Category: Reviews

Phoenix Artists Collaboration in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
Phoenix Artists Collaboration: the lake, Carrington Row (right), and Cassatt Square east (left) with Rembrandt Court in the distance

It’s been a while since I last updated on the Phoenix Artists Collaboration (PAC), but I’m pleased to say all to the work in consolidating the group’s presence at Cherished Melody is now complete and just about all of the artists from the Holly Kai location have now set themselves up in their new studios.

As in inevitable with moves, some opted not to make the hop, so the group currently has four vacant units, each with a 50 LI allowance. Artists who might be interested in making use of one should contact either myself or Will Harris (willyharris) in-world.

Phoenix Artists Collaboration: part of the Information Hub

Since my August update, a couple of further changes have been made to the platform – notably, we decided to combine the two large galleries into a single (larger) building that will house both the themed Group exhibits and also exhibitions by Featured Artists – both of which will be starting up in due course.

The studios are available for artists to use as they please: display and sell their work, hold their own mini-exhibitions (with the aid of the PAC team for advertising), and so on. All we ask is that exhibitions and art are kept within the limits set by the Second life Terms of Service / Community Standards and the maturity rating for the Cherished Melody region.

Phoenix Artists Collaboration: Cassatt Square East in the foreground, with the main gallery beyond beyond it

As it is, PAC artists have a number of exhibitions currently in progress Second Life users are welcome to visit. These are:

Phoenix Artists Collaboration: Gainsborough Court and the open-air display of Silas Merlin sculptures

About the Layout

PAC is located on a sky platform at Cherished Melody. This has been split into a number of areas in which the artist studios have been placed so that we can break things up with footpaths, gardens, bodies of water, etc. This is to hopefully give artists and visitors alike a sense of space and room to enjoy the art that is on offer. The north side of the platform in particular – containing the main landing point, the Information Hub, etc – includes some garden walks up into the hills or along the lake shore, and various places to sit have been added.

In all, there are six locations for artist studios as shown in the map below.

Phoenix Artists Collaboration, Cherished Melody

At the time of writing, these locations feature the following Second Life and physical world artists:

  • Carrington Row:
    • Zach HerrMann; Giselle Seeker; Inara Pey; Audie Spade.
  • Cassatt Square:
    • West: Skye Joubert; Suzzanna LaRue; Mathehilde Vhargon and Looker Lumet.
    • East: Angel Heartsong; Tara Aers; ArtandSoul Constantine; Kayli Ilali and Victor Savior.
    • South: Nils Urqhart; Seiko Blessing; JudiLynn India; Layachi Ihen.
  • Gainsborough Court:
    • The Other Thing; Hamsa; Sophia Joubert; John Huntsman; Tempest Rosca-Huntsman; Kisma Stepanich-Reidling; Vanessa Jane; Uleria Caramel.
  • Magritte Court:
    • Zia Branner; Alex Riverstone; Rachel Magic; CybeleMoon; Loegan Magic; Sisi biedermann; Patrick Ireland; Tom Prospero.
  • Rembrandt Court:
    • Etame; Sisse Singh; Sophie Dunn; Dhyezl Ravenhurst; Slatan Dryke; Raging Bellls; Anouk LeFarve; Melusina Parkin; Shakti Adored.
  • Whistler Court:
    • Sheba Blitz; Cullum Writer; Michiel Bechir; Ethan Hawkins; Tresore Prada-Hawkins; Anibrm Jung; Ilyra Chardin; Owl Dragonash.
Phoenix Artists Collaboration: and Old Tower, parts of the gardens of the platform visitors can explore

For ease of getting around, the Information Hub includes a teleport hub that will take visitors directly to any of the  studio areas, as well as to the main gallery building. The Hub also provides information on the artists at PAC – just click on the portraits for biographies, and provides links to the PAC group, the PAC website, and so. on. In addition, visitors are also welcome to take the teleport link down to the ground level of cherished Melody, which is also open to the public.

So, do please feel free to pay PAC a visit and enjoy the art!

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Grauland’s desert enigma in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey

Grauland, October 2020 – click on any image for full size

I’ll start this piece by saying I might be getting to this a little late in the day, and I’m not sure how long the region has been in its current iteration. However, if you’ve not already seen Jim Garand’s Grauland recently, I’d recommend a visit sooner rather than later, just in case it is going to change the the turn of the month (as pretty much happened the last time I wrote about it – see Grauland’s rugged summer looks in Second Life).

