Category: Reviews

Kultivate Magazine celebrates two years in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey

 

Kultivate Magazine Summer Weekend

Kultivate Magazine, the award-winning arts magazine and brand,turn two in June, and to celebrate, there’s a special in-world Summer Weekend event taking place on the Brand’s home region, Water Haven, from Friday, June 9th through until Sunday, June 11th. It kicks-off a series of events taking place throughout the rest of the month to mark the anniversary.

“It’s hard to believe that Kultivate Magazine is closing out another amazing year,” brand founder and CEO, John Brianna said. “Our events, exhibitions, readership, content, and social media content have grown amazingly throughout the past two years.”

Since its inception, the brand has grown to encompass the magazine, the Windlight Art Gallery, the Bailywick Gallery, the Kultivate Select Gallery,  The Edge fashion and Art fusion and Gallery, and both Ristorante Ivanna, & The Tribute and Crown Pub. In addition, Kultivate has provided fund-raising support for Team Diabetes of SL, through events and the Red Gallery art exhibitions; Rock Your Rack (supporting the National Breast Cancer Foundation – NBCF), and Feed a Smile / Live and Learn Kenya.

Kultivate Magazine Summer Weekend

The Summer Weekend

Kicking-off at 08:00 SLT on Friday, June 9th, the Summer Weekend will feature live music, DJ parties, shopping, a special art exhibition, storytelling from the Seanchai Library, tribute bands, a special hunt and more! This weekend will also see the début of Kultivate Magazine’s latest artistic component, The E.V.A Project, launch with a very special artistic fashion theatre production named !Show! – of which more below.

The full schedule for the weekend, at the time of writing) is as follows (all times SLT):

Friday, June 9th, 2017:

  • 08:00 –  Art Exhibition & Shopping Area Opens
  • 16:00 – Melenda Mikael sings live
  • 17:00 – DJ Whymsee
  • 18:00 – SarahMarie Philly sings live

Saturday June 10th, 2017:

  • 13:00 – The E.V.A. Project presents !Show!
  • 15:00 – Dimivan Ludwig sing live
  • 16:00 – Winston Ackland sings live

Sunday, June 11th, 2017:

  • 12:00 noon – Art Goes Bollywood With DJ Gabriele Riel
  • 15:00 – Seanchai Library
  • 23:59 – Kultivate Anniversary Summer 17 Art Exhibition & Shopping Area Closes
Kultivate Magazine Summer Weekend

The E.V.A Project !Show!

The E.V.A. ((Exceptional, Vibrant, and Artistic) is a fusion of fashion, art, music, and theatre. The goal is to showcase how the art forms – music, art and theatre – combine with fashion to create unique experiences. It is the latest addition to the Kultivate Magazine suite of brands.

The E.V.A. Project will début at the Kulivate Summer Weekend with a presentation of !Show! featuring Elysium Cabaret choreography and 23 of Second Life’s top models. The show will take place on Saturday, June 10th, 2017, at 13:00 SLT, and is made possible through the involvement of the following sponsors and designers:  Rapture, Ghee, Blacklace, Aleutia, Pink Ice, Faster Pussycat, Vero Modero, Azul, Dirty Princess, Utopia, Chiffon, Mahlberg Tailors, Boudoir, Lamu Fashion, LOVE, Spot on Stage Props, Irrisistble, Audadacious, and Pixel Box.

As well as the Summer Weekend, other dates to note in Kultivate’s celebratory month are:

  • Saturday, June 24, 2017, 13:00 – Kultivate Magazine & Model’s Workshop “Fashion in Art” Styling Challenge
  • Sunday, June 25th – publication of the special Sensuality edition issue, from the Kultivate  Spring Sensuality show
  • Saturday, July 1st – Kultivate Anniversary Summer 17 special edition issue will be published.

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Water Haven is rated Moderate.

Red balloons in the wood

Posted on by Inara Pey
DiXmiX Gallery: Red Balloons In The Wood

Now open at DiXmiX Gallery, is Red Balloons in the Wood, an exhibition of work by the gallery’s owner, Dixmix Source. The byline for the exhibition reads simply, when unusual avatars are wandering in the forest, and it comprises seventeen woodland scenes, each of which, in keeping with the title and the byline, feature both red balloons and an avatar.

