Currently open within the Sky Gallery at Mareea Farrasco’s Imago Art Galleries is Vague Disclosures, a collection of twelve images by Carelyna, who herself runs the ArtCare gallery within Second Life.
Having studied art, focusing on oil-on-canvas, Carelyna has carried her love of painting into the digital realm, using the tools available to her via her computer to take the images she produces using the viewer and turn them into digital paintings. This gives her work a freshness and an almost tangible depth rich in a sense of life.
This is very much in evidence with the pieces presented at Vague Disclosures. No gallery or artist’s notes are supplied for the exhibition, leaving all twelve open to personal interpretation. There is no accident or oversight in this: Carelyna openly admits she does not plan her works in advance; each piece she creates is part free-form composition, part experimentation and part therapy / a release of a sense of creative fun, often given birth through a need to delve in a new world of such expression.
Imago Art Galleries: Carelyna – Vague Disclosures
Vague Disclosures is such a dive; whilst each piece is unique and open for study / interpretation, all of them offer explorations in the use of soft focus / depth of field as a starting-point for expressing moment of shared and personal intimacy. Each suggests a story within its frame; but what that story might be is up to the eyes of the beholder to decide.
Is the ring mounted on extended finger a gift symbolising the love the giver wished to express to the wearer, or might it be a something the wearer saw and liked, and so purchased on whim? Is there perhaps another story waiting to reveal itself to you? Similarly, and across the room, is the single arm and hand resting languidly along the side of a bath as the owner luxuriates in hot water and bubbles? Might it be a hand gripping the back of a sofa or bed in a moment of passion, or again, something else?
Imago Art Galleries: Carelyna – Vague Disclosures
Thus, throughout, there are stories here; from initial opening to final chapter; stories capable of remaking themselves each time we look at them, allowing us to share in Carelyna’s explorations and discoveries in her journey through art and expression.
The Ocean Care World Alliance (OCWA) is a group of environmentalists concerned about the negative impact we are having on the world’s oceans and marine life the pollution, dumping and more. Utilising the opportunities presented by virtual tools, they aim to provide a better understanding of our marine environments and the need to protect the vitual role they play as part of the world’s ecosystem, working in partnership with the SEE Turtles Organisation.
Within Second Life OCWA – founded by JT Castanea and SL partner Megs (megscandles) – hosts the Experience The Ocean, which occupies and Full private region adjoining a Homestead region and an Openspace region, each of which play a role in OCWA’s facilities.
OCWA Experience The Ocean, February 2023 – click any image for full size
Our mission is to educate and create awareness of current human impact on marine environments. Using science, technology and the virtual world platform, we can promote more public involvement through support of ocean conservation organisations.
– OCWA Experience the Ocean mission statement
Visits begin on the deck of the main structure in the region – a facility which might be imagined as a re-purposed oil or gas rig, now serving in the role of a Marine Science Centre – a conservation, rescue and research facility and home to OCWA events and educational activities. It forms the main landing point for the facilities, and for those visiting as a part of an educational tour, offering plenty of space for gathering the group together on arrival.
The main level of the centre provides the OCWA’s mission statement (above) and the Sea Turtle information hall in one wing and the ocean virtual learning centre in the other.
OCWA Experience The Ocean, February 2023
The latter takes the form of nine numbered media stations, providing information on a range of ocean-related subjects. These can be activated by hovering the mouse over any one of them (or clicking on it) to display the related web page. The screens do not necessarily have to be followed in numerical order, as each provides self-contained information. The former, by contrast offers a set of information displays on sea turtles that, which clicked, will offer a link to an external web page.
Above these halls can be found the Ocean Art Gallery and the centre’s auditorium for educational and related events / activities, while the upper level is home to office space and access to the centre’s helipad and – more particularly – open-air event space for musical performances.
OCWA Experience The Ocean, February 2023
Also within the centre are information kiosks and display boards, the former providing further links to ocean-related conservation and educational groups, such as The 5 Gyres¹ Institute, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organisation focusing on reducing plastics pollution in rivers, lakes and the oceans through research and education.