Over the time it has been offered to the public, Grauland has been the location for some enticing region builds that oft mix setting with art, always with one or two features that carry each iteration forward whilst connecting it to past designs – such as the use of Cube Republic’s excellent Causeway Builder’s Kit that can give you your own version of Giant’s Causeway.

Grauland, October 2020

However, with this iteration, we’re presented with  – as the Monty Python crew were fond of saying – something completely different. So different, in fact, I’m not entirely sure show to classify it. Gone is the causeway – and any sign of water, another past constant with Jim’s designs. Nor is there any sign of vegetation.

Instead, visitors arrive to find themselves in a desert surrounded by hills that have slopes against which dunes wash. What might have inspired it – the Gobi, Death Valley, the Sahara, the Atacama, the Namib – is but a passing question; the fact of the matter is that we’re in a desert, one that offers a series of enigmatic offerings that challenge how we might think of it.

Grauland, October 2020

On arrival, the eyes are naturally drawn to the to the ruins that sit on the east dunes and fall towards the middle of the region. Who might they have been built by? Are they part of the the same period? The grander set comprise hewn blocks of stone, large in size and put together without the benefit of mortar, the pressure of their own weight binding them against the ravages of wind and time – although clearly, both the latter have had aeons to eventually have their way – presumably after the hands that built the ruins and lived within them had passed on.

The second group of ruins sit on a lower slope of sand and are built from smaller blocks bound together with mortar. Thus they appear to have been built some time after those they sit below, begging the question who were responsible for them, and whether the fact they literally sit in the shadow of the older ruins suggests some form of  homage to those who came before?

Grauland, October 2020

The ruins are just one of the region’s many enigmatic vignettes. Again, whether or not they are intended to be linked together or seen as individual stories, separate and apart from the rest, is entirely open to question. To the north-east is a small encampment, suggesting an archaeology base camp, one that perhaps, when coupled with the nearby ruins, brings to mind Lara Croft on a hunt for some rare artefact.

To the south, and on the same side of the region, sits what could be something out of the pages of a sci-fi or military story: prefabricated units set-up for a long-term stay, complete with recreational facility and a helipad occupied by a black Hawk helo. Westward to the south, the dunes have overwhelmed an American locomotive, giving us a hint of some kind of post apocalyptic setting – something furthered by the graveyard of cars sitting between train and landing point, and also by the carcasses of ships wallowing in the sands; although on seeing these, I half expected a brace of white 4x4s leap over a dune, United Nations flags fluttering with more helicopters overhead as they race to the wrecks, a-la Spielberg’s Close Encounters of the Third Kind.

Grauland, October 2020

And what are we to make of the giant skulls, again half-buried within the sand? What might they tell us? I’ll leave that to you to decide.

Grauland presents us with a range of enigmatic offerings that individually or collectively offer a richness of place and opportunities for photography – as is always the way with the Grauland builds. Scattered throughout the various settings are places to sit, allowing those who wish to further appreciate the setting. In all, perhaps the most intriguing of designs yet seen within the region – – be sure to catch it before things change!

Grauland, October 2020

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Just Melusina in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey

Melusina Parkin: Just Melusina

I’m not familiar with portraits; objects, details or landscapes are my favourite subjects. I’m not aware of the many secrets one needs to know to catch expressions, feelings or bias in a body or in a face. But sometimes I try that. It’s when a place, a dress, a pose, suggests an atmosphere or meaningful emotion.

– Melusina Parkin

These are the disarming words Melusina Parkin uses to introduce her latest series of images, Just Melusina, an enticing set of 34 self-portrait / avatar studies that are uniquely Melusina in appearance, tone and style that fully underline her use of atmosphere and emotion – and demonstrate she indeed has an eye for pose and look.

“Traditional” portraits tend to be exercises in power and / or ego, however subliminal. The subject and their pose is what counts, the clothes they wear, the backdrop to their sitting, etc., are all merely accoutrements to the central theme of look at ME. Even self-portraiture can follow a similar route, although they can also lean the other way, projecting too much of the artist’s own self-reflection in a piece; even so, the end result tends to be the same: to push their audience into a single track of emotional response.

