Subcutan Art Gallery and Multimedia Centre: Sophie de Saint Phalle – Infinite
Indigenous Australian art takes many forms – rock painting, dot painting, rock engravings, bark painting, carvings, sculptures, and weaving and string art – and is the oldest unbroken tradition of art in the world.
It is rich in meaning and forms a central element of aboriginal life, the motifs, symbols and designs used revealing tribal relationships, social position, and more – all of which is noted by Sophie de Saint Phalle (Perpetua1010) in the introduction to Infinite, her latest exhibition which opened at the end of January 2022 in a new level of her gallery spaces, the Subcutan Art Gallery and Multimedia Centre.
Art is part of the main rituals in Aboriginal culture: it marks territories, records history, supports and transmits narratives about the Dreamtime. Similar to how Christians have their own story about the creation of the world, Aboriginal Dreamtime describes the creation of the world and each landscape.
– From the introduction of Infinite by Sophie de Saint Phalle
Subcutan Art Gallery and Multimedia Centre: Sophie de Saint Phalle – Infinite
Laid out in a setting designed to evoke thoughts of the outback desert, with large rock-like blocks that appear to shimmer in the heat, Infinite presents a series of bass-relief paintings and watercolours by Sophie produced in the same manner and styles as those used by Australian aboriginals. However, these are no mere interpretations of indigenous art; rather, it is a genuine homage, as Sophie notes:
My art shown at this gallery was inspired by my stay in Australia where I lived with the Aborigines for several weeks.
From the Aborigines I learnt how to find and use the typical aboriginal paints. Mainly pigments derived from clay tinted with mineral oxides Very rare is the colour blue which you find in some of my paintings.
Some colours are mined from “ochre mines” and used for both painting and ceremonies. Inorganic pigments such as ochre or rock flour is sometimes collected only by certain men of a clan. Other colours are made from clay, wood ash, and animal blood. All colours are natural.
– Sophie de Saint Phalle
Subcutan Art Gallery and Multimedia Centre: Sophie de Saint Phalle – Infinite
These are richly evocative pieces that speak to traditions, beliefs and a view of the world that is far, older than any European or other influences that have made their way to, and across, Australia.
They also stand as a mark of respect from Sophie to the peoples with whom she spent time and from whom she learned their techniques and approach to their painting as a expression of their history. For as she again herself notes: within aboriginal society, reputation is acquired through the gaining of knowledge and understanding and not by the accumulation of material possessions.
Thus the pieces in this exhibition speak to the knowledge and understanding Sophie has received from her mentors, and presents a reflection of the infinite depth of their beliefs and connection to Nature. They also offer a fascinating glimpse into a world the majority of us will never witness, much less encounter or understand, marking Infinite as much a journey as an exhibition.
Subcutan Art Gallery and Multimedia Centre: Sophie de Saint Phalle – Infinite
Buddha Garden, February 2022 – click any image for full size
Update, December 29th, 2002: Buddha Garden has relocated – please read A Return to Buddha Garden in Second Life for more.
Tucked into the north-west quadrant of a Full region using the private island LI bonus, lies Buddha Garden, a “paradise of pleasure” put together by Gian (GiaArt Clip) and Havih – and a place deserving of its description.
It sits as a quarter-region parcel very much of two parts. To the north and west sits a lowland area, separated from the rest of the land by two channels of water. It forms a broad, flat sandbar of a beach that offers the kind of activities and opportunities one might expect of a tropical beach resort: there’s a beach bar (serving as the parcel’s unenforced landing point), complete with a wooden path that winds its way to where a dance floor sits over the sand. Nearby a deck extends over the shallows, while boats are moored within wading distance of the golden sands. All of which is watched over by the patient form of Buddha sitting in meditation.
Buddha Garden, February 2022
On the landward side of the beach, the water channels join at the mouth of a river that runs westwards from where it starts as a series of waterfalls that step their way down from the eastern heights. This river is braced on either side by high rocky plateaux that extend outwards from these eastern and the southern highlands.
These plateaux, together with the grassy lowlands that sit below the southern curtain of cliffs, present a very different atmosphere to the sense of fun, music and dance found on the sandbar beach. Reached via a pair of bridges, these lands are more peaceful and introspective in nature and offer hints of ancient places of worship, and for spiritual activities.
