Art and nature in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
Club L.A. and Gallery – Sue Kass

Somewhat unusually for this blog, I’m covering three exhibitions of art split across two galleries – Club L.A. and Kiku Gallery  – that between them presents three very individual displays of art by Second Life artists, and which are each small enough to make a joint interesting and contrasting visit for those who enjoy art in Second Life.

Opening at L.A. Club and Gallery, curated by Wintergeist, on September 28th, 2019 and running for approximately two months are exhibitions by Maloe Vansant Sue Kass, two very different artists.

Club L.A. and Gallery – Maloe Vansant

Maloe is always a provocative in her work, and with A Glitch in Time, she again shows this to be the case, with a very mixed set of predominantly physical word photographs – and I have to be honest, I’m not entirely sure what to make of them. This is something I say without any intention to be dismissive towards the exhibition, but simply because the mix of images offered is so diverse, it really needs individual viewing and contemplation, rather than any attempt to understand them through the eyes of another.

Sue Kass, meanwhile, is an artist I’ve not previously encountered. She presents a selection of 16 avatar studies offered as a mix of photographs, paintings and drawings. I have to admit, they make an engaging collection; each one captivates the eye, offering a perfectly framed image complete with the strong suggestion of a surrounding story; so much so that again, they deserve an direct visit to view, rather than a second-hand interpretation here. However, I will say I found myself drawn to those pieces that suggest a drawing or watercolour – notably Fall, Hug and Flowers, seen below, and Ink.

Club L.A. and Gallery – Sue Kass

Running through until November 8th, 2019 at the Kiku Gallery curated by Suzanne Logan is an exhibition of photography by Ktahdn Vesuvino entitled A Closer Look, a series of marvellous close-up images from the physical world captured using a digital single-lens reflex camera with (for the most part) a 100mm macro lens. These are combined with a small series of photographs of the most astonishing series of sand sculptures.

When I go for walks, I see most people with heads down, looking at their telephones. The world presents beauty in great detail, everywhere one chooses to look. I know there is also ugliness. It’s part of our reality. I choose to focus on things I see as being beautiful, and attempt to make a photograph that will show some of the beauty to others… and be worth looking at again.

Ktahdn Vesuvino, describing A Closer Look

Kiku Gallery – Ktahdn Vesuvino

This is another captivating collection of images, Ktahdn’s macro pictures offering a fabulous series of portraits, while those taken on the beach marvellously underline his comment about people being so focused on their smartphones they can literally miss life passing them by.

Taken together, and as I said at the top of this review, all three exhibitions make for individually absorbing visits.

Kiku Gallery – Ktahdn Vesuvino

SLurl Details

Second Life Blogger Network: an update from the Lab and some thoughts

Posted on by Inara Pey
via Linden Lab

Roughly 24 hours after the launch of the SL Bloggers Network – and which I reported on myself from the perspective of someone who helped with defining some aspects of the initiative prior to its launch – Linden Lab posted an update on the initiative, in which feedback by the Lab on the programme is given and concerns raised in various channels by bloggers and interested parties are addressed.

In Second Life Blogger Network Update – What’s Next?, the Lab reveals that the initial response has surprised them, and has caused something of a bottleneck:

Since our announcement of this new initiative yesterday, we’ve already had more than 100 bloggers opt-in! 

We’d like to extend a sincere “thank you” to all of the blogging community for the many years of coverage of Second Life culture, communities, creations, and, yes, even controversies …

We do ask for a bit of patience during our launch week as we sort through and strategize how to both efficiently and fairly review the many blogs who have opted-in. In all honesty, we’re a bit overwhelmed by the number of bloggers who have responded in the first 24 hours!

To be honest, the volume of potential material that might become available to the Lab and the challenge this would create was a concern I raised with LL ahead of the launch. When first discussed, the approach considered for SLBN was to have bloggers enrol and, after writing an publishing an article they believe might qualify for promotion by SLBN, submit a link to the post to LL so it can be reviewed and potentially promoted. I was, frankly, surprised when it was decided to go for a “simple” blanket opt-in, just because because I felt it would place a large volume of work on LL’s shoulders in trying to keep abreast of monitoring blogs and selecting posts for possible promotion.

