Tag: Artists

Cica’s Secret Garden in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
Cica Ghost’s Secret Garden – May 2023

For her May 2023 installation, Cica Ghost has used the writings of Frances Hodgson Burnett for a source of inspiration – or perhaps that should be reference; specifically in this case, the third of her most famous works of children’s fiction The Secret Garden, published in 1911. Not that build lifts ideas directly from the novel; rather – and as is the case with Cica’s designs – she uses a quote from the opening of Chapter 25 in the novel to frame her design: And the secret garden bloomed and bloomed and every morning revealed new miracles.

However, whilst the novel goes on the wax lyrical robins and eggs and  the miracle of flight and (to children’s thinking) a house with 100 rooms “no-one ever goes into”, Cica offers us something equally engaging and magical: a place where butterflies flit, crows keep watch, flowers bloom (to themselves blossom into butterflies)  –  hippos frolic.

Cica Ghost’s Secret Garden – May 2023

Yes, hippos; a creature with a long history within Second Life, where they have been an unofficial mascot for a good portion of the platform’s 20-year history. Sadly, this association is perhaps something unknown to more recent residents, with even the SL National Hippo Day of February 15th no longer being widely observed; nor are they to be seen “skipping through SL stomping bugs”. However, evidence of this long association can still be found within the viewer as an echo of even the Lab entering into the spirit of things (CTRL-ALT-SHIT-H for those not in the know).

Given this, and the fact that 2023 marks the 20th anniversary of Second Life officially opening its doors to the public  – and, indeed, of the forum conversation that kicked-off the the unofficial adoption of hippos as a mascot, that they should be a part of Cica’s Secret Garden is highly appropriate.

Cica Ghost’s Secret Garden – May 2023

The hippos can be found right across the garden, both outdoors and within some of the garden houses to be found across the garden’s undulating landscape. Caught under something of a heavy sky, the garden has a slight feel of being a little untended, the shadows and low light adding to its mystery (perhaps another indirect reference to the novel?). This makes exploration more interesting – particularly if you are able to run the viewer with Shadows enabled (not a requirement, but certainly a nice-to-have), allowing things to slowly emerge from the darkness.

As is usual with Cica’s builds, there are multiple opportunities for sitting and watching visitors come and go, and for dancing and having a little fun. So, this being said: Happy Hippos – go enjoy!

Cica Ghost’s Secret Garden – May 2023

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An Unusual statement of freedom in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
Kondor Arts Centre: Bamboo Barnes – Unusual, May 2023

There are two exhibitions I recently visited in turn at the Kondor Art Centre, curated by Hermes Kondor. Both are by artists I greatly admire, and there is what might be seen as a thread of connection between them. However, given that such a thread is by no means certain, I’ll be looking at them over the course of a couple of articles, tackling them in the reverse order to how I viewed them, but rather in chronological order in terms of when they opened.

The first is that of Unusual, the latest selection of art-in-reflection-of-thought by Bamboo Barnes, which opened on April 20th, 2023 within the Kondor Art Centre’s Main Gallery.

Bamboo is, as I’ve often noted in these pages, one of the most vibrant and evocative digital artists displaying her work in Second Life. And I mean this not just in terms of her use of colour or form or subject – but in the way she layers her work both physically and narratively, such that it offers a depth of emotion and sense of being, it draws the observer into it, dominating both the space the work occupies and to the eye and mind.

Kondor Arts Centre: Bamboo Barnes – Unusual, May 2023

A major theme within Bamboo’s art is that of identity; who we actually are in life in the face of an ever-changing world, when society, ego, id, work, friends, politics, and more continually impinge on us. Sometimes these pressure encourage us to flow and change and reach beyond who we are; at others they demand we conform; confine ourselves to ideas and dreams others see as being what (or all) we can achieve, thus preventing “disappointment”; or that we “stay in our lane” (always a pejorative outlook often born from a mistaken idea of self-privilege by those voicing it), and so on.

Unusual takes the latter point – that we must conform and limit ourselves without crossing the lines others have drawn for us – and asks what happens when we decided to step beyond them, much as Bamboo has done, particularly the mix of joy and wonder an excitement (and the sometimes chaotic results of doing so). These disparate elements can be seen – to my eyes, at least – in a variety of ways. Take, for example, the use of geometry in some images, with its suggestions of limits or boundaries.

Kondor Arts Centre: Bamboo Barnes – Unusual, May 2023

Elsewhere, the use of repetition within some images might be seen as a dichotomy in its statement; on the one hand, it might appear to say “we are free to express ourselves, but only so far; we should still conform”; hence the repeated poses, limited used of colour palette within them – as with Kagerou A, as an example. At the same time, the very title (which might be translated as “heat shimmer” (or “haze”) or “mirage”) suggests how we are all so much more than we appear to be, the mirrored nature of the piece adding to the notion that we have more than one side to our nature, despite those aforementioned constraints others would place on us.

