Currently open at Galerie Principale within the United Arts of Second Life hub, is an exhibition of pieces by Melusina Parkin, showcasing her minimalist approach to telling stories through her photography.
A Minimal Gaze is not a retrospective in the strictest sense of the word, but it does contain some images that admirers of Melu’s work may well recognise. What it does present is a rich cross-section of Melu’s style, something which might be called “moments in solitude”, whereby she focus on aspects of scene within Second Life and presents a image with a single cynosure, drawing our attention to that focus alone.
UASL – Melusina Parkin: A Minimal Gaze
Thus, the focal point stands in solitude in terms of their in-world surroundings, the framing of the image, and its ability to hold our attention. However, at the same time, a much broader narrative canvas is presented by the background and what lies just outside the frame of the picture; things not seen, but which nevertheless whisper to our imaginations. This gives Melu’s work a sense of unique individuality: the familiar seen without broader context other than what is suggested by the mind’s eye.
It’s an approach that Melu has used throughout the majority of her more than 10 years of Second Life photography, and which I’ve never ceased to appreciate, both for the above expressiveness and for the way it causes us to look at Second Life itself in a new way, bringing this digital world to life in a most unique and singular manner, unmatched by more “traditional” forms of photography (very much including my own) which provide broader, more contextualised views of the places visited and recorded within them.
UASL – Melusina Parkin: A Minimal Gaze
In the notes she provides for the exhibition, Melu notes that she is currently experimenting (like so many) with AI-generated images – but that also, she is not deserting this approach to her photography. It’s an assurance I appreciate, as a Second Life without her unique insight to its many faces and places would, frankly, be a diminished world.
Sunnmøre, April 2023 – click any image for full size
Situated as the southernmost municipality of the county of Møre og Romsdal in north-west Norway, Sunnmøre (or South-Møre, if you prefer) – as with the county as a whole – is regarded as a region of outstanding natural beauty, its rugged and varied landscape being home to the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Geiranger Fjord.
While one of three districts within Møre og Romsdal, Sunnmøre accounts for over 50% of the county’s population – although this doesn’t mean it is exactly going to feel crowded; the total population for Møre is under 200,000, with the majority living within coastal towns like Ålesund (popn approx 53,000). This means that much of the county – and a lot of Sunnmøre is open countryside – is a place where people are free to enjoy friluftsliv.
Sunnmøre, April 2023
Pronounced (I’ve ben informed) free-loofts-liv, the terms translates as “open-air living”. Originally popularised by the Norwegian playwright and poet, Henrik Ibsen during the mid-1800s, friluftsliv was initially used to describe the value of spending time in remote locations for spiritual and physical wellbeing.
Today, the phrase is used more broadly by Scandinavians as a whole to cover just about everything from runs in the forest or riding a bicycle through the countryside, to joining friends at a lakeside sauna (often followed by a chilly dip in the water), to simply relaxing in a mountain hut or participating in a little glamping, through to more vigorous activities such as rock-climbing or cross-country skiing when the snow permits, and so on. It also still encompasses the ideas of wellbeing and health, and is closely linked to allmansrätten, the right to roam.
Sunnmøre, April 2023
Within Second Life, Emm Vintner (Emm Evergarden), of The Nature Collective fame, has brought a touch of Norwegian friluftsliv and a stylised touch of Sunnmøre to life with a Homestead Region design called – quite appropriately – Sunnmøre, which thanks to a pointer from Shawn Shakespeare, I recently enjoyed visiting.
Sitting as a clutch of islands protected within the mouth of a fjord opening out into the sea, Sunnmøre offers a setting rich in activities one might reasonably expect to enjoy whilst participating in a spot of friluftsliv. There are tracks and trails to walk / ride along (horses can be rezzed from the one hitched near the landing point ferry), kayaks are available for paddling through the channels and around the waters surrounding the islands, together with motorboats and inflatables – all of which ensure dry feet when trying to reach the smaller islands! For the more energetic / daring zip-line rides might be had from the top of the main island’s peak.