Melusina Parkin: Just Melusina

Within avatar studies, ego can also play a role – who doesn’t want to have their avatar looking its stunning best? – but leaving aside things like Profile photos and personal shots, avatar studies within SL tend to focus on narrative: telling a story in a single frame. But often, rather than allowing the image to speak for itself, the artist will directly lead their audience into an interpretation of a piece through the use of an intentionally descriptive title that sets the foundation of what they are trying to convey. There’s actually nothing wrong with this where the story is the intent, but where the interpretation might otherwise be broader, it can focus too much on generating the primary response rather than – as with the likes of landscape images – allowing the audience to take in the whole and allow their thoughts and reaction to be more freely driven by what they see and perceive.

This is where the 34 images found within Just Melusina differ from the more “usual” forms of avatar study. While each and every one has obviously been posed, none are titled by anything other than by a number), so there is no leading by the hand when it comes to interpretation. The result is that what we see within each image is entirely a matter of our owner observation and emotional response – and this is broadened by Melusina’s skill in lightly (and sometimes indirectly) touching on smaller specifics within an image, as well as in using dress, poise and camera angle, to offer the way to larger stories our imagination might frame.

Melusina Parkin: Just Melusina

Take Just Melusina 34, for example (above). In a muted, soft-focus monochrome, it presents a woman sitting, perhaps curled with her knees up, on a sofa of some description.  But is she at home or some public place? Just the hint of the chair is sitting on suggests a sofa, but could it be a vinyl-covered bench seat in public place that she has chosen to make her own. And is she alone or with someone? The turn of her eyes could suggest either; is she looking at someone whilst listening to them? If so who? A friend? A lover? A stranger? And if so, what does the neutral set to her expression suggest? Or has something outside of the frame attracted her attention? Is it something she is witnessing outside of wherever she is and seen through a window? Or is it closer, within the space she occupies, but not something with which she is directly involved? Or is she just lost within her own thoughts, unaware of either the sideways glance or the expression on her face? If so, what might be the thoughts she is lost within?

Thus, through each image, Melusina beautifully and lightly sets a scene – not an entire narrative, and certainly not a shout of “look at me!” – but a scene. One in which we are invited to step and allow our eyes and emotions construct the narrative beneath.

And there’s more besides. Whilst all of these images open a veritable storybook of possible narratives to hold our attention, so too do some have other aspects to them. There are those that seem to have a more playful edge to them as they offer hints of other mediums – such as a possible call to Liza Minnelli in Cabaret or Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany’s. Others meanwhile, seem to offer hints of famous works to be found in the physical world – Just Melusina #17, with the use of pose and hair colour might be seen to offer an echo of Whistler’s Mother without actually ever being a direct take on it, but remaining true to itself.

Melusina Parkin: Just Melusina

Wonderful in scope and depth, this is another superb collection from Melu, and I hope you’ll take the time to see it.

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Autumn at Solus in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey

Solus, October 2020 – click any image for full size

Solus is a Homestead region held by Vita Camino that she recently opened to the public as a place to visit and appreciate and where they can also see her mesh and ground textures in use.

For those who may be feeling a little over-exposed to Halloween and all its ways – even before we get to it – this is a region that can offer some relief (although there are still touches of the season to be found). Within the region, visitors will find an autumnal, rustic setting within its lowlands areas whilst its highlands present a more winter-like setting and a promise of the end-of-year season to close. All of which makes for a rich setting to explore and photograph.

Solus, October 2020

The landing point sits on the lowlands alongside what at first might appear to the a ribbon lake, but is in fact an inlet that meanders its way deep into the landscape. A dirt track curls around its innermost extent, the landing point sitting on the grass between track and water. To the east, the road, occupied here by an old pick-up truck, rises up the first part of the region’s highlands, turning south and passing an old stone farmhouse built into the hill as it does so.

Passing a wall of rock, the road quickly – and frighteningly, if you’re contemplating driving up or down it – steepens, passing from the greens and golds of autumn below to the depths of winter on the hilltops. Here fir trees stand in rows and hoar frosted tress stand over a frozen pond, and a Christmas tree shop is already open for business. However, someone appears to have opted for taking a sapling from the copse of fir trees , placing it into the back over their pick-up truck as it sits on the road.