This approach of letting bloggers submit links to articles to me had (and has) merit for a number of reasons:

  • It reduces the volume of potential posts that need almost daily review.
  • It could allow time-limited articles on events, etc., come to LL’s attention sooner than might otherwise be the case, and so get promoted in a timely manner.
    • While it may be a somewhat atypical situation given it was the launch of the programme, the initial post selected from my own blog in some ways evidences this: referring as it does to a series of events, the majority of which had already taken place by the time the post was listed.
  • Most importantly: it eliminates certain anxieties and concerns bloggers may have about opting-in to the process in the first place, including:
    • Fear that being critical of LL or SL could see them disbarred from the programme.
    • Concern that – and despite statements by the Lab otherwise –  in order to participate in the programme, bloggers must change their overall approach to and style of blogging (tone only might need to be adjusted when consciously opting to submit an article for consideration for SLBN promotion).
    • The general concern that by participating, bloggers have the “big brother” of LL constantly looking over their shoulder, monitoring all of their output.

The anxieties / concern are particularly worth referencing here, because as can be seen in the Lab’s September 27th Update post, they have already been raised by bloggers – and they could continue to be of concern for bloggers learning about SLBN in the future.

By having an additional level of “opt-in” through link submission, the Lab potentially helps reduce such anxieties and underlines the freedom bloggers retain in writing posts and determining where they might have them promoted. Further, such an approach might help limit the (inevitable?) incorrect claims that the initiative is just about “LL trying to control the SL blogging community”.

That said, I’m not advocating the Lab should change the approach to SLBN submissions right now; we are, after all, only 48 hours into the programme, and hopefully some of the challenges the Lab faces will diminish somewhat as they gain greater familiarity with the blogs opting-in to the programme. However, I do think it is an option that is kept in mind such problems of volume and the timely review and promotion of posts does continue to be a problem.

In the meantime, those bloggers who have not familiarised themselves with the SLBN initiative and who wish to do so, can follow the links below:

A Hazardous return in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
Hazardous, September 2019 – click any image for full size

We often lament the passing of an established Second Life region; when the news breaks, there are always questions of why and voices of regret. So when the reverse happens, and a long-time favourite returns to Second Life, it’s only right we should celebrate and give cheer – and that’s certainly the case with Hazardous, which re-opened its doors to the public on September 21st, 2019.

Designed and presented by Mandingo Quan, Hazardous was a unique region design when I first visited it far back in 2013, and it remains genuinely so with its re-opening in 2019.

Hazardous, September 2019

For those who remember the region of old, Hazardous still presents its familiar horseshoe plateau of an island rising on sheer cliffs and cut through to its heart by a deep gorge. It is a setting that intentionally sets itself aside from other regions in it looks, as travellers who perhaps have not had the opportunity to visit previously will quickly see.

I’ve been really blessed to have gotten so much positive feedback. Frankly I was one of those who would often talk about the older sims disappearing without realising that mine was one! What really surprised me is we opened up on around two hours notice and we had over 50 avatars arrive, it was really humbling; and the old faces I see now, it really is good to see people back.

– Mandingo Quan discussing the return of Hazardous

Hazardous, September 2019

Much within it remains true to the original: the minimalistic beauty of the U-shaped plateau; the novel means of reaching it from the landing point; the curving stone steps awaiting discovery as they curl down to the waters below. But there are subtle changes: while the landing point retains its novel “teleport” down to the island proper (left-click to stand on the flagstone and enjoy the animation!), the keen-eyed may notice the bathtub has vanished, whilst down on the ground, a new open-air event space sits a short walk from where incoming visitors land.

