Officially opening at 12:00 noon on Sunday, August 8th, 2021, is the latest Kultivate Select ensemble exhibition, which takes place in the garden space of the Select Gallery.
The theme for the exhibition is Landscapes, and it features a number of artists who will be familiar to many, especially those who enjoy exhibitions at Kultivate’s galleries, as they are very much part of the Kultivate “family”, and one or two names that may not be so well-known, but who are equally deserving of space in the exhibition.
Those taking part comprise: aquarius27, Cutewillow Carlberg, Eucalyptus Carroll, Freedom Voix, Harmony Evergarden, Jamee Sandalwood, Johannes Huntsman, Moora McMillan, TaraAers, Vanessa Jane, Via Theas and Zia Branner.
Kultivate Select Gallery: TaraAers and Zia Branner
Set around the gallery’s grassy event space, each of the artists has an open-sided hut in which to display their art, presenting a summertime garden environment that fits the theme for the exhibition perfectly. Given the title of the event is “landscapes”, then it should come as no surprise that the majority of the pieces offered feature in-world locations, many of which will likely be instantly identified by the seasoned Second Life travellers whilst offered under a new light through the lenses of the artists.
The notable exceptions to this are Zia Branner, who presents another collection of her paintings that has something of a focus on her captivating coastal views, whilst Harmony Evergarden offers a set of reproductions of her eye-catching original watercolours. I admit that one of the latter (whilst perhaps not the intent of the artist) instantly carried me to the windswept coast of Northumberland, and the curving bay of sand that is watched over by the imposing bulk of Bamburgh Castle. Alongside of Harmony, John Huntsman offers a set from his Garden Collection which, I have to confess, held my attention as I could not determine if they were wholly original, or images from SL post-processed as paintings – or a mix of the two, such is the artistry in their presentation.
Kultivate Select Gallery: Vita Theas and Eucalyptus Carroll
The two-hour opening event will feature the music of Mimi Carpenter and Sarita Twisted, and the dress code is casual.
At the start of the week, I visited Sybil, one of two new installations by Giovanna Cerise that opened at the end of July 2021. In my review of that installation (see: Giovanna’s Sybil in Second Life), I noted that I would also be visiting her other installation as well (which actually opened the same day) – although time and circumstance has meant I’m actually getting to it later than I’d anticipated when writing about Sybil!
Doll’s House is one of several exhibitions to have opened recently at Aneli Abeyante’s La Maison d’Aneli complex in Second Life, and it is once again a signature piece by Giovanna, being both layered and tonal, presenting the visitor with what at first seems to be merely a room of sculptures, but which actually encourages us to think about what we’re seeing on a number of levels.
The room is clearly the Doll’s House of the title, and the sculptures – 3D renderings on humans caught in various situations / poses – the “dolls” within it. However, they are not rendered as dolls; rather they appear an monofilament meshes, their vertices and triangles all visible as they sit, lie, stand, balance precariously, the majority juggling or playing balancing tricks with one or more mesh balls.
Monochrome in nature – black vertices and white mesh faces, set within a monochrome house, the black, grey and white here and there broken by lines, dots and dashes of red and a single 2D red silhouette – the installation may at first appear to be random and without expression. However, this is far from the case.
La Maison d’Aneli: Giovanna Cerise – Doll’s House
Set on the walls of the lobby area just outside the installation, is large red sign with the invitation Touch for a Notecard. Doing so will present you with Giovanna’s thoughts on Doll’s House, which reveal it is an exercise in consideration:
House doll game irony objective balance precariousness obsession multitasking ephemeral presence absence alienation homologation fashion perfection risk superficiality smoothness narcissism socialization expression angle omnipresence ego story truth lie form oppression annihilation distortion violence choice impossible possible freedom slavery….
These are some of the words that came to mind while I was building, looking, modifying Doll’s House . My invitation [to you] is to leave a word on a notecard that you could then put in the lens. The word can be chosen from those that I have listed or linked to it or the one that comes to mind, freely, after viewing the installation.
The words you will leave will be the starting point for the development of a multifaceted artistic project that will create chains, intersections, overlaps, emotions, suggestions, visions, reflections. Thanks everyone for participating.
– Giovanna Cerise
Thus, Doll’s House might be seen as a means of opening the door for ideas that might be employed in an upcoming installation Giovanna is planning; an exercise in word-play, the characters within the house intended to spark our thinking. But might there be something more?