Sunnmøre, April 2023
For those seeking something more restful, opportunities are available for a little fishing, taking to the air in hot air balloons, or simply sitting and watching the world go by. And, of course, there are plenty of opportunities for photography, with lots of local wildlife to be found – and some rather acrobatic sheep! Signage at the landing point offers some instant directions to points of interest, and the ferry-as-a-landing-point gives a nice feel for having literally just arrived from somewhere on the mainland when visitors teleport in.
Environmental consciousness is very apparent within the island – hardly surprising, as Scandinavia tends to lead with way when it comes to the likes of wind and solar power and thing like ground- and air-source heat pump systems for heating. A trio of wind turbines look like they provide power to the islands – and probably the local lighthouse, whilst the research centre located on the largest island utilises solar power. Of course, this being a design by Emm, bees are also in evidence, although the chance of some fresh honey has drawn an inquisitive bear cub to them!
Sunnmøre, April 2023
If you want to extend their Nordic experience after exploring Sunnmøre can avail themselves of the signboard advertising Moon Lair Taste of Norway, located as it is alongside the Sunnmøre Tourist Centre. Doing so while spirit you away to Moon Lair – but I’ll leave that to a future visit and possible blog post!
As always with Emm’s work, Sunnmøre is well presented, and makes for an engaging and photogenic visit.
Nitroglobus Roof Gallery: JadeYu Flang – Sans Titre
Now open at Nitroglobus Roof Gallery, curated by Dido Haas, is an engaging exhibition of 2D and 3D art by JadeYu Fhang. This doesn’t actually say a lot, because the fact is, JadeYu never fails to engage the grey matter with her art; her work is constantly evocative and provocative, brining forth a narrative with which to draw her audience in.
However, this exhibition comes with a slight difference in terms of a deliberate haziness of intent on the part of the artist, a haziness intended to further engage the observer’s eyes and minds.
Nitroglobus Roof Gallery: JadeYu Flang – Sans TitreThis haziness starts with the exhibit’s title: Sans Titre (“Untitled”, or if you prefer, “Without Title”), which as JadeYu notes, is an intentional step so as not to sway visitors with preconceptions ahead of arriving at the gallery and witnessing the work first hand. This haziness then continues through the works themselves, the intention being to leaving interpretation of at least the 2D elements to the eyes and thoughts of the beholder.
Which is not to say there is not a central theme running through this exhibition, or that it is in any way random in content or execution. Rather the reverse: the theme is made clear; however, the artist’s intent it more about using the theme as a basic framework with which to allow us to view the works and generate our own understandings of the drawings presented, rather than have the images serve to underscore the theme itself.
Nitroglobus Roof Gallery: JadeYu Flang – Sans Titre
This actually brings me to an awkward crux: how best to offer insight into Sans Titre without impinging my own (and ultimately subjective) description of that theme, and thus colouring your reaction to the images and 3D sculptures? As such, this review is a little more circumspect than my usual offerings relating to exhibitions at Nitroglobus, as I’d rather try to keep JadeYu’s desire to provide a framework of theme, rather than direct people to specifics – so I’ll minimise things by quoting her own words:
Let’s call it a matter of violence inside bodies, facial expressions (3D) leading to the intention of erasing the other person, as suggested in the images (2D). The papers around the women? These papers indicate words, insults and other ignominy which are thrown in women’s faces throughout their lifes. Words loaded with hatred and violence “the killing words”. Nothing is written on the papers… it’s up to you to imagine what could be there.
Why women?
They are like the symbol, the mirror of those who through a brutality, a destructive will seek to destroy. To destroy everything that in no way corresponds to fluidity and natural roundness. Flexibility and openness is not the order of the day, the preference is for the square shape and it must be respected, locking up any will to exist outside the frame.
– JadeYu Flang
Nitroglobus Roof Gallery: JadeYu Flang – Sans Titre
With those words to guide you, I’m go to say anything else, other than to say that – again as is usual with JadeYu’s work – San Titre is stunningly visual in both the 2D and 3D art presented. Instead, I’ll leave you to pay a visit and both witness and cogitate JadeYu’s work and the realities it explores, for yourself.
