“Behind the Curtain,” Daze Landar (DaisyDaze) says of her exhibition now open at Dathúil Gallery, “is the beginning of my exploration of who we are in the spotlight and out. The circus without a doubt is a great metaphor for life; the big show under a massive tent. The greatest show on earth!”
The exhibition is the first Daze has presented built around a specific theme, although as hinted by her introductory comments, the theme isn’t what one might first expect. While our eyes are immediately drawn to the huge image of a big top, and several of the images (all of which variously feature Daze, her partner Owen lander, and Elizabeth Nantes, Dathúil’s Lucy Diamond, Syn (Beresford) Zane and Keane Addison as models) involve circus flavours and motifs, this isn’t a riff on circus themes. It’s an exhibition about us: how we project ourselves to the world at large, and who we are “behind the curtain” of those projections, either when on our own or with those with whom we are close.
In this, the metaphor of the circus – all bright colours, loud noises, laughter, excitement and greasepaint – works excellently, allowing a range of ideas to be conveyed. Take Troupe (seen above), for example. With its quartet of circus musicians, apparently having a raucous time, it conveys the idea of our public self we tend to project when out and about with friends: loud, happy-go-lucky, fun, good to have around. But look a little more closely; none of the four appears to actually be playing their instrument; a subtle reflection, perhaps, that the outward projection of brashness is far removed from the inner person?
Then there is Strong Shoulders (top of this article). At first it would appear to be a study of a strong man act; the girl hoisted aloft with ease and sat upon a broad shoulder. But so too is it a metaphor of our reliance on those close to us and of their ability to lift us, through words and encouragement, supporting and nurturing us. Trust (which may suggest both escapology and adult bedroom activities!), more overtly carries a similar theme; whilst Hiding Spot and Break Time (below) convey those situations where we feel secure enough to let the masks slip away and just be ourselves.
In many respects, Behind the Curtain only scratches the surface of this captivating subject. Daze refers to it as a “beginning” – suggesting she is considering more works along similar lines. I certainly hope so, not just because it is a fascinating subject, but it is also something which lies very much very much at the heart of environments like Second Life, and the abilities we have herein to both project – and more importantly, to shed – our masks and remove the metaphorical greasepaint.
In the meantime, Behind the Curtain will remain open through until the end of August 2016.
Bailywick Gallery, tucked into the mouth of a bay on Corsica’s southern coastline, is a part of the Kultivate Magazine group. It offers 2D artists (for the most part) the opportunity to display their work free of charge, with an open-air 3D display space outside the gallery building available to artists wishing to show their 3D work as well.
The gallery building takes the form of a marina clubhouse, with display areas on both the ground and upper floors. Curated by Eleseren Brianna, space is granted to artists for two months at a time, on the proviso they are display SL focused images only.
At the time of my visit, the 2D artists on display were Sandi Benelli, Ilyra Chardin, Jamie86 Resident and Myra Wildmist, with Theda Tammas presenting a piece in the 3D art area alongside the gallery. The gallery space itself is cosy, complete with space to sit and chat, as well as a small dining room.
Given its location, the gallery can also be reached sea (and possibly by air, but there are a couple of skyborne estates over a part of the waterway when heading to Corsica from the south and areas like Blake Sea), making it perfect for a boating stop-over (although you may find your boat may poof if you’re not a member of the local group).
Those interested in displaying their art at the Ballywick Gallery can find out more via the Kultivate Magazine website.
A year ago, I paid my first visit to Eclectica, a homestead region designed by Maddy Riddler. At the time, it was her first region design, and as I noted when adding it to my travelogues, it made for an enchanting visit.
At the start of August 2016, Maddy opened the latest design for the region, with the region also being featured in the Destination Guide highlights for August 5th. As it has been a while since my last visit, the DG entry prompted me to hop over and have a little explore – and I have to say that once again, Maddy has created something which is an absolute pleasure to see.
Mystica, as Maddy is calling the latest incarnation of Eclectica, presents visitors with a richly wooded archipelago floating 240 metres above sea level, the home to walks, cuddle spots, mystical clearings, climbing stairs, a wizard’s tower – and more besides.
