Category: Reviews

The Stolen Child in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
The Itakos Project, The Stolen Child – CybeleMoon

CybeleMoon (Hana Hoobinoo) is renowned for her fabulous mixed-media art. It carries within it a richness of tone, a mixing and balance of light and shade, a depth of symbolism and – most poignantly – a wonderful framing of narrative that makes any exhibition of her work in Second Life utterly unmissable.

All of this richness, depth and framing is on display in full force at The Itakos Project, curated by Akin Alonzo, where Cybele presents The Stolen Child, a series of 15 images presented within a glade-like setting caught in the enfolding arms of ancient ruins, which has been specially built for the exhibit by Akim. Reached via the teleport door in the main foyer of the gallery, this setting is not merely a backdrop for Cybele’s art, it is part of the overall theme of the exhibition, designed through its form and lighting to increase the feeling of immersion in in the story the exhibition presents.

The Itakos Project, The Stolen Child – CybeleMoon

This story is not offered as a linear tale; rather, there is a central strand of theme running through both setting and images. This strand leads us through Cybele’s images, linking them indirectly and without necessary order (although one is suggested, somewhat by the circular placement of the pieces) as they form windows, if you will, into the underlying proposition of the exhibition; a proposition a proposition Cybele explains thus:

Fairies are not benevolent creatures at all, attracted by the strength and vitality of mankind, they kidnap children and especially newborns, or seduce (for the purpose of kidnapping) beautiful girls and boys.

She continues by noting the myth of the fairy lies routed in a times past need to rationalise the death of a child, be it at birth or with a short span of months or years thereafter: that the fairies had stolen the child away from a otherwise sad destiny. Within this weaving of fable, there was also menace: children with autism, depression, or other mental health issues were at times considered to have lost their souls as a result of eating fairy food.

The Itakos Project, The Stolen Child – CybeleMoon

Thus through Cybele’s art were are presented with a series of poignant scene sit within the framework of the dome of a night’s sky – the time when fairies might be abroad more than during the hours of daylight – and within a symbolic ring of ancient walls and arches. The latter carries with it a echo of the fairy ring of mushrooms that act as doorways to the fairy realms, or the idea of the faery castle hidden from mortal eyes by the form of a hill, and into which abducted children might be taken should they not take care.

That central strand running through the images – and the exhibition as a whole – takes the form of The Stolen Child, written in 1886 by by William Butler Yeats, who was also captivated by the entire mythology of faeries in Irish mythology. Through the words of his poem, we witness the bewitching song of the faerie folk, calling to children, tempting them away…

Come away, O human child!
To the waters and the wild
With a faery, hand in hand,
For the world’s more full of weeping than you can understand.

The Itakos Project, The Stolen Child – CybeleMoon

Cybele takes lines and words contained within the poem as titles for each of her pieces. Thus, each image forms that window I mentioned above, a glimpse into a scene, one that is often double-edged. On the one hand, it may seem innocent and rich in joy or tranquillity: young folk running through a meadow; a view across rolling hills at twilight while sheep graze; the innocence of blowing into a dandelion. On the other, the titles of the pieces hint at the darker element of fae intent: the stealing away of children, of leaving mothers bereft, to deny the young that chance to see sheep grazing at twilight or know the comforts of home and hearth, their young lives having been swept away with the promise of dances by moonlight in places forbidden by their ever-anxious parents.

To further accompany the exhibition, Cybele also provides a short story, together with additional images, that can be found on her (always enchanting) website. Also presented with the story and images is an audio recording of the marvellous Loreena McKennitt, who put the words of The Stolen Child to music. I’ll leave you with a video of the song from one of Ms. McKennitt’s live performances, and the note that this is a truly engaging and evocative exhibition; rich in narrative and atmosphere, and absolutely not to be missed.

SLurl Details

  • The Itakos Project (ATL, rated Moderate) – remember to take the teleport door in the gallery’s foyer to reach the exhibition!

Lab Gab episode 1 – a summary

Posted on by Inara Pey
Strawberry and Xiola Linden with “Gabby”the cat (name TBC) on the Lab Gab set

The first episode of Lab Gab streamed on Wednesday, August 28th, hosted by Xiola and Strawberry Linden, and drew a comfortable audience. I intentionally stayed out of the chat but saw a few familiar names there.

Running to 35 minutes, the programme was not deeply revelatory with regards to Second Life news – that will likely be for future segments of the show. However, it did offer a comfortable, if slightly frustrating start – I say frustrating because the broadcast gremlins raised their little heads to try to keep Strawberry from being heard over the stream.

