Tag: Pursue Impossible

 

On Sunday, December 13th, 2015, the Grand Finale of the University Of Western Australia’s (UWA) Pursue Impossible was held at the impressive UWA-BOSL Grand Amphitheatre. During the event, over L$500,000 was awarded in prizes to artists, machinima makers and those who took part in the audience participation competitions. The last in an impressive line of grand challenges organised under the umbrella of the UWA, the event was a very special celebration of artistic expression in Second Life.

Pursue Impossible took its theme from the UWA’s clarion call to students in the physical world to achieve their fullest possible potential by studying with the university. For artists and machinima makers it sought to have them consider what their “impossible” might be – personal, part of their lives or those they know, or a consideration of the things we deem to be impossible, but which yet be overcome, or illustrations of how the virtual encourages us to reach beyond the possible, etc.

The Grand Finale was hosted by the UWA’s Jayjay Zifanwe, with the UWA’s art curator, FreeWee Ling also on hand to announce the special Curator’s awards in both the art and machinima categories.

Opening the event, Jayjay said:

Today brings to an end the 6th year of the major art challenges at UWA, with 59 artworks by 61 different artists (2 entries were collaborations) in the running for the 3D Art Challenge and 43 machinima for MachinimUWA VIII: PURSUE IMPOSSIBLE.

As announced on the web previously, this winners ceremony also marks the end of the yearly cycles of major art and film challenges at UWA. UWA still remains, the UWA Art Gallery still remains, and is in fact renewed, as FreeWee will take the helm fully when it comes to art, without me meddling, and we have a new partner for art as well, as the Main UWA Gallery will be renamed the Windlight-UWA Gallery as Windlight Magazine will be providing support for the art initiatives that FreeWee will run in 2016. Much thanks to Johannes1977 for helping to make this happen.

It’s been an absolute pleasure for me to work with all of you over the course of these challenges, and over the years, and especially to those who went above and beyond the call of duty to make all of this a success. Thank you FreeWee Ling, curator of art at UWA & RL Honorary Fellow at UWA. Thank you LaPiscean Liberty, co-host for MachinimUWA VIII, champion of machinima of Second Life. Also much thanks to those who have provided support and sponsorship which sees the overall prize pool standing at more than L$500,000 across both art and machinima.

Audience Participation Awards

There was a total prize pool of L$82,000 for the audience participation challenge, split equally between the 3D art and machinima categories. This saw members of the public invited to submit invited to what they thought the top 10 items in either or both of the categories would be, as decided by the Pursue Impossible adjudicating panel. In all 5 cash prizes were on offer, ranging from L$5,000 to L$12,000 in each category.

Prize	3D Art Audience Participation	Machinima Audience Participation
1st Prize L$12,000	Lalie Sorbet	Karima Hoisan
2nd Prize L$10,000	Elle Thorkveld	Lalie Sorbet
3rd Prize L$8,000	Morituna Watanabe	Pearl Grey
4th Prize L$6,000	Pearl Grey	Zakali
5th Prize L$6,000	Lira Savira / Vivian Shan (L$2,500 ea)	MAagicfairy Merlin

Art Awards

Note that SLurls are given with the titles of all winning pieces, and all the entries into the Pursue Impossible 3D art challenge can still be viewed at the UWA art gallery.

There were no fewer than four 10th places winners, all tied on a total of 16 points from the judge’s selections. The four winners each received a L$1,250 prize and were:

• Pursuing the Impossible – quadrapop Lane (Australia)
• The Gift – Secret Rage (USA)
• Perspectives – Pixels Sideways (USA)
• Dream – Mistero Hifeng (Italy)

The ninth through seventh place prizes, all of L$5,000 each, were awarded to:

• 9th place: RACE: Human – PLANET: Earth – Sharni Azalee (Australia)
• 8th place: The Shadow of Quicksand – Haveit Neox (USA)
• 7th place: Impossible Geometry – Peli Dieterle (Germany)

Due to a 5th place tie, there was no award for sixth place.

