Art in Second Life 2023 (24) Secret Garden by Cica Ghost

09 May 2023 Leave a comment

by diomitamaurer in Art in Second Life Tags: , ,

Cica Ghost did it again and opened another new installation. It is named “Secret Garden” and opened Sunday, May 7th. Together with the landmark, Cica provided a quote again, this time from The Secret Garden Book by Frances Hodgson Burnett (how fitting!): “And the secret garden bloomed and bloomed and every morning revealed new miracles.“

As always you’re asked to use “Shared Environment” as the environment is part of Cica’s art. Please also turn on “Advanced lighting”. Secret Garden is a bit different to what you and I might expect. The colours are dark with a metallic look. Silver, metal, bronze and brass tones are the dominating colours. The flowers shine at some viewing angels, sometimes they are matte.

Impressions from “Secret Garden” by Cica Ghost (1)

Secret Garden is inhabited by hippos and birds, but you also find one goat, one frog and … one cat (YAY). The hippos and the birds mostly look very happy, “Cica”-ish and are watching what is going on. You find many places to sit and to dance (ballet dances this time). Just hoover your mouse over objects to find places to sit, just click the “Dance” boards to dance.

Impressions from “Secret Garden” by Cica Ghost (2)

Together with the dark sky and the selected environment there’s a particular atmosphere at Secret Garden. The place is submerged in hazy, foggy light, which makes the flowers shine more. As you would suspect, there’re lots of details to discover, small details like a miniature of a “Cica”-house with wheels placed on a table. Also watch out for the birds, there’re more than just the big ones.

Impressions from “Secret Garden” by Cica Ghost (3)

At one place to sit I asked myself who is watching who.. does the bird look at me – or do I observe the bird? The frog is sitting on the edge of a bathtube, ready to jump in. And the cat (thank you Cica) has a place for it’s own.

Impressions from “Secret Garden” by Cica Ghost (4)

Secret Garden is not a place intended to make you smile like a kid exploring a peaceful world. It is different. It makes you smile discovering the artful light and some artful decorated places. The flowers are the stars of the secret garden as well as the art that is spread over the place. That – and the cat – gave reason enough to me to smile nonetheless!

As always we don’t know how long Secret Garden will be available for a visit, so hurry up and explore it.

Landmark to Happy Town by Cica Ghost
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/DARK/132/192/22
Landmark to Cica’s new shop
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Bryn%20Oh/22/244/21
Cica Ghost’s shop on the marketplace
https://marketplace.secondlife.com/stores/98471
Cica Ghost’s flickr:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/64860898@N05/

Art in Second Life 2023 (23) Zornian Women by Kian @ Nitroglobus The Annex

04 May 2023 1 Comment

by diomitamaurer in Art in Second Life Tags: , , , , ,

Dido Haas messaged me to tell me that there’s a new exhibition in May/June in the annex of her Nitroglobus Roof Gallery: “Zornian Women”. The exhibition was opened May 2nd.

Together with the invitation I got a notecard with Dido’s description of “Zornian Women”:
“Immediately after I spotted Kian’s work @ Starborn gallery curated by Lizbeth Morningstar, I contacted him and asked if he was interested to exhibit at Nitroglobus.
I love his personal touch, his use of colors and his humor.
Inspired by the painter Anders Zorn, Kian captured the female body in light and shadows, with contrasting areas of very basic colors. Like in the paintings of the famous Swedish impressionist, the spectator’s eye is drawn to the subject when the surroundings disappear into the magical Northern lights.
I’m proud to be presenting Kian’s new work ‘Zornian Women’“

The exhibition consists of 13 pictures hung along the walls of the annex of the Nitroglobus Roof Gallery.  It is Dido Haas’ concept that the floor seems to mirror the pictures at the walls, an effect that intrigues me every time once again when I visit the Nitroglobus Roof Gallery.

Impressions of “Zornian Women” by Kian @ Nitroglobus Roof Gallery / The annex (1)

Except of one picture, that is right at the entrance on the short wall and shows a floating doll in a see, all pictures show a red haired woman painted in soft colours. And most of these pictures are at a beach with a soft blue sky. Dido wrote that Kian was inspired by Anderas Zorn, hence the name of the exhibition “Zornian Women”.
Andreas Zorn (1860-1020) was a Swedish painter. He attained international success as a portrait painter and painted many celebreties, politicians and royals of his era.
Zorn was known to use a basic color palette consisting of Lead White (Flake White), Yellow Ochre, Vermilion and Ivory Black. This limited color palette shows tremendous range in terms of color mixing. A large variety of tonal ranges is possible using this palette. (source Wkipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anders_Zorn)
I suspect that Kian also uses a limited variety of colours and that this is one reason naming the exhibition “Zornian women”, but I might be wrong. The pictures are heavily processed into impressionistic oil paintings, the contures of the female models are blurred and as the background is even more blurred, the spectator intuitively is attracted by the model only and makes up a story behind the picture.