Solus, October 2020

A sign by the truck promises a camp site along the flat tops of the hills, but after passing around the fir trees, the road drops back down to the the east side of the region and into the autumnal setting once more. Here old telegraph poles march along the roadside and geese wander along it, as it comes to an end in a broad area of flat land at the water’s edge.

Here the land is occupied by a couple of buildings:  a cottage for rent and an old industrial unit that may also be a place that could become available for rent, although at the time of our visit, it was standing empty and unmarked. The cottage has been extended with decks serving both its lower and upper floors, connected by wooden stairs. These decks offer a view across the water to far side of the bay – but if you want to reach it, you’ll need re-trace your steps back around the region.

Solus, October 2020

When investigated, these western lowlands reveal they are actually a tongue of land sitting between two inlets cutting their way into the landscape from the north, the far side of this second body of water marked by the highland plateau. Small places of business sit on the bank of the water (one of which is home to the rental kiosk for payments), while at the end of the road stands a large barn. This forms Vita’s texture store, a wooden board walk winding around the side of it to lead to a houseboat at the water’s edge – again, whether this is to be offered for rent or not wasn’t clear at the time of our visit.

For those who do like their touches of Halloween, the region does offer one or two; pumpkins and jack-o’-lanterns can be found here and there, the largest two of which stand guard over the entrance of what might at first appear to be a misty-wrapped graveyard. However, these two lanterns are hardly likely to cause anyone any fright, their demented grins awash with humour.

Solus, October 2020

Another board walk winds through the mist beyond the two lanterns, but aside from a single, static Gothic vampress, there are no graves here. Instead, the path leads the way to an old ruin, now a witch’s hideaway with a warning outside. Inside, however, barring the oversized spider’s webs, it offers a cosy retreat.

Throughout the region are lots of little details – chickens and geese helping to give a sense of presence to the farm, squirrels going after nuts, foxes awaiting discovery -, while a figure at the local gas station adds a further sense of life to the setting. For those who fancy tarrying a while, a small barn close to the store offers a cosy place for doing so.

Solus, October 2020

All told, a delightful place to visit and explore – and for those who need them – to possibly obtain a new selection of landscaping textures.

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  • Solus (rated: Moderate)

Three at Club LA and Gallery in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey

Club LA and Gallery: Kapaan

October currently sees three expeditions in progress at Club LA and Gallery, curated by Fuyuko Amano (Wintergeist), although I believe two will be closing at the end of the month. Between them, they offer three very different displays of art and perspectives, making all three an engaging visit.

The ground-level exhibitions both opened on October 3rd, and so many have a limited time left in their runs. They feature the work of Kapaan and Blues Rocker (BluesrockerResident) respectively.

Kapaan presents art that often carries a narrative theme, usually with a fantasy / dark fantasy element to it – and such is the case with several on the pieces here as they cast what might called Scenes from the Seed, presented in primal tones and featuring the character of Orobas (the Orobas, in human form?) and a glowing, seed-like orb.

Accompanying these is a set of more colourful avatar studies and a trio of landscape images. these again have treads of connection running through them, the colour red and umbrellas in the case of a couple of the landscapes, and the manner in which the avatar studies are mounted.

Club LA and Gallery: Blues Rocker

Across the hall, Blues Rocker presents an evocative set of images rich in colour, each standing on its own and strikingly unique when compared to the rest. Again, each has a story within it, hinted at by its title and ready to jump into the mind on viewing each piece in relation to that title. These are richly imaginative works, that reflect Blues’ philosophy when dealing with Second Life and his art.

I much prefer shooting out on location in the multitude of amazing sims which populate SL than in a studio, as I feel I get much better results that way. Since starting seriously taking photographs in SL, I have broadened my horizons in what wonders this virtual world has to offer. Really, the only limits are those of the imagination.

Blues Rocker

Club LA and Gallery: David Silence

The most recent of the three, having opened on Sunday, October 18th, is Spectrum by David Silence (JemapelSilence). Reached via a teleport station outside of the ground-level gallery space, this is also the most intriguing of the three, offering what might be said to be a display of personal introspection woven into other apparent contradictions – such as the title of the exhibition being a word that tends to first suggest colours, whilst the images themselves are entirely monochrome.

