Tag: Art 2014

The ghosts of castles past

Posted on by Inara Pey

Ghost Castle

During my SL travels, I may have mentioned I have a love of castles. So when I learned that Fuschia Nightfire, in association with Italian Square Gallery & Tanalois Art, was opening a new installation which takes England’s once mighty Corfe Castle as its inspiration, I was immediately intrigued.

Corfe Castle was established by William the Conquer in the 11th Century to command a gap in the Purbeck hills of Dorset (where Fuschia also lives in RL), and it was one of the earliest castles in England to be built using stone when the majority were built with earth and timber.

During a long and distinguished history, it served as both a royal fortress and later as a private residence. However, loyal to the crown in the English Civil War, the castle was besieged by Parliamentarian forces and eventually betrayed from within in 1645. Following its capture, Parliament voted to have it demolished, leaving a striking set of ruins atop the hill where it once stood.

Corfe Castle, Dorset (image: The National Trust)

Ghost Castle, Fuschia’s new installation, which opened on Wednesday April 16th, presents an interactive means of exploring a Norman castle. From the landing point, the visitor – assuming not too many people are already exploring – is presented with the castle ruins much as Corfe is seen today.

Ghost Castle as it appears in ruins
Ghost Castle as it appears in ruins

However, as you draw close to the ruins, things start to happen, with the gate house and curtain walls materializing before you, presenting vistas of the castle as it may have appeared in its heyday. As you pass by them, climbing up towards the keep, they fade away again, new sections of the castle appearing as you pass over or through them.

But as you approach, parts of it are slowly restored as they materise before you
But as you approach, parts of it are slowly restored as they materialize before you

The nature of the installation does make navigation a little difficult, as elements of the castle are necessarily phantom. This being the case, I recommend walking up to the curtain walls and then flying up to and around Henry 1’s great keep. Make sure – as the introductory notes at the landing point advise – that you have draw distance up relatively high and have set RenderVolumeLod (debug settings in the viewer) to around 4.00; both will be necessary for camming out to get good views of the castle.

Work with other visitors, or go in a small group, and you can reveal more of the oritinal structure
Work with other visitors, or go in a small group, and you can reveal more of the original structure

This is a novel and interaction way at viewing historical pieces in Second Life, one which could offer significant opportunities for things like educational recreations. It’s also an installation worth getting a small group together to visit, or while spending time working in cooperation with other visitors is worthwhile, so that you can work together to render more of the various elements of the castle simultaneously and so get more of a feel for how it might once have looked.

If there are enough of you, the full reichness of the castle might eventually be revealed
If there are enough of you, the full richness of the castle might eventually be revealed

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Insanity: inside the Country of the Mind

Posted on by Inara Pey
Insanity
Insanity

In his novel Queen of Angels, set at the close of 2047, Greg Bear explores the concept of what he calls, “the Country of the Mind”. This, Bear postulates, is the “ground” for all our thoughts. A kind of virtual reality landscape within us where our “big and little selves” – the personality routines which make up the conscious self, and all of the partial personalities and talents which operate alongside and within our primary personality – reside.  It is a place that can be shaped and refined by those different aspects of our personality as they variously work together or come into dominance – or conflict with one another.

Where the mind is healthy, and the personalities and talents are integrated, the Country of the Mind can be a place of beauty; but where there is illness or damage, and personalities and talents are in flux or chaos, the Country can be  altogether different, the landscape less harmonious, the scenes and images within it more discordant.

Insanity
Insanity

Cherry Manga’s Insanity, now open at Per4mance MetaLES may, for some, be an uncomfortable subject. It is an attempt to study the inner workings of a damaged mind; how or why it is damaged – by illness, age, drugs or whatever – isn’t important. The focus is on what occurs within it: the conflicts, confusion, moments of clarity, frustration, and the sense of being somehow broken.

As such it is an intense, sometimes disquieting installation; but it is also deeply compelling, emotive and, at times, quite beautiful.

