Have you ever wondered how to make machinima? (Yes!). Have you ever given it a go and been less that satisfied? (Yes!). Not even sure what this “machinima” thing is? Ole Etzel – aka Mr. Bones will be on-hand to answer these questions and more as he sits down to present a practical workshop on the subject which promises to cover everything from capturing things in-world through editing and post-production.
Notes for his own series of Mr. Bones videos and recently the focus of The Drax Files, Ole also promises to give more insight into In the Belly of the Whale, which he is co-running with Eupalinos Ugajin at Moving Islands [Rafts] at LEA20.
“Lights, camera …” The workshop area
Things kick-off at 12:00 noon SLT. The workshop area can be reached via the LEA20 arrival point. Look for the workshop poster (top), and the treasure chest beneath it. Click on the latter for a teleport to the workshop area (the direct TP may not work).
And here’s one of my favourite Mr. Bones music videos.
LaPiscean Liberty prompted me indirectly about an encore performance by Marmaduke Arado and Kikas Babenco of their long-running and high-enjoyable show, The Extraordinary Adventures of Kikas & Marmaduke, which features the latest installment: “Me Kikas, you Marma”.
Using the tableaux vivants approach, The Extraordinary Adventures of Kikas & Marmaduke has charted the adventures of the two protagonists as they explore Second Life since around 2010. Along the way, it has provided a high level of amusement for audiences while showcasing the creative potential of the platform.
Marmaduke warms-up in rehearsals while Kikas retains her calm poise
In the pieces, best considered 3D graphic novels, Marmaduke is the fearless traveler who unflinchingly throws himself into every situation, regardless of the consequences, determined to explore and face-down dangers, leaving Kikas in the unenviable situation of having to be saviour whilst also striving to keep her elegance intact and her wardrobe fresh!
The encore performance is being hosted by KG Shine Productions at their theatre on LEA2, and will commence at 15:00 SLT on Wednesday January 8th. This is not one to be missed, so get there early to ensure you have a seat; and be ready to participate, as the audience is encouraged to discuss the show as it progresses!
Quan Lavender dropped me a line about some short-term projects which are taking place at the Linden Endowment for the Arts regions through until the end of January.
In the Belly of the Whale
This is a challenge which has been set-up collaboratively by Eupalinos Ugajin and Ole Etzel, and which focuses on Eupalinos’ collaborative installation Moving Islands [Rafts] at LEA20.
I reviewed Moving Islands [Rafts], which features pieces by many of SL’s artists and curated by Eupalinos, back in October 2013. Since then, there have been some changes to the build, as has always been the intention with the installation, and more are to be added through the course January. This alone makes Moving Islands [Rafts] worthy of a further visit, even without the new “whale” project!
With In the Belly of the Whale, Eupalinos and Ole invite people to visit Moving Island [Rafts] and create a story either in photographs or machinima on the topic “in the belly of the whale”. They describe the challenge thus:
Explore “Moving islands” at LEA20. Reflect on the topic “In the belly of the Whale”. Reflect harder! Now do us a film, a picture or a photo story at LEA20. Wear [your] own builds or use existing ones from the sim, create a short photo story or a 120 minute epic film, sing, shout or shoot a harpoon into the last whale! Perhaps you may decide to feel like being in any special kind of belly or to produce your work in that special Cadavre Exquis look? Special Russian dictator bellies floating through your mind? NOW you are ready to go! Give us the honour and donate a work to our interactive extravaganza!
Those entering the challenge should contact either Eupalinos or Ole directly regarding how to submit their piece once it is ready. All entries will be displayed at https://whale.boxfolio.com/.
Madcow Cosmos’ interactive whale song piece at Moving Islands [Rafts]As well as co-organising In the Belly of the Whale, Ole will be presenting a workshop on machinima at LEA20 on Saturday January 11th, complete with Mr. Bones :). The event will also wrap with a party at the end of January.
The second short-term event I’m focusing on here is being organised by Secret Rage on LEA26 and LEA27 and is called Flash Mob. In it, For it, Secret is inviting people to submit their artwork to be shown across the two regions through until the end of January.
Part of a series of short-term projects which see the LEA open a total of 17 regions to invited artists through until the end of the month, Flash Mob is open to anyone wishing to submit their work and a part of an open gallery / exhibit, as Secret explains:
It is a sort of spur of the moment, immediate, art show. This is my request for artworks from those of you who would like to participate in it.
To do so you may choose either 1 or 2 or your artworks (or a collection) that has a total prim count of no more than 200 prims. Then, as soon as you send it to me (providing I am on-line at that moment), your pieces will be added to the collection immediately. It will continue to grow for as long as the 30000 prim limit holds out. So please, start sending me pieces! Size does not matter for the most part, so larger pieces are OK; but please no full sim sized pieces! :).
