WindLight Redux

Windlight seems like it will arrive sooner than I expected. As with all art, learning how to work with the medium is what separates the good from the great! This first image is taken from 600+ meters over Svarga. You can see the sky is quite detailed, but the haze/land view is a uniform teal. The black is a sky platform that is hanging about up there if you've never been.



















Current SL viewer

I decided to take a few pictures of a sunset I have seen a lot given it takes place over my in-world book site (under construction). Here is the current SL view skys.













First Look Viewer Of Same
Here is the same with the SL First look viewer. It is impressive, but somehow, less real. In any case, I'm looking forward to taming my skys and sharing them with others (only in SL).

-Ansel

WindLight!

by Rezago Kokorin

The WindLight First Look Viewer became available today and I just tried it out. Really, really awesome! Realistic looking clouds blowing across the sky, blue-grey misty mornings, golden sunsets.....

I went out to Bliss Basin, the most beautiful area I know of in SL, to look around and take some photos. Parts of it are already like being in a Maxfield Parish painting, and its even more so now. The sunsets there put me in mind of Rivendale, in MiddleEarth. I also visited the Lost Gardens of Apollo, another great SL beauty spot.

If you're a contributor to the blog and have tried out the new viewer, I encourage you to post some of your own photos.

In reviewing this post before sending it out I see that the photos I chose don't show a great deal of the actual sky. Its more than the sky, its the way the light makes everything look.

Really, try this out!
















The Lost Gardens of Apollo:

Video Blog on the Kinetic Sculpture Exhibition at Chiaksan

- by Magellan Egoyan

As part of a developing interest in both blogging and video blogging, I have started to develop a series of video blogs on youtube that portray different aspects of Second Life as it relates to Real Life. My second effort along these lines is now available on the youtube site... it can be found by searching under the key words "second life kinetic sculpture" or through my usename on youtube, which is "mageEgo". The document is in two parts, called "Kinetic Sculptures in Second Life, part 1" and "Kinetic Sculptures in Second Life, part 2". The blog is not perfect, given the time constraints (and my still inadequate video editing skills) I was unable to include much information on the artists themselves, beyond a few individuals. Later on, as I get better, I shall have another try.

Grand Opening of Gallery urEN lUREN at Trollhaugen, Second Life

Friday 25th of May I will open the first exhibition at my gallery Gallery urEN lUREN at Trollhaugen. 2pm SL-tid. So it will also be the official opening of the gallery itself. Everybody is welcome!

As the poster says I show some own my own artwork, invited guests and friends from rl (real life) and SL (Second Life), and some of the artworks in my art collection (I've started as an art collector too!).

"nOObjectivity #1" - A critical nOObject series #1 by Wirxli Flimflam.
On the opening Wirxli Flimflam aka Jeremy Turner is going to do an art performance with two guests: Lisa Dapto and Pastichan Yifu. The performance will start 2pm and go on til about 4pm. More info can be found in the blog post HERE.

Hope to see you all there!

To the gallery: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Trollhaugen/147/219/26

Plurabelle Posthorn aka Nina Svenne

The Spirit Fens Art Festival, May 19

Written by Plurabelle Posthorn

The Spirit Fens Art Festival in Second Life was a part of Artomatic 2007, Artomatic being a multimedia art festival in Washington DC featuring more than 600 area artists and performers. "The free five-week event, to be held April 13–May 20, will feature nearly 90,000 square feet of paintings, sculptures, photography and other creative work." More about the rl Artomatic HERE.
The Spirit Fens Art Festival was hosted by Morning Dagger (aka Jack Whitsitt) at the SintixErr Gallery, Enniv Zarf and PK Works: Krystal Epic - A Whole New Kind of Experience (See Cyanide Seelowe's review of Enniv Zarf's PK Works: Listening to Art - A Journey through Krystal Epic), Xavier Mohr and SL Reports, Frageurs Hock and MH Motors.

Now, some weeks ago they annouced a competition: a Scripted Practical Sculpture competition, 20 prims max. A litle later a competitions for 2D art was also annouced. Three prizes in each category:
Grand Prize of L$10,000 decided by the Jury, Audience Prize of L$10,000 decided by the voters,a combination of SL audience and RL audience from the Artomatic Festival in Washington DC, One Runner-up prize of L$2000.
At 4pm all the competition entries were up, and people tped in.
Enniv Zarf opened the show, and what a great opening: AOM! The Avatar Orchestra Metavers! I finally got to hear them in a live concert. In the middle of the picture here is the instrument build by Bingo Onomatopoeia.