On the deck of the centre is the Lunasea Memorial Turtle Rescue and Rehabilitation Hospital, representing the work put into rehabilitating and releasing turtles affected by pollution and ingesting plastic particulates that result from the saltwater breakdown of certain plastics dumped in the sea. It is here that visitors can obtain a note card to join a unique role-play experience: the Rescue a Virtual Turtle Experience. This takes place in the regions to the south – Whale Fall and Vida de Tortuga. Click the information board for details when visiting the Hospital.
OCWA Experience The Ocean, February 2023
Beneath the centre are the docks servicing the centre’s submersibles and research boats and, below that on the seabed, an undersea laboratory. These can be reached via the teleport stations found around the centre, stations which also provide access to the remaining outdoor locations in the main region. The latter take the form of the Alaska Fossil Beach to the east, and to an area modelled on the south the Cape St. Francis lighthouse and Seal Point, South Africa. Both offer opportunities for surfing, whilst the docks offer the chance to go kayaking using single or 2-seater boats, with little motor boats also available.
With opportunities to donate to SEE Turtles throughout the centre and the regions, the notes opportunities for activities and plenty of ways to learn about the oceanic ecosystems, Experience The Ocean makes for an engaging and potentially educational visit.
A gyre is a large circular r spiral motion or form. It is particularly used in reference to giant circular oceanic surface currents. In all there are five major subtropical gyres in the worlds oceans (hence “5 Gyres”) – North Atlantic, South Atlantic, Indian Ocean, South Pacific and and the Great Pacific (itself split into to east and west), all of are home to an estimated 270,000 tonnes of plastic dumped in ocean (which is less than 1% of the new plastic made in a single year).
Saint Phalle (Perpetua1010) La Serenissima, February 2023
Running through until March 11th, 2023 is La Serenissima, a two-part exhibition at the Venezia/Venice region in Second Life by Sophie de Saint Phalle (Perpetua1010). I say two parts, as the exhibition is split between indoor and and outdoor display area.
Sophie is an artist in the physical world who uses Second Life to reach audiences who might not otherwise encounter her work. She does this through exhibitions like La Serenissima and also through her own gallery/studio space Subcutan Art Gallery and Multimedia Centre. I’ve covered her work several times in these pages and have thoroughly enjoyed doing so; her art is rich in content and form, drawing as it does on many of her own travels and experiences – as with Infinite, a magnificent celebration of indigenous Australian art I reviewed a year ago.
Saint Phalle (Perpetua1010) La Serenissima, February 2023
Some of the pieces from Infinite are displayed in the outdoor section of La Serenissima, together with some pieces from an exhibition hosted at Niccoli Sweetwater’s Basilique region back in September 2020, and which formed my introduction to Sophie’s work. I point to both of these exhibitions not because I’ve written about them, but because the appearance of pieces from them nicely underscores the focus of La Serenissimia: a personal retrospective by Sophie featuring a selection of art she has produced over the course of the last decade.
A graduate of the Academy of fine Arts Vienna, Sophie is by turn also a cartoonist – having had a particular focus on political satire -, an author and a ghost writer for certain well-known comedians. As an artist, her focus was initially the nude body and abstract art, but her range and scope have since broadened, even reaching into 3D art within Second Life. She is very much an experimentalist and also an expressionist – as her work repeatedly demonstrates.
Saint Phalle (Perpetua1010) La Serenissima, February 2023
A red carpet leads the way to the indoor exhibition. Occupying three floors, this section features gouache paintings on the lower floor, watercolours on the middle floor and a selection of her nude studies on the upper.
All three levels are as captivating as the outdoor works, but I have to admit to being drawn particularly to the middle level watercolours as they depict Sophie’s travels through Italy and Switzerland. For me, they are pieces which capture the spirit of the places they represent in a fabulously minimalist and / or focused style.
Saint Phalle (Perpetua1010) La Serenissima, February 2023For those familiar with Sophie’s work through individual exhibitions, La Serenissima offers an opportunity to experience the breath of her work in a relaxed setting. For those who have not seen Sophie’s work before, I recommend a visit to this exhibition while it remains open, perhaps followed by a visit to Subcutan Art Gallery and Multimedia Centre.
Burrow Wood County, February 2023 – click any image for full size
Update, April 25th: Burrow Wood County has closed, and Monica has relocated to a one half of a Full region, now home to the twin builds of Burrow Wood by the Sea and Burrow Wood, Road to Nowhere, both of which have been built to Monica’s specification by Teagan Lefevre. SLurls in this article have therefore been removed – please see my updated blog post for more.