Buddha Garden, February 2022
To the south, a further series of waterfalls drop down from the cliffs to reach pools below. Their passage down the rock is watched over by a series of carved seated figures of Buddha, where the pools at their feet are open to visitors. Steps lead up to both, and while one remains in its natural state (and includes a place to sit and meditate), the other has been built out into a place to bathe within the crystal waters falling from above which in turn provide shimmering curtains that front a couple of shallow cavern hideaways.
Between both pools, and tucked against the base of the cliffs sit both a little cuddle spot set beneath the blooms and boughs of a plum tree and – perhaps not so noticeable but worth discovering – a well-like teleport. The latter will carry those who find it up to a skybox gallery hosting Gian’s art, a mix of images and paintings from both the virtual and the physical worlds.
Buddha Garden, February 2022
Back on the ground, the tops of the tall plateaux can be reached by winding path and / or stairs, one path marked by a Torii gate, the other leading past more of the secrets within the region – the entrances to tunnels and caverns that run and sit below one plateau and reach back behind the waterfalls that feed the river. I’ll leave you to explore these and what lies within them, and instead turn my attention to the plateaux tops.
Follow the path upwards marked by the Torii gate, and it will lead you by twist and turn up to where a second gate stands in greeting and the gardens continue with blossoming trees, a place of levitating meditation. Beyond it, steps climb upward to a place of refreshment together a small pagoda sitting over a koi pond and further places of meditation and relaxation, all of which sit beneath the blanket of a tropical rain shower.
Buddha Garden, February 2022
To the west, beyond the waterfalls and their short river, the lower plateau sits as the home to a further retreat located on its grassy top. Complete with pools of calming water indoors and out, places to meditate or to sit and cuddle – and even a hot tub in which to relax, it makes for a peaceful retreat as it overlooks the beach.
Should the plateaux prove a little too giddy to climb, visitors can take the stepping stones that run up the middle of the river from the beach. They end in another round flagstone offering a levitating experience, whilst on the southern bank of the river a further sanctuary sits, with an outdoor tub and shower and refreshments waiting to be shared within.
Buddha Garden, February 2022
Finished with a rich ambient soundscape and with birds and wildlife also awaiting discovery (as well as cats and dogs!), Buddha Garden offers a lot to see and appreciate, complete with secrets and touches to keep a visit entertaining. My thanks to Shawn for the LM and pointer!
In the United States (where it also known as African-American History Month) and Canada, February marks Black History month, an annual remembrance of important people and events in the history of the African Diaspora (also observed in the UK and Ireland, but in the month of October). Given this, it is fitting that February should also see The Eye Arts host the latest 3D installation by London Junkers and which celebrates the life and work of a great American heroine – Harriet Tubman.
Entitled Hero, this is another installation by Junkers that is both marvellously understated in form but powerful in its content and depth. Rather than offering multiple scenes depicting Tubman’s life and work, London instead presents two gallery spaces that simply and directly encapsulate the major factors of her early life and work as an abolitionist, supported by the words of a poem also penned by Junkers.
Born into slavery in 1822 (as Armanda Ross) in Dorchester County, Maryland, Harriet Tubman was routed exposed to violent beatings and whippings as a child, and received traumatic head wound when a heavy metal weight thrown by an irate overseer struck her, leaving her with bouts of dizziness, pain in the form of headaches and hypersomnia throughout the rest of her life. As a result of this injury and the visions it gave her, Harriet became devoutly religious – and determined to escape her bonds.
In 1849, Tubman finally realised her goal to escape slavery, thanks to several factors combining – her belief in the Old Testament’s tales of deliverance for enslaved people; the discovery that her current owners were ignoring a stipulation the her mother would be manumitted (freed by her owners) at the age of 45; and thirdly that the widow of her owner might actually break up her family be selling them off.
The Eye Arts: London Junkers – Hero
However, a first attempt, made with her brothers Ben and Henry, ended when her siblings opted to return. A few months later Harriet tried again, this time making use of the so-called Underground Railroad – a network of former slaves, those still enslaved, abolitionists, and other activists – to reach the relative safety of Philadelphia. But she did not rest on her laurels.