Insanity
Insanity

Set against a bleak, rolling landscape and under a rolling sky, sit a series of vignettes, each striking in its content and message. Some are static, others feature motion while yet others have sections that appear and disappear like shattered – or perhaps unwanted – thoughts. All have their own story to convey – the meaning of which is down to the visitor to interpret. Symbolism is strong here, emotions seep through the landscape and through the pieces (do be sure to have local sounds enabled when visiting).

Insanity
Insanity

To me, Insanity is a powerful visualisation of Bear’s Country of the Mind as it might be manifested by a mind in conflict with itself, and as a visitor, I am cast into the role of therapist, seeking to explore and understand – and, eventually, to help. The various scenes and images presented here seem very much to be the “little selves”, the partial personalities and talents, in disarray, each seeking expression or perhaps the comfort of the control of a primary self. a place where amidst the chaos there is still the memory – or hope – of compassion and love.

Insanity
Insanity

Insanity is an evocative piece, haunting and moving at one and the same time. As mentioned towards the top of this piece, it may not sit easy with some – but that doesn’t detract from the fact it is well worth a visit.

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A Little Village walk

Posted on by Inara Pey

Little Village, March 2014Little Village, March 2014 – click any image for full size

Cica Ghost officially opened her latest installation at  12:00 noon SLT on Thursday March 6th. This blog post was supposed to be a preview; then that thing call real life occurred…

Anyway, anyone who enjoys Cica’s creations is going to love Little Village. “Delight” barely covers one’s reaction on seeing this marvellous collection of whimsical houses with wobbly chimneys, huddled together in little groups or standing alone, some on level ground, others precariously straddling little hills.

Little Village, March 2014Little Village, March 2014

These are houses with character, their shapes seemingly lifted from a children’s cartoon and made real, each with its own unique character and colour (some could perhaps do with a lick of paint!), all of them vying for your attention; indeed, when camming over some of the little groups, it isn’t too hard to imagine them jostling one another for position, trying to catch your eye.

Between and around them are trees and plants, little footpaths running here and there – and nowhere in particular – while rickety fences dot the landscape. There’s a simple, glorious charm to the entire setting, one which belies the care and detail put into the work. Can you spot the cats in the windows, or find places to sit and watch the world go by?

Little Village, March 2014Little Village, March 2014

I understand from talking to Ziki Questi that Erythro Asimov provided the region so that Cica could build her Little Village, so we him a vote of thanks for doing so, just as Cica deserves a word or two of thanks as well for once more sharing her whimsy with us.

But don’t just take my word for it, go see for yourself; you’re sure to find yourself smiling.

Little Village, March 2014Little Village, March 2014

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Upon reaching a singularity

Posted on by Inara Pey

The Singularity of Kumiko, February 2014The Singularity of Kumiko – Click to see all images full size

Bryn Oh opened her latest immersive piece The Singularity of Kumiko on Friday February 14th – and believe me when I tell you, it is something you are really not going to want to miss.

It’s an amazing piece, demonstrating the visual  and intellectual power evident in Second Life as a medium for expression, art, discussion on the nature of death and the potential to live beyond it, and for creating an immersive, involving narrative.

The essentials lie within in communications involving two people, Kumiko and Iktomi, who are an ocean apart. Some of these (from Iktomi) come solely in the form of messages in a bottle, while some of those from Kumiko take the form of the spoken word as well a bottled missives.

The Singularity of Kumiko, February 2014The Singularity of Kumiko

These have a strange dynamic which immediately draws one into the story, making one a part of it. The discussion revolves around loss (and being lost), the potential for immortality (of a kind) which Iktomi appears to have perhaps embraced and tried to have Kumiko to do likewise, perhaps almost desperately so, although how or why – or what has happened is something which must be pieced together.

I say “pieced together” because the narrative is entirely non-linear. The exchanges between the two are scattered across the region, and one must discover fragments through exploration and discovery of the bottles (and where present as well, the microphones), which are to be found in small vignettes and scenes through the region, some of which are almost connected by broken roads, while others are linked by narrow passageways or sit on open plains or within the house you’ll (eventually!) find.