See Wirxli Flimflams (one of the performers) report on the event HERE. The Avatar Orchestra Metavers own blog HERE.
You can hear earlier recordings of the to pieces they played this evening here: Miulew Takahe(bjørn eriksson)'s Rue Blache and Bingo Onomatopoeia's "Wee.No.Kresh" (click on the links).
Here's my fan video from the concert:

After this marvelous concert, it was time to look closely at all the fine entries for the competions, talking to the other artist, oh, I forgot to tell! I had three entries for the competition myself (so I had to be there...), and listening to the live music that was streamed from Washington DC.
A couple of hours later it was time for the awards.

Enniv Zarf shouts: WINNING THE TOTAL PRIZE MONEY OF L$10000 Enniv Zarf shouts: IS THE MAKER OF ORNAGLYPH62 BY SONIA STARDUST Sonia Stardust: Yay! thank you! elros Tuominen: Congrats Sonia :))))) AuroraSkye Ashton shouts: Bravo Enniv Zarf: THAT'S THE AUDIENCE AWARD Azadine Umarov: bravo

Sonia

Enniv Zarf shouts: THAT'S THE AUDIECNE AWARE
AuroraSkye Ashton shouts: congrats!!!!! :)
Xavier Mohr shouts: Congrats Sonia!
Suzuka Yongho shouts: Bonzai!
Tayzia Abattoir: Grats :)
Davina Glitter: whoohoo
Sonia Stardust: thank you!
Angel Enoch: yay

Enniv Zarf shouts: THE WINNER OF THE JURY PRIZE OF THE SPIRIT FENS 2D REAL LIFE NON-FRACTAL ART COMPETITION Enniv Zarf shouts: WINNING THE TOTAL OF L$10,000....YES...THAT'S 10K Enniv Zarf shouts: GOES TO..... Enniv Zarf shouts: SOULFUL PRAYER BY AURORASKYE ASHTON Veritas Variscan: oooooh Davina Glitter: clap

Auroraskye in her lovely dress.

Enniv Zarf shouts: ANYWYAS...RUNNER UP TO THE AUDIENCE AWARD WINNING L$2000 Enniv Zarf shouts: IS ELROS TUOMINEN FOR HIS DANCING FLOWER elros. You can see his dancing flower in the background

(It was so fun, but also terrifying. I never win anything, I said to myself. Why is that? What's wrong with me?)

Enniv Zarf shouts: THE WINNER OF THE AUDIENCE AWARD WINNING A TOTAL OF L$10,000 IS......
AuroraSkye Ashton: I want to hide behind a chair
AuroraSkye Ashton: lmao
elros Tuominen: thanks to you all.....
Enniv Zarf shouts: ....
Tayzia Abattoir: rofl
Ariella Masala: congrats elros *grins*
elros Tuominen: thnx Ariella :)
Enniv Zarf shouts: OMAYD GONTYUK FOR HIS WORK ZORABOT
Sonia Stardust: yay!!!!!
Angel Enoch: Hurrah!!!
elros Tuominen: Congrats!!!! :)))))))
(I havn't got a picture of him or his amazing animated poetic sculpture...)

Enniv Zarf shouts: THE RUNNERUP TO THE JURY AWARD FOR THE FIRST EVER SPIRIT FENS SCRIPTED PRACTICAL SCULTPURE COMPETITION WINNING A TOTAL OF L$2000 IS ....
Luker Esparza feels the thick tension in the air
Veritas Variscan: LOL
Luker Esparza: lol
Xavier Mohr: lol
Veritas Variscan: /drumroll
Enniv Zarf shouts: INA CANTUR'S WORK, OSTIUM
(I voted for her. It is a lock. You've got to solve a puzzle to have a landmark. Very much like you have in videogames.)

Enniv Zarf shouts: FOR THE FINAL JURY PRIZE OF L$10,000
Luker Esparza cheers loudly!
Veritas Variscan: Congratulations , Ina!
elros Tuominen: congrats Ina :))
AuroraSkye Ashton: Congrats Ina
Xavier Mohr: yay
Enniv Zarf shouts: FOR THE FIRST EVER SPIRIT FENS SCRIPTED PRACTICAL SCULPTURE COMPETITION GOES TO.......
Enniv Zarf shouts: AND THE WINNER OF THE L$10,000 PRIZE MONEY IS
Luker Esparza plays the drum roll
elros Tuominen: :)
Veritas Variscan provides drumroll
Azadine Umarov: hooray!!!
Enniv Zarf shouts: I AM A BIRD NOW --- BY PLURABELLE POSTHORN......CONGRATES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

??????????! Me! I won!

