Johannes Huntsman may not be a familiar name to patrons of art in Second Life when reading it here – but if I mention that he’s actually the founder of Kultivate Magazine and the Windlight Gallery, then recognition will immediately drawn, the new moniker he carries being the result of SL’s Name Changes capability.
As a Second Life resident, Johannes’ support of the arts over the years has been indefatigable, from the magazine and gallery through to supporting multiple charity events to co-founding has own fund-raising organisation, Team Diabetes of Second Life, he is a veritable powerhouse. He is also an exceptional gifted photographer and artist – a fact that can be attested to with a visit at the Kiku Gallery curated by Suzanne Logan during April / early May, for that gallery is currently hosting a stunning portfolio of pieces by Johannes that are – without any exaggeration – quite breath-taking.
Kiku Art Gallery: Johannes Huntsman
Encapsulated in what is itself a charming boutique gallery space are 15 large-format image images, with a supporting collection of 8 smaller pieces, Naturescapes is an honest tour de force for Johannes’ ever-evolving breadth of styles with his art, offering as it does pieces that appear to enfold both second Life and the physical world. As the name suggests, this is a series of images focused on nature’s beauty, with three pieces offering painted coastal views that may have started life as photographs.
The collection is mostly presented in colour, but with five monochrome pieces, two of which have a marvellous quality of having been etched. Other pieces have the clarity of pencil drawings or the gentle tones of watercolours or the richness of oil paintings. Each individual item has a natural beauty, but I confess to being particularly drawn to the studies of a puffin and a dog – with a bias towards the former, if only because like many people, I have a peculiar fascination for those little alcids.
Kiku Art Gallery: Johannes Huntsman
Whether painted directly or the result of post-processing, these are all pieces that carry a depth of life that instantly draws the observer into each one. Meanwhile, the eight smaller pieces are in fact three collections of pre-sized, pre-framed pieces that would grace any Second Life home; one contains three miniatures of the coastal sail scapes, the second the trio of flower paintings and the third an exquisite pair of monochrome photographs of birds.
A genuinely engaging exhibition, well worth visiting.
Dya’s Scent of the Caribbean, April 2020 – click any image for full size
I arrived in-world on April 17th, 2020, to a message from Dya OHare inviting me to hop over to her latest region design, Dya’s Scent of the Caribbean, which now supersedes her Abandoned Vacation Spot design I blogged back in February (see: An abandoned vacation spot in Second Life).
The new setting, as might be gathered from the name, presents Dya’s take on a Caribbean setting, and is with her previous build, she packs a lot of detail into the region, offering a real taste of the tropics with nicely placed touches that add authenticity to the setting while the overall layout once again suggests a place much larger than a single region.
Dya’s Scent of the Caribbean, April 2020
This is one of the smaller, cosier Caribbean islands, surrounded by clear blue waters that gently shoal to a sandy apron that encloses the island on three side – and gives the impression it might completely surround it at low tide. The island raises its sapphire back from surrounding sea and sand, presenting a roughly diamond shape with an south-eat to north-west orientation. The landing point lies towards the former, located in a little commercial hamlet that sits on the top of the island, its single pedestrian street flanked on either side by a number of small businesses, including what might best be described as a boutique hotel, together with a bar and local small diner.
Looping around this tiny slice of urban life is is dusty track of a road that offers the primary means of exploring on foot as it curls and branches its way between uplands and beaches and rocks. Follow it south and behind the bulk of the taller commercial properties, and it’ll take you to a dead end and a tongue of sand that licks its way up over the grass with an invitation to walk across it. Doing so brings you to a stretch of golden sand that is watched over at one end by a whitewashed lighthouse, and at the other by beach house that offers shade from the Sun’s heat and glare and a cooling freshwater pool. Just offshore, the point at which the sandy shelf surrounding the island gives way to deeper waters is marked by a ring of anchored buoys (actually denoting the region’s edge).
Dya’s Scent of the Caribbean, April 2020
Take the road the other way from the landing point and it’ll offer a looping walk around the northern aspect of the island, rising and falling in response the land’s own undulations. A modest motel sits on the western side of this road, offering a view (partially obscured by trees) of the ocean, which here meets the unyielding rock of the isle, as the tide appears to be in.
