Category: Reviews

As is undoubtedly obvious to regular readers, I’m a bit of a space fan – astronomy, space flight, science fiction – but I have to confess that until recently, I’d never actually written about the Spindrift Space Gallery in Second Life.  In fact, until I was talking to Pooky Amsterdam about the special edition of The 1st Question event honouring Paradox Olbers (see: The 1st Question in Second Life (with Ebbe Altberg)), the gallery had completely fallen off my radar – so I thought it time I returned for another visit.

The gallery was established by Paradox in (I believe) 2007, and features the work of artists from the Intentional Association of Astronomical Artists (IAAA), including pieces by Kara Szathmáry, the IAAA’s Vice Prresident and CFO-Treasurer.

As the IAAA notes, art has always held a special place in the history of exploration. Artists often accompanied explorers on their journeys, providing paintings and sketches that would later enthral audience on their intrepid return. Some actually financed their own expeditions to “far-away” lands: south America, the Middle East, the Orient – specifically to paint those distant “worlds” and present them to patrons and audiences. In the 1870s, American artist Frederic Edwin Church perhaps became one of the first “space artists” of the modern era when he went to the Arctic regions to specifically paint the northern aurora as well as the icebergs of the Arctic Sea.

That tradition of art accompanying exploration has very much been a part of the space age. While artists cannot physically travel into the solar system or outer space, they can offer images of the Final Frontier, bringing us images of the fantastic – interplanetary space ships, future civilisations, alien worlds and so on, as well as realistic portrayals of the possibilities of planetary exploration, the worlds of our solar system and those we’ve detected around other stars but have yet to see through our own eyes or those of our robot emissaries. And of course, art has also given life to the imaginings of science fiction authors.

All of this is reflected at the Spindrift Space Gallery. It features images by George Richard, Ron Miller, the inimitable Rick Sternbach, perhaps most famous for his work in connection with the Star Trek franchise from The Next Generation through Star Trek Voyager, in which his designs, images and conceptual art helped shape our view of the 24th century.

Also featured is the art of the aforementioned Kara Szathmáry, with a stunning series of pieces that reflect our unique relationship with the cosmos that has existed throughout history: stars that helped us navigate the oceans (Arrival), played a role in beliefs and cycles of life and even romance (Grandfather’s Spirit – Rolling Thunder, If Not for You), and that our voyages into space are, at their heart a very human undertaking: inspirational, emotional and, for families left behind, worrisome (In Pursuit of Paradise, Bon Voyage).

An exhibition of work by Steve Hobbs  presents marvellous images of our solar system and explorations within it: Huygens descending through Titan’s atmosphere, Japan’s Hayabusa spacecraft at asteroid 25143 Itokawa, Voyager 2 at Uranus and Neptune, the Russian Luna 16 sample return mission and more, as well as views of of the planets and moons of the solar system. Another panel provides a tribute to the writings of Sir Arthur C. Clarke, including a rather Robert Redford like interpretation of Alvin, the protagonist of Against the Fall of Night.

From science fiction to science fact by way of astronomy the Spindrift Space Gallery offer a unique, static exhibition of space art and a little slice of SL history.

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• Spindrift Space Gallery (Spindrift, rated Moderate)

Artfully Yours is the name Sandi Peterson has given to her gallery space in Second Life, where she displays the work of invited artists as well as presenting some of her own 3D artwork.

For June, the gallery presents the work of five artists under the umbrella title The Dynamic Edge, which Sandi defines as:

We live in a world of “edges”. We think of the edge of twilight, at the edge of one’s seat, falling over the edge, or the cutting-edge of an idea. As the price of seashore homes will attest, we love to live on “edges”. The artists in The Dynamic Edge explore different ways that this concept expresses itself: the edges between places, choices, times, and spiritual realms.

The lower floor of the gallery presents a joint exhibition by John (Johannes Huntsman) and Tempest Rosca-Huntsman (Tempest Rosca) entitled Vintage, and which “shows us ‘edges’ of our perceptions of time by showing vintage/antique things viewed through the ever changing modern eye.”

Tempest is an accomplished fashion orientated / blogging photographer who has been extending her boundaries and style. Here she presents a series of landscape images from Second Life that, through their subjects, hook directly into the over-arching theme not by focusing on what we might classically regard as “vintage” but by focusing on their evidenced age and careworn existence. Using a rich palette of colour, she adds a depth of warmth to each of them, a warmth that gives them a sense of invitation whilst highlighting their natural beauty that might otherwise pass unnoticed.

John’s pieces focus on what might be called the more “traditional” aspect of “vintage” – the classic car, aeroplane, camera, period costume, etc. But by taking the images and presenting them as paintings, he again adds an depth to each: not only is their subject matter “vintage” the nature of the pieces themselves is suggestive of this was well. He has also captured a sense of dynamic tension in each. This is perhaps most evident in the picture of Spitfire MH434, perhaps one of the most illustrious of that famous aircraft to survive to the modern age, but it can also be found in the other images as well.