The latter, Mandingo informed me, is being looked after by Rara Destiny and Grace McDunnough, two talented live performers in their own right, and who will doubtless be holding sets at Hazardous (indeed, Rara sang at the opening on September 21st). For the coming weekend they have a very special performance taking place: ColorfulQuiet (aka CQ or CQ Bravin) is returning to Second Life after a 6-year hiatus and will be appearing at Hazardous on Saturday, September 28th, starting at 14:00 SLT, kicking-off his Love Tour.

Hazardous, September 2019

While the landscaping up on the plateau might be – as I’ve said – beautifully minimalistic, there is actually a lot to see in Hazardous; some of which might be easily missed if not looked for. The most obvious to be seen is the gorge and the board walk winding through it from open mouth to circular well and the river house that sits therein. A cross between café and artist’s studio, the house offers a quiet retreat from the world above – but it is not all that resides in the gorge.

Others, however, are a little harder to find. Take the steps down to the water I mentioned above. These might require a little more vigilance in order to be found. However, the care is worth it as what lies just beyond the gates at the foot of the stairs is worth the visit.

Hazardous, September 2019

In fact, camming over the sides of the cliffs is recommended during a visit, as there are a number of touches around the periphery of the island that might well otherwise be missed. Careful mousing over things is also advised. Doing so might well reveal a hidden spot within the island that awaits discovery – although getting back might also require a little careful camming.

With its subtle sound scape and ability to suit almost any windlight environment, Hazardous has always been a delight to visit and photograph, and it is an absolutely pleasure to see it back in Second Life once more and available for people to enjoy.

Hazardous, September 2019

SLurl Details

2019 SL User Groups 39/2: Content Creation summary

Posted on by Inara Pey
Alternate Reality, August 2019 – blog post

The following notes are taken from my audio recording of the Content Creation User Group (CCUG) meeting, held on Thursday, September 26th 2019 at 13:00 SLT. These meetings are chaired by Vir Linden, and agenda notes, meeting SLurl, etc, are usually available on the Content Creation User Group wiki page.

This was a shorter than usual meeting.

ARCTan

Project Summary

An attempt to re-evaluate object and avatar rendering costs to make them more reflective of the actual impact of rendering both. The overall aim is to try to correct some inherent negative incentives for creating optimised content (e.g. with regards to generating LOD models with mesh), and to update the calculations to reflect current resource constraints, rather than basing them on outdated constraints (e.g. graphics systems, network capabilities, etc).

Current Status

Work is continuing on getting the logging and analysis elements of the project up and running. Right now the (in-development) test viewer is described and pouring out a lot of “gibberish” on frame draw rates and all of the attributes in a scene, and the idea is to try to pull this together into a predictive model that is more accurate than the current rendering cost model.

Project Muscadine

Project Summary

Currently: offering the means to change an Animesh size parameters via LSL.

Status

  • Largely on hold while ARCTan is being focused on.
  • A bug whereby physics parameters weren’t being correctly applied has been resolved and a fix should be available in the next viewer update.
    • The default viewer-size avatar animations (fidgets, eye tracking, etc), were disabled for Animesh and have not been re-enabled, this update only applies to physics params.

Environment Enhancement Project

Project Summary

A set of environmental enhancements (e.g. the sky, sun, moon, clouds, and water settings) to be set region or parcel level, with support for up to 7 days per cycle and sky environments set by altitude. It uses a new set of inventory assets (Sky, Water, Day), and includes the ability to use custom Sun, Moon and cloud textures. The assets can be stored in inventory and traded through the Marketplace / exchanged with others, and can additionally be used in experiences.

Due to performance issues, the initial implementation of EEP will now likely not include certain atmospherics such as crepuscular rays (“God rays”).

Resources

Current Status

  • A new graphics resource – Euclid Linden – joined Linden Lab last week. He is currently finding his way around the rendering system and will be working on EEP in the near future.
  • A further graphics expert is due to start with LL in the next month, and once up to speed, they will also be lending support to EEP.

General Notes

  • Script breakage: there have been a number of reports filed concerning script breakage recently (see: BUG-227669,  BUG-277667 and BUG-227659 for examples). The reports have been noted by the Lab but have yet to be triaged
  • The next CCUG meeting will be on Thursday, October 10th.