Then there is the use of colour in some of the pieces; vibrant hues which seem to have a life of their own, echoes perhaps that sense of excitement, wonder and chaos as we step beyond the constraints to which we have been subjected. All of this perhaps comes together most of all within the 3D piece Little Girl Blue, with its constant movement and shifting images suggesting the true fluidity and changing nature of life.

Kondor Arts Centre: Bamboo Barnes – Unusual, May 2023

However, in this I’ve said enough with which to colour your thoughts; as such, I invite you to hop over to the Kondor Art Centre and view Unusual for yourself.

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Aneli’s art in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
Aneli Abeyante: the new La Maison d’Aneli

La Maison d’Aneli, the gallery complex operated and curated by Aneli Abeyante, and so long the host centre for a range of art exhibitions in Second Life (many of which have been featured in these pages), may have closed at the end of 2022, but the name lives on, now as a home for Aneli’s own art.

Her most recent exhibition, Scrap Heap, opened on April 19th, 2023, and it gave me good reason to visit the new La Maison d’Aneli, located within its own airborne space at vroum Short’s VeGeTaL PLaNeT. The core of this exhibition can be found on the upper level of the gallery, and features a collection of eight photographs taken by Aneli in the physical world which offer us the opportunity to view metal structures and objects through her eye and lens.

Aneli Abeyante: Scrap Heap

From the gears of aged industrial machines to the skeletal remains of metal frames, passing by way of the metal core of building long fallen into disuse, this is a selection of images captivating in their subject and the approach Aneli has taken to recording them. Her use of angle, focus and object presenting us with a series of images which – contrary to their static nature – have a richness of life and history to them.

Scrap Heap sits above an more expansive display area, complete with indoor event space, in which Aneli displays a selection of her digital art. Focused on the use of geometry withing pieces which are both static and animated, these are pieces which are engaging in form and in motion; visually pleasing digital abstractions with a further expression of life and motion which can be quite hypnotising – just cam in onto Lueur1 and / or Composition 2 for just a minute or two and see what I mean.

Aneli Abeyante: Scrap Heap

In addition, the gallery space has been dressed by Aneli in keeping with the Scrap Heap theme. the walls in places finished as aged, rusting metal, industrial grating used as flooring and walkways, and rusting flotsam in the waters either side of the landing point. This dressing and décor helps add a level of immersiveness to the gallery and the exhibition whilst also providing a visual counterpoint to the organised regularity of the digital pieces.

Although and engaging pair of exhibitions presented by an engaging Second Life artist, and on a personal note I’ll add that it is pleasing to see someone whole had devoted so much of her time promoting the art of others in Second Life now taking time to stage and display exhibitions of her own work.

Aneli Abeyante: the new La Maison d’Aneli

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A Minimal Gaze in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
UASL – Melusina Parkin: A Minimal Gaze

Currently open at Galerie Principale within the United Arts of Second Life hub, is an exhibition of pieces by Melusina Parkin, showcasing her minimalist approach to telling stories through her photography.

A Minimal Gaze is not a retrospective in the strictest sense of the word, but it does contain some images that admirers of Melu’s work may well recognise. What it does present is a rich cross-section of Melu’s style, something which might be called “moments in solitude”, whereby she focus on aspects of scene within Second Life and presents a image with a single cynosure, drawing our attention to that focus alone.

UASL – Melusina Parkin: A Minimal Gaze

Thus, the focal point stands in solitude in terms of their in-world surroundings, the framing of the image, and its ability to hold our attention. However, at the same time, a much broader narrative canvas is presented by the background and what lies just outside the frame of the picture; things not seen, but which nevertheless whisper to our imaginations. This gives Melu’s work a sense of unique individuality: the familiar seen without broader context other than what is suggested by the mind’s eye.

It’s an approach that Melu has used throughout the majority of her more than 10 years of Second Life photography, and which I’ve never ceased to appreciate, both for the above expressiveness and for the way it causes us to look at Second Life itself in a new way, bringing this digital world to life in a most unique and singular manner, unmatched by more “traditional” forms of photography (very much including my own) which provide broader, more contextualised views of the places visited and recorded within them.

UASL – Melusina Parkin: A Minimal Gaze

In the notes she provides for the exhibition, Melu notes that she is currently experimenting (like so many) with AI-generated images – but that also, she is not deserting this approach to her photography. It’s an assurance I appreciate, as a Second Life without her unique insight to its many faces and places would, frankly, be a diminished world.

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Cica’s Happy Town in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
Cica Ghost: Happy Town, April 2023

For those who have visited and enjoyed Cica Ghost’s region-wide art installations in Second Life over the last decade plus, her build for April 2023 may well raise a sense of nostalgia and memory, whilst retaining its own originality.

