On the 29th August, the Linden Endowment for the Arts (LEA) announced the successful applicants for the 3rd LEA Land Grant, who will receive a full region for six months on which to create and display their proposed projects.

The successful applicants are: Arrehn Oberlander, Artistide Despres, Chic Aeon, Cica Ghost, Daco Monday, Emily Darrow, Eupalinos Ugajin, Fae Varriale, Giovanna Cerise, Gracie Kendal, Ian Pahute, jjccc coronet, Lorin Tone, Nessuno Myoo and Kicca Igaly, Nino Vichan, Noke Yuitza, pixels sideways, Rose Borchovski, Seraph Kegel, and Tony Resident.

The applicants have all been informed, and are due to be given access to their assigned region on Saturday September 1st, after which they will have up to four months in which to develop their proposals prior to opening them to the public.

Over 50 applications were received by the LEA, and a number of those selected will be returning for a second time, although it is emphasised in the LEA blog that the majority of those selected will be exhibiting at the LEA for the first time. The selected projects range from full-sim immersions through augmented reality installations to innovative builds geared specifically for multimedia works such as sound and machinima projects.

The twenty regions used in the Land Grant have been donated by Linden Lab and are curated by the LEA. The four-month preparatory / build-out period is arbitrary, and exhibitors are not obligated to wait the four months prior to opening their installations – just so long as the public are able to visit for a minimum of two months. It is not clear from the announcement if the successful projects will be single events, or whether the artists will be using their region to host more than one exhibit during the six months of the grant period.

Further updates will follow as news on the various projects in forthcoming.

The Linden Endowment for the Arts has announced applications for the third round of land grants is now open. 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 six-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.

Twenty regions, donated by Linden Lab and managed by the LEA, are generally offered under the land grant programme, and successful applicants will be granted the use of one full region for a period of six 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 (augmented reality)

Applications are not limited to visual art but are welcomed from all areas of artistic expression, including performance, music, and film.

Preference is for submitted works to be original in nature, although curated projects may present extant works. Successful applicants will have up to four months in which to execute their build, and must have it open for public viewing for at least the last two months of the grant period. Artists may alternatively use the land for multiple exhibits, but it is imperative that projects will be ready within four months from acceptance, and this time-frame should be considered (and reflected) in applications.

Application Timeline

(Dates subject to change by LEA in the event of unforeseen circumstances)

On Sunday October 30th, the Linden Endowment for the Arts (LEA) will be holding a land rush.

This is for two sims that will form a part of the LEA Land Grant, which will see a total of 20 sims made available through the LEA for art projects for a period of 12 months.

The deails of the land rush are as follows.

• The land rush will take place in two parts:
  • Part 1: 10:00 SLT for LEA28
  • Part 2: 16:00 for LEA29
• Those wishing to participate in either part of the rush must join the LEA Special Events Group in order to receive the announcement of when each part of the rush commences
• Both sims will remain closed until the commencement of each part of land rush
• At the start of each part, an announcement will be made stating the region is open. Participants should then:
  • Make sure they are wearing the Special Events Group tag
  • Teleport to the region open for the rush
  • Locate one of the big red buttons and press it
• Successful participants will receive a notifcation that there claim is successful and once the rush is over, they’ll be invited to join the LEA group and will be able to start building.

The land rush will be repeted every two months throughout the year the programme runs, so anyone failing to make a successful claim will be able to try their luck again at the next land rush.

The Linden Endowment of the Arts (LEA) have announced they have secured 20 sims from Linden Lab to promote the arts in Second Life.

The LEA Land Grant will make the sims available to the LEA for a 12 month period. These sims will be used as follows:

• Two sims will be allocated via a Land Rush
• Four sims will be reserved for exhibitions curated from LEA sandbox builds
• Fourteen sims to be allocated on the basis of an application process, which closes on November 1st 2011.

The fourteen sims to be allocated on the basis of an application process will be made available to successful applicants for periods of five months before being transferred to the next set of awardees. Details on how the Land Rush and 4 “sandbox promotion” sims are to be allocated and for how long, have yet to be mad public by the LEA.