Building an environment in the sky can often be difficult; landscapes don’t always have a natural look and feel, placing an environment inside a skybox often leads to an unsatisfactory result with the sky, while leaving things open can lead to abrupt edges and drops around the edges, or illusion-breaking transparent walls to reduce the risk of folk dropping off unexpectedly.
Maddy tackles all of these issues admirably, presenting an island as natural-looking as anything which might be found at ground level. Rugged cliffs mark changes of elevation and gorges cut their way through a wooded landscape, paths bordered by tough grass winding between the trees, bridges and ramps spanning the narrow defiles between rocky outcrops, steps linking different levels. Around the edges, dense hedges over which mists gently float, form a “soft” natural boundary so even when standing on the edge of one of the higher promontories, visitors have a clear indication they’ve reached as far as they can go (although horizontally placed transparent surfaces prevent anyone accidentally taking several steps too far.
The paths through the landscape are clear and easy to follow, the trees and shrubs serving to break the skyline perfectly. As one might expect from a location leaning towards romance, places to sit, cuddle and dance can be found in glades, under trees, within the arches of gazebos and by pond and cliff edge. There are also touches of whimsy, hints of the mystical,
For those who do find romance blossoming and want to go further, the teleport sign near the landing point offers a way down to ground level and an island offering a choice of beach or forest automated weddings, which include a choice of ceremony types, dedicated honeymoon venues in a unique approach to in-world weddings which would appear to take a lot of the stress out of arrangements, scheduling, and so forth, and which can include close friends as witnesses.
Photogenic, romantic and a delight to explore, Mystica is another enchanting and delightful iteration of Eclectica. When you get the opportunity, do be sure to see for yourself!
Doubtless any Game of Thrones fan will recognise the main part of the title of this travelogue. The Rains of Castamere is a song immortalising the obliteration of House Reyne by Tywin Lannister when the former tried to rebel against his father, and can be heard in part several times in the TV series. It is also now the name of a new region designed by Arol Lightfoot (who designed Just Another Tequilla Sunrise – see my 2014 post here, and who shares the design honours with Krys Vitas for Rosemoor, which I featured in May 2016).
The Rains of Castamere is not, however, a Game of Thrones role-play region. While there are many motifs from the books / series within it, Arol notes in her introduction that it also includes other fantasy elements, and is intended to offer an environment SL photographers can enjoy – and it does so quite admirably.
Split into two by a meandering channel running east to west, the region is mostly low-lying, with grassy banks rolling down to the water’s edge, although there are some rocky aspects at either end of the dividing channel. One of the two land masses is sparse of tree and shrub, the other offers a broader expanse of land which is host to a mix of woods and open spaces.
The references to the world of Games of Thrones can be found throughout the region. There’s the tall tower of stone to the south-east sitting atop of a rock plateau, clearly representative of Casterly Rock, the ancestral seat of House Lannister. Two ruins lie relatively close to hand, either of which might be taken to reference House Reyne from the song, whilst the two bridges spanning the narrow channel carry on their sides the carved head of a lion, a nod towards the golden lion sigil of House Lannister.
Across one of these bridges sits a stone castle topped by an iron throne, while two lions face off against two large wolves down below. All of these stand as motifs for Kings Landing and the enmity between the Lannisters and House Stark, whilst the looming figure of the armoured knight alongside the throne might be taken as a reference to Gregor “The Mountain” Clegane, bodyguard to Cersei Lannister – and by extension, Cersei’s hold on the throne.
The Starks gain further reference amidst a woodland of fir trees (themselves symbolic of northern latitudes) north and east of the castle. These arc protectively around a weirwood tree to one side, the symbol of the old gods historically worshipped by the Starks. However, perhaps the clearest reference to the GoT universe lay with the dragons. These can be found on the ground and in the air, and their reflection of House Targaryen is clear. One even flies above a ship on the west side of the region, and is surely a allusion to the coming to Westeros of Daenerys Stormborn, Mother of Dragons, as seen at the end of the sixth season of the series.