I was a stranger in a strange land. My father, my mother, my brothers, and sisters, and friends were [in Maryland]. But I was free, and they should be free.
– Harriet Tubman
And so, spurred both by the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 which imposed heavy punishment on those aiding escaped slaves, together with the news that members of her family were to be sold off, Tubman started working to bring her family and other escaping slaves out of Maryland and, thanks to the threat of the Fugitive Slave Law making it harder to find places where escapees could be kept safe, she would lead them as far north as British Ontario (Canada), the British Empire having abolished slavery altogether. Over the course of 11 years and 13 expeditions, Tubman directly guided 70 slaves to freedom, and assisted an estimated 50-60 more in their efforts to find freedom.
All of this is captured with Junker’s words and installation. In the first hall, the poem is set upon a pedestal alongside a fire roaring in a hearth – the latter suggestive of the warmth and comfort of a place to live free from the rigours and terror of slavery. Click the poem to get a HUD version for ease of reading, if required, for the words are beautifully crafted, telling Harriet’s tale in freeing herself and then seeking to free the rest of her family and others. Within in it we find not only a reflection of her life and work as a practical abolitionist, but also personal touches that bring her to life, such as the name Minty awarded her by her family or that of Moses, the name given her by those she freed because like him, she led her people from bondage.
The Eye Arts: London Junkers – Hero
Either side of this poem and its warm, safe fireplace sit railway tracks and little wagons, personifying the idea of the Underground Railroad and to the idea of slave labour (the wagons resembling those used to haul coal, rock or other fruits of manual labour). Both of these tracks angle towards a stone arch that leads visitors into woodland clearing at night.
Here a single track of rail line points to the towering figure of Tubman as show towers like an angelic protector over a pregnant woman and two young children – one of whom carries the yoke and chains of slavery -, figures that represent all those she guided to safety from captivity. Around them, the Moonlit woods stand as a reminder of the covert nature of journeys Tubman took with her wards, travelling by night and hiding by day. Within the setting we also witness the dangers that hunted them by day and night: the baying hounds that tracked them, leading torch-bearing, angry men promising the threat of recapture or even death from a bullet or at the end of a rope for having the temerity to attempt to seek a life of freedom.
Harriet Tubman’s life and work was remarkable; not only did she do much to free those enslaved directly by physical efforts, she also worked alongside abolitionists like Frederick Douglass and John Brown and working in support of the Union cause in the US Civil War (where she was directly involved in an action that resulted in the freeing on 750 slaves), and then in later life worked to promote the cause of women’s suffrage. Within Hero London offers a just honouring of Tubman and her endeavours and a fitting exhibit for Black History Month – do be sure to pay it a visit.
Amore Italiano, January 2022 – click any image for full size
February is almost upon us and with its arrival, many people’s thoughts will turn to love, romance – or at least to new friendships and what they might bring. And those who are seeking or have and would like to share any of the three with loved ones could do no better than to take a trip to Amore Italiano, a Full region using the Private island LI bonus, held by Mr Lukas Aduviri (Aduviri) and his partner Mrs Emma Aduviri (CheekyEmma) whose childhood memories serve to guide builder Lily Cloud.
Bringing together multiple aspects of Italy, from its long coast to its rolling green hills; with touches of famous landmarks, villas, and historical elements that speak to the country’s history, and piazzas and terraces that we often regard as “typically Italian” with their fountains and outdoor café seating, this is a place rich in life and romance.
Amore Italiano, January 2022
Now, admittedly, at the time of my visit parts of the region were still a work-in-progress, but these shouldn’t deter visitors from dropping in, as there is a lot to see and appreciate – and the fact that work is still underway mark this as a place that is growing in appeal and depth. There is no enforced landing point for the region – but visitors do best if they take the one offers in the region’s heart and the SLurls given here. Sitting within the town square, it is where visitors can learn about the region’s special events for the month of romance.
The square, surrounded by the neat façades of Italian townhouses, is dominated by a large church that looks out across it and its fountains to where broad stairways and paved, raised walkway lead the way to where a stone pavilion looks out over the open sea, a fitting venue for the weddings the region is in part intended to host. But whilst the pavilion might be the actual focal point for weddings, the walk from the church down to it makes a fine processional way.