This is a hauntingly beautiful collection, featuring some marvellous pieces, each with a story to tell – or at least suggested; quite what it might be is down to the person seeing these pictures, which range from what might be considered a “simple” capture of a horse (Horse Walk) through the pieces of fantasy (So Trees Have Gender; Cute Elf Was There Too) to some with a darker edge, despite the title (Every Way Is A Good Way, When it’s the right Time), to others with a more erotic edge.

DiXmiX Gallery: Red Balloons In The Wood

Adding to the atmosphere of the exhibit is the use of denuded saplings and trees, some with the signature red balloon tied to them. These add to the feeling of being in a woodland setting, such that with camming, some of the images can be seen through the bare branches, extending the sense of presence within the pictures. At the same time, the soft tones used within the pictures contrast powerfully with the red balloons. The latter serve to draw the eyes to them after initially taking in the broad essence of a picture, before the eyes are drawn back to the canvas as a whole, and the story it contains.

All told, this is a masterpiece collection of the artist’s talent, one well worth visiting; and while there, do be sure to enjoy the exhibitions by Lam Erin and Tintin Tuxing, both of which are due to be coming to the end of their run (and you can also read about them here).

DiXmiX Gallery: Red Balloons In The Woods

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A sixth sense in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey

Le Sixième Sens, Le Sixième Sens; Inara Pey, June 2017, on Flickr Le Sixième Sens – click any image for full size

We first visited Le Sixième Sens (“the sixth sense”) in January of 2017, at a time when the region was popping up in blogs and photo streams. As I didn’t get to write about it then, I recently found myself hopping back to see what had changed and to catch-up on my own write-up for the region.

Designed by Natacha Haroldsen, the region presents itself as a little corner of Tuscany, where “a plaza surrounded by old shops that give you a rustic feeling,” sits beneath a pale azure sky, and a vineyard climbs the slope of a hill, beckoning those who stand at the archway of the plaza to explore the land before them.

Le Sixième Sens, Le Sixième Sens; Inara Pey, June 2017, on Flickr Le Sixième Sens

Six months may have passed since Caitlyn and I first followed the track down from the boutique shops gathered around the landing point and out over the arched back of a stone bridge, but little has changed in that time. Le Sixième Sens retains a wonderfully relaxed feel, offering the kind of setting you hope to find whilst travelling on vacation; a place that calls on you to stop, explore, run your fingers lightly over the delicate curl of flower petals and watch the water slip slowly under bridge and bough.

From the little piazza, visitors can wander across this gentle, rocky landscape, passing over the waters which divide it into three islands, and meander among the sunflowers, poppies and trees, going wherever their feet my take them.

Le Sixième Sens, Le Sixième Sens; Inara Pey, June 2017, on Flickr Le Sixième Sens

There are, of course, the vines mentioned above, paraded in neat rows up the slope of a hill to where a villa-style farmhouse sits. The lower slopes of this hill are covered in tall grass, on which horses graze and sheep roam and chickens cluck their way around another, smaller farmhouse. On this northern headland, extending out from the vineyard’s hill, sit old ruins which both face the piazza of shops across the water to one side and shelter moored rowing boats on the other, before the land ends in the broken finger of a lighthouse.

South and east, separated from the other island by bay and channel, sits a tall rocky plateau. A path rising from the trees below it forms a switch-backs up one of the otherwise sheer cliffs to where a small studio, gracefully called The Writer’s Workshop, sits. It commands a view out over the water, and offers the perfect vantage point for a painter. Linked to the rest of the land by a single bridge and with its screen of trees guarding the path from that bridge, the plateau gives a sense of tranquil separation from the rest of the region without ever feeling apart from it.

Le Sixième Sens, Le Sixième Sens; Inara Pey, June 2017, on Flickr Le Sixième Sens

Throughout this landscape, filled with the sounds of birds singing, can be found numerous places to sit and relax, or share a cuddle or a dance. A picnic blanket awaits under the shade of bushes in one direction, a chess set and sofa can be found among the farm’s outbuildings, the ruins hide a swing chair, while the rowing boats offer their own places to sit and contemplate the world – or one another. And that’s just the start; much more awaits those who take the time to explore.