To me, the answer is clearly “yes” – although in saying so, I don’t want to sway people into feeling their thoughts and words must be trammelled by what I have to say here; those who wish to share in Giovanna’s work might therefore be best served by going to La Maison d’Aneli to witness and respond to it without the excess baggage of my own cogitations, and perhaps come back to this piece after doing so.
La Maison d’Aneli: Giovanna Cerise – Doll’s House
So, with that said, and my warning hopefully heeded, I’ll state that I could not help but find Giovanna’s list of words to be a reflection of life – both in the physical sense and the virtual. Each one can easily be applied to our moods, situations, circumstances, relationships, real and virtual, singular and collective, so much so that the list, wrapped as it is within Doll’s House, becomes a prompt for considered introspection on Life The Universe and Everything (but mostly life), the “dolls” of the piece the cues for us to consider who we are what we do, how we face situations, respond to the physical and mental condition / situation of those around us.
In presenting the figures in a mesh-like form, Giovanna seems to be encouraging us to consider these thoughts not just as they affect us in the physical world, but how we carry them – whether we accept this or not – with us into the virtual. Because at the end of the day, aren’t virtual environments like Second Life the ultimate doll’s house? Places where we can play dress-up, and make-believe, become what we wish – yet always carry with us that central essence of who we are? Are the not also a microcosm of life itself, in that howsoever we opt to utilise that trait we call “free will” does carry consequences, personal and potentially collective.
La Maison d’Aneli: Giovanna Cerise – Doll’s House
If one accepts this viewpoint, then might it not be fair to say that as well as an invitation to participate, Doll’s House is also presenting us with a very subtle mirrored glass rather than a simple lens; one that allows us to peek into Giovanna’s creativity whilst also seeing into our our lives and actions?
I’ll say nothing more, having possibly belaboured the point; but I do urge you to witness and consider Doll’s House for yourself, and for you to leave a word for Giovanna. Just take the teleporter from the gallery’s main landing point.
I have long been an admirer of the work of Giovanna Cerise, a 3D artist with a remarkable talent for creating both individual pieces and entire installations that are evocative, rich in narrative and which are often founded upon or intertwine (or both) themes, narratives and ideas from the physical world to present them through the lens of her imagination.
Absent for a time from Second Life, Giovanna made her return in 2020, and since then has been working on a number of projects – both new and retrospective. Two of these projects opened on July 31st, 2021, and this being the case I make no apologies for this being the first of two articles covering her work that will be appearing in these pages over the next two days.
Sybil, presented at Museum Island, offers Giovanna’s interpretation of the Cumaean Sibyl (“prophetess”), who was said to reside near Cumae, the first Greek colony to be founded on the Italian mainland (and now found within the city of Naples). Her legend became a focus of early Roman history thanks to the writings of Virgil (via his Aeneid VI), Ovid (in his Metamorphoses) and others.
Museum Island: Giovanna Cerise – Sybil
In particular, Virgil’s tales of the Sybil (together with an anonymous author) refer to her living within an unusual cave, a trapezoidal passage over 130 metres in length cut into a hill, ending in a chamber. Here, according to Virgil, she would prophesise by “singing the fates”, then write the results on oak leaves, which she would leave at the entrance to the cave. It is this cave – or passage – which forms the core of Giovanna’s Sybil, its entrance forming the landing point, where can be found a brief introduction.
Red figures line the tunnel, mostly likely those seeking insight into their lives and future through the words of the Sybil, whilst at its centre, she awaits in her chamber, ready to offer you her cryptic advice – but be warned: the Sybil of Cumae was famous for her prophesies often having two meanings, depending on how one chose to read them…
Museum Island: Giovanna Cerise – Sybil
Across the aisle from the crypt, is a statue of the Sybil, a somewhat ghostly form – reflective, perhaps on Ovid’s tale of her fate following her trickery with Apollo (and his with her). In return for allowing him to take her virginity, she asked him to grant her as long a life as the number of sand grains she could hold in one hand – only to then deny him once the wish was granted. Apollo, on the other hand, whilst granting her extraordinary longevity, did not also give her matching youth and health – because she did not ask for either. Thus, over time she aged, withered and faded, becoming a shadow, a voice in the darkness.
