It has been a long time since I have posted on this blog. Why? It's a complicated story ... well not really, it's just life. Rather than paste my day-to-day diary here I suppose two main reasons sum it all up. Firstly, there was an issue in my family that required my full attention and devotion for a while. You know how nature can be, especially when she decides to kick, slap, bite, impose and make you cry a bit too. That accounts for quite a few months of my non-blogginess. I won't post details but i think you get the idea - it was a crappy time for one of my dearest family members. Bleh! Okayyy ... moving on ... the second reason is more positive in an odd kind of way. As you know this blog is all about SL art. I started it because I found myself in total awe of the SL artists and machinimatographers I discovered in my travels. Their amazing creativity and talent still hold me spellbound. With eyes open wide in admiration I visited, I took pics, I gasped, I listened, I watched, I took notes and I shared these works with you ... as best I could. I hope they raised awareness, brought some happiness and that a few of you even felt the awe that I experienced. I didn't manage to blog all - I had a longgggg list I did not have time to cover - sorry to those I missed. But while doing this 'reporting' something was happening to me. I don't want to make it sound all dramatic and stuff but it did feel that way. A hunger rose, a desire to try this for myself. Time was against me - real life stuff, 9 to 5+ work, family, commitments - you know the drill. But I wanted to make art. I dabbled in smaller works when I could, then out of the blue I got the opportunity to take a break for a while. I was given the very, very rare gift of 'time'. This happened to coincide with the launch of UWA's latest 3D Art and Machinima Challenges, themed 'Reflections' and so the stars aligned. My mind was full of ideas ... I had time ...I started to plan... I worked with Struthious ... we created ... And now the UWA Reflections Challenge is over. I feel I should be sharing my views about the best-of-the-best with you because these Challenges attracted some incredible entries. But I'm sorry I took no pics, I wrote no notes ... other than submitting my own piece, I just wandered around quietly absorbing all the 3D pieces and watching the machinimas at my leisure. As they are still on display for a limited time I encourage you to do this too.
This blog is titled, Temporarily unavailable ... or more ...? That's because I'm not sure if I'll be blogging about SL art in the future - I may, I may not. I will endeavour to make more of my own SL art (time permitting), but real life is again imposing her will, making me face the mundane and challenges. So this is my way of saying ... stay tuned, maybe ... we'll see what transpires. Thank you so much for having been a reader of SL Art Exposed. If I can I will return ... time will tell.
3 Comments
Hazardous is a wonderful, artistic location created by Dingo (Mandingo) Quan. After I plummeted from the surreal, sky based arrival point I found myself on an island with steep, craggy cliffs. There were ruins, old paths and bridges dotted around that hinted of the inhabitants that once resided there. It's a truly beautiful sim that earned a place on my must-visit-again list. I'll let the pictures below tell the story...
I happened to be visiting Dazed and Intelechy when the artist, Seraph Kegal and others from LEA arrived to give a discussion about the build. Handy! Seraph spoke eloquently about the work, its meaning and her background. In real life she's an art student from Uruguay, South America and this installation is a student project. The inspiration for the build centres around the concept that in SL we all wear masks of one sort or another, meaning we adopt different looks and personas. Seraph was interested in whether our avatars, as masks, enable us to become new characters that are alien to our true selves, or whether the anonymity they afford release our inhibitions and allow us to become more of what we really are. Her enquiry included,"Who are we in Second Life?", "Who are we on the other side of the computer?" and "How do people perceive me and each other?"
My real life is busy so I planned to pop into Eupalinos Ugajin's build There is a hole in my inventory, wander around and take a few quick snaps for the blog. "It will only take a few minutes", I thought. How wrong I was! There was so much to see that my "few minutes" was soon 45 minutes and I still hadn't seen it all. Time slipped by because it's so extraordinary and happens to be two builds in one. The LEA TP took me to an installation called, You are the music while the music lasts. Eupalinos explains that this build consists of, "things found in my brain and some 'instant scenes' by Kika and Marmaduke". I've included several photos of just part of this build below. As you'll see it's surrealistic in style, but what you can't see is that lots of stuff moves, bounces and rolls. I assure you it's amazing to explore. I haven't included a pic of the giant triangular funnel but, when you visit, try flying up to the top and jumping into the hole. The second installation was called There is a hole in my inventory. It's aptly named. Eupalinos tells us it contains, "things made by others I like and that were sleeping in my inventory." Gotta love recycling! I very much appreciate the fact that Eupalinos is 'showing off' other's work that she feels has merit. Right click any object to see the designer's name.