My "I am a bird now - Sound Trampoline"

VAA Interviews Juria Yoshikawa

At The Bluffs, the lake and the woods are filled with light and sound and motion. Bright multicolored cones move through the trees; over the lake brilliant orbs circulate, as well as a number of avatars wearing conical gowns in bright moving colors and flying through the air or burrowing into the ground under the control of unique animations, emitting shouts of glee. This is the participatory installation art of Juria Yoshikawa, aka new media artist Lance Shields, living in Tokyo (weblog at memespelunk.org). This reporter had the privilege of an exclusive interview with the artist a few days after the very successful opening.



VAA: So, talk about the art 'n' stuff.

JY: Well, this is my debut you know; it's my first official showing in SL after doing art in sandboxes for the past 2-3 months.

VAA: How long have you been in SL?

JY: I really just started; since march. But it's been a very full second life ;) I started with a male AV, Andres Watanabe, but very quickly changed to Juria. I found people were nicer to her, and more open.

VAA: What's your background, art-wise?

JY: I have a background in RL installation art and conceptual art, and did a lot through my 20s. After getting out of art school - the San Francisco Art Institute - I moved to Osaka and started doing installations. They were very participatory, but were in small galleries with no exposure. Then I got into digital art and the web, and set aside installation art. Soon I moved back to the US to do commercial design, which i still do. So there has been a 6-7 year gap since I really made art, but now I'm coming full circle through SL: through digital spaces I can do installation again.

VAA: Did you come into SL in order to do art, or was that an unexpected benefit?

JY: Unexpected! I lead the social media work in my company in tokyo: social networking, blog, and SL eventually. It was research. But then I just loved making things right away, and couldn't stop. Now I'm building a little artist persona here; it happened very organically.



JY: So, the work here. This piece has two parts: the forest and the lake, the Light Cones and the Light Orbs. The Orbs are tied to the lake, like forms of precipitation. While the Cones are in my mind abstracted "trees" and live in the wood. As I was developing both of them I began to imagine a story between the shapes and spaces...

VAA: What sort of story?

JY: The story of light that was forgotten about, misplaced. That in some way, these lights have minds of their own and have come back to their final resting place at the nature reserve. Also underneath all this 3D rendered trees, grass and water is really electricity which the lights were born from. In this "natural" setting the Lights clash and merge to remind us that is really just simulation.

JY: At the same time, I'm interested in the experience you can have with your av in the art: this is everything from visuals, to sounds to animation.



VAA: Is that a major difference between RL and SL art; how easy it is to make participatory?

JY: Super; it HAS to be participatory. I mean this is a 3D virtual space like so many games; even though people don't see it as a "game", I think we have similar expectations. "I want to experience art with my av that I can't do in RL". That's the reason I created the Light Gowns for people to wear and fly around the lights in.

JY: The next thing I like to think about is the place itself. Take Alien Beach: I look at the strange texture of the beach, see alien like qualities and sense an isolation, and then grow a surreal alien contraption right out of the texture. The nature of the beach adds power to the piece. The place itself should dictate a lot, as the viewers should.



VAA: Did you do the animations in this piece yourself? They're unique.

JY: Yes, I started making animations almost right away in SL, using avimator, on my Mac. I try to make them really awkward or otherworldly motions for people to experience with their AVs.

VAA: And are you still using avimator, or have you moved to something expensive?

JY: Avimator is actually easy to make broad strokes but hard to handle nuance; but free is cool.

JY: I want to experiment more with animations in the future, to give people more control; speech driven gestures are interesting to me, but arty ones.

VAA: Neat! I look forward to seeing what you do with that.

[At this point the artist is briefly interrupted by a storm of IMs.]

JY: Good grief, that's another thing: the social aspect of sl for artists is just amazing. Now that I have a little friend network, I can do improv openings right after finishing a piece and get 10-20 sets of eyes to see the work in minutes. Imagine that in RL!

VAA: Indeed! Any advice for new artists, to get that kind of thing going?

JY: for new artists?

