I don’t know how many souls I have. I’ve changed at every moment. I always feel like a stranger. I’ve never seen or found myself. From being so much, I have only soul.
This is the opening stanza of Fernando Pessoa’s lament about our relationship with self, I don’t know how many souls Ihave, the first two lines of which serve as an introduction to Theda Tammas’ Dissected Soul, now on display at Split Screen, curated by Dividni Shostakovich.
The poem examines the idea that throughout our lives, we never really know precisely who we are. Are we ever really just one person? Or are we an amalgam of experience and reaction – reaction to what we’re feeling, the environment around us, the situation we are in – and the way in which those around us perceive us at that point in time? And how are we affected by the masks we willingly wear according the circumstance – the parent, the lover, the work colleague, the confidante, et al? How do they affect our perception of who we might be – or who we think we are? Is it possible that throughout our lives, the only one who knows the mystery of who we are is God?
Against this backdrop, Theda presents an intriguing series of sculptures reflecting this idea of multiple selves. They are fractured, dissected, even presenting one face whilst holding aloft another. Through them wind red lines – heart lines perhaps, a reflection of the time we are given in life. Curling around these lines are strings of barbed wire; a metaphor, possibly, for the blades and sharpness of life which can so easily cause us to change our perception of self and step further away from really knowing ourselves. Central to all of this is a shattered heart, seat of the soul, further echoing the idea of dissected self, broken by our confusion over who we really are.
Given that Second Life is a place which allows us to wear whatever mask we choose and express ourselves in so many different ways, the lament perhaps has special significance; just how many of those masks we use within Second Life, the identities we adopt, further distance us from our core self – or soul?
Dissected Soul, is a fascinating, thought-provoking piece, both questioning who we are and presenting a new facet on the discussion of Second Life and identity.
After a two-year absence, Loki Eliot’s The Well has returned to Second Life for the Haunted Season. This is the fourth instalment of hat had been intended to be a 3-part series, as Loki explains, ” I thought that, with The Well Infirmos, that was it with regards to The Well. But here we are again with a 4th and this time (I promise) final chapter!”
The WellThe Well first appeared in 2012, offering a horror themed mystery adventure centred on attempts to rescue a little boy who had fallen down an old well and into the labyrinth of tunnels and caverns which lay beneath it. In 2013, he followed this with The Well:Sollicitus (see here for more). There then followed a two-year break before the aforementioned The Well Infirmos appeared in 2015 (see here for more).
With each iteration, Loki has expanded The Well to incorporate various capabilities which were, at the time, either new to Second life (such as materials and Experience Keys), or new to Loki. The latest instalment continues this tradition, Loki having used photogrammetry to help him develop the build:
I went out into real woods and took photo surveys of muddy pathways. These were then used to create 3D models of the woods which I then used in The Wells woodland scenes in the hope of adding realism to the spooky atmosphere.
Having spent well over an hour within the latest instalment in the series, I can say the Loki’s efforts in modelling this way were well worth it. His woodlands look and feel “real”, and are about as confusing as walking at night through a dense woodland can be.
So, what is The Well: Ultimum all about? To start with, it is something of a prequel to the other instalments, the story focusing on a young boy (the one from the original 2012 instalment?). He perhaps doesn’t live in the happiest of households, as we learn through his diary. It’s a place where strange activities take place, and even the youngster himself seems to be drawn to the dark things that may be creeping through the woods – and to the mysterious well of the title, which he sees as a maw waiting to devour people, spurring him to wonder what it might be like to be eaten alive…
Those who have played previous instalments of The Well will recognise the basic format: read the information regarding viewer settings, join the game experience (if you’ve previously played The Well Infirmos and have not revoked permissions, you’ll already have the Experience permissions enabled), pay a fee (L$200) to gain the game HUD (which will attach to the bottom of your screen and needs to remain attached through your visit), then read the instructions which are initially displayed on your screen once the HUD is attached.
I don’t want to give too much away as to what you’ll find / encounter along the way. Suffice it to say, the game is interactive – there are items scattered around the various locations you must stand near – or avoid.
Those you must stand near are located in the first two locations in the game – the boy’s bedroom and the woodlands outside his home. They are signified by rising orange particles, and when close to them, an orange-on-black information icon is display on the game HUD – clicking it will display instructions or a page from the boy’s diary. Returning to any of these information points will display the Information icon as yellow-on-black, indicating you have previously read it.
There is one piece of information you must obtain before you can leave the boy’s bedroom, while the woodlands have multiple information points scattered through it, although the goal is to reach the titular well. It’s worth spending a little time in the woods to make sure find most or all of the information points. There are also additional interactive points in both the bedroom and woods, which give insight into the boy’s interests.
The well itself drops you into a labyrinth of tunnels. It is here that the SANITY bar in the HUD comes into play, as you are warned on arrival Do Not Touch The Shadows. These are blood-red apparitions which will appear and attempt to touch you (so don’t stand still for too long!). If they do, you’ll find your sanity slipping away. There are other things in the tunnels which can drain your sanity – but oddly, they can also give rewards!