Impressions of Zornian Women by Kian @ Nitroglobus Roof Gallery / The annex (2)

Kian (random26356) is in Second Life since May 2019. His first attempt at Second life photography took place half a decade ago. He needed some time to find his own unique touch: the faded, grainy images, usually with the artist himself as the willing subject, creating a distance between the spectator and himself. The pictures often have a quirk to them with Kian as a king slaying his queen on a chess board, on summer holiday with a sex doll or dressed as the Easter bunny on a canola field.
A few years later he started exploring landscape photography, but added heavy post processing to turn the images into impressionistic oil paintings. Falling in love with the technique he wanted to take it one step further. For the Zornian Women exhibition Kian used for the first time female models as the main subject.
You can see more of Kian’s artwork at his flickr page.

Impressions of Zornian Women by Kian @ Nitroglobus Roof Gallery / The annex (3)

Nitroglobus Roof Gallery is owned and curated by Dido Haas. Thank you, Dido for providing the space for the art and for enabling the exhibition “Zornian Women” by Kian. The exhibition poster was created by Maghda based on an image of Kian. Adwehe contributed the daisies and plastic spheres and prrovided the light art.
Thank you Kian (random26356) for your art – very intriguing. I can understand why Dido invited you to exhibit at her place.

“Zornian Women” by Kian is the May/June exhibition at the Annex of Nitroglobus Roof Gallery.

Landmark to The Annex of Nitroglobus and to “Zornian Women” by Kian
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Sunshine%20Homestead/166/41/1001 
Kian (random26356) flickr
https://www.flickr.com/photos/153345759@N03/
Landmark to Nitroglobus Roof Gallery (main gallery)
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Sunshine%20Homestead/38/22/1001
Dido Haas’ blog
https://exploringslwithdido.blogspot.com

Art in Second Life 2023 (22) Memento Vivere by Selen at NovaOwl Sky Gallery

03 May 2023 1 Comment

by diomitamaurer in Art in Second Life Tags: , , , ,

I (pre-) visited the installation “Memento Vivere” by Selen (Selen Minotaur) at NovaOwl Sky Gallery. The installation is ready to be viewed, the opening party will take place today, May 3rd at 9 PM (CET) / noon SLT.

Before entering you should ensure that your Graphics ate set to “Advanced Lighting Model”, if you can you’re recommended to set schadows to Sun/Moon and projector and you should enable Sound and Media with Media Autoplay enabled.
When entering the intallation you see big arrows at the floor and at the walls that guide your on your way through the installation. The first what you see is a permanently changing, mirrored being with hands and heead, most probably a human, that moves, develops and vanishes on three screens.

Impressions from “Memento Vivere” by Selen @ Nova OwlSky Gallery (1)

Selen wrote about “Memento Vivere“:
“Memento Vivere”, in Latin, means “Remember to live”. Isn’t it the other face of the same medal with “Memento Mori” which means “Remember that you’ll die”? What if the fear of dying was actually the fear of living?
This installation, mixing 2D, 3D and multimedia is meant to explore this question. The bias being to treat the subject with all the more lightness that it is serious, even heavy.
Visitors are therefore invited to take their time to look and sometimes interact with the artworks with their inner child, without forgetting their sense of humor, and to find the stories and messages that speak to them.
Most of the images are fantasy style, using avatars from the Metabody project.
An experimental art video (machinima) made specially for this installation will come out soon. It won’t be ready for the opening vernissage on May 3, as initially this opening was planned for June. But stay tuned, it might be ready before the start of June!”

Impressions from “Memento Vivere” by Selen @ Nova OwlSky Gallery (2)

The installation consists of a just a few 2D pictures, most of them permanently changing a with fading transition, hence you always get a different view. Please be aware that the floor is also used to display posters and messages. There are also some 3D objects in the installation, very outstanding is the the pendulum in the corner, that swings like a metronome above a circle with symbols of different religions and beliefs. On the wall you find the center message “The fear of dying refers to the fear of living“. On the floor your find other wisdoms like “Vita nihil valet nisi nihil valet vita” which is latin and means: “Life is worth nothing and what is of no value is not worth of life”.

Impressions from “Memento Vivere” by Selen @ Nova OwlSky Gallery (3)

There is a stairway leading upwards on a little stage with another animated colourful protrait and surealistic picture of what might be the devil at work. Looking back you see a videoscreen which plays the animations that you find at installation in a permanent loop. I am not aware if that is the machinima that Selen mentioned in her note about “Memento Vivere”. Anyway, here is the link to it.