I flew around some of the time taking snapshots and also used the green bollards to TP to various mini-locations within the builds, such as Fido and Circus. When I turned my sounds up to the maximum I got the best effect. I highly recommend a visit to this build ... errr ... these builds. They are multi-levelled, packed with lots see and do and there's surprises around every corner! My 12th Lea Arts Festival peek is Metaverse by the very creative Daco Monday. This fascinating, abstract build is packed with repeated, oversized elements such as clocks, picture frames and projectors. It's a busy build - things move, transform and change colour. Please click here for more info, photos and the SLurl. Metaverse is well worth visiting!
Plunge into the watery depths My avi slipped into her bikini for the 11th LEA Arts Festival 'peek' because Dr Moreau Seaworld by Nexuno Thespian is set entirely underwater. This beautiful build is a must-see for SL Merpeople and, even if you don't usually wear a fish tail, it's well worth a visit. I arrived at a central, underwater location with teleporters to four different monstery isles:
CLICK! A scene from Danger in Evolution My 10th LEA Arts Festival 'peek' is the portentous creation Danger in Evolution by Nessuno Myoo and Kicca Igaly, two well known and respected SL artists. This build made me feel as though I was walking through a snapshot in time, as if I had entered the future and it was was standing still for just a moment. Danger in Evolution has a serious, futuristic message that's supported visually by ominous elements and excellent textures. It's a very interesting installation that's well worth visiting, especially if you care about the future of our home, Earth. I've been there several times now. I wrote about Danger in Evolution in more depth in January, so please click here for the impressions of my first visit, along with additional images and the SLurl. My 9th LEA Arts Festival 'peek' is Skydance V. This is the 5th iteration of the spectacular, multi-media, performance-art piece directed by Dancoyte Antonelli (rl artist DC Spensley). It's breath taking! The Suffola - an interstellar race who dance in the Heavens. As soon as I arrived I realised this was not going to be typical a SL art event. The stunning 3000 metre long stage was way up in the SL heavens, with not a speck of ground in sight. DanCoyte, the art director, explained to me that this lofty position was deliberate. He's a firm believer that SL artists have a great opportunity, even an obligation, to exploit the fact that there are no physical contraints (such as gravity) in our virtual environment. And exploit he has! The talented Zerog SkyDancers floated, twirled and flew through the performance, to the ethereal tunes created especially for the event by Josh Zamo. The choreography and music were exceptional. How they kept it all together I will never know. This production pushes the boundaries by drawing on the best features that SL offers. I've included a slide show to give you a glimmer of what you can expect to see ... How I came to hear this great poetry reading is a bit embarrassing really. I was showing a friend, Zigstr the very scary Danse Macabre build that I blogged a few days ago. While wandering around I was likening some of the goblin figures to my ex-bf in local chat. Then we rounded a corner only to bump into the poetry readers in the midst of their performance, along with an audience! Oooops... Dubhna Rhiadra and Caledonia Skytower reading 'Goblin Market' Zigstr and I ceased our cheeky local banter and joined the group. The poem, 'Goblin Market' was written in 1859 by Christina Rossetti. It's about two sisters and their temptation by Goblin men. Dubhna Rhiadra and Caledonia Skytower, the performers, took us on an intriguing verbal adventure. I thoroughly enjoyed the sounds that the words of this poem made, sometimes galloping and at other times strolling us through the tale. And tension was created by making us expect one thing yet envisage something very different, like the association between fruit and sex. The Danse Macabre build has goblin-fruity scenes too. These added yet another dimension to the overall experience. I felt as if I was 'in' the poem. Given I had no idea I was going to attend a poetry reading, I consider this another of SL's lucky coincidences. Zigstr really enjoyed it too. After the performance Dubhna and Caledonia took the time to explain how they worked together for the reading and some of the intricacies of the poem which was also very interesting.
In summary, Goblin Market is a multi-layered, poetic saga with veiled (and sometimes not so veiled) sexual inferences, read with much enthusiasm and skill. Highly recommended! My avi slowly tumbling and floating downwards My 7th LEA Arts Festival 'peek' is Ce N'est Pas Une Peinture by Gracie Kendall, an artist in real life and in SL. I wrote about this dreamy, colourful, floaty, immersive art installation in January. It's so peaceful and relaxing I've since taken several friends to visit. Here's the link to my earlier blog that also contains the SLurl. If you missed it the last time you can catch up now. Enjoy! |
AuthorHi there. I scribble my thoughts on the latest artworks, exhibits, 3D installations & machinima that I come across in my Second Life travels, along with other arty SL news. I offer my impressions of the pieces, but I'm certainly not an art critic. Each artwork will impact individuals in unique ways, so I encourage you to draw your own conclusions by visiting them in world. Enjoy! SearchCategories
All
Archives
August 2013
Blog Roll |