Photos, paintings, 3D art are all acceptable as entries, and 2D art can be passed as either textures or as prim-mounted prints – Secret just requests that they are submitted MODIFY in case the size needs to be adjusted for better viewing. She also notes that if she is offline when trying to send her submissions, it might be best to box them & include a notecard with your name and details – particularly if submitting more than one item.
Also note that the two regions include underwater sections as well – something artists might want to consider in putting forward pieces, and visitors should keep in mind when visiting the installation (don’t forget to look under the waves for more!).
As noted above, Flash Mob is one of sixteen short-term projects / installations occurring across various LEA regions through until the end of January 2014. The remaining 15 projects will feature works by: Finn Lanzius (LEA12); Mary Wickentower (LEA13); Ferd Frederix (LEA14); Natascha Randt (LEA15); Rysan Fall (LEA16); Corcosman Voom (LEA17); Thea Dee (LEA18); FrankX Lefavre (LEA19); Haveit Neox (LEA21); Fuschia Nightfire (LEA22); Petlove Petshop (LEA23); Emmo Wei (LEA24); Asmita Duranjaya (LEA25); Martini Discovolante (LEA28) and FreeWee Ling (LEA29).
The installations willl cover a variety of subjects, and include displays, interactive elements and more. Not all of them have opened to the public as yet – so keep your eye on them, and be sure to hop on over through the month to see what is on offer :). I’ll be making an effort to drop-in to at least some of them through until the end of the month, and reporting on them in these pages.
Saturday December 21st marks the opening of a very special event at LEA4. Quite how long it will be there is unclear; hopefully through until the goal is achieved – and perhaps even a little longer.
35 Elephants is the work of Eliza Wierwight, and the aim is simple: raise funds to sponsor 35 elephants at the Elephant Nature Park in Thailand. Specifically established for the rescue and rehabilitation of abused elephants, the park is a place where elephants can live as close to their natural environment as possible while remaining free from their biggest predator – mankind. The park also finances and runs projects such as Jumbo Express for the rescue and medical care of elephants in remote regions of the country, as well as working to stop the steady deforestation of the Thai northern rain forest, which is threatening the entire local ecosystem.
“Lek” Chailert, founder of SEF and the Elephant Nature Park in Thailand (image courtesy of SEF)
The Park is operated by the Save Elephant Foundation (SEF), created by Sangduen “Lek” Chailert. Born in northern Thailand, Lek grew up increasingly concerned at the plight of the Asian elephant, fast becoming an endangered species largely due to a tradition which sees an elephant’s spirit cruelly broken through the Phajaan in order to be put to work, increasingly for the amusement of the tourist industry, and often in the cruelest of conditions as beasts of burden.
Eliza, who has had a life-long love of the elephant, was made aware of the horrific – and I do mean horrific – means by which young elephants are ripped from their mothers’ sides and their natural environment and then forced into subservience to humans through the film How I Became an Elephant, which focuses on the efforts of another remarkable person, 14-year-old Juliette West, and her determination to raise awareness of the situation alongside of Lek.
You can read more of Eliza’s own awakening to this situation, and her own determination to help, through a post by Emma Portilo. Suffice it to say that while Eliza’s efforts to help with the SEF’s work began modestly enough – buying lunch for two of the elephants – she has striven to do so much more, both in sponsoring one of the 35 elephants on which the LEA4 event focuses, and on becoming the official representative for SEF in Second Life.
Sponsor an elephant at LEA4
It costs L$27,000 ($109) to sponsor an elephant. A number have already been sponsored through people rallying to Eliza’s call, which she put out through her Flickr stream and through her efforts at her in-world store, where she has created a seasonal topiary featuring a baby elephant, the designed approved by the SEF. This is available at L$499, with 100% of the price going directly to SEF, and can be purchased as a gift for others as well as for yourself. If you prefer, there are also donation boxes located throughout the store, with all proceeds again going to SEF.
Elephants at LEA4
35 Elephants, making full use of the region generously provided at short notice by the LEA committee, provides a means for visitors to not only donate to the efforts in reaching the target of 35 elephants sponsored, but to also learn about the elephants, their plight in Thailand (where it is believed there are only 3,000 elephants left, and around 50% of them are living in captivity, many for the amusement of tourists) and learn more about SEF through the photography of Lek Chailert.
Things will kick-off at 11:30 SLT on Saturday 21st December, with a benefit concert by the fabulous Joaquin Gustav – which itself is not an event to be missed if you’re in-world.