Occupying the north-east quarter of a Full region utilising the private region land impact bonus, Burrow Wood County is held by Monica Mercury as a ground-level public space, designed by Teagan Lefevre of Le’eaf & Co fame.
This fictional back-road Tennessee town was inspired by several amazing SL creations visited by the owner, and her real life ventures.
– Burrow Wood County About Land
Burrow Wood County, February 2023
A visit commences at the landing point, tucked into the south-west corner of the parcel and backed against the centre of the region. It is here, a short distance from the mouth of a tunnel from which a rutted track emerges, that the local bus stop sits, helping give the impression that visitors have just arrived by public transport.
From here, the track continues to where a bridge spans the local river; a bridge which marks the track as once having been a single-line spur of the local railroad, and perhaps the bus stop originally an end-of-line rail halt. Beyond the bridge, a dirt track dips down into a small hamlet sitting by the waters of a broad body of water, an off-region surround giving it the appearance of a river.
Burrow Wood County, February 2023
This is a place which has perhaps seen better days; maybe it was once a cosy little fishing village built along one of Tennessee’s many rivers. However, time has not been kind to it, leaving a couple of unpaved roads serving the remaining local businesses, marked by the presence of an ever-hopeful motel, and some scattered dwellings.
Almost all of the local businesses appear given over to food and beverages, from the bar of Frank’s Place through the diner and café shop to Carroll’s Oyster bar and shop, within only a little grocery store trying to break things up. Their presence suggests the motel may do better business than might at first appear to be the case, even if the entrance to one room is boarded up; or perhaps this sleepy little fictional corner of Tennessee is still popular among the fishing fraternity and holiday makers.
Burrow Wood County, February 2023
The latter point may be borne out by the presence of the little office sitting across from the motel proper. It sits ant the entrance to a small group of cabins and trailers sitting alongside one of the water channels. The OFFICE sign hanging on one of its outer walls suggests it is from here that the cabins and trailer sitting on the bank of the river beyond are available for rent by visitors who also likely contribute to the seasonal well-doing of the local businesses.
Ramshackle it might be, but the village still boasts a Sheriff’s Office, and there is no doubting it has a gentle photogenic air about it. The large pool sitting at the head of the river (which may have borrowed its name from either the song as a little joke – you do have to cross the river Jordan in order to reach the hamlet – or from neighbouring Virginia’s river of the same name), is apparently open for swimming, whilst kayaks are moored alongside what appears to be a rentals hut built on a deck extending over the edge of the water.
Burrow Wood County, February 2023
Those following the grassy path down to and around one side of the pool can make their way to where nature is slowly reclaiming the remnants of an old waterside barn – although a local artist also appears to be claiming it for their own use! Further back in the undergrowth lies an old schoolhouse in a greater state of being overwhelmed by mother nature.
Expressive and photogenic, Burrow Wood County is a pleasant, easy-on-the-eye visit.
For February 2023, Cica Ghost invites us all to visit her Happy Place, where we can all relax and have a little fun, wander through an exotic landscape and meet the equally exotic populace.
This is very much a green land, caught under a green sky, between which green-tinged clouds scud whilst on the ground spots and splashes of other colours might catch the eye and cause feet to wander. This ground is a strange mix of grass-like covering and what appears to be a natural quilt forming an interesting patchwork effect as it stretches over the humpbacked hills and lies on the flatter ground like a picnic blanket. Blue splotches within the quilt suggest pools of water – albeit sometimes at odd angles as the effect stretches itself over the uplands.
Across both grass and patchwork can be found tall grasses and clovers rising up taller than an avatar, smaller flowers of red and yellow and green scattered around them and across the landscape as a whole (some of which have much larger brethren away to the north of the setting) while trees in places rival the humpy hills in height.
Cica Ghost, Happy Place – February 2023
Nor is the shape of most of the hills their only distinguishing feature; many have had their tops sliced flat, allowing little houses and matching trees to sit upon their crowns (some have other little places sitting on their heads, but you should discover this for yourself). Some of these houses appear unreachable such is the steepness of the slopes rising to them; others can be more easily reached, thanks to the placement of ladders to assist with climbing.