Further along the road sits a little chapel facing steps that climb up to a little shanty village of corrugated tin huts straddling the island’s backbone, the road again looping around it below. Just past the chapel and the step up to the shanty, the road offers a glimpse down into one of the island’s secrets: a landlocked cover of clear water that tumbles from a waterfall and sheltered by rocky walls and the verdant greenery of the island. Cut off from the open sea by a further beach, this cove is an attractive hideaway, perhaps now filled by freshwater given the sea apparently can no longer reach it.
Dya’s Scent of the Caribbean, April 2020
After curling around the north-western headland, the road loops back towards the landing point once more, passing as it does so a set of stone steps that offer the way down to what would appear to be – at low tide at least – the island’s largest expanse of sand. With the tide in, most of this is covered covered by water – if only moderately so – meaning a walk out to the tiki bar that marks where the depths significantly increase is actually going to be something of a wade / swim. For those not feeling so energetic, there is shade to be found under an awning set out over the ruin of an old boat further along the beach.
Like her previous build, Dya offers something of a story with this setting. Little clues are scattered about that suggest this island perhaps sits not in the present, but in the last of 20-30 years ago: the style of car parked here, the only Honda mopeds scattered around, and so on. Certainly, it would appear to be a place that is showing signs of age: paintwork on buildings, rowing boats and elsewhere is all well sun-bleached, while board walks out on the water are in a sorry state of repair – even the plumage on one of the island’s parrots is looking a little careworn!
Dya’s Scent of the Caribbean, April 2020
All of this suggests this isn’t one of the Caribbean’s more popular tourist stop-off points, but at the same time, all of the little touches waiting to be found – like a glimpse of a Bob Marley photo through an open door here, the roadside fish stall there, the fading beat of reggae music to be heard drifting through the air as one explores, clearly indicate the island is very much home to those who live on it.
Dya tells me this design will likely remain in place for at least six weeks, although she will continue to add to it / tweak it (a hurricane may apparently be on the way!), so there is plenty of time yet to visit. For now, and given the weather in my part of the physical world has gain turned cold and damp, I’m off back to Dya’s beach house with its shade, pool and – hopefully – a glass of chilled white wine as should be used to counter the Sun’s heat!
The Linden Homes at Bellisseria can be used for many things besides a house; so long as commercial activities don’t take place within one, people are limited only by their imaginations. So it is that friendly cafés, information centres, hang-outs, group centres and more have sprung up across the content – as have a number of boutique art galleries. I’ve had occasion to visit a couple of the latter in 2019, and the opening of two new exhibitions in April gave me cause to hop back once more.
Like myself, Diamond Marchant has an interest in space flight and astronomy, a fact that first drew me to her Beckridge Gallery in July 2019, when she was presenting an exhibition celebrating the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11’s landing on the Moon (see: Celebrating Apollo 11 in Second Life and Sansar). For April 2020, Diamond presents Yellowstone Boardwalk, an exhibition of her own photographs taken in Yellowstone National Park over a 10-day period in June, 2019.
Beckridge Gallery: Yellowstone Boardwalk
Yellowstone is famous for many things: being the first U.S. National Park (if not the first in the world), for its mountains and waterfalls, its geysers and hydrothermal system, and the incredible richness of its flora and fauna. As such, it is a place that allows people to create marvellous images of sweeping vistas, tumbling falls, rugged mountain ranges and towering peaks, and to film its fabulous array of wildlife.
Sitting atop a vast caldera some 72km by 45 km, sitting over a massive magma chamber thought to be 60 km by 29 km and up to 12 km in depth. This chamber powers much of the geologic activity within the park, and gives rise to a dynamic environment of heated pools, fumeroles and more, with paths through these living location by the use of board walks that both protect the landscape and the tourists visiting it.
It is from these board walks that Diamond has produced a series of images that convert the setting into wonderful fractal-like scenes that show the hidden energies that lie below ground and seen only by the wisp-like venting of gas and steam. The make for a fascination portfolio of photographs, beautifully rounded-out by two of those sweeping vista style shots that capture the enormity of the park’s open skies.