What else? Find out yourself! One last thing, I liked the Salvadore Dali face next to another wisdom:
Go to work. Get married.
Have some kids. Pay your taxes.
Pay your bills. Watch your tv.
Follow fashion. Act normal
Obey the law
.. and repeat after me: I AM FREE

Impressions from “Memento Vivere” by Selen @ Nova OwlSky Gallery (4)

I came across Selen (Selen Minotaur) just recently the first time when I visited her exhibition “Junction Points” at Nitroglobus Roof Gallery (read here).
Selen (Selen Minotaur) is in Second Life since 2008. In her biography she writes about her connection to art: “In the physical world I grew up in France with an architect, painter and sculptor father, maybe that’s why I’ve always loved art in all its forms. I myself tried drawing, painting (watercolor) and sculpture (clay) when I was younger. Later I discovered different platforms of the Metaverse (Second Life being the very first and main one) with endless possibilities to create digitally….. I always like to experiment new things, and creativity and art are definitely my main fuels in SL.”
Nowadays, Selen has an own gallery, an own website, a facebook and an instagram account, a flickr page and an own youtube channel. You cand even more links to Selen’s artwork at her link-list here.

The NovaOwl Gallery  and the NovaOwl Sky Gallery is owned by Uli Jansma, Owl (Owl Dragonash) is the general manager. NovaOwl is an international community on the mainland continent of Corsica. NovaOwl is located on Novatron. It is a meeting place where events take place regularly. Thank you Uli and Owl for providing the space for the art and for enabling this Installation. I enjoyed my visit.
“Memento Vivere” by Selen shall stay open until June 30th.

Landmark to NovaOwl Sky Gallery and to “Memento Vivere” by Selen
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Novatron/122/39/2001
Landmark to NovaOwl – Gallery & Club
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Novatron/131/102/23
Video with for the permanent loop animations at “Memento Vivere”
https://www.youtube.com/embed/qxj_7o7wdk4?version=3&loop=1&playlist=qxj_7o7wdk4&autoplay=1
List of links leading to Selen’s art:
https://linktr.ee/selen.inworld
Selen’s gallery in-world
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Royale/211/208/1602
Selen’s website
https://seleninworld.com
Selen on facebook
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1000855067835699
Selen on Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/selen.inworld/
Selen’s youtube channel
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUSdEgggYEheFsxHI7drfpw
Selen on flickr
https://www.flickr.com/photos/185987389@N08/

Art in Second Life 2023 (21) “Unusual” by Bamboo Barnes @ Kondor Art Center

21 Apr 2023 1 Comment

by diomitamaurer in Art in Second Life Tags: , , , , ,

Bamboo Barnes opened a new exhibition at The Kondor Art Center on April 20th. It is named “Unusual“. The music at the opening event was provided once again by hEIN! (heinrichmarder).

I visited a few days before the opening as Bamboo invited me over. And I mixed up the exhibitions! Bad me. The only excuse I have is that it was late. And yes, I was a bit irritated as the pictures didn’t fully fit to her style. But they were colourful, that detail fitted. Anyway, to make up for it I visited again today. So not only the title is “Unusual” but also this revised post. Thank you for your art, Bamboo .. and thank you for your understanding.

“Unusual” is exhibited on two floors of the exhibition building and consists of close to 40 pictures and rotating 3D objects. Most show female portraits, some more than just one and some female bodies. But all are processed with added layers, with 2nd and 3rd and 4th layers geometric forms that change the the appearance. Often the original portrait is hard to see and you have to immerse yourself to make up your own picture. And as usual for Bamboo Barnes’ style “Unusual” (what a nice pun) all pictures impress by their colourfulness. The 3D objects at the entrance and behind the stairs to the 2nd floor change permanently as the single objects rotate and as on the surfaces several pictures and faded in and out. This way you always get an unique view.

Impressions of “Unusual” by Bamboo Barnes @ The Kondor Art Center (1)

Bamboo wrote in an accompanying notecard about “Unusal“:
“I was taught to always compare myself to others and to stand within the line that was drawn. To not even think about what would happen after I crossed that line.
What is normal and what is unusual, it kept me bound inside for quite a few years.
One day I jumped off of it and landed in a world of chaos, and since then everything has changed in my world, above and below. The good and the bad. Everything was new.
Now I wish I could relive that time of joy and awe all over again.”