Also on the lower floor, Corcosman Voom presents the very understated Interaction, which comes as a practical demonstration that less can often be more. Just six pieces are offered (don’t miss Dragonfly #12 on the far wall of the stairs to the upper floor), but they perfectly reflect the artist’s intent; whilst their considered spacing within the hall where they are displayed, allow us to properly focus on each in turn and consider in terms of the exhibit’s liner notes:

On the theme of interaction, it struck Corcosman from his earliest days in Second Life that as he explored parcels and encountered people in their variety of avatars, the 3D experience was like stepping inside a person’s mind. Everyone had built or purchased things and arranged them in a manner that had some meaning to them.

On the upper floor, the two exhibition spaces present Tom Prospero’s Rocks & Water: Interplay of Form and Light and and Sheba Blitz’s Mandalas – Mystical Symbols of the Universe respectively. Although entirely individual displays, they are perhaps also thematically linked beyond the core theme of dynamic edges.

Within his selection, Tom provides uploads of original art he has produced that are very much focused on nature and the “dynamic edge” where ocean and land meet. These are dramatic images (two of them particularly so, given the inclusion of particle scripts), that present the majesty and power of Nature and her ability to use water to sculpt land over the ages, while the richness of colour underline Nature’s implicit beauty through the play of sunlight on clouds, the motion of the sea, the aforementioned sculpting of coastal lands and the simply heartbeat like ebb and flow of the tide.

Mandalas having many meanings, particularly in eastern mysticism and within the New Age movement. In the latter, they are often seen as metaphysical representations of the cosmos and our relationship to it and infinite that extends through out it, and which exists within each of us.

Sheba’s art is very much as reflection of this: pieces designed to evoke feelings of piece, harmony and oneness. They draw on many of the traditional aspects and symbolism found within mandalas and within the eastern cultures that gave rise to them, whilst also embracing the more New Age aspects of their use. It is also in their reflection of the cosmos that they have the subtle link to Tom’s theme: in the former we have a consideration of Nature and her majesty here on Earth, with Sheba, this idea is expanded to encapsulate the cosmos as a whole, whilst both offer the chance for us to consider the dynamic edge between the lives we lead and both the natural world around us – and the universe in which it sits.

Having opened on June 12th, 2020, I’m not sure how much longer Dynamic Edge has to run at the gallery, so a visit sooner rather than later is recommended.

SLurl Details

• Artfully Yours (MysticalFantasy, rated Adult)

Currently open at the Michiel Bechir Gallery, curated by Michiel Bechir, are three exhibitions of art indirectly linked by themes, making for an interesting excursion for patrons of art in Second Life. On the ground floor, and in the north and south halls respectively, are selections from the portfolios of Hazel Foxtrot and Pavel Stransky, each of whom offer pieces largely focused on landscape images.

Hazel’s work appears to be largely without post-processing, a fact that leaves them with a raw and  – in an age where every image of Second Life is expected to be subject to PhotoShop and GIMP – refreshing naturalness to them. This is not to imply I have anything against the post-processing of Second Life images – such treatment can be used to add significant depth to an image or even transform it. However, it is refreshing to see images that have not been so treated, as they capture the places Hazel has visited as they might be seen  on a first visit.

Across the gallery, Pavel Stransky also presents works also largely focused on landscapes, although in difference to Hazel, he does use post-processing. This allows Pavel to present his work in a variety of styles: oil painting, water colour, photograph – all of which are highly effective in their presentation and in given that depth mentioned above, to each and every piece in the selection.

On the upper floor of the gallery is Balance, a join exhibition by Jessamine2108 and Zoe Ocelot. Offering a mix of words and images, it is a reflection on the current SARS-CoV-2 pandemic and its impact around the globe – but perhaps not in the manner you might expect. As has been noted in the news, the lock-down that has impacted the majority of the world has served to have a significant impact impact on pollution, leading to cleaner air within and beyond cities, and also cleaner water that can benefit humans and animals alike.

Thus, through images taken and selected by Jessamine2108, and the words presented by Zoe, the two artists to offer their own view of how the pandemic is affecting humans and Nature alike, with an emphasis on the idea that – as one of the natural brakes on human activity – the pandemic is helping to bring the Earth back into balance.

While that balance may be – in the scheme of things – short-lived overall, Balance serves as a reminder than Nature actually doesn’t require human kind; that – as the artists note – the rest of world moves on as humans huddle and hide in their corners.

And the link between the lower level exhibitions and Balance? All of them remind us of how important open spaces and the freedom to travel are to us and – hopefully – how much better we should be as caretakers of beauty present in the worlds around us.

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• Michiel Bechir Gallery (Embrace, rated Adult)