Hoot Suite Gallery: Awesome Fallen
The Hoot Suite Gallery, curated by Owl Dragonash meanwhile, offers an exhibition of Second Life art by Awesome Fallen.
Surrealistic is tone, rich in colour whether dark or light, Awesome’s work often has a dream-like feel to it, sometimes tinged with whimsy and at others by fantasy – but it is always carries a sense of depth and story. All of this is very much in evidence across the two floors of the Hoot Suite, the upper floor featuring a quartet of avatar studies that mix of fantasy and whimsy. The rooms on the lower floor can be found pieces that demonstrate the more surreal nature of Awesome’s work. Together, upper and lower floor offer a compact, engaging cross-section of her art.
Hoot Suite Gallery: Awesome Fallen
Yellowstone Boardwalk will, I believe, remain open through the spring of 2020; Awesome Fallen’s exhibition will remain open at the Hoot Suite Gallery through to May 11th, 2020.
Raging Graphix Gallery, April 2020: Sisi Biedermann
Now open at Raging Graphix Gallery, curated by RagingBellls, and continuing through until April 29th, is an exhibition by digital artist and Sisi Biedermann.
The exhibition marks both the gallery’s move to a new in-world location and an expansion of the space it provides for visiting artists, and I can honestly think of no better artist than Sisi to inaugurate the new building in its new home. As I’ve oft remarked in this pages, her work is extraordinary for its content, depth and presentation.
Raging Graphix Gallery, April 2020: Sisi Biedermann
Referred to simply as a Celebration of the Arts, the exhibit offers a rich pot pourri of Sisi’s wide-ranging work as a painter, a digital artist, a creator of the most marvellous collages, and a weaver of tales. Nature and fantasy are strong – but not exclusive – aspects to her art, while her ability to blend styles and approaches to her images is simply sublime.
All of this is much in evidence in this exhibit, located on the upper floor of the gallery (the lower being given over to Raging Bellls’ own art), which offers everything from almost “straightforward” images from Second Life (Sonata of Love), to marvellous paintings from nature such as Christmas Roses, through more abstracted works (Another Art in Copenhagen) and wonderfully surrealist pieces like Fisherboat and Time Flies, to Sisi’s always mesmerising digital collages such as Veils and the truly marvellous Oriental Dream.
Raging Graphix Gallery, April 2020: Sisi Biedermann
As is invariably the case with Sisi’s work, the 20 pieces presented in this exhibition are not so much to been looked at as they are to be savoured; each is so richly detailed it should – like a fine wine – be enjoyed in is own time, unhurriedly, so it might be properly appreciated.
Kolmannskuppe, April 2020 – click any image for full size
On April 10th, 2020, Serene Footman opened his latest limited-time region build to once again transport us to one of the most unusual places to be found on Earth.
I tend to wax lyrical over Serene’s designs, and for three good reasons: the first is they are invariably elegant in design and statement, packed with details that may be both obvious and subtle, whilst also incorporating Serene’s own recognisable individuality of touch that has marked all of his designs. The second is that they demonstrate that while Second Life sets the imagination free and can become the home of the strange, the out-of-the ordinary and the unique – so too can the physical world around us, which is every bit as richly diverse as anything to be found in-world; the difference is, Second Life offers the means for to visit such places where otherwise they might forever be out of out reach save for photographs and videos seen in publications and on-line.
The third reason is that his builds are always educational, both in terms of what can be achieved in Second Life with care and forethought in design and because as soon as I visit one of his designs, I’m reaching for the encyclopaedia and calling up my search engine to find out as much as I can about the locations he picks, so I might broaden my own knowledge.
Kolmannskuppe, April 2020
And so it is with Kolmannskuppe – The Ghost Town of Namib Desert, his build for April 2020, which brings to SL the long-deserted mining town of Kolmannskuppe or (to give its name in Afrikaans) Kolmanskop located on the inter-coastal erg of the southernmost reaches of the massive Namib desert in modern-day Namibia, but was at the time of the town’s founding, German South West Africa.