VAA: Well, new to SL anyway.

JY: Hmm. Try to use SL for what it is. Even if you're a painter, try to find ways to use the tools of SL to make work that can only exist here. I think it's cool to show RL work here, cuz it's exposure for them, but personally I find SL media itself as the most dynamic and fun to play with. I guess having fun is the most important thing, and working hard just like in RL.

JY: Also don't be afraid of the scripts! There are tons of reusable scripts that can make big effects. Like all I usually use is rotate and animSmooth; both are default scripts in our libraries. I mean, that's all that it takes to get things moving.

VAA: And I assume there are scripts governing the motions of these cones that keep passing through us as well?

JY: Nope, just rotate and animSmooth; I fooled everyone.

VAA: But the cones are moving from place to place 'n 'all!

JY: There's a transparent ball in between them, which they rotate around; that's it! Then I space them out.

VAA: So they all move in circular patterns, but there are so many that it's not obvious to the eye?

JY: Yes, an illusion; but meaning and experience can be an illusion and still very real. This is a "simulation". So I'd say artists should do what they can to create interesting experiences even without the skill of scripting, but don't make excuses unless you know Dale. ;)

VAA: I'll be sure to print that part.

VAA: And the overall effect is of something more complex.

JY: So that's my card trick; no one will ever trust me again!

VAA: :) So where should I send our readers to see your things? Here at The Bluffs, and Alien Beach, and Pleasurection?

JY: Yes, all three; that order works too.

VAA: And are there any other places or pieces that you'd recommend everybody see? (Obligatory SL question)

JY: Other art you mean?

VAA: Sure, or anything else relevant really. Whatever you feel like mentioning!

JY: Well I have been so busy that I really haven't seen too much! I like a few places in particular. I like working at the Berkman Sandbox; it's smaller but the people are open to the art. There are also guards there so they keep the griefers out, and they help out with scripting or building advice. A unique little culture.

VAA: So what's next for you?

JY: Things are really cooking for me. I'm just opening a show called "I'm Not Here" at a new art space Gaping Lotus Experience May 16-30. I have two more shows starting in June. One is at the White Cube Gallery. The other is at the outdoor space of Sea Song Gallery at Caledon on the Sea. The theme in both shows is still undecided, which is what I like actually. Improv art is the best; make it like I do in the sandboxes.

VAA: Anything else you'd like to mention that I haven't asked about?

JY: Hmm. I'm really interested in collaborating, especially with people of other disciplines like yourself. Musicians, coders, poets, business people, normal people, sex goddesses (I'm serious; you can print that!).

Respectfully submitted, with many thanks to Juria,
-- Dale Innis

Kliger Dinkin at Ars Virtua

As the first artist in Ars Virtua's Artist-in-Residence program (AVAIR), Kliger Dinkin aka Brad Klingerman is showing the project he has been working with during his residence periode at Ars Virtua. The exhibition opened 20th of April.
« Organizing light in the time and space of the projected image »
(the determination of an Image-Space)
About the exhibition here:
http://www.turbulence.org/blog/archives/004145.html
Development of the project here:
http://transition.turbulence.org/AVAIR/?cat=3
A pole with hovering text tells you to click it to recieve a FAQ notecard to help you navigate the exhibition. You do because it looks like you're going to need it. The room is filled with transparent images and hovering texts. It says like: What does it mean to make art in Second Life? The first texts you see is describing the intention of the project. Oh! And to the right there is a column with cubes and text to click to teleport into the exhibition. The teleportation column. "Teleports send visiting avatars to exhibition vantage points within the Ars Center." crystal - write - learn - read - teleport theater (on the roof, from where "visitors can also be sent to distant Second Life sims that contain functioning project infrastructure.") - entrance


OK, let's go!
crystal - I'm caught inside a labyrint of transparent image walls - almost... I bump into walls, go through images, a glimps of a de Chirico painting, I fall down, and finally land on the ground again.

write - "Writing, a tool that possesses the mechanics and intelligence necessary to physically transform the materials that compose in-world space, physics and form..."

I walk from text to text, reading, trying to figure out what this is all about. Expecting to see an art exhibition, I find it somewhat didactic. So what does it say?

"What does it mean to show art in Second Life? By representing a project using interactive hyper-spaces made of images, ideograms and holograms, showing the places, and ideas invented during the 11 week resisency..."

