Tag: Art 2021

Currently open at her gallery  space in Second Life is a new exhibition by Selen Minotaur. On the Move is a celebration of movement and life centred on Selen’s photography whilst combining setting, images, 3D art and the written word to present an environment which Selen describes thus:

The installation is meant to be a place out of time, where sculptures by Mistero Hifeng and Cherry Manga  blend into a décor between surreal and fantasy with a majestic dome (designed and built by Luxor Ragnarok AK moebius9), [displaying] unpublished photographs of mine, suspended like stars, and poetry by Andrée Chedid are projected on the floor.

– Selen Minotaur on On the Move

This is an environment in which visitors must have Advanced Lighting Model active (Preferences → Graphics → make sure Advanced Lighting Model is checked), and if your system can handle them, also enable shadows. Viewer should also be set to Use Shared Environment (World menu → Environment → Use Shared Environment).

With the viewer correctly set, On the Move can be reached either directly – as per the SLurls in this post -, or by clicking on the Map teleport globe outside of Selen’s main gallery (a similar sphere at On the Move will teleport visitors back to the gallery).

On arrival, I strongly recommend just moving slightly clear of the landing point and then allowing everything to rez / render fully so that the complete setting can be properly appreciated: the outer, water-borne space with the sculptures referenced by Selen, the inner garden and the dome with its display of art.All three are wrapped within the installation’s core themes, from the rippling of life-giving and sustaining water, through the symbolism of the violin and bow and music created by the movement of one upon the other, the timelessness of the cosmos as seen the the motion of the star-like motes that float through the garden, and more.

Within the dome, Selen displays her work in two ways: as a series of animated canvases circling slowing under the dome’s roof, and as panels placed around the dome between its columns which display the images in turn. These are pieces in which life and art are joyously celebrated, each conveying a perfect sense of motion which in turn offers a story, whilst mood is additionally set by projections of Andrée Chedid’s poems on the floor.

There is a timelessness through the installation that is captivating, a fusing of environment, lighting, framing through the use of water and the dome, and even the manner in which the art is presented through the slowly circling (and rotating) canvases.

Whilst double-sided, the twelve pieces carry something of a mystical edge to to them: they float in what might be regarded as a starlit sky that suggests they float like the signs of the zodiac, their slow circling marking the passage of time and the seasons, their rotation a metaphor for the more frequent passage of time as we experience it through the passage of days.

The opening of the exhibition featured a dance recital featuring Mist (Procrati Mistwallow) dancing to new compositions by Dandy Pianoman (pianoman1968) and supported by bass player Kali Beeswing that also encapsulated the core themes of life and motion within the exhibit. For those who were unable to attend, two video screens within the dome offer the opportunity to watch a machinima of the installation which includes aspects of the performance.

Captivating, evocative and vibrant, On the Move is well worth immersing oneself in, both for the art and for the environment itself.

SLurl Details

• On the Move (Selen’s Gallery, Royale, rated Moderate)

The reality of this post is that it is a piece of shameless self-promotion,  something I actually try not to engage in, lest my ego gets out of the biscuit tin I try to keep it in and starts running around yapping for attention…

Towards the end of 2020 Owl Dragonash very kindly invited me to exhibit some of my blog images at her Hoot Suite Gallery in Bellisseria. It’s not the first time I’ve been asked to exhibit my work – but each time I am, I feel a mix of emotions – notably nervousness and a feeling that it’s not really something for me; as I’ve often – and genuinely  – note I don’t consider myself anywhere close to being any kind of artist. However, Owl is a good friend and someone I admire tremendously, so I felt doubly honoured in her extending the invitation.

I decided to call this exhibition One if by Land Two if by Water, an  admitted play on Longfellow’s poem, Paul Revere’s Ride. People might want to read something into this, and that is their prerogative (although I admit that in the wake of the disturbing events leading up to and including January 6th, 2021, my thoughts have oft turns to how fragile the American Experiment really is).

However, my decision to paraphrase Longfellow’s words was drawn more from the facts that a) as a photographer of regions in Second Life, my work inevitably involves views of land and water; b) Owl uses a two-storey house as her gallery, giving me the opportunity to split this exhibition loosely into two halve. On the ground floor (or 1st to use the American way of counting floors in buildings) the pictures are land-centric, whilst those on the 2nd have a focus on water.

It’s not a large exhibition – but that’s the attraction of Hoot Suite – and at 12:00 noon SLT on Wednesday, April 28th, we’ll be having a little party at the gallery to mark the mid-point of the exhibition, which will run through until May 15th.

I hope you’ll join us.

SLurl Details

• Hoot Suite Gallery (Ruthsburg, rated Moderate)

Far back in January 2021, I received an invitation from Ambre Singh to visit her gallery spaces located overhead at Noir’WEN City – and I offer my apologies to her for only now getting around to doing so.