Named for a nearby kopje, or hillock, which had in turned been dubbed Kolmannskuppe “Kolman’s Head” after the wagon driver who had been forced to abandon his wagon there after a particularly violent sand storm in 1905, the town came to prominence as one of the first areas along the Namib coast to experience a diamond rush.
Three years later, a railway was being built between the territory’s major harbour town of Lüderitz on the coast and the inland town of Aus. The man in charge of the work was German-born August Stauch, who has moved to the territory in the hope of alleviating his asthma. An amateur mineralogist in his spare time, Stauch became fascinated the tales surrounding the territory’s founder, Franz Adolf Eduard Lüderitz (after whom the the harbour town was named) and his belief the region contained diamonds just waiting to be found.
Kolmannskuppe, April 2020
So firm was his belief Lüderitz had been correct, Stauch obtained a prospecting licence and told his railway workers to bring him any unusually shiny stones they might turn over whilst digging to lay the train line’s foundations, and in April 1908, one of his aides, Zacharias Lewala – who had previously worked at the Kimberley diamond mines in South Africa – did just that. Systematically searching the area Lewala had been scouting, Stauch found more of the stones and took them to Lüderitz, where his friend and mining engineer Sönke Nissen confirmed they were diamonds.
Using Stauch’s prospecting licence, the two men secured a 75-acre claim at Kolmannskuppe. At first they tried to keep the mine and their growing wealth secret, but news inevitably spread, sparking a diamond rush into the area, and Kolmannskuppe grew to become an extremely wealthy settlement, boasting all the amenities of a modern town: a rail link to Lüderitz (itself massively enriched by the flow of diamonds from Kolmannskuppe and further deposits found to the north), its own tram service, a host of civic facilities and utility services form a hospital (with the southern hemisphere’s first x-ray machine) through a theatre, ballroom and casino to its own power station and ice-making factory.
Kolmannskuppe, April 2020
The town reached its peak in the years immediately before and after the first world war. However, the discovery of a huge deposits of diamonds 270 km to the south around the mouth of the Orange River that did not require complex mining, resulted in many from Kolmannskuppe simply up and moving south, leaving their homes and possessions to the sands of the desert. These moves marked the start of 3-decade decline for Kolmannskuppe, the last inhabitants leaving the town to the shifting desert sands in 1956.
More recently, Kolmannskuppe has become a tourist attraction – if one that is corporately managed, De Beers and the Namibian government jointly funding it. This remaining buildings sit alongside a dusty road, dunes of tufted sand wrapping themselves around wooden, sun-bleached walls that are so leached of moisture they don’t so much fall down as crumble away. It’s a place that is beloved of photographers, artists and film-makers for its sense of desolation and nature’s reclamation of man’s fragile foot-hold in this harsh desert environment. As Serene notes in his own informative blog post on the setting, it is in some ways a contrived and artificial location, centred upon the hulking form of the former casino (and now the nexus for tourists) – but it is undeniably photogenic and captivating.
Kolmannskuppe as it is today. Via Wikipedia
It is in this form that Serene captures the town, and does so quite magnificently, from the high shoulders and roof of the former casino through to the crumbling skeletons of houses and the bare bones of former utilities. While some of the house styles may be more esoteric than those of the actual town, he has perfectly captured and embodies the spirit of Kolmannskuppe, right down to the touches of corporate artificiality, such as the misplaced baths.
As the same time, he has added his own touches, notably in the form of multiple places where visitors can sit and immerse themselves in the setting, watching the coming and going of others, the entire region surrounded by high dunes that mirror the Namib’s reputation for sand dunes that can reach heights of up to 300m. Rounded-out by the presence of oryx gazella, Kolmannskuppe – The Ghost Town of Namib Desert is yet another remarkable location presented by one of Second Life’s foremost region designers.
Aneli Abeyante opened the April 2020 exhibition at La Maison d’Aneli on Wednesday, April 8th, and once again she offers an intriguing and engaging selection of art and artists, with content running from physical world art through to digital media whilst enfolding both 2D and 3D art. In keeping with the gallery’s ensemble style of art shows, six individual exhibits are presented for April, the work of seven artists in total split between the lower and upper levels of the gallery.