As with the woods, the aim is to find your way through the tunnels to where another portal lies. This leads you on to – well, I’ll let you find that out on your own.
The Well: Ultimum – for those from England, there are some Easter eggs to be found: poetry by Robert Duncan and an appearance by Michael Parkinson (above). “He’s a throw back to when I was a kid watching Ghost Watch,” Loki said. “It was one of the first ever reality TV shows. The fact Parkinson was presenting it convinced many it was all true.”
The Well: Ultimum is as enjoyable as the previous instalments of The Well, and well worth the L$200 HUD price to play – although I’d recommend giving yourself at least an hour to do so, particularly as this really is the last instalment in the series.
“Next year will be even more terrifying with Animesh!” Loki informed me as we chatted about the adventure. “But I think I’ve done enough with wells. It will be something new!”
“We are chased by evil throughout our lives.” Federico Sosa (TheBDKX) states in introducing Dementophilia, his new exhibition at The Vordun Museum and Gallery. “Devils we try to hide, and slowly eat us up from inside, draining our strength. The worst of all evils. Ourselves.”
Dementophilia is described as “an abnormal, obsessive attraction towards insanity, and it is the perfect title for this exhibition. Located in the rear hall of The Vordun, it features eight paintings and eight sculptures, together with a large central mixed 2D and 3D element – the Vortex. Together they personify the darker imaginings from the depths of the mind
The eight images and eight statues are paired, the statues physical manifestations of the paintings, brought forth by the vortex bursting forth from the rear wall of the hall. Each painting / statue represents a creature – or is that an elemental aspect, a beast if you will, of our psyche? In addition, each painting is partnered with a description of the demon it represents: Enktrik, Zatrunnya, Beltaka, Fenniaq; Nelikaw, Trezykoy, Melkyze, Yiennak; each description reads as the writings of an unsettled mind – and what mind wouldn’t be unsettled seeing creatures such as these rising from the subconscious.
Thus, entering the hall is akin to entering those thoughts beneath our reasoned consciousness; a place where our personal devils reside; parts of our being alien and terrible – yet playing a vital role in forming our personality, again as Federico notes: “Locked inside, they can heal our wounds. Out in the open they reign. Beasts from within. Beasts of love and Pain. Beasts that are on the loose, fighting against the external consciousness.”
Within this exhibition, these beasts have been named, their nature understood, suggesting their keeper is long familiar with them. Their presence speaks to that battle with an “external” consciousness, a mind acutely aware of their existence. A mind willing to make them manifest – or, perhaps, a mind succumbing to their dominance. It is down to us to decide which.
Dementophilia is intriguing in both its concept and interpretation. As manifestations of darker thoughts and desires, they capture the unreality of the subconscious. As pieces of art, they offer an abstract hint of demons from the realms of Hieronymous Bosch.
I did find myself wondering how much deeper the impact of the exhibit might be if presented in a more tailored environment / setting and with an appropriate Windlight, but nevertheless, it still makes for a thought-provoking visit.
DixMix Gallery, curated by Dixmix Source, has another triple exhibition, this one featuring the work of Purple Leonis ONeill (Nel4481), Juris Bergmanis (JurisJo) and Imani Nayar. All three are very different in terms of their tone and style, making exhibition an interesting visit.
Purple’s work is located in the Grey hall of the gallery, just inside the main entrance. she presents thirteen images spilt between the gallery’s two levels. – two in a very large format, and all in rich, vibrant colours. Entitled Fantasme, there is a strong avian / fantasy theme running through the series, offering a unique set of avatar studies which are – in a word – entrancing.
Within the Black hall, Imani Nayar also presents thirteen black and white images under the collective title Exposed. All are avatar studies, and as the title of the exhibit might suggest, some of them should be considered NSFW.
Above the Black hall is the White gallery space, where Juris Bergmanis is displaying eleven quite stunning landscape images captured from around Second Life; and when I say stunning, I mean just that. They all share a common theme of sky and colour, suggesting they are intended to celebrate autumn.
It’s a shame that, again, no biographical information is provided on the artists for those unfamiliar with them, as I’ve mentioned before. However, it is fair to say that such is the diversity of the three styles on display here, the lack of background information doesn’t detract from appreciating the pieces which are offered within each of the three exhibits.
Serene Footman, the man behind Furillen, (see here, here and here for more) and La Digue du Braek (see here) opened a further region in August 2017. Once again it is an atmospheric setting based on a location in the physical world.
Khodovarikha, a Homestead region, is modelled after the spit of land going by the same name which projects eastwards into the Pechora Sea off the coast of north-west Russia. As you might expect from this description, it is a lonely and desolate place – and such places hold an appeal with Serene. In 2015, the area was the focus of a Russian Television documentary, Arctic Limbo, and this appears to have served as Serene’s inspiration in designing the region.