Along the hall containing the shadow sculpture of the Sybil are further pieces that both directly reference the Cumaean Sibyl – Enigma, referencing the duality of her words – and indirectly – Consumption, perhaps referencing the fact that we are all eventually consumed by the passage of time, just as the Sybil was in Ovid’s tale, and Illusion, which appears to reference the illusion of time’s own permanence. Then there is Lovers, perhaps representing the preciousness of life itself, and in taking what we are offered rather than losing it or wanting something more.
Museum Island: Giovanna Cerise – Sybil
Fascinating, rich in meaning and visual, Sybil is another engaging trip into legends and tales by an artist who is superb in her ability to interpret and present.
This article comes with an apology. A couple of months ago, Selen Minotaur invited me to pay a visit to to her latest endeavour, located in a small (4080 sq metre) parcel tucked into the corner of a Full region. Entitled SenKonscia, the parcel was introduced to me by Selen as “a place for photographers, dreamers, lovers of 3D art and surreal environments. It is unfinished – and will always remain unfinished, because I intend to add and change things regularly”.
Senkonscia is the Esperanto for “unconscious”, and is here used in the psychological definition of the word, rather than the medical, referencing that part of the mind said to lie beneath the subconscious; the home to the darker aspects of our personalities and the place where fears, feelings, and so on are repressed in an attempt to contain them, as well being as the repository of subliminal perceptions and automatic reactions. It’s the part of the mind we’re never directly aware of, but which (it is believe) manifests itself through our dreams, which can be a mix of the attractive, the surreal and the frightening.
SenKonscia: Cherry Manga, Eric Bloodrose, Harry Cover (impossibleisnotfrench), and Willem Koba
Thus the parcel presents a multi-level setting, from the ground through a set of three sky platforms – Water, Sky and Desert – Selen presents a series of minimalist settings in which 3D art from her personal collection is set out. Multiple artists are presented, including Cherry Manga (whose work can be seen throughout, but receives special attention in the Water platform), x1XDanteX4x, Eupalinos Ugajin, Eric Bloodrose, Harry Cover (impossibleisnotfrench), Willem Koba (willem Koba), Noke Yuitza, Bryn Oh, Stabitha (What88 Zond), Haveit Neox, and Keira Blackthorne.
Movement between the ground and the sky platforms is achieved via a “trapdoor” teleport network: left-click on a trapdoor to display a dialogue box of destination options. Click the name of the desired destination and then wait for the the hover text above the trapdoor to update, then click it again to display the World Map, and use that to teleport.
SenKonscia: Moebius9 and Noke Yuitza, Keira Blackthorne, May Tolsen and Stabitha (What88 Zond)
Each of the levels from the ground up offers a minimalist setting that uses its own environment settings and lighting, so it is important you have your viewer set to Use Shared Environment (World → Environment and check Use Shared Environment) and that Advanced Lighting Model is active (Preferences → Graphics and make sure Advanced Lighting Model is checked).
All of the levels present surreal settings in which the art has been laid out in a seemingly random manner, and where visitors can wander as they chose to witness it. In this, the settings add to the idea that SenKonscia is a trip through a state of dream, individual pieces of art a flash of an image conjured by the the unconscious and pushed into the conscious mind unbidden.
SenKonscia: Cica Ghost, Vincent Priesley (sweetvincent), Silas Merlin, and Willem Koba
Intriguing, surreal, perhaps in places a little disturbing – again like the very nature of our unconscious rearing up through our dreams or in times when primal instincts (“fight or flight”, etc.), take a hold – and sent to constantly evolve through changes to the art on display, SenKonscia is a fascinating trip through art into the landscape of the mind.
Currently on display at Art Korner,, owned and operated by Frank Atisso, is a truly stunning selection of art by an artist known as Seduce. And whilst I can use superlatives when writing about the art I appreciate, the use of “stunning” here is accurate: these are pieces that are truly exceptional in their composition, narrative and sheer beauty.
Hailing from France, and with a background in advertising, Seduce has been active in Second Life for over a decade, but has only – within the last twelve months or so – entered the world of Second Life photography. The latter is something that is hard to grasp given his work is easily among the most evocative of avatar-centric art to be created through the platform. Each piece, so beautiful composited and post-processed, carries a strong cinematic subtext that is glorious whilst being offered as a work that echoes some of the great masters of art in the physical world.