Impressions of “Unusual” by Bamboo Barnes @ The Kondor Art Center (3)

Bamboo is in Second Life for over 15 years already, painting software & photoshop are her best friends. Bamboo had many exhibtions and appearances in the Second Life art scene and in 2018 she had her first exhibition in real life: “I create what I see but maybe you won’t, they are about people’s reality and  mind.”
Bamboo’s art is a mixture of abstract forms, of people and photographs. Most pictures are colourful and it is in the eye of the beholder what we see in her pictures.
I myself saw her work the first time at La Maison d’Aneli during the Holiday season 2019/2020 (read here). I also saw her exhibition “Marginal Mannerism” at DixMixGallery in April 2021 (read here), the exhibition “Meant to be” at Itakos Art Gallery last year (read here), I saw “Conjure” at FOCUS Magazine F.A.I.R Gallery in August 2021 (read here), “Mindstorm” at IMAGO Land (read here) and “Drawer” at Hannington Arts Foundation (read here). In December 2021 I saw her exhibition “The path” at Art care gallery (read here) and 2022 i visited “Metaphysics” at the Kondar Art Center, (read here), Colores Primarios (read here), “New Day”  (read here) and  “Personal Aspect” (read here). This is the first exhibition, that I saw of her in this year – and all pictures are brand new. One could say, I’m a fan of Bamboo’s art!
Look also at Bamboo’s flickr page.

Impressions of “Unusual” by Bamboo Barnes @ The Kondor Art Center (3)

At the opening event hEIN (heinrichmader) was the dj. hEIN is from Austria. He had over 500 online DJ sets in SL between 2010 and 2022. He’s also a DJ in RL and got several awards. hEIN! publishes electronic music that he calls “Art Techno” because of the voice processing he does. If you want more information about him, read the interview about his RL and SL activities that he gave in March 2022 here. hEIN! has also an own website.

Hermes Kondor (aka Luis Vasconcelos) is from Lisbon, Portugal. He’s a former teacher of photography and photojournalism and looks back on 40 years of photography experience. Hermes likes to see and shoot and he loves street photography. Hermes is in Second Life since 2007. He is the owner and curator of the Kondor Art Center, Thank you Hermes for enabling the exhibition “Unusual” by Bamboo Barnes.

I enjoyed my pre-visit. Thank you Bamboo.

Landmark to “Unusual” by Bamboo Barnes at The Kondor Art Center
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Waka/219/163/810
Bamboo Barnes’ flickr page
https://www.flickr.com/photos/bamboobarnes/
hEIN! RL/SL Interview 3/2022:
https://www.cityflyer.at/heinrich-mader-aka-hein-tanzen-im-metaversum/
nHEIN! website:
www.hein.vision

Art in Second Life 2023 (20) A minimal gaze by Melusina Parkin @ UASL

16 Apr 2023 Leave a comment

by diomitamaurer in Art in Second Life Tags: , , , ,

Melusina Parkin invited me to her newest exhibition “A minmal gaze” at United Artists of Second Life (UASL) Galerie Principale on the 1st floor.

I am a fan of Melusina Parkin’s art and have seen quite some of her exhibitions. Melu’s style is minimalistic. She usually takes her pictures in Second Life. The minimalism forces the spectator to focus on details, that might stay unseen when too much distracts the view. Lately Melusina has tried out herself and other themes and techniques. She made pictures of ladies (read here), she played with AI generated pictures (read here and here), or she reduced her pictures to black&white only (read here). With “A minimal gaze” Melusina returns once again to her traditional pure minimalistic style.

Impressions of “A minimal gaze by Melusina Parkin @ UASL (1)

Melusina wrote about “A minimal gaze“:
“At this moment I’m experimenting AI generated images, but I don’t give up my passion for minimalistic photography. So I selected this series, collecting images of details seen in many SL places, to whom I wanted to give the dignity of photograph subjects. That’s what I always have done in these 10+ years of photography: enhancing and proposing what all of us could see and very often don’t “feel”. Minimal details talk of solitude, of uniqueness, of a kind of strangeness, like when we repeat a word until it looses its meaning, or acquires another one. Without a context, a detail can appear meaningless, but this senselessness can be rich of different possible meanings. Isolating a detail – making the usual unusual – does mean taking possess of something and giving it the meaning we want.“

“A minmal gaze” consists of 20 of these objects, which Melu gave a prominent place for us to look at them. That might be the view on a calm see from a window, a fence, a chair with a piece of clothes at the beach or a bus stop. It might be a pipeline, a warning beacon, the branch of a tree, a sun umbrella or a washling line with some clothes drying outside. No matter what it is, simple everyday objects in Second Life (and in Real Life) are the stars of the exhibition.