Happy Town, which opened on April 7th, 2023, presents a whimsical townscape with a rather unusual feature: everything in it appears to be made of, or covered by, sewn and stitched fabrics, or has been knitted. The land sits as a patchwork quilt, buildings appear to have wall coverings which have been sewn onto them, indoors and out. Even the trees are strangely two-dimensional, their tops looking like snare drums over which green baize has been stretched and onto which flowers have been sewn, before being sat on their sides atop hemmed and sewn trunks. Even the sky appears to be a grey blanket into which the clouds have been stitched like so many patches to cover holes or tears.

Cica Ghost: Happy Town, April 2023

It is an engaging and imaginative setting, a place where only the citizens appear to be organic – and even these are not human. Instead, this is a town apparently populated by anthropomorphic cats who tend happy-go-lucky sheep, chickens and pigs whilst also working as the local mechanics. And even then, I’m not sure the sheep or chickens are actually being “kept” so much as also being local inhabitants.

True, they might for the most part be clustered in what might be taken for a central meadow, along with their barns and hen-houses whilst hemmed in (so to speak!) by a low fence with a single opening; but equally might this not also be the local park where the locals have simply come for some weekend fun? Certainly, the hi-fiving chickens seem to be having fun and the sheep – whilst possibly not related to Shawn the Sheep, look as capable as him.

Cica Ghost: Happy Town, April 2023

The buildings are a curious mix – some on the ground, others up on stilts, some as wide as they are tall, some with pipes entering or exiting them. It is here that for those of us with long memories might feel that hint of nostalgia, as there is something about Happy Town this brings forth memories of Cica’s 2014 Small Town. This is further aided by the presence of the little cars and the road winding through the town. While both are different in nature to those of Small Town, sitting in one of the cars and setting out along the road brings back memories of driving around Small Town.

As well as the car to drive (you can be sure they are roadworthy thanks to the cats looking after them!), Happy Town includes places where you can dance, places to sit, ladders to climb, and a little theatre where another memory from Cica’s past builds: one of her animated stick figures as seen in the likes of Ghostville offered as a movie to be enjoyed.

Cica Ghost: Happy Town, April 2023

Delightful and light, Happy Town will be open through April for people to enjoy.

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La Serenissima: Sophie’s art in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
Saint Phalle (Perpetua1010) La Serenissima, February 2023

Running through until March 11th, 2023 is La Serenissima, a two-part exhibition at the Venezia/Venice region in Second Life by Sophie de Saint Phalle (Perpetua1010). I say two parts, as the exhibition is split between indoor and and outdoor display area.

Sophie is an artist in the physical world who uses Second Life to reach audiences who might not otherwise encounter her work. She does this through exhibitions like La Serenissima and also through her own gallery/studio space Subcutan Art Gallery and Multimedia Centre. I’ve covered her work several times in these pages and have thoroughly enjoyed doing so; her art is rich in content and form, drawing as it does on many of her own travels and experiences – as with Infinite, a magnificent celebration of indigenous Australian art I reviewed a year ago.

Saint Phalle (Perpetua1010) La Serenissima, February 2023

Some of the pieces from Infinite are displayed in the outdoor section of La Serenissima, together with some pieces from an exhibition hosted at Niccoli Sweetwater’s Basilique region back in September 2020, and which formed my introduction to Sophie’s work. I point to both of these exhibitions not because I’ve written about them, but because the appearance of pieces from them nicely underscores the focus of La Serenissimia: a personal retrospective by Sophie featuring a selection of art she has produced over the course of the last decade.

A graduate of the Academy of fine Arts Vienna, Sophie is by turn also a cartoonist – having had a particular focus on political satire -, an author and a ghost writer for certain well-known comedians. As an artist, her focus was initially the nude body and abstract art, but her range and scope have since broadened, even reaching into 3D art within Second Life. She is very much an experimentalist and also an expressionist – as her work repeatedly demonstrates.

Saint Phalle (Perpetua1010) La Serenissima, February 2023

A red carpet leads the way to the indoor exhibition. Occupying three floors, this section features gouache paintings on the lower floor, watercolours on the middle floor and a selection of her nude studies on the upper.

All three levels are as captivating as the outdoor works, but I have to admit to being drawn particularly to the middle level watercolours as they depict Sophie’s travels through Italy and Switzerland. For me, they are pieces which capture the spirit of the places they represent in a fabulously minimalist and / or focused style.

Saint Phalle (Perpetua1010) La Serenissima, February 2023
For those familiar with Sophie’s work through individual exhibitions, La Serenissima offers an opportunity to experience the breath of her work in a relaxed setting. For those who have not seen Sophie’s work before, I recommend a visit to this exhibition while it remains open, perhaps followed by a visit to Subcutan Art Gallery and Multimedia Centre.

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