Amore Italiano, January 2022
Beyond the town are multiple places to explore – some of which, as noted, are still in a state of flux. To the south-west a tall replica of St Mark’s Campanile rises into the sky, so high that clouds cling to its side. Located on its own island, the tower sits within the crenelated curtain walls of what might have once been a castle but which is now, thanks to the corner falls and the pool below them, forms a further romantic setting.
Those who prefer can a walk along the path that runs above the local canal to the south of the town. This canal connects a stream falling from the eastern hills the sea to the west and is spanned by the broad bridge. Along the waterside way are plenty of places to sit and enjoy another staple of Italy – an expresso or other coffee drink, to be supped under the shade of octagonal parasols – whilst across the bridge sits an upmarket restaurant sitting within the buildings and courtyard of what might have nonce been a grand country villa, but which now offers a further a further soupçon of romance and relaxation.
Amore Italiano, January 2022
Steps from one end of the canal path rise into the western hills to join a path that runs along the hilltops and around to the north. Here the hills gently descend to where a little wooden bridge spans a second stream to curl around and reach another romantic setting (still under construction at the time of my visit), a second stone bridge offering a route back to the pavilion and its promenade walk.
The landing point also offers a teleport board for those wishing to hop to the major points of interest, and this plus the information boards located with it reveal further attractions to the region, such as the Pantie Hunt. Part of a broader charity event being held on behalf of Relay for Life of Second Life, this offers clues to points of interest, each one with a further clue and a chapter of a story of romance between couples. Collect all the clues, and you gain entry into the charity prize draw.
Amore Italiano, January 2022
Several more charity activities can be found on the That’s Amore sky platform. Here, organised in association with the One More Light RFL of Second Life team (as is the Pantie Hunt), one can find a number of auctions (and offer oneself up as a prize!) or purchase some of the items on sale. All of the proceeds from the auctions and the sales go directly to RFL of SL. Those visiting the sky platform can also visit the That’s Amore Café and the Silkywood bar with its music space. The auctions all run through until February 11th, 2022, so there’s still plenty of time to tour and enter, should the mood take you.
Nicely detailed, with walks, cuddle spots and opportunities for photography, Amore Italiano offers much, even if you are not drawn by romance and love on their own.
Vibes Gallery: Hermes Kondor – It’s All About the Sea
I first encountered the physical world photography of Hermes Kondor back in 2020, when he presented a magnificent select of photographs centred on the Tejo Power Station, Lisbon, Portugal, one of the country’s great heritage centres and home to the Electricity Museum (see: The beauty of steam machines in Second Life).
I was, to say the least, immediately smitten by his work: his use of lighting, colour, composition, together with an avoidance of post-processing, these were images inherently and natural captivating. As such, while his focus within Second Life since that time has been establishing the Kondor Arts Centre as a multi-facet arts hub, I have always been excited when I learn that he is exhibiting his own work in-world.
And so, while I could not make the opening at Eviana Raider’s Vibes Gallery, I was keen to hop over and visit It’s All About theSea as soon as life offered me the time to fully immerse myself in Hermes’ latest exhibition.
Vibes Gallery: Hermes Kondor – It’s All About the Sea
For almost our entire history, humankind has had a relationship with the sea. It has been a source of food, a vast spread of blue that has called us to try to reach across its far horizon to touch whatever might lay beyond; it has romanced us with its mysteries and terrified us with it power, It has challenged our urge to conquer and master – if ever we could master so powerful and capricious a force. But, we have also sailed the seas of the world, and learned to harness their power; we have received their bounty and sought to use their power and beauty as a means to partake of sport.
All of this is very much captured in this exhibition, which Hermes has cleverly split into three individual sections within the gallery’s three halls, allowing him to bring forth specific elements of our relationship with the sea.
Within hall 7, Hermes presents Sea & Waves, a magnificent series of 11 photographs focused on the rolling power of breakers and whitecaps as they hurl themselves through the coastal shallows to batter and strike the shore. These are the kind of waves that are fearsome yet fascinating; the directly represent the sheer power the sea holds – and in a way, it’s anger at land’s temerity in trying to confront it and stem its ebb and flow; an action which is at times foolhardy: as the fine grains of sand that form the beaches of our coastlines and island reminds us, the sea is both patient and relentless, and given time, she will wear land down.