Impressions of “A minimal gaze by Melusina Parkin @ UASL (2)

Melusina Parkin is in Second Life since September 2008. She has been a fashion manager, a journalist, a furniture creator, a builder, a decorator and a photographer. Her work as a photographer has been showcased in more than 50 exhibitions – from which I saw just a few. Melusina has a flickr account which counts more than 13,000 (!) photographs. Extensive collections of her photos can be seen also on her blog Virtual Exhibits and on some slideshows on Youtube (links also under this post).
There’s also an online book with her Second Life exhibits 2011-2019 here.
Melusina Parkin has an own gallery at Time Portal, “Melu’s Photo Gallery” and an own store for Art Deco furniture called “Melu Deco“. Melusina also owns a second place (Melu Space) with another gallery (Minimum Gallery), a bookstore and another “Melu Deco” inworld store.

UASL is a unique artist group in SL that hosts opportunities for visual 3D, 2D and performance arts in it’s full region area at no cost to the artist. UASL is funded primarily by donations and by Riannah Avora. Thank you for enabling this exhibition.

Landmark to A minimal gaze by Melusina Parkin
United Artist of Second Life – Galerie Principale
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Karpov/128/53/64
Landmark to Melusina Parkin’s Melu Photo Gallery
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Time%20Portal/248/101/1940
Landmark to Melusina Parkin’s Minimum Gallery
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Lunula/129/107/621
Landmark to Melusina Parkin’s store for Art Deco furniture “Melu Deco”
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Time%20Portal/243/99/1930
Melusina Parker’s flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/melusina_parkin/
Melusina Parkin’s Virtual Exhibit blog
http://meluphoto.blogspot.it/p/home.html
Melusina Parkin’s youtube channel
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVzglBiqhrOLXnAp3Qt3Zjw
On line book Second Life exhibits 2011-2019
https://www.calameo.com/books/005997622f28dd58ca75d

Art in Second Life 2023 (19) Happy Town by Cica Ghost

13 Apr 2023 Leave a comment

by diomitamaurer in Art in Second Life Tags: , , ,

I got an invitation to visit Cica Ghost newest installation named “Happy Town”. It opened Friday, April 7th. Together with the landmark, Cica provided a quote again: “Whoever is happy will make others happy too.” (Anne Frank)

To anticipate it, Cica at least made me happy and put a smile on my face.
For “Happy Town” Cica has returned to her fabric and stitch theme. The ground, the clouds, the houses and the fences are made of fabric and sewn together. as always you’re asked to use “Shared Environment” as the environment is part of Cica’s art. Please also turn on “Advanced lighting”.

Of course “Happy Town” is inhabited by happy beings, in this case you find, animals, animal people and monsters. When I began exploring I came across cows first, then I saw cat people, sheep people and chicken.

Impressions of “Happy Town” by Cica Ghost / overview, cows, cat people, sheep people, sheep and chicken

Then I saw happy monsters and an animation of Cica’s cyclist in an open waggon. I walked on and discovered 3 different cars – all are also for sale if you want one. The cars are sold by cat people. But you can make a test drive, and so I took a blue car. I had Cica in IM and asked her if “my cat was there anywhere or if the cat people did replace it. Actually I had missed the pink cat at the landing when I was immediately attracted by the happy cows. I drove the care back to the landing point and met Cica there – and saw “my” cat.

Impressions of “Happy Town” by Cica Ghost / monsters, Cica’ cyclist, cars, “my” cat at the landing point

Cica had seen how people sat on cars so that two person can use them together and she tried it herself – and it worked. So for the rest of my tour I had Cica with me, she was a perfect passenger and tour guide.
If you turn your view up at the landing point you can see an UFO landing on the roof top of one of the houses – and two aliens, who start to colonize “Happy Town”. Our tour together led us along a yellow monster, a girl with a cow and a huge turtle.

Impressions of “Happy Town” by Cica Ghost / UFA and aliens, yellow monster, girl with cow, turtle

We saw a running girl as well as a pink moster. And finally I noticed another cat people sitting on a tree. Cica loves hiding details. What else … yes you can dance again at several places. I danced surrounded by sheep and chicken.

Impressions of “Happy Town” by Cica Ghost / running girl, pink monster, Diomita dancing, cat people on a tree

Again “Happy Town” is a place to make us smile and make us forget the world outside, that is running mad in this day and age. We can see the world with the eyes of children again and just be our happy self. Thank you Cica, you really accomplished this mission once again.

Cica Ghost has opened a new CICA shop inworld. Her friend Bryn Oh provided the space for it in the skies of her sim just next to her shop. The landmark is listed below. I mad a few pictures, but I didn’t use Cica’s environment because I wanted to provide an idea how big it is and what you can get there. Bascially, all beings that Cica created, well most of them at least *winks*

Cica Chost’s new in-world shop

As always we don’t knwo how long “Happy Town” will be available for a visit, so hurry up and be happy. Smile!