Serene’s vision of Khodovarikha captures the desolate isolation of the area perfectly – and provides a magnificent reproduction of its most notable landmark: the great wooden lighthouse. This ceased operation in 1996, but played an important role in guiding the convoys bringing supplies and munitions to Russia during World War Two. Within Serene’s setting, the lighthouse is both operational and truly dominates the landscape, but otherwise closely resembles the original right down to a hole in the tower’s base.
The region itself is split into two, with a slender finger running west-to-east to the north, a narrow channel of water separating it from the larger land mass to the south, where the lighthouse resides. The landing point is towards the western end of the northern finger of land, and the easiest route around the island is clockwise, following the rough wooden board walk pointing east from the landing point. This leads visitors over sand and past ageing buildings to where a large wooden warehouse-like structure topped by the dome of a Doppler radar system faces the lighthouse across the neck of water, an old wooden bridge linking the two.
The loneliness of the island is encapsulate in the spread of the building and their generally dilapidated state. The detritus of human living – oil barrels scattered across the sand, sanding in untidy groups or part-buried, sacks of rubbish left to freeze outdoors, and the spoils of collapsed walls and bonfires – all add to the sense of isolation. This is not a place where appearance and neatness matter.
There is also a wealth of detail to be found here that further adds to the remoteness of the setting, particularly inside several of the buildings, where care has been taken to reflect the lonely lifestyle of Khodovarikha’s one full-time inhabitant, Slava, and the work involved in keeping things running – if that’s the right term. The air of untidiness around some of these work spaces perhaps offers a subtle suggestion of Slava’s one-time assistant, Ustin, moving listlessly around the scattered buildings, carrying out assigned tasks during his year-long stay, missing his family and home.
There is a gentle beauty always present in Serene’s builds, and this is certainly the case here. The overcast sky fading to a distant horizon haze, softens the setting and adds to the mystery. Looking out towards that distant horizon, it’s not too difficult to imagine the research vessel Mikhail Somov looming out of the mists on its annual visit to deliver supplies to Slava. Or, for the more imaginative mind, to see the faint, distant shadows of the wartime convoys slipping past in the distance, ghostly shadows within the grey-blue haze.
Khodovarikha is a magnificent build, reflecting its physical world namesake almost perfectly. It is hauntingly beautiful rendering of desolation and loneliness, richly echoing the RT documentary. It is a perfect destination for those who – like Slava – wish to escape the world (at least for a while). And for those who do, there are plenty of opportunities not just for exploration, but for sitting and pondering or talking, indoors and out – some of which are quite imaginatively placed for the keen-eyed.
This is a place most definitely deserving of a visit, and you can find out more on the background of the build and on Khodovarikha in general by reading Serene’s own blog post on his inspiration in designing the region, which delves into things like the meaning behind the big building with its striped radar dome and the inclusion of a half-finished Rawin Dome on the south side of the island, all of which adds further depth and context to the build.
“The exhibit is in celebratory recognition of the 9-year anniversary of Play as Being (PaB) in SL, and as such, is part of a year-long series of solo exhibits by PaB Guardians.” So reads – in part – the introduction to Elemental, a set of photo drawings by San (Santoshima) on display at the Art of Being gallery through until the end of October, and to which I recently received a personal invitation to visit from the artist.
A total of 10 image boards are presented within the gallery space – six on the circular outer wall, four on the square central walls. Each panel contains multiple images, which can be viewed in turn by clicking on the panel (for the four images ranged on the sides of the central walls, click the left or right edges).
Thematically, the panels are similar in the images they present; the six outer panels focus on images of birds in flight and a figure with an umbrella. The colour wash in all of them suggest a breezy, perhaps rainy environment the birds and figure and flying / walking (drifting?) through each; thus we get – in part – the title for the exhibit: Elemental. The time of day which appears to suggest different times of day as well, perhaps adding to the title.
The inner four all share the same set of images showing a garden sitting with plants, rocks and trees, again taken at different times of the day. The natural setting for each image, combined with the watercolour-like tones, again suggests the images are Elemental in approach. As you click on the panels to page through the images, it is possible to By clicking on them to page through the images each holds, it is possible to form a story for each.
It’s important to note this is not just a visual exhibition. San has included a special sound scape to accompany the images, so it’s important to have local sounds enabled when visiting in order to enjoy the exhibition to the fullest. “[The] live sound recordings were made in a southern Gulf Island, British Columbia,” San explains. “Outside my cabin door; a raven pair conversing, raven parents with three fledglings, various small birds, and Pacific tree frogs.”
Also, as noted in the introduction to the exhibition, Elemental forms part of a celebration of Play as Being, an in-world group which describes itself as, “exploring reality by using our own life as a laboratory. A thought experiment to see what is left if we put down what we have, to see who we are.” More information on the group, together with a schedule of their events, can be found on their wiki page.