The Museum of Fine Arts in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
Museum of Fine Arts

If you’re into fine and classical art, then you are going to want to drop in to the Museum of Fine Arts in Second Life. I confess, I knew little of the museum prior to recently receiving an invitation from Tonem, the museum’s curator to pay them a visit, so I was delighted to be able to accept the offer and learn about the gallery.

Originally founded in Twinity in 2013, the museum moved to Second Life in 2015, where it is located on the Mainland continent of Jeogeot, occupying a palatial and very fitting château (the work of Kaya Angel) that provides 20 rooms of exhibition space, with a further annex to the rear.

Museum of Fine Arts

The goal of the museum is to provide a non-profit educational facility displaying art from the physical world. Each piece presented in the exhibition spaces is a faithful photographic representation of the originating art, with care taken to ensure only pieces that reside in the public domain in their country of origin are reproduced, and that they free from known restrictions under copyright law, including all related and neighbouring rights.

When the group was founded [2013] there was a debate on the kind of art to include. And the conclusion to not exhibit user created art was for three reasons: the difficulty of establishing provenance; the lack of expertise [at the time] regarding modern art in our group; and the fact that there are many, many art galleries in Second life presents in-world artists and photographers with the ability to display their work, but only a handful available for exhibiting fine and classical art from the physical world.

– Tonem, describing the background to the Museum

As an advocate for the presentation of suitable physical-world art through Second Life, the museum’s focus is something I approve. SL provides the means to create exhibitions that can bring together a wealth of established art from around the globe and present it to an audience in a manner impossible win the physical world without the need for what could amount to a lot of globe-trotting; while for the modern artist in the physical world, it offers the means to reach a global audience in a more immersive and personal manner than images on a web page.

Museum of Fine Arts: German Art in the 19th Century – Caspar David Friedrich

This first point above is particularly true of the current exhibitions at the museum; there is no way on Earth the rich diversity of pieces offered could have been brought together by a single gallery in the physical world. Nor does it end there. Great lengths have been taken to ensure a visit to the Museum of Fine Art is as “real” as possible.

The two exhibitions currently in progress are German Art in the 19th Century, which represents the gallery’s main autumn / winter 2019 exhibit, and Marie Bracquemond One of the Grand Dames of Impressionism, running through until October 22nd, 2019. Each demonstrate the care taken in presenting the art in the museum: the images are correctly scaled one to the next, whilst each has its own information card, a-la a physical world museum. For those who prefer, images can also be left-clicked to have the information text displayed in local chat.

Museum of Fine Arts: German Art in the 19th Century – Adolph Menzel

German Art in the 19th Century includes a wealth of introductory information in the museum’s foyer, and I recommend viewing it before progressing through the gallery’s halls. In all, some 34 German painters are represented, with over 200 individual pieces of art faithfully reproduced. The exhibit follows the evolution of German art from the romantic period (late 18th and early 19th centuries) through to the period of German Expressionism in the early 20th century. There is no set path through the exhibit, But given the volume of art, I would recommend setting aside time to genuinely appreciate it, as it has taken a lot of time and effort to pull things together, as Tonem notes:

Of course, because we can use almost anything in the public domain also makes it more of a challenge! The museum did a lot of small exhibits focusing on particular parts of movements or periods, but the didactic value seemed minimal. Something sweeping like this should be much more valuable to people learning about art – but it was a tremendous amount of work to bring it all together!

Museum of Fine Arts: Marie Bracquemond

The exhibit celebrating the art of Marie Bracquemond can be found in the annex to the rear of the museum, on the Lindal Kidd terrace (Lindal is someone who over the years has leant support and assistance to the gallery).

Alongside Berthe Morisot and Mary Cassatt, Madame Bracquemond is regarded as one of les trois grandes dames of the French impressionist movement. This is a much smaller exhibit, as one might expect given the focus on a single artist, but the works offered within it are again presented with the same care to detail and scale. At the time of my visit, some finishing touches had yet to be made (including the introduction to the exhibition), but this shouldn’t put people off – should you want to find out about Marie Bracquemond, Google is your friend.