The first few minutes  – up to around the 9 minute mark – of the show covered Xiola and Berry’s roles at the Lab, and folded in notes on the Lab’s various social media presences and also the Destination Guide for finding places to visit.

Bakes on Mesh (BoM) then got a plug, being the latest update from Linden Lab. Berry attempted to clear-up confusion as to what it is (simply put: a means to apply system avatar wearables to suitably prepared mesh bodies and heads in a manner somewhat akin to how they used to be used with the system avatar, albeit with the option of supporting high resolution textures than available for the system avatar).

The official blog post on the release is available here, and I attempted to cobble together a basic primer on the subject (although I suspect that in part might also veer a little too close to the technical).

In talking Bakes on Mesh, Berry underlined at that BoM will require mesh body and head creators to provide updates to their offerings that are correctly flagged to use Bakes on Mesh natively. She also noted to the experimental Omega Bakes on Mesh applier system that I also referenced in my primer article. This is available from the Omega in-world store. However, I was interested to note that it did not work for Berry  – and I actually found it less than satisfactory when testing. Overall, the results seem variable, with some having absolutely no issues with it, and others (like Berry and I) encountering problems – hence, again, why it is called “experimental”. For those who wish to try it out, step-by-step instructions, courtesy of Theresa Tennyson (who is not associated with Omega, so please don’t crowd her with questions if you do have issues!) are available here.

Additionally, Berry pointed to an alternative HUD (L$125) which apparently works just fine, although I’ve yet to try it myself.

One of the key points with Bakes on Mesh is that it should enable body / head creators to make their products less complex, simply because they do not need to include so many onion skin layers, hence why the release advantage with BoM really lies in updates to existing bodies and heads, as the various creators will hopefully make available in the coming weeks (Slink has already updated). Thus, even for those who don’t use applier systems for clothing that mush, Bakes on Mesh is important, as adoption of updated bodies / head can have the potential to help reduce general rendering load for everyone.

Around the 14:40 mark, Xiola indirectly replied to some speculation on my part (raised when writing about Lab Gab ahead of the show), when I wondered:

I also admit to being curious as to whether the show might at some point down the road – depending on its longevity – also occasionally “hop over the fence” into Sansar or even perhaps take some “behind the scenes” (desires for things like privacy allowing among staff) looks at the Lab itself. “Lab Gab” seems to be too broad a title to remain purely about Second Life (although there is a lot to explore on that subject alone), even allowing for it being intentioned as a “catchy” name for the show.

By way of “reply” (I’m not sure Xiola’s comment was driven as a result of my speculation or not) Xiola noted:

I know the name of our new show here is “Lab Gab” – we just really likes how that sounded … but currently, short-term, our plans are to definitely focus on Second Life, although obviously we work for Linden Lab and Linden Lab also has Sansar … but the focus of this show is, initially and short-term, Second Life and the Second Life Community.

After some general chit-chat around giveaways, the show turns to a mini Q&A session from around the 19:15 mark, some of which are summarised below:

  • Linden Lab is currently working on an communications / companion app for iOS
  • When are last names coming back?
    • Still being worked on, have a lot of variables involved in terms of back-end systems and complexity.
    • Again, those interested can catch the last formal update I have (including comments from Oz Linden) in the First and last names section of my coverage of Oz’s appearance at SL16B with April Linden in June 2019. This also addresses a number of questions on the topic.
  • Linden Homes:
    • There is now a weekly roll-out programme (Mondays, Wednesday, Fridays) when homes are made available through the Linden Homes web page.
    • New types and styles of Linden Homes are still in the works, but no release dates.
    • Best way to stay up-to-date is to keep an eye on the official blogs and on the Linden Homes update thread on the forums.
  • Will Lab Gab include interviews with Lab staff? – Yes.
  • Upcoming major updates:
    • Bakes on Mesh is now out, per above.
    • The Environment Enhancement project (EEP) is progressing towards release – but no definite time frame other than Soon™ as bugs are being stomped on.
    • Not directly mentioned in the show is the new Animesh enhancements work (Project Muscadine) and also back on the horizon is the restarting ARCTan (two name but two of the more user-facing projects – there is also a lot of under-the-hood work going on).
    • Details on projects like this can be found in my (generally) weekly Content Creation User Group meeting summaries and also my other SL tech summaries.

An interesting start to the series, nicely relaxed, and a segment where the voice issues didn’t spoil things too much. Some nice teasers were dropped on future shows and direction which suggest Lab Gab will be a good option for tuning into every couple of weeks. In the meantime, you can catch the entire first show below.