The top five winners were::

• Joint 5th place winner (L$7,500): Pursuing order is pursuing impossible – Takni Mistwalker & Misio2 (Spain / Australia)
• Joint 5th place winner (L$7,500): Rise Above the Mundane – Kazuhiro Aridian (USA)
• 4th place winner (L$20,000): Impossible Quest – Jipe Loon (France)
• 3rd place winner (L$30,000): Pursue the End of Homelessness – Nino Vichan (USA)
• 2nd place winner (L$40,000): Achieve Impossible – Carmsie Melodie (Australia)
• 1st place winner (L$60,000): The Bridge – Alpha Auer (Turkey)

UWA Special Prize and UWA Curator’s Choice Prize

In addition to the prizes above, the Pursue Impossible 3D Art Challenge featured three additional awards: the UWA Special Prize and the UWA Curator’s Choice Prize, and Jayjay’s Personal Choice prize, which was awarded to mark the conclusion of the Grand Art Challenges and the fact that since they were conceived in 2009, Jayjay has never had the opportunity to vote on any entries other than as a member of the adjudicating panel. These were awarded as follows:

• UWA Special Prize, selected by the UWA members of the judging panel (L$35,000): Dream Within A Dream – Krystali Rabeni (UK)
• UWA Curator’s Choice Prize, selected by FreeWee Ling (L$25,000): Pursuing the Impossible – quadrapop Lane (Australia)
• Jayjay’s personal selection (L$5,000 each): Impossible today? … Possible tomorrow! by Dusty Canning  (Australia) and Mars by Jesse Keyes (USA)

Continue reading “Pursue Impossible: celebrating art and machinima in Second Life” →

The Grand Finale of the University of Western Australia’s Pursue Impossible 3D art and machinima challenge will take place on Sunday, December 13th, 2015 – and you can be a part of the audience.

The event will be held at the UWA-BOSL Grand Amphitheatre, starting at 06:00 SLT, when the winners, as determined by the judges, in both the 3D art and the machinima categories will be announced.

The challenge took its theme from the UWA’s clarion call to students in the physical world to achieve their fullest possible potential by studying with the university. For artists and machinima makers it sought to have them consider what their “impossible” might be – personal, part of their lives or those they know, or a consideration of the things we deem to be impossible, but which yet be overcome, or illustrations of how the virtual encourages us to reach beyond the possible….

There have been some amazing entries in both the art and machinima elements of the challenge, as I hope my coverage of Pursue Impossible n these pages demonstrates.

The awards are open to public attendance, with 59  artworks and 45 machinima in the running for a share of the L$500,000+ prize pool, as well as L$41,000 in prizes available to those who entered the Audience participation Challenge to try to match the top 10 entries as defined by the adjudicating panel (of which I am a member).

However, this will also be a grand finale in another way as well, as it signals the end of the international 3D art & film challenges which have been run in Second Life by the UWA since 2009.  While the UWA will continue within Second Life, and Freewee Ling will continue to run art events as she has over the years, major UWA events in the future will be dependent upon funding being made available.

So, please help make this a very special set of awards, and come along to the UWA-BOSL Grand Amphitheatre.

If you’d like to tour the 3D art pieces entered into Pursue Impossible, you can find a complete list of entries with landmarks on the UWA blog. Similarly, links to all of the machinima entries can also be found on the UWA blog.

SLurl Details

• UWA-BOSL Grand Amphitheatre landing points: Entrance 1; Entrance 2; Entrance 3 – all rated moderate

Saturday, October 31st marked the closing date for submission to this year’s combined 5th University of Western Australia’s (UWA) Grand Art Challenge and MachinimUWA challenge, Pursue Impossible.

The challenge takes its theme from the UWA’s clarion call to students in the physical world to achieve their fullest possible potential by studying with the university. Within the challenge, it calls on entrants to consider what their “impossible” might be. Perhaps it might be something personal, a goal achieved individually or by a loved one or friend. Or perhaps it is consideration of those things we deem to be impossible, but which we may still pursue and conquer as individuals or collectively. Perhaps it is itself a clarion call for us all to face the things we consider impossible and rise above them; or maybe it is an illustration of how virtual environments empower people to visualise, create and push the boundaries of the possible. There are many options and opportunities to consider.

