Tag: Terrygold

Drug and alcohol abuse among you people – teenagers from 13 or 14 upwards – has long been a problem. So much so that today within many western countries, it scarcely appears to be on the radar of politicians, who instead prefer to point their fingers and rabble-rouse about imagined “evils” facing their countries from -*horror* – refugees seeking sanctuary or – *gasp* – the terror of equal rights for women, ethnic minorities, the disabled, and LGBTQ+ communities.

In Europe, studies have shown that while not rampant, substance abuse – including the use of tobacco – as a whole has been increasingly found among children below the age of 15 (per the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA)).

Much of this has been put down to “experimentation”, although peer pressure has also been noted as a factor, as has the fact that in terms of illegal drugs, some dealers have taken a leaf out of the tobacco advertising playbook from several years ago, but “promoting” their wares to younger consumers.

Further, while many reports note that such experimentation / engagement with alcohol and drugs in particular has tended to be among younger male teenagers, the EUCDDA studies from 2007 onwards have shown that more and more young girls are increasingly following suit, and the gap between boys and girls in terms of drug use is closing.

Drug use among young girls is something artist Terrygold has had to face in the physical world and within her own neighbourhood; and what she has witnessed, almost daily, has resulted in her latest installation Crack, which opened at her art gallery in late July 2022.

As with her recent pieces, it comes as a set of vignettes, each narrated by a static, NPC called “Terry”.

These vignettes – a pair this time – are literally framed as pictures; in the first, linked to the installations landing point (reached via teleport disc from the gallery’s main landing point), we she a happy time at home; a wife and husband in a comfortable lounge, their little daughter apparently tucked behind an armchair with her teddy as she plays hide-and-seek with her father. It’s a setting of domestic bliss, which can be seen – literally – through two frames set to either side of scene so as to present frozen images of a happy, safe home life.

A further frame – be it a window or a picture frame, it matters not – presents a view of a world outside this cosy home; a place where alcohol is freely available, the siren glow of neon drawing all too it regardless of age, with those standing in the doorways also caring little about identity or age. Close by, under a streetlight two young girls draw lustful gazes from an older male, whilst another girl, provocatively dressed, staggers down the middle of the road, the worse for – something.

Through the words of “Terry” as we stand next to her looking out onto the scene, we learn this vignette is a reflection of a tragic situation she has witnessed: a girl high of drugs or alcohol, wanting – needing – more – and desperate, spiralling ever deeper into an addiction that can only lead to worse.

Within the house, “Terry” also vents the artist’s frustration in the way that stories of abuse and suffering have become so commonplace that not even the age at which youngsters find themselves trapped by addiction causes anything more than a raised eyebrow. And we, like her, should feel that shame frustration and anger; but how many of us turn the page of the newspaper, shutting out the story just as we can shut the terrors of the world outside by closing the drapes on the windows of our homes?

But just how safe are we, really? Herein lies a deeper layering to Terrygold’s piece.

The entire installation is offered under a dark environment setting. While this clearly adds atmosphere to the street setting, where faces are shadowed, and the sense of danger and intrigued raised, so to does it alter the “indoor” scene of familial bliss, casting pools of darkness that reduce the home to a small island of light, a visual metaphor of the fact that no matter where we go, the darkness in the world is never far away,

But more than this, the shadows within the house serve another purpose. If you view the family through one of the frames, that little girl playing hide-and-seek vanishes, and the faces of the mother and father can no longer be clearly seen. Suddenly the position of the mother as she sits on the edge of the coffee table apparently making a casual call whilst her husband and daughter play, becomes something more urgent, her look more worried.

Similarly, the smiling face of the father is now wreathed in darkness, his tall figure a shadow within a shadow, looming close to his wife. Thus, the entire scene becomes tense and foreboding. The stances of father and mother, together with the apparent absence of their child reminds us that little girls who play hide-and-seek grow into young girls who for whom teddy bears, armchairs and hunting daddies are not enough, but the world, for all its threats, is a wondrous place – and even the threats can tempt and attract, opening young lives to those who would hunt them and/or their money for reasons far less innocent than a game of hide-and-seek, and parents are left fraught and anxious; desperate for the reassurance of a voice on a telephone, for an ear to hear their pleas to come home.

Expressive, offering much to consider, Crack is best seen under the local environment settings (World → Environment → make sure Use Shared Environment is checked), and with ALM (Preferences → Graphics → Advanced Lighting Model) enabled (Shadows are not required, despite the instructions and the landing point, should enabling them impact your computer’s performance unduly).

SLuel Details

Use the teleport disk to reach the installation

• Terrygold Art Gallery (Peaceful Land, rated: Adult)

In May 2022, Terrygold opened I Would, a further installation of art exploring personal themes of, life, love, and the passage of time. It is something of a third chapter in a series that started with Empty Chairs (see: Terrygold’s Empty Chairs: remembrance in Second Life) and then continued with Rain (see Terrygold’s Rain in Second Life), which – at the time of writing this article, at lease – is still open to visitors at Terrygold’s gallery, alongside I Would.