Wherever you roam in Le Sixième Sens, there is something to be found and enjoyed, whether you are seeking a place to relax or a location to photograph (join the region’s group and you’ll get rezzing rights as well). The default windlight setting presents the region under what might be one of the cooler days of late summer or autumn – the hay bales in particular adding to this autumnal suggestion; but this is a place which invites tweaking and playing with windlights, and I couldn’t resist taking some photos suggestive of warmer summer days.

Le Sixième Sens, Le Sixième Sens; Inara Pey, June 2017, on Flickr Le Sixième Sens

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Dathúil: Her and Him – Hillany Scofield

Posted on by Inara Pey
Moon Edenbaum, Her and Him – Dathúil Gallery

Opening on Monday, June 5th at Dathúil Gallery, curated and operated by Max Butoh and Lυcy (LucyDiam0nd), is Her and Him, the second in a two-part exhibition, featuring images by Hillany Scofield. The first part of this series, entitled Me_You, by Moon Edenbaum, which you can read about here.

The focus of the two exhibitions is the relationship between a man and woman, whose story arc runs from initial meeting through getting to know one another and intimacy, to drifting apart, and following on from Moon Edenbaum’s take on the man’s perspective on the relationship, June presents Hillany’s take on the woman’s view of things. “On a day like any other she walks into that little café on the corner. She knows it`s never crowded at this time of day. when she grabs a coffee and her favourite lemon pie on her way home,” she explains. “But this day is unlike the other days and this man is unlike any other she had seen around here.  And his presence felt different to all the others….”

Moon Edenbaum, Her and Him – Dathúil Gallery

Through the 18 images on display, we’re invited to follow their relationship – which rapidly develops to one of intimacy – to the first hints of drifting apart. The lines of the story closely follows the overall narrative, but the perspective is a little different.

In both exhibitions, there is a focus on sexuality which suggests this is a relationship based more on physical attraction, of sating desires and pushing boundaries, than it is of emotional deep and sharing. Thus, perhaps it is one doomed from the start; after all, and to borrow somewhat from a classic film: “the passion that burns twice as brightly burns half as long”.

Moon Edenbaum, Her and Him – Dathúil Gallery

Within Her and Him, this physical element is perhaps given even greater prominence that with Me_You, particularly as evidenced by the images suspended from the ceiling of the gallery and on the upper floor. Again, the narrative is much the same as Me_You, but the greater prominence of images with a clear-cut sexual content perhaps underlines the fact that this is a relations with shallows foundations, and so doomed from that first moment of flirting in the café. Nevertheless, there is also a sense of regret presented here, in what I take to be the final image in the series, located above the entrance to the gallery.

In it, she appears to be slowly walking away from a café table – perhaps one outside the place where they first met – while he keeps his back resolutely towards her. There is an air of regret contained within it, her hand raised to brush fingers along chin as if in a physical response to thoughts of how it might have been different; his hunched pose suggestive of one resigned to the fact passions have run their course, his words would be unable to span the chasm now sitting between them.

Moon Edenbaum, Her and Him – Dathúil Gallery

There is perhaps a certain “sameness” between the two sets of images in these two exhibitions. In some respects, this is down to both portraying the same narrative arc; but it is also perhaps something more. By focusing on the same points in time, the same events, Hilly and Moon are perhaps gently underlining the inevitable run of this relationship, gently directing our thoughts on each series to the same closing words of the story.

Her and Him will remain open through until the end of June.

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Drax Files #45: a magnificent man and his flying machines

Posted on by Inara Pey
Arduenn Schwartzmann at home

The latest Drax Files World Makers took to the air – literally and metaphorically – on Monday June 5th, with a look at the world of Arduenn Schwartzmann.

Arduenn is perhaps most famous for his Warbug combat system of fun and quirky aeroplanes, which represent most eras of flying, and can be enjoyed for pleasure or in friendly air combat games (“combat” perhaps isn’t the right term, as it can feel more like a game of tag around the skies). I’m actually a fan of these little planes, which are small enough that they can easily be enjoyed within the confines of a single region, and have flown many over the years, both at Arduenn’s own Warbug HQ, where I’ve frequently been shot down (and also scored a few hits of my own) – although I admit, up until this show aired, it had been about 3 years since I was last there, although I do have a couple of his aircraft stuffed away in my inventory which come out on occasion for fun.