Separate

This deal, it would appear, is entirely separate from Mark Kingdon’s announcement, made in 2009, that some 70 sims would be made available within Second Life as a part of an effort to support the arts. At that time, given the amount of private effort – with absolutely no subsidy from Linden Lab  – that goes into supporting art and creativity in Second Life, Mark Kingdon’s announcement caused a fair amount of concern as to what such a grant would do to such privately funded efforts in support of the arts.

While this announcement from the LEA is smaller, it is likely that it will give rise to similar concerns, particularly given the superb work performed by the likes of Art Screamers in their promotion of sim-sized installations such as Through the Lens of Dreams, and other exhibits which are met entirely out of the sim owners’ own pockets.

Weakens?

Which is not to say the LEA do not provide stunning installations themselves – again as witnessed by Rebeca Bashly’s brilliant and immersive Inferno equally demonstrates. Even so, arrangements such as this – as well-meaning as they might be – do create an imbalance in the SL art community, which is still very much a limited pool of talent. If that talent is fully engaged in LEA efforts, then there is a risk that those who privately fund art activities may well be faced with no other option that to consider shutting down. This in turn potentially weakens art in SL on two fronts:

• It reduces the number of venues available in which those not selected for such grants can display their work and talent
• It runs the risk of what constitutes “art” for wider consumption within Second Life being defined by a small, closed group within SL – again leading to potentially fractious accusations of the infamous “feted inner circle” variety rumbling across the community.

The flip side to this is that it might be said that many aspiring artists within Second Life might be presented with a chance to gain an audience through their participation in the Grant. A chance that might otherwise elude them if they had to rely on other means of promotion.

For those wishing to participate in the LEA Land Grant, the application requirements are available on their website via the link above. All applicants must be familiar with, and agree to abide by, the SL Terms of Service, Community Standards and the LEA Code of Conduct in order to participate in the programme.

The Linden Endowment of the Arts has announced four 3-month long art shows that will see out 2011 and herald in 2012. The shows will each open in mid-October, and feature a range of themes and some of SL’s top artists.

The Survey of the Hyperformalists

• Where: LEA1
• Curated by: DC Spensley (aka DanCoyote)
• Opening: October 15th, 2011

The Museum of Hyperformalism was founded in 2006 to “Promote the unique genre of metasculptural abstraction in simulated space”. The display at LEA1 will comprise work by Josina Burgess, Oberon Onmura, Ray FX, Sabine Stonebender, Selavy Oh, Suzanne Graves and Velasquez Bonetto.

The Path

• Where: LEA2
• Curated by: Bryn Oh
• Opening: October 14th, 2011

Based on the Surrealists’ exquisite corpse concept, each artist was randomly given a scene to compose. A narrative begins with the first scene, and then progresses scene-by-scene until the eighth scene  – and the conculsion of the narative – is reached. Artists participating in this piece are (in scene order): Bryn Oh, Colin Fizgig, Marcus Inkpen, Desdemona Enfield / Douglas Story, Maya Paris, Claudia222 Jewell, Scottius Polke and Rose Borchovski.

• Where LEA3
• Hosted by: Solo Mornington
• Opening: October 15th, 2011

A series of twice-weekly speed build competitions that will each run until the sim is full. details in full have yet to be announced, but the events will be scheduled to allow artists from all time zones to participate.

Interact!

• Where: LEA4
• Curated by: curated by L1Aura Loire/Lori Landay
• Opening: October 15th, 2011

One of the great qualities of virtual art is that it can encourage – even demand – interaction on the part of the observer. Interact! encourages participating artists to make art out of interactions between data, objects, actions and people both within and beyond the virtual world.

Installations in this exhibit are by: AM Radio, Glyph Graves, Lorin Tone, Maya Paris, Misprint Thursday, PinkPink Sorbet and Selavy Oh.

There will also be an interactive environment for audience participation, and interactive mixed reality cross-cultural performances by: Butler2 Evelyn / Senses Places. The sim will also include Mesh by Sage Duncan, Machinima Mutoscope Viewers by FreeWee Ling, Twitter Garden by Frans Charming, and the Inner Tube Ride of Your Life by UzzU Artful.

I very much look forward to previewing these shows in full later in the month, and covering each in turn in these pages.