Landmark to Happy Town by Cica Ghost
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Mysterious/139/133/25
Landmark to Cica’s new shop
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Bryn%20Oh/22/244/21
Cica Ghost’s shop on the marketplace
https://marketplace.secondlife.com/stores/98471
Cica Ghost’s flickr:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/64860898@N05/

Art in Second Life 2023 (18) Photo Cafè

12 Apr 2023 Leave a comment

by diomitamaurer in Art in Second Life, Exploring sims in Second Life Tags: , , , , , ,

I got an invitation by Kika Yongho to visit Photo Café, a sim and a brand new location for 2023 for a group of SL photographers to gather every 2 weeks and discuss about related themes.

Poster of Photo Café / landing at Photo Café / the welcome pop-up menu

The sim in not just exclusively for a particular group, it is a meeting spot for all SL Photographers (at any level) to gather and share experiences, hints, tips & tricks, landmarks or contests (inworld or Flickr) and whatever else comes to mind!
At the regular meeting every other Saturday at noon SL time (9 PM Central Europe time) are moderated and accessible to everyone. And there’s also an agenda and a set theme for the meeting.

I visited on Saturday, April 8th. At the landing point a pop-up menu appears. You can grab a notecard, landmarks and links, join the group or get a gift. If you accept “experiences” walking straight forward brings you to the sim.
I had not set my environment to midnight at first. I strongly recommend to set it to midnight. Quite in the center of the sim is the meeting circle where I met Kika Yongho, who gave a quick tour to me.

Impressions of “Photo Café” (1)

The sim is just beautiful and offers countless great backgrounds for taking pictures. If you join the group you get rez rights and can use your own props. The current theme of Photo Café is “Tropical fantasy night” with many waterfalls, exotic plants and lights and light effects. There’s also an underwater world. Amoung the plants you might discover art, Kika pointed me to a sculpture of Mistero Hifeng.
Besides the meeting area you find a beach, a cafeteria and of course an event area. Kika told me that the next event is scheduled for Saturday, April 22nd at 9 AM SL time (6 PM Central Europe Time) before another scheduled meeting of SL photographers.

Impressions of “Photo Café” (2)

Another highlight of the sim is hidden in the skies above. You can reach it when you go to the well in the center of the meeting circle. First I thought I’d be in a spaceship. But is is a photo scene rezzer. Just click on the center rhombus. Changing the photoscene is a great show (turn your sound on!). I just tried out 2 of 50 or more different scenes and took a quick snapshot. But I can imagine that you can create great picture with the according poses.

Impressions of “Photo Café” (3) – the photo rezzer

So if you look for great backgrounds for your pictures, or just want to talk and get hints and exchange about photography in Seond Life Photo Café might be the place to go to.
Thank you Kika Yongho for inviting me over and for the tour. And thank you also to the other participationg group members Duraya, Kapaan and DaneAlbion, as well as to Violette Rembrandt, who built the sim.
I enjoyed my visit.

Landmark to Photo Café
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Midnight%20Party/158/208/21
Photo Café on flickr (new photos on top)
https://www.flickr.com/groups/14789205@N20/pool/
Photo Café website
https://www.photocafe.news/

Art in Second Life 2023 (17) “Sans titre” by JadeYu Fhang / “Back to Back” by Dido Haas @ Nitroglobus Roof Gallery

10 Apr 2023 1 Comment

by diomitamaurer in Art in Second Life Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

Dido Haas invited me to see the March exhibition at her Nitroglobus Roof Gallery: “Sans titre” by JadeYu Fhang. The offical opening will take place tonight, April 10th, at 12 PM SLT (9 PM CET).

“Sans titre” by JadeYu Fhang consists of 12 pictures and 5 3D art installations/objects. “Sans titre” is French and means “Without title”. So we can’t make out a common theme – at least from the title of the exhibition.

The arrangement of the objects and pictures is as convincing as always at the Nitroglobus Roof Gallery. The mirroring floor effect is impressesing and adds to the exhibited art.

Impressions of “Sans titre” by JadeYu Fhang @ Nitroglobus Roof Gallery (1)

JadeYu wrote an introduction to her exhibition to provide some food of thought to the visitor about how to find a title:
“The intention of this exhibition is not to impose any invasive and/or blocking ideas but give the visitor a look, a feeling.
This work is like a vibration, a desire to touch sensitivities, to initiate thoughts and feelings in each visitor and, perhaps, to get some response.
However, I was asked to explain in words an internal magma, which is so difficult to partition into verbal language.
Let’s call it a matter of violence inside bodies, facial expressions (3D) leading to the intention of erasing the other person, as suggested in the images (2D).