Of course, “spectrum” can be used in other contexts as well, such as “running the full spectrum of emotions” – and it is in this context that David uses the word, as he explains in Spectrum’s introductory notes. He combines it with that unique sense of self-awareness when we can perceive ourselves simultaneously in two ways: both from within, as we listen to that inner voice that can question our actions, motivations, emotional state, etc., and from without, as if we are projecting ourselves into the body of another and witnessing our actions / state of mind through their eyes.

The result is a series of images that might be subtitled Conversations and Observations with Myself. They comprise two figures  – one dressed, one naked – in various locations, clearly conversing and as if seen by someone else. This external view manifests the idea of projection beyond ourselves, but it would b a mistake to consider the figures as individuals.  Rather, they are one in the same: the dressed figure representing the externalisation of how we would like to be seen by others, and the naked representing out inner self, freed from the need to clothe thoughts and emotions. Thus we have a series of images depicting our relationship with ourselves, and the full spectrum of thought and feelings that can come with it.

Club LA and Gallery: David Silence

Three excellent excellent expeditions from three engaging artists.

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A Wooley Swamp in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey

The Legend of Wooley Swamp, October 2020

Amaya Mavinelli dropped me a line recently suggesting a visit to The Legend of Wooley Swamp. It came alongside an invitation from Mathias Laurent, one of the region’s designers, to also pay a visit – so off I hopped!

Occupying a Full region with the additional private region bonus, Wooley Swamp is the work of Matt and his SL partner, Aleriah Laurent (Aleriah Huntsman), and it takes as its inspiration The Legend of Wooley Swamp, the 1980 recording by The Charlie Daniels Band that forms the second track on their album Full Moon. It’s a story about a man – the song’s narrator – who hears a fable about a ghostly place called Wooley Swamp, and ignoring the advice of others, determines he has to confirm the truth of the story for himself.

The Legend of Wooley Swamp, October 2020

If you ever go back into Wooley Swamp son you better not go at night
There’s things out there in the middle of them woods
That’d make a strong man die from fright
There’s things that crawl and things that fly
And things that creep around on the ground
And they say the ghost of Lucias Clay gets up and it walks around.

– Charlie Daniels, The Legend of Wooley Swamp

Through the song, we learn of the fate of Lucias Clay, a miserly old man who cared more for money than people, at the hands of of the Cable brothers, and the turnaround fate meted out to them after they’d murdered him for his jars of money. What the narrator discovers is left open, but it leads him to state, there’s some things in this world you just can’t explain.

The Legend of Wooley Swamp, October 2020

The old man lived in the Wooley Swamp way back in the gurgling woods
And he never did do a lot of harm in the world
But he never did do no good
People didn’t think too much of him
They all thought he acted funny

– Charlie Daniels, The Legend of Wooley Swamp

It was a popular song of the day, following on from the success of The Devil Went Down to Georgia, and remained popular at the Band’s concerts. What might be less known to those not so familiar with Charlie Daniels, is that Wooley Swamp is a place where he used to hunt at night as a youngster. Thus, The Legend of Wooley Swamp – the region – could be said to be not only inspired by the song, but also a little bit of a homage to the singer / songwriter, who passed away earlier this year.

The Legend of Wooley Swamp, October 2020

In keeping with all this, the region presents a swampy environment, dank, dark, and with sluggish water through which alligators can be sighted. Rotting houses and cabins and an old houseboat are scattered about, the paths and trails misted, whilst a partially-flooded graveyard adds to the spooky mix. Which one might be old man Clay’s cabin is up to you to decide; none look particularly homely, although there are occupants and hints of occupancy to be found – together with one or two nods to the season. There are also signs of mysterious goings-on as well: strange noises, orange and red eyes glaring menacingly out of the darkness at passers-by, human skulls  gathered together in a fire bowl…

Those visiting are asked to accept the local experience on arrival (you need only do so once, lest you later opted to remove it through the viewer). This adds a level of interaction to a visit.  As you explore the region, you may come across Mason Jars (normally for preserving food, but in the song, old man Clay filled them with money and buried them in the grounds around his cabin). Touch them, and you get an extract of the song and a gold coin. Beware, however, you can also get yourself killed – but as Aleriah noted to me, this can only happen just once a day!

The Legend of Wooley Swamp, October 2020

Coupled with a rich sound scape, lending itself to a range of windlight settings as well as its own default, and with plenty of little touches – some with a horror edge to them, some not – The Legend of Wooley Swamp makes for an interesting, photogenic and slightly different visit for Halloween.

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