Vibes Gallery: Hermes Kondor – It’s All About the Sea
In some of these images we can see beyond the curl of wave and sweep of foam to a glittering expanse of ocean stretching out to hazy horizons of the kind that have called to us throughout time to reach towards and beyond. These views are further underscored by the opening stanza of Emily Dickenson’s And if the Sea ShouldPart underscores the inherent challenge offered by these waves and those far horizons.
In Hall 8, reached via a connecting walkway, the study of waves and the idea of challenge continue, but are presented in an entirely different manner. Here, within a further eleven images, we are presented with Surfer, simply stunning images of surfers taking on and using the power of waves, riding them from initial roll through to where the water repeatedly kisses the shore before retreating once more to re-gather its strength. Thus, through these images, Hermes carries us to a place where our relationship with the sea is bound within the sporting challenge of trying to master its power and demonstrate skill and artistry within its rolling thunder; a love affair between Man and wave that is again carefully amplified through the words of Fernando Pessoa.
Vibes Gallery: Hermes Kondor – It’s All About the Sea
The images in Halls 7 and 8 are utterly captivating not only for their subject matter, but in the sheer skill Hermes has used in taking them. The clarity with which he has captured roiling white anger of wave crests as they curl over deep blue-green troughs; and retained the natural blue-green colour of the troughs themselves that call forth thoughts of the depths of the oceans is just stunning, as is the clarity with which Hermes has caught the faces of the surfers. Nor is that all; looking at these pictures one cannot help but hear the roaring boom of the sea’s coastal voice and feel the fine spray of salt carried from wave tops to shore on the accompanying winds.
Across the courtyard in Hall 9, is a series of 15 images that are again utterly masterful in their framing, colour and focus. Beach Workers differs somewhat from Sea & Waves and Surfers, as there is very much a narrative flow to the 15 pieces within it; a story of the sea and its place in our lives as a source of livelihood and of sustenance – and not just for humans. To the left, on entering the hall are five images depicting the life and work of coastal fishermen, taking to the sea against the rolling and split of early-morning waves to cast their nets to seek whatever bounty the waters below might yield, before returning as the Sun lowers itself towards the horizon, and the work of taking the catch and clearing / drying the nets begins.
Vibes Gallery: Hermes Kondor – It’s All About the Sea
This is a story that continues through the five images to the right of the hall’s entrance, where the work gains interlopers in the form of gulls and seabirds, perhaps alerted by the commotion on the beach and the scent of fish carried in the breeze, and who have arrived to see what they might get away with helping themselves to. Both of these arms of the gallery then give way to the final five images to the rear, where the fishermen and their wives, their work now done for the day, have mostly retreated from the sands to leave them free for the birds to claim, together with whatever thy might find forgotten or ignored by the fisher folk.
Each and every one of these images is utterly extraordinary in the depth of life it contains, be it aboard the little boats, pushed from the sands and riding their way over the incoming breakers or the swirling, fluttering masses of gulls wheeling in to seek their share of food. Within each picture again, not only is there a beauty of an individual scene, there is a rich suggestion of sound and smell that lifts each one from the level of a “mere” picture to a complete experience / story of life.
Vibes Gallery: Hermes Kondor – It’s All About the Sea
With its three interwoven but unique elements, It’s All About the Sea is not only a magnificent celebration of the sea and our relationship with it; it is a triumphal tour de force of the eye and hand of a truly gifted photographer and an exhibition not to be missed.
Perpetuity, January 2022 – click any image for full size
I’m starting this piece with an apology; back on July 2021, I visited Perpetuity, a Full region designed by Tamara Sierota and Camis Sierota (Camis Lee) – see In Perpetuity in Second Life. Following that piece, and in November 2021, Tamara e-mailed me with an invite to make a return visit to the region, which had been redressed for winter and – of particular interest to me, as she noted – carries an elven theme as well.
Unfortunately, I completely missed the e-mail and invite, only stumbling across it when catching up on some overdue filing and sorting. Ergo, I’m only now getting to writing about Perpetuity in its winter guise, and therefore offer apologies to Tamara and Camis for my tardiness in doing so.