On the lower floor, and to the south side of the central aisle are contrasting 2D art displays by Agleo Runningbear and Tralala Loordes.
La Maison d’Aneli: Agleo Runningbear
Known as April Louise Turner in the the physical world, Agleo is a woman of many colours – art, shaman, teacher, poetess, to name but four – who presents her work under her own name and the title ArtShifter. She is a gifted portrait artist and caricaturist, who here presents 20 of her pieces in both line drawing and colour, of celebrities from the worlds of art, entertainment and fashion, some of them more than once.
Most of the faces (particularly if you have a long memory or a love or the arts, entertainment and fashion) may leap out at you, as did for me, Jaques Brel, Charles Aznavour (x2), Gerard Depardieu, the charcoal (?) caricature of Catherine Deneuve, the pairing of Karl Lagerfeld images (one a slight giveaway as his name is added) and the pair of Yves Saint Laurent pictures (although I did initially wonder if his blue-toned painting might be Isaac Asimov on first sighting it).
La Maison d’Aneli: Tralala Loordes
Tralala – perhaps best known for her Tralalas Diner location designs, presents a further series of self-portraits featuring LODE headpieces in what might be described as a celebration of the warmer seasons mixed with a hint of fantasy. These are quite gorgeous pieces – although I admit to feeling that the ambient lighting for the display does not do them the justice they deserve.
Across the central aisle to the north are the digital media presentations by Etamae and the combined talents of Kalyca McCallen and Eifachfilm Vacirca (aka Proton d-oo-b) operating under the combined name of Alchemelic.
La Maison d’Aneli: Etamae
Hailing from the UK, Etamae has a gift for producing striking images from Second Life of – to use her own words – “the things she has seen and loved which have inspired her to transform them into something else – not more, nor better – simply different.” The results are always captivating, and here she offers an installation of what might be described as two parts – both of which require the use of the viewer’s Advanced Lighting Model (ALM: Preferences → Graphics, with the further advisory that your local viewer time is set to midnight). The first presents a series of animated digital images that challenge the eye in an almost hypnotic manner, the subtle motion drawing us into them and gently holding us in a trace. The second part is an equally hypnotic chamber that again involves animated elements.
Alchemelic describe themselves as “a Zurich-based music and art project with cinematographic background, mixed media, and 3D modelling [who] aspire to spark your imagination and elevate your mood with our unique blend of visual art and original music.” At La Maison d’Aneli they offer a two-part installation, The Space Between, which again particularly requires ALM to be enabled) might be described as an examination of the nature of space and relationships that has taken on something of a new meaning in recent times. Take the Anywhere Door to reach the second part of the installation.
La Maison d’Aneli: Etamae
On the upper floor of the gallery, and lying to either side of the events areas are the exhibits by FionaFei and Xirana Oximoxi.
An artist from Catalan, Xirana describes her art as reflecting her concerns and moods at different times, abstractions or “mental landscapes” that are rooted in a number of artistic mediums and genres. With Lost Souls she offers a marvellous unique series of images that have been born out of the pandemic worries of 2020, and which offer an entrancing play on the the idea of portraiture. Trapped by social isolation and visiting a rooftop, Xirana found herself drawn to the irregular nature of the walls and their coverings. Weathered and cracked, in places broken, rough conglomerate abutting smooth surface finish, lined and cracked, the surfaces suggest – with a gentle touch of post-processing – faces and characters. The result is is series of utterly captivating “portraits” of “souls” caught within plaster, stone and concrete that brings an entire new meaning to the expression if these walls could speak.
La Maison d’Aneli: Xirana Oximoxi
Facing Lost Souls, FionaFei offers us the chance to visit a wonderful ink wash garden of water lilies in bloom as they are admired by butterflies. Initially appearing to be 2D pieces, these are all more of Fiona’s thoroughly delightful, almost fragile-looking sculptures-as-paintings. Six are offered as hanging scrolls, the seventh, sitting behind a small pond of Fiona’s lilies, as a painting. A small table offers 2D representations of this main painting as a gift to all who visit.
Individual, evocative and fascinating, April at La Maison d’Aneli presents another collection of art that should not be missed.
Inara Pey: Living in a Modemworld 