The papers around the women?
These papers indicate words, insults and other ignominy which are thrown in women’s faces throughout their lifes. Words loaded with hatred and violence “the killing words”. Nothing is written on the papers… it’s up to you to imagine what could be there.
Why women?
They are like the symbol, the mirror of those who through a brutality, a destructive will seek to destroy. To destroy everything that in no way corresponds to fluidity and natural roundness. Flexibility and openness is not the order of the day, the preference is for the square shape and it must be respected, locking up any will to exist outside the frame.

This work is an observation from the marks of my own journey. I have no lesson to give to anyone.
JadeYu Fhang 

Impressions of “Sans titre” by JadeYu Fhang @ Nitroglobus Roof Gallery (2)

The papers, JadeYu is referring to, are around the sculptured woman in the center of the exhibition. The women squirm as if they want to defend themselves against the papers (see picture above). The pictures also show women, most faces, but also their full body in other pictures. Yet there’s no clear picture, the spectator has to immerse deeply into JadYu’s pictures to get more insight, to recognise the facial expressions, or to even find it. I liked in particular the woman at the window in the upper left of the snapshot above. on a first glance you might think that you look at 6 copies of one of the same picture, but every picture is different and reveals another detail of the woman’s face. Next to this picture is a picture that changes between two stati permanently and also reveals a face.

JadeYu Fhang’s portrait / Impressions of “Sans titre” by JadeYu Fhang @ Nitroglobus Roof Gallery (3)

JadeYu Fhang writes about herself:
“Living in Paris, France, i followed the evening classes in academic drawing at Fine Arts School of Paris and was trained at the Applied Arts School of this city.

After these studies I completely stopped all artistic work. My journey is an atypical one, made of multiple experiences. I returned to artistic work when I was able to get rid of all the academic rigidity which I had been taught.
My experience on Second Life since 12 years allows me to continue and improve my work and extend it to 3D”

If you click on the exhibition poster at the Nitroglobus Roof Gallery you can get a notecard with her biography, her general approach to art and many links to JadeYu Fhang’s art, in particular to videos.

Nitroglobus Roof Gallery is owned and curated by Dido Haas. Thank you, Dido for providing the space for the art and for enabling the exhibition “Sans titre” by JadeYu Fhang. Thank you JadeYu for your art. Whatever I saw from you so far impressed me.
As it is the April exhibition at the gallery “Sans titre”” shall be available at least until the end of this month.

When I visited I noticed that Dido Haas has used her personal annex of the Nitroglobus Roof Gallery again for an own exhibiton named “Back to Back”. This exhibition should be available also until end of April.


To no surprise the exhibition is about “Backs”. Dido wrote:
“It was fun making these images with Mr. H. At different places, situations and times I suddenly asked him to ‘STAY’ and ‘Take off your shirt, mmm nah also your pants please’. He was patient and never complained. Therefore, my sincere thanks to Fleming for making this exhibition possible. The ‘theme’ of the exhibition which consists of 8 monochrome images is obvious: our backs nothing more, nothing less.
The large sculpture exhibited in the middle of the room is by the late Nitro Fireguard and called ipads. Other sculptures exhibited in the room are by Haveit Neox, Harry Cover (Impossibleisnotfrench), and Cherry Manga, Light art (the plastic spheres and the animated daisies) by Adwehe.“

Impressions of “Back to Back” by Dido Haas @ Nitroglobus Roof Gallery Annex

Although all pictures are not explicit, they are very erotic. They leave the room to picture the feelings of the man and the woman, the anticipation of what happens next, the excitement of love and togetherness. And the back of both genders can be very erotic, not only the bum, which is a fetish for many of us.
Thank you for your art, Dido. I love it.

Have fun visiting the Nitroglobus Roof Gallery and seeing these two great exhibitions!

Landmark to Nitroglobus Roof Gallery and to “Sans titre” by JadeYu Fhang
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Sunshine%20Homestead/38/22/1001
Dido Haas’ blog
https://exploringslwithdido.blogspot.com
JadeYu Fhang on facebook
https://www.facebook.com/JYuF-148115341865196/?ref=aymt_homepage_panel
Yann GYRO (sempiternel)’s flickr
https://www.flickr.com/people/154701358@N02/

Art in Second Liefe 2023 (16) Art for Charity

05 Apr 2023 Leave a comment

by diomitamaurer in Art in Second Life Tags: , , , ,

A few days ago Fly Kugin (flykugin) messaged me. Fly is an artist who I covered in this blog a few times in 2021 (read here for example). But this time it wasn’t to invite me to an exhibition or a new gallery. Fly messaged me to help promoting an event in Second Life.
The event is intended to raise money for earthquake victims in Turkey. The idea is that art can not only please the soul, but that it can also serve a good cause. The artists will donate their art, they get a stand and can advertise. The visitors can purchase the donated art.
The event will take place from April 13th to April 23rd.

