Tag: Art 2019

Open through until November 23rd 2019 at Ce Soir Arts, curated and operated by Mireille and Ǣon Jenvieve-Woodford, is the Mad Masquerade art exhibition, another opportunity to enjoy a wealth of art among the galleries and grounds of this Full region devoted to the arts in Second Life. I admit to getting to this review a little on the late side – the accompanying season of live and spoken word events has come to an end -, but this doesn’t lessen the value in visiting Ce Soir to enjoy the art on display.

This year’s event comprises some twenty-two 2D and 3D artists displaying their work, and if that sounds a lot to take in, then worry not; the fact that the entire region is given over to displaying art means the art is neatly split up over all of the ground-level space, offering plenty of opportunities to wander, relax and come across art quite unexpectedly within the grounds as well as the gallery buildings, so there’s never a feeling of being overwhelmed by the volume of art on offer.

The featured artists at the exhibition comprise:

Cote de la Mer Gallery: Isabel Hermano, JudiLynn India, Larke Longmeadow, Xirana Oximoxi and Mathilde Vhargon.

Ivy Tower Galerie: Dolph Beornssen, Carlotta Caewlin, Paula Cloudpainter, Xanthe Firehawk, Secret Rage and Michael Romani.

Misty Glen Gallery: Carlotta Caewlin, Sophie Dunn, Mireille Jenvieve, Larke Longmeadow and Liam Saxony, together with a machinina by Terra Merhyem. Click the board outside the gallery space to obtain note card with the URL to the video on Vimeo.

In addition, the following artists can be found throughout the grounds – just follow the paths and tracks, or go where your feet lead you: CybeleMoon, TaraAers, Terra Merhyem, H0n2a-Resident, Viktor Savior, Jojo Songlark, and Skyspinner Soulstar. As well as the featured artists, works by Bryn Oh, Russell Eponym, Garvie Garzo (and possibly others I may have missed) can be found in the region’s grounds.

Given this is an exhibition held around Halloween, some of the art offered focuses on the ghostly, with touches here and there of witches, but there is also a fabulous diversity of art from Second Life, from the physical world and from digital media that is a joy to view and experience.

As well as the SLurls to the main exhibition spaces above, all of which are linked via path and track, allowing for easy exploration, a good place to start when visiting Ce Soir is the main landing point, particularly who may not have visited the region previously, and offered in the primary SLurl at the end of this piece. Details of all events at the region can be found through joining the region’s group or via the Ce Soir website.

Richly diverse, located throughout the fantasy inspired Ce Soir landscape, Mad Masquerade is a wonderful mix of art.

SLurl Details

• Ce Soir Main landing point (Ce Soir, rated Moderate)

Now open at Melusina Parkin’s gallery space, located above her Melu Deco store, is her latest exhibition, Cars. It is a small, cosy exhibition of a dozen pieces focused – as the name suggests – on cars. Or more specifically, cars in Second Life.

In keeping with Melu’s approach to her art, these are not simple studies of motor vehicles; Melu has an eye for detail and angle, and this is much in evidence in these pieces.

So, rather than presenting us with what might be regarded as “traditional” shots of cars – side views, three-quarter front or back views, etc., Melu presents us with images in which the framing and background is as important as the vehicle itself, or where the car is presented in unusual circumstances. Nor are these bright shiny models: Melu offers shots of vehicles that have seen better days.

The result is a collection of images where the vehicles depicted within them are more than just cars, they are characters, and the pictures containing them are studies of their nature. It’s an elegant series, each beautifully presented and with a story within it.

As well as Cars, visitors to the exhibition space can also view a copy of Melusina’s Second Life Exhibits, a gorgeous collection of her exhibitions between 2011 and 2019. Just click on the book and follow the web link.

SLurl Details

• Melusina Parkin – Cars (Time Portal, rated General)

EXTRAprimitives is a new art installation by Nevereux that is open through until the end of November 2019, thanks to the sponsorship of Dreamseeker Estates. A semi-immersive installation, it is a multi-faceted piece that has been through a long gestation period, rooted in the idea of offering a piece intended to be largely theme-free, as Nevereux explains in her introductory notes to the exhibit:

EXTRAprimitives – a project I started in April 2018, initiated for fun and with no great theme in mind, a project I wouldn’t be doing without the support of people* who believe in art. Personally, I believe in love.

– Nevereux, introducing EXTRAprimitives

Interestingly however, the installation opens with a “Manifesto” – or perhaps commentary might be a better term – that revolves around a series of observations on life, offered in a semi-cryptic manner. As one progresses through the installation, it is evident that those cryptic messages are evident as observations within EXTRAprimitives. They exist as a thread, rather than theme, that gently runs through the broader tapestry of pieces, coming to the fore here and there before slipping quietly back into the weave before again coming to the fore.