Photo Café, April 2023 – click any image for full size
I’m starting this piece with an apology. In early March, Kika Yongho dropped me a note card about her new parcel Photo Café, which had just opened at that time. With all that’s been going on in the past month, the note card slipped down my “to visit” list to the point where I didn’t get around to popping along until Easter, a month after I’d received the invitation to visit.
Occupying a little under a quarter of a Full region utilising the private region Land Capacity bonus, Photo Café is defined as a place where Second Life photographers can socialise and participate in moderated text chat about all things related to photography and photographic art in Second Life. The location – and its related group ~ Photo Café – Photographers ~ is operated by Kika Yongho, Duraya Resident, Kapaan Resident and DaneAlbion Resident.
Photo Café, April 2023
The setting is open to all to visit, with visits commencing on a sky platform where acceptance of the local Experience is required to progress. It sits as a disused railway cutting arcing between two tunnels in what might be a rain forest style of environment and with the second of the tunnels forming the teleport point to the ground on attempting to walk through it after accepting the local Experience.
The teleport leads to the “mouth” of the tunnel at ground level. Primarily designed by Violette Rembrandt and SL partner Lucifer Morningstar – the couple behind the Wonderland 2.0, a place I wrote about in November 2022 – the setting continues the tropical / rain forest theme whilst folding into it a sense of fantasy and other-worldliness in which strange giant fungi and floating islands vie with tall trees, tumbling falls, all watched over by a full Moon and a ringed planet under a blue, star-spangled sky.
Photo Café, April 2023
Central to the setting is a huge and ornate gazebo – the unmistakable work of Elicio Ember – which serves as the focal point for meetings and discussions, its floor area circled by chairs and sofas, the rule of debate / discussion mounted on boards. A small art garden forms the centrepiece to the gazebo whilst the columns and upper reaches are draped in vines and plants, helping it to blend into the surrounding landscape.
Within this space is a little secret, one that continues the fantasy theme. It’s not entirely obvious in nature. In fact when I cammed around the meeting area and saw what lay under it, I anticipated the teleport would lead down to it; so I was intrigued when I found myself high up in the sky, standing within one of Desert Blossom’s Void Dreamscape scene rezzing environments and a choice of over 40 scenes waiting to be rezzed. Getting back to ground level from the Dreamscape also had me a little mystified, as I didn’t spot any obvious teleport (although I did find the Flower Gate leading outside), so resorted to using Firestorm’s Teleport History to drop back down to the ground.
Photo Café, April 2023
Oh? What’s that? How do you find the way to the Dreamscape? I’ll let you find that for yourself. All I’ll say is, ladders that appear to go down through holes may in fact go up. Also, remember, teleports here are experience enabled, so you may want to try walking on / through the ladder, rather than trying to touch-teleport (I had to bump into it a couple of times for it to work). How the scenes might be used is a matter of choice – but they do make interesting photography backdrops.
As well as the gazebo, with its curtain of waterfalls backing it, the location offers other places to sit and relax, including a beach house and – sitting high-and-dry on the rocks – an aged submarine.
Photo Café, April 2023
I gather discussion groups are held every two weeks, on Saturdays at a noon SLT, with the most recent having been on April 8th. More information on the location and the group can also be found at the Photo Café website, where information on events and transcripts of past discussions can also be found by those interested in joining the group.
Once again, apologies to Kika for not writing about Photo Café any sooner.
For those who have visited and enjoyed Cica Ghost’s region-wide art installations in Second Life over the last decade plus, her build for April 2023 may well raise a sense of nostalgia and memory, whilst retaining its own originality.
Happy Town, which opened on April 7th, 2023, presents a whimsical townscape with a rather unusual feature: everything in it appears to be made of, or covered by, sewn and stitched fabrics, or has been knitted. The land sits as a patchwork quilt, buildings appear to have wall coverings which have been sewn onto them, indoors and out. Even the trees are strangely two-dimensional, their tops looking like snare drums over which green baize has been stretched and onto which flowers have been sewn, before being sat on their sides atop hemmed and sewn trunks. Even the sky appears to be a grey blanket into which the clouds have been stitched like so many patches to cover holes or tears.
