on the west coast which is home to a mansion-like private residence with oceans views directly to the south and west. Accessed via a single drive guarded by walls and gates that are clearly marked as Private Property, the mansion is the only no-go area with the setting; the rest is otherwise fully open to explorations, including the little café sitting a short walk from the landing point.

The rest of the land is cut through by little streams and creeks. These break it up such that the easiest way to find your way around its to follow the trails and paths to the little bridges that span the water, with the land as a whole given over to a rugged set of low undulations rich in trees and wild grass.

WillowWood, July 2022 – “Tunnel Vision”

Scattered throughout this landscape are signs of civilisation – but nothing that would denote anything like a town being close to hand anywhere. Instead, the coastal areas offer signs that the locals make a living fishing, with a slightly run-down wharf looking west from a southern headland, and little fishing cabins and a boathouse lying further around the southern coast, while away to the north lies the wreck of a coaster that came too close the region’s sandy shallows.

A sense of age is added to the setting thanks to the inclusion of a pair of ruins – the Ruined Chapel by Markus Inkpen (a personal favourite structure that naturally lends itself to modding), and the Studio Skye Temple Ruins by Alex Bader (which have tempted me a few times, although I have yet to purchase and fiddle with it). These sit across the region from one another, the latter overlooking the north-side beach, and together they give the region a sense that it once held significant religious meaning.

Throughout the setting are numerous places to sit and / or spend time awaiting discovery. These range of wooden gazebos located above streams and water holes, to benches sitting alongside the paths and trails, to places to relax on the beachy headland and along the waterways. In addition, there are multiple places to enjoy a dance or two, including within the chapel ruins and at a small outdoor events area tucked into the north-east corner of the region.

The overall lay of the land helps given the region a feeling of being much bigger than the usual 256 metres on a side, the paths meandering up and down the hills and between them, often leading to more little surprises and touches that bring the setting further to life. These range from dry stone walls to pieces of sculpture, and even a hint of what might once have been a World War fortification.

WillowWood, July 2022

Given this is a design by Dandy, you might expect my usual warning about performance (mesh + textures), but with WillowWood, I didn’t encounter any significant issues; even with Shadows enabled, my FPS remained in the mid-teens rather than dropping to single digits, whilst for general flycaming around with Shadows disabled, FPS was generally around the mid-to-upper 20s (I’m currently using Firestorm without any auto-tuning enabled, and (obviously) without the Lab’s own performance improvements), giving me a reasonably comfortable experience.  Even so, you may find you need to make some adjustments to your viewer, as is oft the way with SL builds.

Finished with a subtle soundscape, perhaps with default environment settings a little on the dark side for some (I varied between it and using my “default” avatar-attached EEP settings for photos) WillowWood is an engaging, picturesque region design.

WillowWood, July 2022

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Art and Complex Chronic Disease in Second Life

Nitroglobus Roof Gallery, July 2022: Wicked Eiren – Body Language/The Invisible Woman

I’m going to open this piece with an apology to Dido Haas and – especially – to Wicked Eiren for coming to Body Language/The Invisible Woman relatively late in the day, the exhibition having opened at the end of June 2022.

Located in Dido’s Space within Nitroglobus Roof Gallery, this is a tremendously powerful selection of black-and-white art in the personal message it contains – although the images themselves, as can be seen by the banner image for this article – should be considered NSFW.

Nitroglobus Roof Gallery, July 2022: Wicked Eiren – Body Language/The Invisible Woman

In the physical world, Wicked suffers from Complex Chronic Disease, also known as Central Sensitivity Syndromes (CSS), a health condition that combines a wide range of symptoms and conditions from a number of recognised illnesses including (but certainly not limited to) Fibromyalgia (FM) and Myalgic encephalomyelitis, and which can be complicated by chronic viral conditions such as the vicious Epstein–Barr virus (EBV) and bacterial infections such as Mycoplasma pneumoniae, each of which can give rise to multiple health conditions.

Such are the complexities and symptoms involved – physical, mental and psychological – CCD / CSS conditions are extremely hard to recognise or even correctly diagnose as they manifest in so many ways, individually and collectively. A further complication with the conditions is that they are further exacerbated by the central nervous system repeatedly misfiring, amplifying the sensory symptoms and leading to CCD / CSS being referred to as “pain without cause”.

This latter point does not mean that for the sufferer, the pain and related fatigue and mental anguish do not exist; the symptoms are very real and very physical, and require a complex approach to diagnose and care.

Unfortunately, the fact that the symptoms do seem to be without underpinning, easy-to-understand causes can result in those who have not experienced the conditions to dismiss both symptoms and sufferer (“oh you look fine!” or whispered “X has this mental thing” or “it’s just attention-seeking”, and so on) . This in turn can lead to a highly negative internalising of the conditions and the symptoms on the part of the sufferer, causing further withdrawal from the world.

Nitroglobus Roof Gallery, July 2022: Wicked Eiren – Body Language/The Invisible Woman

Body Language/The Invisible Woman is a subtle but exceptionally powerful statement on Wicked’s life with CCD / CSS, with the pieces presented speaking to both reality and desire. The desire to be seen, to be able to look at oneself free from the tyranny of discomfort, pain, fatigue and mental sluggishness – to be seen – in Wicked’s case – as a woman – beautiful, free, whole, and desirable; the reality in the ever-present company of those symptoms that force her to stand aside or hide, exemplified by both the poses used (note the use of light and show, the placement of hand, the crook of finger or thumb, urn of head, direction of look – all intended to hide as much as reveal) and the subtle rash-like lines of her body.

In this, the use of nude images should not be mistaken as being simply gratuitous or for the sake of titillation. The conditions associated with CCD / CSS are not something those experiencing can merely weather and “get over” through time and medication; rather, they defined the person experiencing them – however unwillingly – as keenly as their skin, that is as ever-present and familiar as the shape and lines of their own face. As such, the use of nude images serves to emphasise all of this, underlining the manner in which CCD / CCS is as much a constant to life as is flesh itself.

Similarly, the use of black-and-white images is evocative of the manner in which life might appear to feel: washed of colour and vitality; a plain mix of light and dark that personifies the wish to retreat, to hide. It also most effectively underscores the central tenet to the exhibition, as does the intentional monochrome lighting and overall presentation of the hall itself a monochromatic finish of its own: that those who experience CCD / CSS so often encounter a two-dimensional response from others: they are seen, but not who they are, because their pain causes them to be denied true expression and/or to be cosseted, be it out of lack of understanding (the aforementioned “it’s all in her head”) or over-protective response (“you shouldn’t be doing that! Let ME take care of it!”) that can be as equally denying and born of a lack of understanding.

Nitroglobus Roof Gallery, July 2022: Wicked Eiren – Body Language/The Invisible Woman

Remarkable and powerful, Body Language/The Invisible Woman is so deeply layer, there is much more I could say about it – but really, it is a collection of images that should be seen and allowed to speak for themselves, so I urge you to pay a visit before the exhibition closes, and let the pieces there speak to you directly – and be sure to taken the introductory note card from the board within the hall to learn more about Wicked and CCD.

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