Commenting on her efforts, Eliza says, “I’m not getting all vigilante about this, I’d rather emphasize the positive. There’s a place in our cognition to recognize wrongs in any stance, I guess it’s how we choose to address the revelation after that fact. Promoting awareness and cold hard cash directed to those in the front lines seems a reasonable reaction.”
It’s a fair position to take. After all, money has a powerful voice; so why not add your voice to the cause, and either hop over to LEA4 for Joaquin’s concert or, if you’re still looking for the Christmas gift for a friend or something special for Christmas in your own home, drop by Eliza’s store and pick-up the baby elephant topiary?
In the meantime, I’ll leave you with a video from the Elephant Nature Park.
On December 1st, the Linden Endowment for the Arts committee announced the opening of the next round of land grants is now open in the Artists in Residence (AIR) programme. For artists not familiar with the LEA or the land grant process, the following is taken from the formal announcement:
The LEA Land Grant program seeks to promote and nurture the arts in Second Life, through a five-month land grant to recipients. Recipients can be individuals or groups interested in creating or curating art, or proposing cultural projects which would require/utilise a full-sim build and can be completed within the allotted time frame. The LEA is able to offer land grants through the generosity of Linden Lab.
Moving Islands [Rafts], a round 5 AIR entrant curated by Eupalinos UgajinTwenty regions, donated by Linden Lab and managed by the LEA, are generally offered under the land grant programme, and successful applicants will be given the use of one full region for a period of five months. The region may then be used on an individual or group basis for such diverse activities as:
Full sim exhibitions and / or immersive installations
Curated projects, especially those which have a connection to physical exhibitions and events (mixed reality).
Artists should take no more than 3 months to execute their build, so that they have opened to the public for at least the last 2 months of their grant. However, artists may also open their installation ahead of the three-month build deadline, and many artists in the past have used their land to have multiple exhibits. What is important is that any project accepted into the programme must be ready within 3 months from the date the land is granted, and this time-frame should be considered (and reflected) in all applications.
Musiclandia by Livio Oak Korobase
The announcement goes on to state:
Criteria
We feel one of the strengths of the LEA committee is that we come from different backgrounds – artists, architects, curators, historians, etc. – all of whom have different ideas on what makes virtual art great. We share a passion for this project, emboldened by differing viewpoints. What this means for the LEA Land Grant applicants is that there is no one ‘right’ project. Some committee members like immersive builds, others enjoy highly technical and scripted work, still others look for projects embracing collaborative, curatorial, or education projects. Some might wish to select those who have a history of successful exhibits in SL, while others are passionate about providing experiences to new and emerging artists. This is great news for applicants, as it means that ANYONE has a chance at getting sim, provided you show us you have an idea for a great project (even if it isn’t completely thought through, and we realise that this will most likely change in your working process).
APPLICATION TIMELINE
(Dates subject to change by LEA in the event of unforeseen circumstances.)
Applications open – December 1, 2013
Application deadline – December 30, 2013
Final Decision Committee Deadline – Mid-January, 2014
Notification period, and selection of alternates if need be – Around January 18, 2014.
Sim handover and public announcement – January 31, 2014
End of round – July 1, 2014
HOW TO APPLY?
Applicants should complete the form at the end of the LEA blog entry, taking care to provide as much information about the proposal as possible and include relevant SLurls and web links to their work (if possible) in order to help the LEA committee make an informed decision.
On Friday August 2nd, the Linden Endowment for the Arts announced the successful applicants for the 5th round of the LEA’s Artist-in-Residence (AIR) programme.
Nin9 by Marx Catteneo, part of the 4th round of AIR projects
The LEA received over 30 applications, and those selected were viewed as presenting “truly outstanding proposals that represent a diverse range of virtual art.” While round 5 sees some artists returning for a second time, the majority of those selected will be exhibiting at LEA for the very first time.
The successful applicants will each be allocated a full region within the LEA for a 6-month period. They have up to four months to prepare their projects, which range from full-sim immersions, to innovative builds geared specifically for multimedia works such as sound and machinima. Each installation must be open for a minimum of two months of the 6-month allocation, and it is expected that some will be open in advance of the four-month build deadline. All exhibits must be open to the public by the end of November 2013 at the latest.
All openings will, as usual, be announced in the LEA blog.
!["This challenge ain't over 'til the fat whale sings!" - Madcow Cosmos' interactive whale song piece at Moving Islands [Rafts]](https://modemworld.me/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/rafts-18_001.jpg)
![Moving Islands [Rafts], a round 5 AIR entrant curated by Eupalinos Ugajin](https://modemworld.me/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/rafts-3_001.jpg)
Inara Pey: Living in a Modemworld 