Overflying the Warbug HQ in one of Ardruenn’s rezzable planes (touch the windsock at the airstrip)

But there is more to Arduenn than Warbugs. He’s demonstrated clear insight into Second Life; his commentary, when given, has always been provided thoughtfully and fairly, while he has also been something of a pioneer; not only with his Warbugs, but also in things like trying to develop a means of shooting 360-degree video in SL.  As such, this is a segment which should have a lot to offer.

And indeed, it appears to be ready to deliver from the outset. In the first 90 seconds of the 4 minute 30 piece, we get a potted history of Arduenn’s background as a molecular biologist before swinging fully into his unbridled enthusiasm for the creative scope presented by Second Life and the ‘umble prim. Make no mistake, here is a man who, after a decade in SL, is in no way jaded by the magic and the promise, but who fully embraces it.

Arduenn and his children

Similarly, the final part of the piece, where we see Arduenn with his kids and gain his thoughts on life, creativity and balance, which offers us the expected insight into what attracts someone to SL and and causes them to first glue a couple of prims together. It is the bit in the middle I have problems with. Warbugs are there, and rightly so – and the voice-over gives the images the depth they need. But following it comes a period which tends to come over as pure product placement when we could perhaps be delving into more of what makes Arduenn tick, why he digs into challenges like trying to develop a 360-vedio capture system (particularly as he worked with Drax on this) and get involved in people’s projects; and so, for me, a part of the potential for this segment is lost.

Which is not to say the segment is not enjoyable – it is, and it clearly delivers in making us feel Arduenn’s passion for creativity in second Life, his sense of fun and the glorious light-heartedness of Warbug flying. I would just like to have seen the curtain cast back a little further to explore more of Arduenn’s thoughts about Second Life, content creation and  what, after a decade in world, keeps him engaged in the platform.

Peeter Tamerlane at Club LA

Posted on by Inara Pey
Club LA and Gallery – Peeter Tamerlane

One of the reasons I like the small, more boutique-style galleries scattered across Second Life is that they are most often the places I encounter artists and photographer with whom I’m less than familiar in terms of their work. While larger galleries are oft tempts to stick with “established” names, these smaller venues tend to cast their nets much wiser.

Such gallery is Club LA and Gallery, curated by Fuyuko ‘冬子’ Amano (Wintergeist), which for June presents a selection of images from the portfolio of Peeter Tamerlane. A photographer / artist whose work encompasses both avatar studies and landscape images, Peeter’s art is new to me, and I’m delighted to have come across it.

Club LA and Gallery – Peeter Tamerlane

Twenty pieces are offered in the exhibition, and they clearly demonstrate his passion for photography and art, offering evocative, eye-catching and – in places – sensual images which all have a story to tell in one way or another. They are presented in a range of formats, large and small, and set out in such a way as to suggest a working studio as much as a galleried exhibition, with pictures both on the walls and leaning against them, sometimes overlapping slightly, all of which adds to the cosiness of the display.

In terms of the larger format pictures, these are dominated by landscapes which instantly attract the eye – not just because of their panoramic format, but because of their overall composition. Gulls, facing the gallery entrance, for example, is quite magnificent for its framing of a coastal scene; the lighting is exquisite, the camera position beautifully suggestive of the picture having been taken by someone wading through the ebb and flow of waves along the sand. Equally, on the other side of the wall on which Gulls is mounted sits Cold, a piece more evocative of a painting than a photo, in which the title is beautifully brought forth through the use of colour.

Club LA and Gallery – Peeter Tamerlane

Among the smaller pieces are studies of sensuality (Last Kiss To…)  and sexuality (the Vea series), which again show a skilled artist’s eye in bringing forth the emotional content of the pictures. Last Kiss To… is rich in soft colours, perfectly reflecting the love between the couple. The Vea series, meanwhile, are presented in monochrome, which brings to the fore their naked sexuality. Then there are the more introspective pieces – Horizons, The Love Is…, Is Missing, Whenever, etc.,  each of which captures us within the spell of a story fragment caught in time, drawing us into them.

This is another delightful exhibition of an artist’s craft, and one well worth visiting throughout June.

Club LA and Gallery – Peeter Tamerlane

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