Other fantasy elements are also to be found across the region in the form of unicorns, elven arches and lanterns, trolls, a dryad – look around and you’ll discover them. Many of the locations offer the opportunity to pose, sit and / or cuddle, thus furthering the photographic opportunities here (and more were appearing even as I visited).
The Rains of Castamere is an interesting approach to a region; while the landscape natural flows from point to point, so too does each location within it stand on its own as a photographic setting quite distinct from those around it. Opportunities for both landscape images and avatar studies can be found throughout, the latter obviously well-suited to cosplay shoots.
Whether you’re into Game of Thrones or seeking a new location for your photography, The Rains of Castamere has much to offer. And given the title of the region, it seems only appropriate that I close this piece not only with a recommendation to visit, but also with a rendition of the song.
Now open is Cica Ghost’s latest full region installation: Them, and it is perhaps one of her most intriguing, and oddly endearing installations, yet
Beneath a blue / ochre sky, across which clouds periodically scud, lies as barren, undulating landscape of rock and rounded peaks. Strange tentacle-like forms rise into the air at various points, their dimpled sides suggesting they might be hollow, while their tampering, slightly twisted forms suggest tree trunks denuded of branch and leaf.
Across this landscape, a horde of naked figures can be seen. Almost all of them have heads bowed, backs slightly bent, arms held limply, as in supplication, while one or two are in their knees and one is prostrated on the ground. They all appear humanoid in form, although their bodies are proportioned differently to ours, slightly emaciated in build with skin a pale grey tone. Among the horde, small groups of three or four, along with the occasional individual, have their heads turned towards the sky.
That so few are looking upwards seems odd, because floating or hovering in the sky is a circular craft, a quintessential disc of an unidentified flying object, or UFO. It rotates silently, slowly, beams of light from some of the dimples on its underside sweeping over some of those below, sunlight sparkling occasionally off of its upper surface while illuminating the strange glyphs on its side.
The presence of the craft suggests the vast majority of the crowd are paying obeisance to it; their heads bowed, bent forward attitude suggestive of subservience. Only those looking up appear to be the least bit inquisitive, heads cocked as their faces are turned towards the sky.
But look again; there is more going on here than might appear to be the case. The eyes of those on the ground appear to be deep-set, lost in shadow beneath heavy brows – or are they? Could their blackened eye sockets indicate they are sightless, or almost so? Is this why their ears are disproportionately large, and why even those looking up seem to be looking towards the ship in the sky, rather than at it – as if they can hear its presence, rather than see it, and so have heads cocked to better detect the sounds it might make, so they might better understand what it might be?
Then there is the ship. It is here to observe, or do the beams of light indicate something else – the classic teleporting beams beloved of close encounters stories? And if so, is the ship here to gather, or simply to ferry, being little more than an intergalactic bus service, picking up another batch of passengers along its route?
Is there, perhaps, a metaphor here, awaiting our interpretation? And who are the “Them” of the title? Whoever might be aboard the ship, or those on the ground? The layers of possible riddle and interpretation are wonderfully stacked together.
“There is no U in UFO,” Cica tells us through the About Land description, and you can sense the twinkle in her eyes in writing those words. They hint at the idea of mystery revealed – things are only unidentified until we can make sense of them in our own way. Is this the meaning behind the piece, and are the apparently sightless folk on the ground a metaphor for this obvious-yet-complex truth? Or is the entire piece toying with us: a riddle demanding we apply our imaginations to identify the narrative within it which most appeals to us at the time?
This is the real delight of Them, we can peel back the layers within it – real or supposed – in many different ways, making it an intriguing installation worthy of repeat visits.
The new Gaming Islands – designed to introduce Second life users to Skill Gaming
In a blog post on August 2nd, 2016, the Lab introduced their new Gaming Islands: regions designed to help Second Life users – particularly (but not exclusively), I would assume, new users – understand Skill Games in the platform, how they can play them (and why they may not be able to play them), together with a means to find them.
I’m not sure when these regions – there appear to be two at present – opened, so whether the blog post has been timed to coincide with their launch or whether, like much that is in the blog post, they’ve been around a while but simply not promoted, is hard to tell. However, on reading about them, I jumped over to take a look – but before I get into the details, a quick bit of background.