Dear Second Life Content Creators and Residents,
Life for millions across Turkey changed forever on February 6th, 2023 Monday at 04:17 am. and 1:24 pm, as two consecutive earthquakes sent shock waves across hundreds of miles. Two earthquakes of magnitude 7.7 and 7.6 occurred in Kahramanmaraş.
At the moment – Feb. 24, 2023 – On the 10th day of the search and rescue efforts, the loss of life increased to 43,556 and the number of injured is approximately 115,000.
As content developers and users in Second Life, we do not want to remain indifferent to this situation. The toll is getting heavier every day. It will take a long time for our homeless, propertyless, and displaced people to recover both physically and mentally, and for Turkey to ease this pain. We know that AHBAP, which we trust and closely monitor its activities, is active in carrying out long-term work. Therefore, we are organizing an event in Second Life between 13/04/2023 – 23/04/2023 to support AHBAP and earthquake victims.

If you also want to contribute with your content, please contact
Wanted Ohmai for Turkish Language
Fly Kugin (flykugin) for English Language

Or look up the information and application form at the virtuality blog… or contact me in Second Life for the notecard with the details.

If you want to help with buying some art …. the event will be at the HELP TURKEY EVENT AREA.

Landmark to HELP TURKEY EVENT AREA
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Siren%20Rock/58/71/24
More information on virtuality blog
https://www.virtuality.blog/art-for-relief-uniting-the-creative-community-to-aid-turkeys-disaster-victims/
You can view the activities of the AHBAP Association at their website
https://ahbap.org

Art in Second Life 2023 (15) 2nis at Cloud Galleries

04 Apr 2023 1 Comment

by diomitamaurer in Art in Second Life Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

It’s been a while that I visited a gallery or art installation – I wasn’t in the right mood for it. Anyway on Monday, April 3rd, I accepted the invitation, that I got from Owl (Owl Dragonash) and visited an exhibition at Cloud Galleries with pictures of 2nis (2nis Sands). The official opening is today, Tuesday, April 4th at 11 AM (at 10 PM Central Europe Time) with music from Ilyra Chardin.

I have visited the Cloud Galleries end of 2022 and wrote a blogpost about it (read here). The Cloud Galleries is an area above Corsica South Coast. Nine artists have their studio galleries there, a thenth gallery is for a visiting guest artist every 2 months.
As of March 2023 the participating permanent artists are:

Elan (Ineffable Mote)
KayLy (kayly iali)
Lizzy Swordthain
Michiel Bechir
Owl Dragonash
StarZ (Starz33 Mccullough)
Stephen Venkman
Suzen Juel (Juel Resistance)
There’s a website for the Cloud Galleries where you can also find the event calendar.

2nis (2nis Sands) is the guest artist for April and May (March 23rd – May 26th). The studio of 2nis is not far from the landing point.

Impressions of 2nis (2nis Sands)’s art at Cloud Galleries (1)

Together with the invitation I got a folder that also included a short biography of 2nis and a description of his art:
“My interest for computer graphics pushed me to try Second Life 16 years ago. I quickly got hooked by the magic of virtual reality. Passed the culture shock, I enjoyed so much this space of freedom and tolerance where you can do what you want and discover who you really are. I had the chance to make beautiful friendships and discover talented artists. I enjoy exploring new places and seeing what sim builders do with all the amazing content designers bring into the virtual world. It’s like diving into peoples’ minds. The creativity of Second Life residents is amazing.
I make photos to keep memories of enjoyable moments.”
The text made me smile as if could be from me myself. I take pictures to keep the memories I make in this virtual world for my real life. And the creativity in Second Life excites me even after more than 15 years.

Fitting to what 2nis wrote his pictures show landscapes, impressively created places and also a few pictures from events 2nis attended. He shares a part of his Second Life with the spectator. The pictures are a well selected excerpt of his broad picture collection that is shown also at his flickr account.

Impressions of 2nis (2nis Sands)’s art at Cloud Galleries (2)

I enjoyed my visit to the Cloud Galleries. Thank you Owl for your initiave, thank you 2nis for sharing your pictures.

Landmark to Cloud Galleries @ Corsica South Coast
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Novatron/34/98/3848
Cloud Galleries website
https://throughowlseye.com/cloud-galleries/
2nis Sands flickr
https://www.flickr.com/photos/187500881@N02/

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