This is very much in evidence within the selection of pieces gathered for display at Art Korner under the title of Legends. Comprising 8 large-format pieces, the exhibition takes as its theme the tales of Ancient Greece and Rome – fact and fiction.
Art Korner Gallery II: Seduce – Legends
Around the walls of the gallery space – itself dressed to evoke a Greco-Roman flavour, and quite effectively so – several of the pieces allow us to witness Caesar’s fateful crossing of the Rubicon in 49 BC (the piece suitably entitled Alea Iacta Est – the words attributed to Caesar as he did so by the historian Suetonius), or to visit Pompeii at the moment Vesuvius erupts or become embroiled in one of Alexander the Great’s conquests. Others take us into the realms of mythology as effectively as a any blockbuster, so we might see Theseus confronted by the Minotaur and Poseidon rising up from the depths (possibly against Odysseus and his crew as they attempt to return home to Ithaca), whilst still others evoke Ridley Scott’s 2000 epic Gladiator.
But what makes these pieces so extraordinary is their depth, particularly those where multiple characters are featured – such as with Alea Iacta Est, Last Kiss in Pompeii and Alexander and Bucephalus.
A close examination of these three will reveal a certain likeness between several of the characters within them whose faces are visible. This is because Seduce has apparently use his avatar(s) numerous times to produce individual images (presumably against a white / green / blue backdrop) which he has then carefully composited into the main image layer by layer, so creating a marvellous story-within-a-frame that on first encounter is breathtakingly unique.
Art Korner Gallery II: Seduce – Legends
Painstaking the work might be, but the end results really are magnificent to look at – so much so that I feel somewhat guilty about only writing about Legends now, when the exhibit is perhaps nearer the end of its run that the start. Hence why I do thoroughly recommend that anyone with a love of SL photography and art as whole make sure they stop by Art Korner Gallery II sooner rather than later, so as not to miss the most extraordinary of exhibitions.
Nitroglobus Roof Gallery – miu miu miu’s Stamp, July 2021Miu miu miu (miumiumiusecond) is an artist who – I believe I’m correct in saying – tends not to exhibit to frequently within Second Life, preferring, as many do, to use Flickr as the medium to present her work.
What is striking about her work – as revealed by even the most casual flip through her Flickr photostream – is that whether focused on avatar studies or landscapes, whether posed or offered as a “natural” take, miu miu miu’s art is always given a sensitive touch of post-processing that allows her to offer pieces that are evocative of many different genres and presented in different styles – but which are all connected through an undeniable richness of narrative and content.
She is also an artist who is not afraid to express her joy in creating images or to openly publish multiple versions of the same image as she experiments with technique, colour and light. And both of these aspects of her work appear within in the portfolio she currently has offered for display within Dido’s Space at Nitroglobus Roof Gallery.
Nitroglobus Roof Gallery – miu miu miu’s Stamp, July 2021
Entitled miu miu miu’s Stamp, this is in some respects an impromptu exhibit; Dido explained that she’d been trying to get miu miu miu back to Nitroglobus since much earlier in the year, but schedules and inspiration hadn’t been good enough to align themselves. Then miu miu miu came across a folder of previously unpublished images on her computer, and decided to offer them as a collection to exhibit.
The central focus of the images is that of the COCO ball joint dolls (BJD) avatars produced by Cocoro Lemon and available through her in-world store, with the emphasis on head-and-shoulder portraits. While the doll avatars might not be everyone’s cup of tea, miu miu miu has used them here to great effect, the individual pieces offering what might be regarded as a surprising wealth of emotion considering their construct – and I’d cite in particular Indigo through Turquoise as they share one wall of the gallery as evidence of this, although every single piece carries an emotional depth.
There is also a sense of joy that permeates these pieces, mainly that is transmitted through the post-process colour palette that suggests miu miu miu genuinely lost herself in both the creation of the look, mood and tone of each piece and the the joy of simple experimentation with both the doll avatar and within PhotoShop itself.
Nitroglobus Roof Gallery – miu miu miu’s Stamp, July 2021Captivating, warm and marvellously expressive, miu miu miu’s Stamp also sits as an excellent companion / contrast to Mihailsk’s Baptism of Fire within the main hall of the gallery, and with which Stamp currently overlaps (and you can read about here).
Inara Pey: Living in a Modemworld 