The Social Islands provide a dedicated teleport portal to the Gaming Islands for new users; established users can reach them via the Portal Parks
Gambling laws in the USA and around the world can be complicated beasts. What some might consider to be gambling to others might be viewed a game of skill, and vice-versa. This makes determining what is and isn’t allowed and by whom a difficult practice, particularly where the Internet is concerned.
Because of all this complexity, the Lab banned gambling in Second Life, whilst allowing games of skill to remain. Then, in 2014, the Lab sought to further refine the kinds of skill games involving money and payouts which are permissible in SL through a complete overhaul of their Skill Gaming Policy, together with the introduction of new Skill Gaming regions where such games can be played.
The new Gaming Islands are designed to help SL residents understand what Skill Games are, where they can be played, the kinds of games they might encounter, how they can get to play them – and why, in some instances, they may not be allowed to access the regions where they can be played, and finally to offer a means to reach Skill Gaming regions.
To achieve this, the new Gaming Islands are split into four areas: the arrival point, a game play area; a Learn area which explains more about Skill Games in SL and how to access Skill Gaming Regions; and an Explore area which provides direct teleport portals to Skill Gaming regions provided by various in-world Skill Gaming Operators.
The game play area offers what appear to be “skill-based slot machine” games (yes, there are such beasts in the physical world) with L$ pay-outs – although I have to admit, even after reading the instructions, I was unable to determine where the “skill” factor came into effect over and above the “chance” element (the requirement for Skill Games in SL is that their outcome “is determined by skill and is not contingent, in whole or in material part, upon chance”).
This is not to say that I think the games are not skill-based, but simply that – as a non-gambler / player of skill games, I simply didn’t get where skill enters into them, even after reading the instruction tabs. Perhaps this might indicate more practical explanations are required, or maybe it just indicates I just don’t get Skill Games. I’m also a little mystified as to why, more than an hour after I left one of the islands, the GamingIsland Operator made a small payment to my account – but hey-ho (addendum: apparently pay-outs are made at regular periods after play).
Gaming Islands: Learn area – discover more about Skill Gaming and how to access Skill Gaming regions in SL
The Learn area, designed to get people up-to-speed with Skill Gaming in SL, how they can ensure they are eligible to access Skill Gaming regions and why, even if they meet the SL criteria, they may still be unable to do so, is a little more straightforward.
To one side of the are a series of information boards designed to help people ensure they can access Skill Gaming region; on the other are explanations of what Lab’s define a Skill Game (lifted from the Second Life Skill Gaming FAQ), together with information on why, legally, some SL users may not be able to access Skill Gaming regions even if they meet the SL criteria for doing so. The split path perhaps isn’t the best approach here, given it might encourage some to simply go around one side and then up the stairs to the final section, but the use of teleport boards in the final section makes this a minor quibble.
Gaming Islands: a more detailed look at a couple of the Learn area info boards, which explain what is required to enter Skill Gaming regions (step-by-step instructions to meet the requirements are provided on the other side of the area), and why, even if the SL criteria are met, some users may still not be allowed to access the regions
This final section, entitled Explore, offers teleport portal directly to a number of Skill Gaming regions provided by different Skill Gaming Operators. Should anyone find they cannot use the teleport portal, boards between the portals will teleport them to the Learn section of the island where they can double-check they meet the SL / legal (in the case of US residents) requirements for accessing Skill Gaming regions.
Gaming Islands: the Explore section with teleport portals
Skill Gaming isn’t to everyone’s interest, to be sure. However, providing information on what it is and how to find it is, I would suggest, a good idea, as is joining the dots for new users to be able to find their way to such regions, which give the opportunity to play for Linden Dollars. As it is, Skill Gaming operators pay a premium for their regions, and so providing a means by which they can obtain traffic on the same footing as other types of activity in SL is only fair.
In terms of the Gaming Islands layout, and my own problems in “getting” the games aside, the design is straightforward and does pretty much exactly what it says on the tin. Which is all one can ask, really.