There have been some amazing entries in both the art and machinima elements of the challenge, as I hope my coverage of Pursue Impossible n these pages demonstrates. With the closing date having passed, the task of judging the entries begins, and with it the opportunity for all residents in Second Life to share in the prizes on offer.

On Thursday, November 5th, the UWA announced the launch of the Pursue Impossible MachnimUWA audience participation challenge, with a prize pool of L$41,000. All you have to do to have an opportunity to win one of the five prizes on offer, which range from L$12,000 to L$5,000, is to watch the 45 machinima entries to the competition, then list those videos you think will finish in the TOP 10 in order 1st – 10th, as decided by the official judging panel.

Entries should be made via note card in-world, passed to Jayjay Zifanwe with your name in the title of the card, together with “MachinimUWA VIII Audience Event”. Alternatively, you can e-mail your list to jayjayaustralia-at-hotmail.com. All entries must be submitted no later than midnight SLT on Sunday, December 6th, 2015.

The full list of machinima entries can be found in the UWA’s Audience Event announcement linked to above. Remember, this is not a popularity vote. Your top 10 entry / entries should be your prediction of who the actual top 10 will be according to the official judging panel.

Winners will be announced at the Grand Finale for the challenge, which will be held 06:00 SLT on Sunday, December 13th 2015.

The University of Western Australia’s (UWA) latest 3D art and machinima challenge, Pursue Impossible is counting down the final days before entries close at midnight SLT, on October 31st, 2015. With a prize pool for participants in both the art and machinima categories standing at over L$ 560,000, there have already been some amazing submissions – and there is still time for artists and film-makers  to create and submit their own entries.

Pursue Impossible takes its theme from the UWA’s clarion call to students in the physical world to achieve their fullest possible potential by studying with the university. Within the challenge, it calls on entrants to consider what their “impossible” might be.

Perhaps it might be something personal, a goal achieved individually or by a loved one or friend. Or perhaps it is consideration of those things we deem to be impossible, but which we may still pursue and conquer as individuals or collectively. Perhaps it is itself a clarion call for us all to face the things we consider impossible and rise above them; or maybe it is an illustration of how virtual environments empower people to visualise, create and push the boundaries of the possible. There are many options and opportunities to consider.

Currently, the first prize for each category stands at L$60,000 plus a cover feature with BOSL magazine. Should you wish to enter either or both categories, full details of entry requirements can be found on the Pursue Impossible announcement page.  However, a brief outline of the key points to keep in mind is given below.

• Art submissions are limited to one per entrant, must have COPY permissions, should not exceed 150 LI, and must be free from any copyright issues – if third-party content is used in an entry, permission must and been sought and granted from the creator for its inclusion in the Challenge
• Entrants can submit as many machinima pieces as they wish, but films should preferably be no longer than 4 minutes and 30 seconds (although this is not a “hard” rule), and should be made specifically for this challenge. All films must include “For The University of Western Australia’s MachinimUWA VIII: Pursue Impossible” in the opening credits
• All submissions should allow casual viewers to interpret how the theme is represented, or provide a means by which the piece can be understood in the context of the challenge theme, either via note card (art) or text in the video description when uploaded to YouTube, Vimeo, etc.

As well as the art and machinima category prizes, there will also be special cash prizes for audience participation. The total prize pool for this currently stands at L$41,000, and prizes will be awarded to those members of the audience whose top 10 lists most closely align to the final juried top 10 entries in each category.

Details on how to enter the audience participation part of the challenge will be announced in due course. In the meantime, don’t forget to check the art entries at the UWA Gallery and the video submissions on the UWA blog.

Related Links

• Pursue Impossible UWA announcement
• UWA blog
• UWA Art Gallery SLurl
• Pursue Impossible coverage in this blog