The Singularity of Kumiko, February 2014The Singularity of Kumiko

This may sound easy; but trust me, it is not.  Bryn has created an environment that is very, very dark, and visitors are reliant upon a headlamp and points of local light. The result is that you almost have to feel your way around the installation, distant points of light drawing you forward until a scene appears in front of you, like a sudden flash of memory in the darkness or a connection with … something … In this way, Bryn powerfully draws you into Kumiko’s world and her condition – although precisely what her condition is may not be apparent. This is also intentional; you are on a journey of discovery, one in which you very much become a part of the story itself.

Be warned, however. This is also a dangerous place. Just as death, and survival beyond it, form a part of the exchanges between Kumiko and Iktomi, so to can you experience both in your travels. Damage is enabled, and “death” can be visited upon you by an aggressive rabbit called Mr. Zippers”.  Once a much-loved toy from Kumiko’s past, offering her protection (comfort), Mr Zippers is here transformed into something far more physically protective of her. Listen-out for the squeaking wheel in the darkness and get ready to run …

The Singularity of Kumiko, February 2014The Singularity of Kumiko – watch out for Mr. Zippers!

Imagery throughout the installation is incredibly powerful and multi-faceted. Not only is it in the extraordinary exchanges between Kumiko and Iktomi (some of which are beautifully brought to life through the voice of Jenna Stillman (Akonia Resident) as well as through Bryn’s writing) and the vignettes one encounters while exploring, it is also in the soundscape one experiences whilst exploring; there is even reference to Bryn’s earlier work, Imogen and the Pigeons. Together these help give one a sense of familiarity with Kumiko (through exposure to Imogen), whilst also immersing us further into Kumiko’s world and situation.  similarly, the title of the piece and the use of the term “singularity” suggests multiple approaches to the work, depending upon whether own looks at the word in terms of complex analysis, natural sciences, literary studies, technology or science-fiction.

To be enjoyed to the fullest, you’ll need to set-up your viewer in accordance with the instructions given at the arrival point. Note that having the Advanced Lighting Model option in Preferences > Graphics is preferred (although you don’t need to have shadows enabled as well). This may impact the performance of some low-end systems, but if you can manage it, your experience in seeing the various elements of the build will be greatly enhanced.

The Singularity of Kumiko, February 2014The Singularity of Kumiko

Bryn has done much to try to reduce lag within the region as much as possible, up to and including limiting the numbers allowed in at any given time to just 10-15, something which means you may not get a successful TP to the region at times, but which also further heightens the sense of immersion, as you’re less likely to bump into others.

Several people have helped Bryn bring this piece to life; they are listed in an acknowledgement posted in the arrival area. They should all feel justifiably proud of their input into this piece. Without wishing to overstate matters, it really is remarkable.

This most definitely is not one to be missed.

The Singularity of Kumiko, February 2014The Singularity of Kumiko

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Visiting the Visitors

Posted on by Inara Pey
The Visitors
The Visitors

The Lost Town – La Città Perduta – has some new temporary residents waiting to meet you. The Visitors is a new piece  by Cica Ghost which features some twenty-ish of her popular cartoon-like stick figures scattered around the streets, alleys and buildings of the town.

This time in colour, the figures are a pretty happy bunch, despite the rain, all going about their lives under the guardianship (for the most part, at least) of umbrellas held over their heads. Couples stand hand-in-hand or kiss, individuals are walking their dogs – and perhaps use the walks as an excuse to meet – or stand as if waiting for a friend or loved one.

The Visitors
The Visitors

Finding all of these quirky characters may take a little time; not all are out on the streets, but may be watching from windows or standing on balconies, while one determinedly rides his bicycle into the wind and rain, scarf flapping behind him.

There’s an innocence about these creations which is both charming and somewhat at odds with their surroundings with its old buildings, some in a bad state of repair, and its crashed and overturned vehicles. It’s a creative juxtaposition of moods, in which Cica notes her characters, “with their colorful energy, and open the windows of the Lost Town La Città Perduta on the sensitive and poetic vision of their creator.”

The Visitors
The Visitors

When visiting, do be aware that it can take a handful of seconds for the characters to render. There’s a lot going on in the region (including the rain!), so do give these charming people a little extra time to show you their smiles.

The Visitors officially opens at 13:00 SLT on Friday, February 7th.

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