Frogmore: Swedish childhood memories in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
Frogmore, August 2019 – click any image for full-size

Update, November 2019: Frogmore has relocated to a full region. The SLurls in this piece have therefore been updated to point to that location. A review of the new region location is available here: Frogmore: more Swedish memories in Second Life.

Frogmore – or to give it its full name, Frogmore Gamla Stan (“Frogmore Old Town”), is a homestead region designed by Terry Fotherington (of {PAPPADO} – read more here and Kekeland  – read more here – fame) on behalf of region holder Bengta. The region’s design serves a very specific purpose, as Bengta explains:

Frogmore Gamla Stan is a memory of life as a child in Öregrund, Sweden. The air is filled with the scent of the sea, old fishing boats, and smoked herring. A simple life filled with love and laughter.

Frogmore, August 2019

A quick check on Öregrund reveals it to be a small town (population 1,500-ish in 2010), on the Baltic coast of Sweden’s Uppsala County. It’s apparently a place that was largely ignored by Sweden’s 19th century industrialisation; other than bar iron passing through the town’s harbour en route to places like England, the town itself largely remained centred on fishing, although in the late 19th century it did became popular as a spa resort.

It is that history as a fishing town, as Bengta notes, that Frogmore draws a part of its inspiration, together with the rugged beauty of the Scandinavian coast, to form a wonderful little fishing hamlet clinging to a rugged coastal region / group of islands. Given that it is only inspired by childhood memories as visualised through the eyes of another, direct parallels between Frogmore’s look and Öregrund perhaps shouldn’t be made.

Frogmore, August 2019

Instead, it is better to simply wander along the single, cinder-topped road, passing between brightly-painted wooden places of business and cabins (none of which are furnished within, to allow the focus to be on the landscaping and overall setting, to where steps climb upwards and more inland. The waterfront cabins and buildings are literally that: right on, and sometimes over, the water, with steps and moorings for rowing boats, nets drying as they hang from walls, and sofas and benches set on raised porches.

More houses and places of business can be found on the stepped shoulders of rock rising on the landward side of the road, and with a little care and scrambling, you can make your way to where a primitive log bridge spans a narrow watery gorge separating the two largest islands. This is worth taking, as it leads the way past a superb little rocky stream that tumbles down from one pool to another which, presumably has an opening somewhere under the cold-looking waters to allow the flow to continue on its way. Created using one of Alex Bader’s new Animated River Building Packs (see here and here), it really shows what can be achieved with what is  – to me – the best mesh river system available in SL.

Frogmore, August 2019

Exploring the region can be both fun and a little frustrating. Fun, as there are little cinder trails to be found here and there, offering the way between rocks to cabins or down to little beaches and coves. Frustrating, because although there are a couple of paddle boat rezzers to be found on the different islands, the lie of the land means you can’t actually use them to get from the little town to the other islands or vice-versa, leaving flying the only alternative.

The other peculiarity I had with a visit was that on our first (exploratory) time in Frogmore, the region was backed by off-sim mountains. On my return for photos, these steadfastly refused to render (and I tried 3 different viewers and various tricks to try to force them to render). Hence why some of the shoots accompanying this article may be different to those of Frogmore you may have seen elsewhere. Chatting to a couple of other people on the region, I learned they were having similar issues between visits – sometimes the mountains would render, sometimes not.

Frogmore, August 2019

But, mountains or no mountains, there is no doubting Frogmore’s beauty or its uniqueness among public regions, not just because of its appearance, but because of its founding inspiration and the “third-party”, so to speak, interpretation of that inspiration by the designer.

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An Autumn’s Cherishville in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
Cherishville, August 2019 – click any image for full size

Shawn Shakespeare suggested we make a further return visit to Lam Erin’s Cherishville over the weekend, noting it had been redesigned in readiness for autumn’s arrival in the northern hemisphere. So we hopped on the Second Life express and alighted at St. Bronxton Railway Station, a quaint little end-of-the-line station that is one of Cherishville’s many new features to capture the eye and the lens.

The region is now centred on a channel that cuts it neatly in two from east to north-west. With the stone-built banks topped by paved footpaths and spanned by a single bridge, the channel is bordered on either side by an assortment of buildings; so much so, that despite facing open water at either end, it has the look and feel of being the mouth of a small but navigable river, and the buildings on either side are the result of a estuary township, the people drawn here for the open seas and the opportunities for fishing and coastal commerce.