A very busy guy at the entrance shows to be the artist himself, (futurist) Klinger Dinkin, putting up a kiosque which gives you a catalogue for the exhibition. He flew of to put up a kiosque on the roof, where the teleporters to other sims are, before I could ask him some questions....

From the Teleport Theather on the roof you can teleport to installations on other locations.

I had some problems understanding the exhibition, especially the three machines for in-world experimentation: The Calibration Machine, The Analogy Machine, The Mutation Machine. I couldn't find any machines, or I didn't understand what exactly was the machines and therefore could not find out how they work. On the web site it's said that: "The exhibition attempts to engage visiting avatars as project participants. By interacting with the installation infrastructure, they will actualize its content." So I expected to experience that, but the exhibition it self is not very interactive, except from walking aroud, reading and teleporting. "Avatars use HUDs to capture and send project data back to the gallery. The HUDs are provided throughout the gallery and worn by participating avatars. When visiting a distant project sim, the HUD facilitates data extraction by creating screenshots, then automatically sending the image data back to the Ars Virtua gallery. " I fumbled a lot with the catalogue cause I thought the HUD came with it. It didn't. "Creating a feedback loop involving avatars is a reflection of the necessity to create meaningful space through presence and participation."
I had to IM the artist to ask him. Kliger Dinkin: (Saved Wed May 02 11:56:01 2007) My exhibition is a “representation” of the machines, the objects & spaces they produced and the data they extracted. Visiting them is possible through the teleports offered in the Ars Virtua gallery.
So, the exhibition as it stands is actually an example of the 1st generation builders syndrome, isn't it? Or is it just me getting used to going through walls and teleporting? Ok, the exhibition is a representation of Klingers project, the machines are not on, so the installation in the gallery is frozen and not alive. There are some great ideas presented in the exhibition, but WHY, WHY, WHY can't I participate? I want to try those machines, please.

Plurabelle Posthorn

at the Artisan Galleria Legacy Towers...

Plurabelle Posthorn writing...

Many of the exhibiting artists at the Artisan Galleria Legacy Towers, Bellatrix, is also members of our Virtual Artists Alliace group. I'm therefore allowing myself to announce a litle for the gallery here. Under you find the press release for an opening at the gallery May 8th at 6 PM SLT.
A lot of activities are planned in the gallery in the near future.

Press release:

Fading Away
An editorial photo exhibit by
SINSABER HOLGADO
Nature’s single greatest creation is the human form.
It is the perfect marriage of form and function. Symmetrical and fluid, the greatest of communicators. Without a word it, the body can announce our intentions. Shoulders back, head held high, chest thrust forward it tells us of courage and pride. A broad smile from a stranger and our own body reacts involuntarily and returns the smile, not a word spoken, but two lives enriched.
So we seek to improve on nature’s design. We engage in physical activity to supplant a society over flowing with convenience. We take care to ensure the food we put in our bodies is healthy and nutritious in a world of pizza and burgers. We pay vast sums to have cosmetic surgeons shape us to new and improved versions of the original. We ingest supplements and drugs and chemicals concoctions to push the body to greater heights, to a more profound homage to nature’s efforts.
The body is art in its purest form. Every angle and nuance a new experience. Incredibly diverse, each a staggering beauty in itself. Artists have worked to capture the essence of the soul through individual interpretation of what the eye experiences. We revere those with a gift to show us life in a still form.
Sinsaber Holgado is one of the best. In his hands, a camera becomes magic. Somehow, with the same simple device that all of us own, he transcends the media and captures the body and the life, eternally encapsulating a moment in time. His photos move and arouse us. We are struck dumb by the beauty of his subjects. We find inspiration and desire and the images lodge in our brains so that we might take them out in a quiet moment and relive the feelings.
And now, his pictures make us cry.
His camera is truth. It cannot be lied to. What happens when the quest goes wrong? When pursuit becomes obsession and perceptions distort? The goal is lost and the mind can longer see the results, but only focuses on a goal that can never be reached.
The body fades away.

Sinsaber's editorial photo exhibit will be open for a press preview on May 3rd at 6 PM SLT (PST), at the Artisan Galleria Legacy Tower #2 in Bellatrix. It will also feature accompanying poetry by Alejandro Matova. For more information, please contact Jordan Morgenrote of the Artisan Gallerias.
The exhibit opens to the public May 8th at 6 PM SLT, at the Artisan Galleria Legacy Towers in Bellatrix.