Cica Ghost: Happy Town, April 2023
It is an engaging and imaginative setting, a place where only the citizens appear to be organic – and even these are not human. Instead, this is a town apparently populated by anthropomorphic cats who tend happy-go-lucky sheep, chickens and pigs whilst also working as the local mechanics. And even then, I’m not sure the sheep or chickens are actually being “kept” so much as also being local inhabitants.
True, they might for the most part be clustered in what might be taken for a central meadow, along with their barns and hen-houses whilst hemmed in (so to speak!) by a low fence with a single opening; but equally might this not also be the local park where the locals have simply come for some weekend fun? Certainly, the hi-fiving chickens seem to be having fun and the sheep – whilst possibly not related to Shawn the Sheep, look as capable as him.
Cica Ghost: Happy Town, April 2023
The buildings are a curious mix – some on the ground, others up on stilts, some as wide as they are tall, some with pipes entering or exiting them. It is here that for those of us with long memories might feel that hint of nostalgia, as there is something about Happy Town this brings forth memories of Cica’s 2014 Small Town. This is further aided by the presence of the little cars and the road winding through the town. While both are different in nature to those of Small Town, sitting in one of the cars and setting out along the road brings back memories of driving around Small Town.
As well as the car to drive (you can be sure they are roadworthy thanks to the cats looking after them!), Happy Town includes places where you can dance, places to sit, ladders to climb, and a little theatre where another memory from Cica’s past builds: one of her animated stick figures as seen in the likes of Ghostville offered as a movie to be enjoyed.
Cica Ghost: Happy Town, April 2023
Delightful and light, Happy Town will be open through April for people to enjoy.
Blue Finch, April 2023 – click any image for full size
Blue Finch is the name given to a Full private island designed by Second Life couple Grant Wade (GMi7) and Dianna Wade (DiaMi7) which has been featured in the Editor’s Picks and Nature and Parks section of the Destination Guide. A Moderate rated region, it offers a warm greeting to visitors:
Welcome to Blue Finch Ridge. Uniquely beautiful and enchanting. with a rustic warm quiet charm. Romantic hideaways but please No adult activity. Be respectful.
Blue Finch About Land description
Blue Finch, April 2023
This is a place of serene beauty, one which at the time of my visit lay caught in the colours of spring. It sits as if a part of a rugged coastline, a rocky island cut off from the surrounding hills of its brethren courtesy of the not-to-distant see having stretched its finger deep inland, flooding the lowland to surround the island, leaving it sitting within a deep inlet or bay, the main channel of which sweeps inward from the north-west.
Across the island and tucked into its south-east corner where it is sheltered by the nearby hills, sits the landing point, occupying a pier gazebo as it extends out over the water. It is here that visitors can join the local group, read about the region and offer their support towards the region’s upkeep and their appreciation of the settings or teleport directly to the event / activity areas within the region – but I obviously recommend using your pedal extremities to explore the setting – and take your time doing so.
Blue Finch, April 2023
As the About Land description notes, this is place to visit and appreciate for its beauty. Offered under a basic EEP day setting, the region is well suited to almost any daytime settings, and I hope the images here demonstration, having been taken using my default personal EEP settings.
Once across the bridge and on the island, there are numerous paths for visitors to follow, with stepping stones and bridges of various kinds ensuring the waterways cutting through the land do not hinder and path of exploration.
Blue Finch, April 2023
All of the paths lead to somewhere interesting, be it the little fishing hamlet along the south side of the island, the pottery centre up on a high plateau, the old castle that serves as the movie centre, sitting over a wide cavern forming the gateway to the north-side beach, or more directly down to the eastern beach. And this is barely scratching the surface of the region.
Throughout the region are multiple places to sit and pass the time, look-out points, the event spaces, and various public buildings where time can also be spent – my favourite being the little coffee house. And all of it is wrapped in an engaging soundscape.
Blue Finch, April 2023
However, this is not a place to be written about – it is a place that should be appreciated first-hand – as such I’ll finish with a couple more photos and a strong recommendation you drop in and see Dianna and Wade’s work for yourself.
Inara Pey: Living in a Modemworld 