Diomita Maurer’s Blog

In the “Backflash” series I select an old entry once a month and present it here. This way I force myself to browse in the archive and to fresh up a few of the many memories. For our readers the new series shall provide an insight into our Second Life without reading back the many posts and it might also give reason to browse through the archives.
For April 2022 I selected a post from April 2017 “Simploring 2017 (31) The Last Forever – Marfa”.
Back in 2017 I had never heard about Marfa, TX and thus I did some resaearch und learned a lot about this famous place in the middle of nothing. Snce then I came across Marfa in Second Life a few times and for me it feels a bit like I’d have been there in RL. At “The Last Forever – Marfa” I also saw Melusina Parkin’s minimalistic art for the first time. Whenever I get aware that Melusina has opened a new exhibtion I visit it nowadays – and often remember my visit to her exhibtion at “The Last Forever – Marfa”
Enjoy reading…

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Simploring 2017 (31) The Last Forever – Marfa

I went on a simploring tour Saturday, April 22nd. I decided to visit “The Last Forever“, a landmark that I picked from Nix Bubbles’ blog. The landmark description was not really revealing for me: “The Last Forever is a new sim/full region inspired by Marfa, TX from the creators of West of The Rain, Oobleck Allagash and Nodnol Jameson (KraftWork), along with the creative team of Kai Mannequin, Brooke Barmy, Rooky Yootz, Triin, Misty and Jack Hanby.” I haven’t heard about Marfa in Texas before nor did I came across of any of the mentionened names. Most of “The Last Forever” I understood later, when I looked up some profiles and after reading about Marfa, TX.

Marfa was founded in the early 1880s as a railroad water stop. The town was named “Marfa” at the suggestion of the wife of a railroad executive. The Marfa Army Airfield served as a training facility for several thousand pilots during World War II. It was closed 1945. Marfa has a population of about 2,000 people, hence it is really small.
Today, Marfa is a tourist destination and a major center for Minimalist art. Attractions include Building 98, the Chinati Foundation, artisan shops, historical architecture, a classic Texas town square, modern art installments, art galleries, and the Marfa lights. The city is also 37 miles (60 km) from Prada Marfa, a pop art exhibit, which might be the most photographed and visited site in Marfa. The area around Marfa is known as a cultural center for contemporary artists and artisans. In 1971, minimalist artist Donald Judd moved to Marfa from New York City. Since Judd’s death in 1994, two foundations have worked to maintain his legacy: the Chinati Foundation and Judd Foundation. Every year the Chinati Foundation holds an open house event where artists, collectors, and enthusiasts come from around the world to visit Marfa’s art.
(Source: wikipedia) 

The landing point is at the Marker of Marfa, which is based on Marfa in the reality. Upon your landing you get a welcome “Welcome to The Last Forever SIM home of KraftWork, BIGBULLY, Powder Pack, Kiss me Poses and Triin.” KraftWork and BIGBULLY are shops for mesh creations for decorations and furniture in Second Life. Powder Pack is a store for make-up and skins for mesh heads and Kiss me Poses is a store for poses. The Last Forever is the home of these stores. I didn’t find out what Triin is.

Marfa in Second Life looks a bit like I would imagine a little town in Texas. First of all it is in the middle of nowhere and surrounded by a desert. There are some modern buildings but also some buildings that have seen better times. And there are some ruins and abandoned homes. The infrastructure is dilapidated and some corners and areas look shabby. What I noticed before I did the above research about Marfa in the real world is the art spreaded all over the sim.

I walked around town and collected some impressions of Marfa in SL. I explored the mainstores of KraftWork and BIGBULLY. I went into the radio station and I couldn’t refrain from peeking into the local sex shop. I visited the exhibit Americana, American Icons in Second Life by Melusina Parkin. Outside of the town is the famous Prada Marfa, a camping ground, and some houses. The atmosphere is dense and The Last Forever looks quite real, in particular when you know about Marfa in reality. Monday, April 24th, just 2 days after my visit, I noticed that Inara Pey published an entry about Melusina Parkin’s Americana exhibit titeled “Melusina’s American Icons in Second life“ in her blog, just the very same day that I visited Marfa. What a coincdence!

Thank you Oobleck (allagash) and Nodnol Jameson (owner of KraftWork) for providing The Last Forever to the public. You understood how to combine the site of some mainstores (including your own) with the experience of a great place in Second Life and you contributed to my education as I now know about Marfa.

 

Landmark to The Last Forever

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/The%20Last%20Forever/181/97/23
(outdated!)
Inara Pey’s blog entry about Melusina Parkin’s Americana exhibit at The Last Forever
https://modemworld.me/2017/04/21/melusinas-american-icons-in-second-life/

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Link to the orignal post:
https://themaurers.me/2017/04/25/simploring-2017-31-the-last-forever-marfa/