The best way to describe the installation is perhaps as a series of vignettes and displays. Some are defined within walled display spaces; others stand free on the walls. Each vignette or display is unique unto itself, with many offering a celebration of the creative potential within SL, again as Nevereux noted to me in conversation:

There is a bit of everything because when I started [I had] this idea [of] was what can I do with a cube and a sphere. Sadly, [due to space limitations] this is only half of the collection. I sacrificed the straight cube and sphere ones for the more interesting or meaningful ones.

So it is that EXTRAPrimitives offers an extraordinary richness of content from the more light-hearted (notably among the signs on along the back wall of the installation – although several of these also provoke the grey matter between the ears into cogitating –  through to the completely psychedelic Healing – which those who find moving lights and / or are prone to motion sickness should enter with care (and you should enter the piece with your avatar and draw your camera full inside Healing’s “box” to appreciate it properly).

The commentary on modern life can be found threaded throughout the installation within pieces such as Evolution, with it’s very clear Apple Inc., reference, Nothing Is All White and Inner Mechanism. Sometimes, as with these pieces, the reference is clear; elsewhere it is more subtle – such as with In A Bar, where the emptiness of the bar setting references the lack of genuine socialising modern life encourages.

Similarly, the piece reflecting Joy Division’s Unknown Pleasures perhaps references the punk / Goth movements a lot less than it does the album becoming something of an anthem of the digital “social” age (e.g. as reflected in its use within the likes of Ready Player One), and so again underscores the shallowness in eschewing face-to-face social interaction in favour of the structured artificiality of virtual socialising.

Some of the pieces also offer a broader commentary on life. Feelings, for example appears to highlight the advertiser’s peddling of the idea that a genuine emotional response can be obtained via a can of soda. Meanwhile Fine Line points a finger at the collapse of social leadership with a clear reference to current politics, while Love Hate illustrates, perhaps the slow erasure of the separation between civility and incivility in society.

There is also something of a personal statement here as well: EXTRAprimitives might be considered Nevereux’s legacy to Second Life arts, as she indicated to me that for her, the platform is perhaps not what it used to be and the time is ripe to turn her attention to pastures new, although she will continue to cheer the work of other artists. If true, this additionally makes a visit to the installation something not to be missed.

However you look at EXTRAPrimitives, it is richly expressive and engaging, with wonderful layering throughout that is likely to have you looking at the various pieces more than once as the brain cells start contemplating ideas, themes and constructs. As noted, it will remain open through until November 30th, 2019.

SLurl Details

• EXTRAprimitives (Sunshine Meadows, rated Moderate)

La Maison d’Aneli, curated by Aneli Abeyante, opened its November 2019 ensemble exhibition on October 30th, once again offering a rich mix of art.

The featured artists for this exhibition comprise IndigoClaire, Gitu Aura, Beertje Beaumont, Senka Beck, Treacle Darlandes, Lala Lightfool and Norton Lykin. With the exception of Treacle Darlandes’ Undiscovered Planet / La Serre, the individual exhibits primarily focus on 2D art.

Beertje Beaumont and Lala Lightfool present their physical world art, with some very different pieces on offer.  Lala presents a display entitled Flowers, a series of watercolour paintings of trees and flowers, some of which are conventionally presented – trees in fields, flowers in pots, while others are more abstract in nature.

For her part, Beertje presents a series of pieces that share a floral theme with Lala’s. However, Beertje prefers working in acrylics, often working them over a layer of sand and gesso. As shown in a number of pieces offered here, this gives them a marvellous textured look that is particularly effective given their subject matter.

With her installation, Senka Beck presents Detoxomania, Reboot, which she describes as her “individualistic version” of her collaboration Detoxomania, presented at La Maison d’Aneli in 2018 (see: Abstract and surreal in Second Life). This is a piece that must be viewed with Advanced Lighting Model enabled (Preferences → Graphics) and with local sounds enabled, presenting a mix of 2D and 3D elements that are best experienced rather than described.

IndigoClaire and Gitu Aura present exhibits that predominantly focus on avatar studies, while Norton’s exhibit comprises a series of pieces intended to be reflections on nature, love, perception and cognition.

Eclectic, diverse and rich in presentation and colour, this is another intriguing selection of art.

SLurl and Links

• la Maison d’Aneli Gallery (VeGeTal PLaNeT, Oak Park, rated Moderate)
• la Maison d’Aneli in this blog