As with its predecessors, I Would takes visitor on a journey of two parts; one reflecting on childhood and the innocence carried within it; the other the increasingly harsh realities of life within a society which appears to be growing ever more isolationist, intolerant and selfish. These two parts are mirrored one to the other, but they are not reflections of one another; rather they are windows into different states of mind, linked by the presence of Terry, an adult woman who is both guide and voice of the artist’s – and our own – thoughts.

In the first part of the installation, we travel with Terry from her house and through a park; a place which, in childhood was never short of magical and where excitement and fun and release always awaited and where something might always be found to delight. A place where any little girl could be a princess and dream dreams of a future bright within happiness and light, and within which the realities of human nature were hidden – as least until seen through the weary eyes of adulthood.

In the second, we also start within Terry’s house, but on exiting, we pass onto a street of a modern town; a place dark, dreary and where anger gnashes teeth, and everything appears to be in a state of decay and uncaring selfishness. This is a street where anger is quick to boil over, and where those that have care little for the hardship of those who do not have, whilst being without is grounds to exude the right to threaten and to take.

All of this is evidenced in the words spoken in local chat by Terry as you come across her at various points in both scenes, and also through the words of other characters that might also be found, whilst mood is set by the framing of the scenes and the vignettes waiting within them.

Within the park, for example, we travel from Terry’s house through the bright colours and magical mysteries imagined by childhood eyes, to arrive back at Terry’s house as it sits in the harshness of winter – symbolic of the passage of time as we grow from the gaiety of childhood to the coldness of adult life.  Meanwhile, in the street scene we find a subtle amplification between those who have, and those who do not: in a garden protected by a high fence, a little girl plays happily, utterly oblivious of the little girl down the street cut off from her enjoyment of the local swings thanks to the vandalism of others and the force erection of another, and altogether different, high fence.

Throughout both scenes the words of the character of Terry give us pause for thought and to question. Why is life like this? Why do we so readily give up on the magic and promise of childhood to settle so readily into the cynicism and cruelty of adult life? What is it about our natures and our societies that make it “easier” to live in anger, resentment, selfishness and disregard, rather than allowing ourselves a more positive and accepting outlook? We obviously cannot remain as innocent as when young – but can we not hold onto the dreams we have, share them, and made the world a better, brighter place by doing so?

Within each half of the installation are 2D images by Terrygold that offer further reflection and visual tapping of the words offered through the character of Terry. These images add a further layer to our interpretation of I Would as it offers a thought-provoking window into life and the questions we can silently ask of it, and consider the wishes we all have at some point whispered within the stillness of our own thoughts.

On arrival at the gallery landing point, use the teleport disk to visit I Would and the other installations. 

SLurl Details

• Terrygold Art Gallery (Peaceful Land, rated Adult)

Rain.

I always wait for the rain, that thin, cold, bright … pleasant rain.
I remember that day on the path in the birch forest. The rain
was falling light, cold, illuminated by sunbeams, a light mist
rising from the ground. Motionless to admire, my memories 
were born then among white clouds, white cloud of sheets.

With these words, Terrygold introduces us to her January 2022 art exhibition Rain. In some respects, it is another personal exhibit that follows on from Empty Chairs (see: Terrygold’s Empty Chairs: remembrance in Second Life), offering a story that touches on both Terrygold’s art and life.

From the above introduction, we are led along a passage suggestive of that path through the birch woods. It leads us past elements that add depth and presence to itself, delivering us to places where a story unfolds through images and words. As with Empty Chairs a part of the theme here circles around the fact of loss; unlike Empty Chairs, however, Rain doesn’t just encompass the impact of the permanent loss of those around us – although it certainly starts that way.

Rather, Rain provokes us into considering how a personal loss can shape us; isolating us as we respond to the loneliness it imbues by rejecting the contact and affection of others; how the pain of loss causes a retreat that  – whilst we may not be conscious of it as the time – results in an experience of further loss.

At the same time, also wrapped within this is an exploration of time and how it, too, influences and changes us; the fact that of everything in life, time is our one constant companion. It marks the steps of our lives, the changes we experience. From the loss of those we love, through our other growth from childhood through to adulthood, it marks our desire to escape, whilst also offering what can be a warm / cold memory of those childhood years.

This is a poignant, personal journey, exquisitely frame in terms of setting, props and Terrygold’s images, marvellous self portraits  that express the emotions and feelings captured within the words and setting. These are pieces of extraordinary minimalism, extraordinary creativity and framing, and extraordinary depth.

I love to take pictures by creating my own photographic set and using exclusively tools that Second Life provides without any kind of external editing.

– Terrygold describing her art

But to think the monochrome nature at forms the main aspect of Rain is a walk through loneliness or depression would be a mistake. There is a narrative here that brings together the ideas of loss, time and growth, that brings us towards acceptance and peace / understanding; self-recognition that – if I might barrow from T.S. Eliot –  times past and times present combine to paint our path into the future.

This latter aspect is beautifully illustrated in the final area within Rain, where the wild grass of the floor bursts forth in colours that are also reflected in the final set of Terrygold’s pictures. They bring with us the suggestion of warmth and comfort, a realisation that while we may still feel the coldness of loss and the rain of tears, there is still much in live that can bring warmth and colour.

Perfectly designed and executed, Rain is another fascinating walk through the art and mind of a talented artist and photographer.

SLurl Details

• Terrygold Art Gallery – Rain (Peaceful Land, rated Adult)