Cherishville, August 2019

This little township is distinctly of two halves. The west bank of the river, which includes the landing point and the aforementioned railway station (set back from the river’s edge) has – to me at least – a very English feel to it. With the buildings crowding the waterfront, I was immediately put in mind of a small river estuary in Cornwall or Devon; the stone-built houses and shops speaking of a place that had in the past grown up as a result of commerce along the coast. In fact, such is the look to that side of the river, I wouldn’t have been surprised if during our visits, Aram Khachaturian’s Adagio from Spartacus welled up in the background as the Charlotte Rhodes hove into view, James Onedin at the helm (Yes, a (possibly obscure) British TV series reference thrown in as well!).

Across the stone bridge, the east side of the river has a more American look and feel to it: posters advertise Connecticut and New England lobster, Martha’s Vineyard gets a mention and the fuel prices are in USD. Even the wooden buildings have the look and feel of rural Americana.

Cherishville, August 2019

But no matter what influences have been drawn into the design, both sides of the river have one thing in common – something also common to both sides of the Atlantic in the autumn: rain. To say this is coming down in buckets would be an understatement; for those so inclined, brollies, coats and wellies are the order of the day for a visit! Although truth be told, the rain (mesh elements places along the line of the river) add considerable atmosphere to the setting. It pounds the footpaths and board walks, given both a sheen that reflects lights (if you have ALM enabled!), while puddles set golden, red, orange and yellow leaves drifting under the influence of a gentle, rainy breeze.

Beyond the river and town, the land undulates in low, wooded hills or spread in flower-rich ground before dropping away to the water once more. A lighthouse raises a finger into the sky to the north-east, adding to the feel of this side of the river being  more American in setting, whilst on the west side, the land is cut in part by the tracks curving out from Bronxton Railway Station, whilst also easing its way to a shingle ribbon of coast looking south and out towards two smaller islands, each topped  by  a cabin.

Cherishville, August 2019

These cabins appear to be open to the public – at the time of our visit, the larger was unfurnished as well. However, as there are no obvious means to reach either of them save by swimming / flying, we didn’t venture any closer than the beach to find out, as we didn’t want to invade any privacy should either be for private use.

Not that any visit really is necessary: there is more than enough to see and photograph around the river front town and immediately behind its rows of buildings without every need to cross the water to the smaller islands. There are also plenty of spots scattered around when sitting and passing the time can be enjoyed – particularly along that southern ribbon of beach.

Cherishville, August 2019

There are admittedly one or two rough elements in the design. Some of these are somewhat down to the nature of the mesh beast – it’s possible in places to find yourself walking in raindrop splashes hovering at waist level. Others may well be because Lam is still tweaking the design – on my return run for photographs, he was shuffling buildings, sorting out hovering trees and carrying out some general furnishing.  Certainly, none of the is enough to completely spoil the setting or the autumnal feeling it imbues whilst wandering and exploring.

All told, another classic design from Lam, very different from its summer iteration (read here for more), but well in keeping with the upcoming seasonal change in the northern hemisphere (climate change allowing!), and very much worth the time to visit – as always, and photos welcome at the region’s Flickr group.

Cherishville, August 2019

SLurl Details

Portraits and narratives in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
The Itakos Project: Soul Portrait Collection Summer Black & White Edition – Saveria Rossini

The Itakos Project, operated and curated by Akim Alonzo, has undergone an expansion since my last visit (see: Soul Portraits in Second Life), with a new halls  – the Blue Pavilion – and an extension to the Black Pavilion, as well as a new platform gallery that will officially be opening a new exhibition on August 30th.

The Blue Pavilion sees a follow-on to Soul Portraits linked to above, with Soul Portrait Collection: Summer Black & White Edition. As with the first edition this features images from selected photographers who have submitted their work to the Itakos Project Flickr group. However, as the title implies, this selection features black-and-white images, and which had been submitted by Angelina Corral, Aver Osk, Aimee Cristole, Carolyn Diesel, Gabi Ka, Edie Horngold, Latia Lavecchia, -K- Lynagh, Ktsyakumi Izabela Navarathna, Saveria  Rossini and Sunset Theas.

The Itakos Project: Soul Portrait Collection Summer Black & White Edition – Sunset Theas

Further, and in difference to the first edition, the images here are not restricted to head-and-shoulder images; they instead offer broader perspectives – full body shots, those with more of a background in view, and so on.

This, to me, adds a further depth to this black & white edition; the range of images helps to keep things fresh as one moves through the hall, while the broader perspectives evident in some of the images offer a broader canvas on which the imagine can write its own story to accompany each image. Which is not to say those that do offer more direct facial studies are any the less fascinating; quite the reverse in fact. All of the pieces offered here are remarkable for their depth and ability to stir the imagination into framing a story around them.