Also across this strange yet welcoming landscape can be found the setting’s inhabitants. From sheep to bipedal monsters, passing by want of ants, ladybirds, a sleeping dragon, elephants and a Cica-like little girl tending a lone cow with what appears to be her cottage and pet fish close by. There’s even the suggestion, spread between two trees, that the setting might also be home to a giant human, although they appear to currently off visiting somewhere else!
Cica Ghost, Happy Place – February 2023
Although some are monsters, none of the inhabitants are in any way dangerous; the dragon snoozes peacefully and the monsters all appear to be here for the same reason as anyone else: to take in the scenery, to relax together and pose for photos and / or simply have fun. And given this is a build by Cica, there are obviously places for visitors to enjoy a little dancing, or to sit and pose for photos or to simply spend time together, both on the ground and in the air.
The setting comes with a popular quote which is often attributed to A.A. Milne / Winnie the Pooh. In fact, the words as given were never given to Pooh (or any other of Milne’s characters) to say within the books (although they may have been spoken in one of Disney’s film adaptations). But whether written direct by Milne or by a screenwriter really matters not; they encapsulate the magical wonder of childhood and the importance of never letting go of that sense of magic and wonder, but allowing it to permeate our lives in moments of fun, friendship and togetherness.
By allowing us into her Happy Place, Cica again invites use to to do just that: let the magic and wonder free as we explore, have fun with friends and share our time with them.
Kawaii City, February 2023 – click any image for full size
Kawaii City is a place of two halves, occupying as it does a pair of sky platforms. Built by Naru Darkwatch, the city is named for the Japanese culture of cuteness – although its dystopian-come-cyberpunk lean doesn’t perhaps at first match the more familiar appearance of Kawaii as exemplified by the phenomena of Hello Kitty and Pikachu, although it does resonate with manga / anime styles of cuteness.
Each half of the city – called simply Kawaii City and Kawaii City II – has its own landing point, and given they are both located in the same region, it is possible to move easily between the two, and noted below. Whilst there is a commonality of looks and backdrops between the two, each very much has its own character.
Kawaii City, February 2023
A place where you can come and chill and relax or roleplay in a cyberpunk post apocalyptic setting please respect the TOS and have fun.
– Kawaii City About Land
Kawaii City is the larger of the two builds, its landing point located on a broad street running north to where the entrance to the Kawaii Café can be reached up a flight of stairs and a covered auto teleport provides access to Kawaii City II. The café and the teleport require acceptance of the local experience order to reach / use either one, whilst the structures around the entrance and the street provide a mix of façades, places to sit, eateries and places with casual role-lay might take place.
Kawaii City II, February 2023
Further south, the street narrows to pass through a narrow, arched neck to become a warren of alleyways rising and descending, each with its own little attractions and the occasional dead-end.
The landing point for Kawaii City II sits alongside a small café at the edge of what appears to be an industrial complex of some description. Pipes run overhead and alongside the waters as they are channelled away from a large pool that sits as a barrel blocking the way forward. However, a freight elevator running horizontally on rails offers a way across the water for those who wish to explore further, and who may as a result find their way to a subterranean club. Alternatively, metal steps rise to an elevated walkway which also spans the water; beyond it, raised roads and alleys run between buildings and places of business, most of which are, like those in Kawaii City, façades which form backdrops for potential photography and / or role-play.
Kawaii City, February 2023
A single street opens off of the industrial complex, but doesn’t run far, wedged as it is between more façades. However, looks can be deceptive: those who look will find the entrance to a bar which looks like it might have send the Mandolorian walk into it. Close by, the narrow neck of an alley leads the way to where a decidedly deco-looking frontage of an old radio hall theatre has clearly seen better days. Another alley provides access to a further upper level forming an L-shaped brace of alleys in which RP might take place and where one might find the auto-teleport connecting it with Kawaii City.
I’m purposefully not saying too much more about the locations, as explorers and photographer will doubtless find their own particular points of interest, and there are elements what are better explored than described. Suffice it to say, Kawaii City and Kawaii City II make for an interesting diversion and offer the potential for a range of casual role-play activities.
[/url] by [url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/inara-pey/]Inara Pey[/url], on Flickr)
Inara Pey: Living in a Modemworld 