A Second Life resident for getting towards 14 years, Ambre is an artist who uses photography, art, a sense of humour and generally provocative in the manner it prods the grey matter between the ears to start churning thoughts.

Thematically, much of her work might be considered Adult, with images not suitable for the work environment; it mixes direct Second Life photography – notably her avatar, the characters she creates and her friends – with mixed media pieces that combine physical world at and images with elements created within Second Life mixed with classical works both to tell her own stories and / or in celebration of their original artists.

Her gallery space at Noir’WEN offer two wings set within a warehouse environment, one of which is devoted to a permanent exhibition entitled The Pink Dildo, and the other offers a broader mix of Ambre’s work, including the opportunity to rez past exhibitions – a novel idea I’ve admittedly never come across before.

The Pink Dildo (you can take it from the title this is an exhibit that can be labelled NSFW!) is a clever, humour-filled but ultimately thought-provoking view “of the role of women in the development of human societies”.  Within it, Ambre presents a collection of images that combine original in-world art with clever re-workings of classical pieces of art to take us on a journey from pre-history through to modern times, each piece generally including a pink dildo in some fashion, together with a short descriptive text offered in English and French.

While it might be easy to dismiss these pieces as a means of simple titillation, to do so would be to miss the point. Whilst the entire exhibition includes adult themes wrapped in humour (just read the artist’s biography placed within the exhibit for evidence of the latter), there is a subtext within The Pink Dildo that might best be described as commentary on the (largely patriarchal) recording of history, whilst also offering personal views on modern society (notably on the upper floor of the hall), not all of which we may ascribe to or agree with, but which nevertheless give good pause for thought.

What is particularly – for me – engaging about this exhibition is the manner in which Ambre has taken classic pieces of art by Rembrandt, Poynter, da Vinci, Bouguereau, Jacques-Louis David, JW Waterhouse, Litovchenko and others and re-interpreted them as a part of her story. I also appreciate the topping and tailing of this exhibit through the use of a reference to 2001: A Space Odyssey at the start, and a sideways reference to Musk & SpaceX and their plans to colonise Mars. 

The interjection of her avatar into classical works of art can also be found in the second wing of Ambre’s gallery, although with art that is more nude in tone and adult in theme, so again should be considered NSFW. Here, within the upper floor rezzer area, one can appreciate her take on pieces by JW Waterhouse, Boucher, Courbet, Draper and more, as well as collections of her avatar portraiture work, a neat little musical quiz challenging people to match the images with the song titles and more.

Engaging, rich in content, story and sub-text, Ambre Singh’s art is well worth visiting – and extended to a current exhibition in Noir’WENs ground-level gallery as well – something I’ll be returning to in the future.

SLurl Details

• Ambre Singh Gallery (Noir WEN, rated Adult)

If like me, you enjoy mythologies from around the world, then a visit to the United Artists of Second Life (UASL) is going to be well in order, because it is there that London Junkers is presenting ιστορίες a journey through a selection of stories from Greek mythology. 

Commencing in a the great hall of what might be a temple where a statue of Ariadne in repose, ιστορίες takes the form – appropriately enough – of a journey through a labyrinth of tunnels and passages that connect halls of various sizes in which might be found scenes from the tales London has selected for inclusion within the exhibition.

So it is that by following the passages one might come across the tales of the Trojan Horse, Pegasus, the Sirens, Pandora and the Charities, Ganymede, and Psyche and Cupid.

Each story is given form through the use of mesh sculptures with additional props, some of which are interactive (touch Pandora’s box for example, whilst (Psyche is presented as a butterfly).

Further stories await explorers in the the tunnels as well; within them can be found the Minotaur, together with the Cyclops, Medusa, and a walk through the realm of Hades and Persephone.

Each story is marked by a small horse sculpture, located just before or just within the entrance to the chamber or tunnel containing it, Touching each of these will offer a note card on the tale. These are well-written and present their information succinctly so that does not overwhelm, whilst communicating the core of each myth.

Beyond the hall with Cupid and Psyche, visitors pass out of the labyrinth and onto the snowy slopes of Mount Olympus where a path winds up to the gods themselves: Artemis (rather appropriately, given the times), Athena and of course Zeus himself, who obligingly provides a teleport back to the start of the installation and the opportunity to explore other exhibitions within the UASL facilities.

When visiting ιστορίες be sure to have your environment set to Midday and that Advanced Lighting Model is enabled (Preferences → Graphics → check Advanced Lighting Model – there is no need to enable shadows as well).

An engaging and informative installation.

SLurl Details

• στορίες at UASL (Karpov, rated Moderate)