Perpetuity, January 2022
To be honest, I do regret not having visited sooner; as someone with a deep love of Tolkien’s mythology and tales (from The Hobbit through to Unfinished Tales as well as Tree and Leaf, The Adventures of Tom Bombadil and so on), I was captivated by the setting from the moment I arrived at the landing point on the east side of the region. Not that this is a place that is “exclusively Tolkien”, so to speak – as a fantasy / elven setting, it casts its net wide; so it should appeal to those who many not be as enamoured with Tolkien’s writings but who enjoy winter and / or fantasy settings in general.
Certainly, the fact that this is a winter setting is a part of the setting’s magic. Possibly because of Tolkien (or fables in general), it’s likely that most of us associate elves with warmth, the greenery of woodlands in the spring and summer, etc. So in presenting a clear elven theme that sits within a wintery shell of ice, frost and snow-capped mountains, perpetuity carries us to another realm entirely; one that realm captures and holds the eye and the imagination.
Perpetuity, January 2022
Sitting on what at first might look to be a headland extending outwards into and semi-frozen waters of a mountainous coastline (to the west the land doesn’t quite merge with the off-region mountains, but lies close enough to give that impression), this iteration of Perpetuity sits as place that, but for the time of year, would be rich in the colours of woods and trees. Throughout the setting, can be found great twisted trunks of trees which in warmer months would hold aloft canopies of leaves to shade the broad paths that pass under them and offer places of rest away from the brightness and warmth of a summer’s Sun. Similarly, scattered across the region and along its edge stand copses and strands of birch and other trees that, when heavy with leaf, would draw curtains of greenery around the setting and between its buildings as if to drape them is a sense of privacy and natural separation of the world beyond.
Winter Magic – A place for quiet moments and photography with areas to bring your partner or to come alone and relax surrounded by nature in all it’s beauty.
– Perpetuity’s About Land description, January 2022
Perpetuity, January 2022
However, caught in the depths of winter as they are, these trees lie wrapped in coats of frost, their bare branches still raised aloft and splayed towards the sky, but only able to cast spindly shadows over path, terrace and courtyard, the stones of which all lay dusted with snow. Linked by stairs and bridge, these broad paths make circumnavigation of the island easy, naturally carrying visitors from place to place, and building to building, revealing all whilst also retaining some secrets that lie waiting to be found.
Watched over by the slender spires of a graceful castle that rise from the top of that high central mesa, the majority of the buildings lying within the setting are all of a distinctly elven look; the only potential exception being the more blocky, angular form of a more formidable castle to the north-west.
Perpetuity, January 2022
Furnished throughout, these are buildings that speak to a close-knit community, presenting living spaces, places for gathering (indoors and out) and places of ceremony and / or magic. As might be expected from an elven enclave, both art and music are represented here, and the entire design of the setting carries within it a natural sense of peace. Even the most casual glance around will reveal that considerable care has been put into ensuring this sense of harmony flows throughout, complete with touches here and there that help to both anchor it somewhat in Tolkien’s mythology whilst at the same time, naturally separating the two.
Take, for example, the presence of the Argonath. In Tolkien’s original tale, these huge statues represented Isildur and Anárion, the sons of Elendil, but within Peter’s Jackson’s 2001 The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, Anárion was replaced by Elendil, who is also represented here (indicated by the fact he is holding the blade Narsil in his right hand). Thus, these statues offer a direct link with Tolkien’s tales, particularly calling reference to the Last Alliance of Elves and Men as symbolised by Elendil’s presence.
Perpetuity, January 2022
However, floating above and a short distance from them is a flying ship that removes this setting entirely from anything Tolkien presented in her core myths, allowing this iteration of Perpetuity to both acknowledge Tolkien’s influence on our thinking around elven folk and stand independently from it is a realm with its own history.
But whether you are a lover of fantasy or not, this is a setting that is beautifully considered and executed; a place that is a genuine joy to explore and photograph (join the local group for rezzing rights, if required – a help support Perpetuity in the process). For those who do wish to visit and witness this iteration of the region’s design, I understand from Tamara that it will remain available through most of February, after which the region is liable to be redressed for spring.
Inara Pey: Living in a Modemworld 