Museum of Fine Arts: Marie Bracquemond

The Museum of Fine Arts is a gem of a gallery museum in Second Life, and I thoroughly recommend it to all who have an interest in physical world fine and classical art. I’d also like to thank Tonem for her time with me during my visit, and I look forward to returning in the future and writing about further exhibitions at the gallery.

SLurl Details

Second Life: Blogger Network launches

Posted on by Inara Pey
via Linden Lab

There’s been much curiosity over the last few days about the Second Life Blogger Network (SLBN), and I can now help pass on more information about the initiative – which, alongside two other bloggers and Lab staff, I’ve been able to play a modest role in helping to shape.

Officially launched on Thursday, September 26th, SLBN is intended to be a referral service for bloggers producing high-quality, independent blog content to have their work promoted by Linden Lab through a new curated SLBN feed on the Second Life Community Pages and via Linden Lab’s high-visibility Second Life social media feeds and – in the future – on the Official Second Life Viewer log-in page.

How it works is simple and direct:

  • Interested bloggers review the SLBN Terms & Conditions and SLBN Content Guidelines.
  • If a blogger wishes to participate, they complete and submit the SLBN Submission Form to indicate their willingness to participate.
  • Linden Lab staff are then attentive to participating blogs, and when they see a post that is suitable for promotion, they will:
    • Produce a short summary of the post, generally based on the opening few lines of the article, and which includes the first image in the post (if the article does not have any images, a “blog image” supplied by the blogger via the submission form will be used).
    • The summary and image is  then promoted to the curated SLBN feed and to the various Second Life social media channels, etc., together with a link back to the original article and blog.
  • Those reading the various feeds / channels can then click the link through to the article and blog, read it in full and perhaps explore the blog in more detail.

Content that might be considered suitable for promotion through the programme includes technical reports, destination reviews, reports on events (including music and entertainment events) emerging fashion trends, tips and tutorials, reports on Second Life news, and so on.

Those joining the initiative should note that:

  • Not every post from a blog will be promoted by Linden Lab: SLBN is intended to promote several entries during the week from the pool of participating bloggers, with content selected – as noted above – by Linden Lab.
  • Participation in the initiative is on an opt-in basis, free and – importantly – non-exclusive: bloggers can continue to write their own posts in their own style, and continue to use wherever social media, networks and in-world groups of their own to continue to promote their work.
  • However, there are certain standards Linden Lab are applying to the content they will consider for promotion. These are outlined in the SLBN Content Guidelines linked-to above, which should be kept in mind by participating bloggers when producing content they might hope to see promoted by the Lab.
  • Should a logger decide they no longer wish to participate, they can do so at any time using the SLBN submission form. Linden Lab will cease monitoring their blog for potential SLBN content.

The SLBN Badge

Those participating in SLBN can optionally display the SLBN badge (seen at the top of this article and on the blog sidebar to the right) in order to help promote the Second Life Blogger Network through their blog / website. Copies of the badge can be obtained here. When using it, bloggers are asked to:

  • Hyperlink the badge to the Second Life community pages.
  • Include the following statement directly below the badge: Use of the SLBN logo does not constitute approval by or a representation or endorsement from Linden Lab.

Where bloggers place the badge in their blogs is at their own discretion. Those using WordPress can add it using that platform’s image widget tool.

Personal Commentary

As noted, I’ve been somewhat involved in the development of SLBN since Linden Lab first sought feedback on the idea roughly a year ago, and more recently with two other bloggers in providing more direct feedback to the Lab ahead of this launch. Given this, I have a certain positive bias towards SLBN, aided by the fact that it is a referral service designed to help drive traffic to blogger’s sites (while obviously giving LL access to the kind of content that will help them promote Second Life).

How well the initiative works and what additional adjustment may be be made to it in light of things like the response to it, etc.,  will only become clear over time. My own bias aside, I do hope that overall, bloggers will respond positively, and I look forward to seeing how SLBN develops and the content it generates.

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