The extended Black Pavilion offers the second of two exhibitions by Akim that are currently on display at the gallery (the other being The Matrix, which I reviewed here). And I confess from the start that Akim is fast becoming one of my favourite artists in Second Life.

The Itakos Project: Portraits And Some Other Circumstances – Akim Alonzo

In Portraits and some Other Circumstances he presents a series of colour and black and white female avatar studies. Originally displayed in June 2019, the collection has been expanded by Akim, and includes direct portrait studies and a series of “other circumstances”, which present more sensual studies (that feature nudity, and so should be considered NSFW).

These are pieces that again offer scenes suggestive of wider stories. In this, some offer direct hooks to a possible narrative – such as The Model was Impressed by the Old Camera, which places a faceless, naked subject alongside a camera and adds a very subtle twist of double entendre via the title. Others are more subtle, such as Imagine (Looking away), with its suggestion of the things around us we might so easily miss – or the suggestion of things we are never intended to see, but are nevertheless with us – such as angels who watch over us. Throughout all of these pieces there is a subtle use of pose, eye positioning, model placement soft focus, and so on, that gently draw us into each image, asking us not so much to view it, but explore it and consider what might lie beyond each frame.

The Itakos Project: Portraits And Some Other Circumstances – Akim Alonzo

Within the White Pavilion, visitors can find The Edgy World of M, featuring a collection by Maloe Vansant.

In this collection Maloe offers a series of pieces – most of them, I believe, self-studies – designed to tell us about “an unusual and hidden side of her imaginary world.” Most of them are a mix of dark juxtaposed with vivid, rich colour in what is both a powerful contrast and naturally symbiotic balance.

The Itakos Project: The Edgy World of M – Maloe Vansant

This contrast / symbiosis seems to also reflect an underlying narrative with these pictures – each of which might be considered a passage lifted from a story – the colour perhaps representing the “normality” of a life as it is presented to others – a mask if you will; and the black representing what lies hidden behind those same masks of normality: the hidden desires and thoughts – some of which may themselves be dark in nature (the the references to death and the horrors of removing masks).

These various elements come together quite dramatically, drawing us into that edgy world of M, a place that is rich in tone, theme, and image, and which is also at its heart, both personal (on at least two levels – Maloe’s and the observer’s) and intensely primal.

The Itakos Project: The Edgy World of M – Maloe Vansant

Also on display at the time of writing is Simply Dreaming, a further remarkable collection of art by Awesome Fallen, and which I wrote about in April 2019.

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Kimeu’s Hot Summer in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
Diotima Art Gallery – Kimeu Korg

Currently on display at Diotima Art Gallery curated by Redi (Red Bikcin), is Hot Summer, an exhibition of art by Kimeu Korg. As the title suggests, it features images – fifteen in total – depicting summertime scenes; or which are for the most part summertime scenes!

I admit to being something of a fan of Kimeu’s art, as he has a wonderful sense of whimsy and also an eye for creating thought-provoking images that can draw upon the abstract and / or the absurd or comical to pull the observer into them. Some of this talent is on display within the pieces presented here, although most are perhaps more “traditional” in nature – albeit with various motifs that also make Kimeu’s work so attractive.

Diotima Art Gallery – Kimeu Korg

The more comical can be seen in the likes of (13), located on the the right of the entry hall of the gallery. It features Kimeu standing on a beach in white, singing lustfully, a microphone in one hand and a rubber chicken held outstretched in the other, it’s beak agape as if singing in accompaniment.  Set against a calm sea and sandy foreground – two of the aforementioned motifs that can be found as a theme to many of the pieces here – it cannot fail to raise a smile.

Whimsy is evident front-and centre in some of these pieces – notably in the likes of (8), found in the far corner (relative to the entrance) of the L-shaped gallery, but also far more gently, such as with (4), which at a first casual glance might appear to be an ordinary image of a man standing on that sandy shoreline and looking out over sunny waters to where Orca-like fins rise above the waves, a dog and puppy – until you take a second look, and realise the “dog” and “puppy” are in fact a seal and her pup.

Diotima Art Gallery – Kimeu Korg

Finished as paintings – both oil and watercolour in looks – and also as coloured drawings, Kimeu’s pictures always have a life of their own that is unique within Second Life, something that also increases the appeal of seeing them exhibited, and this collection is no exception. It will remain open through to the end of Thursday, September 5th, and a visit is strongly recommended.

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