Art in Second Life 2022 (69) Refractive Index by Adwehe

23 Jul 2022 Leave a comment

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

I visited the light installation “Refractive Index” by Adwehe that was opened July 20th at Artsville.

“Adwehe presents a stunning installation bathed in 16 different EEPs of her own creation, transitioning from one to the other very slowly, thus coloring the installation in different shades much like a dynamic 3D abstract painting.” (taken form the accompanying notecard).

Impressions of “Refractive Index” by Adwehe at Artsville (1)

Upon landing you’re asked to set your viewer to use Shared Environment, enable Advanced Lighting Model, set shadows from Sun/Moon + Projectors and to turn you sound volume up. And I can only recommend to follow the instructions as Adwehe’s installation is based on these viewer settings.
You enter the installation through a long tunnel. On it’s sides you find the wavelengths of different colours and different refractive indexes for these colours.

“In optics, the refractive index of an optical medium is a dimensionless number that gives the indication of the light bending ability of that medium. The refractive index may vary with wavelength. This causes white light to split into constituent colors when refracted. This is called dispersion. This effect can be observed in prisms and rainbows, and as chromatic aberration in lenses.” (source wikipedia).

Impressions of “Refractive Index” by Adwehe at Artsville (2)

“Refractive Index” consists of different elements. It seems to be a court surrounded by town houses on the first glance. But there’s also a single house on the other side. There are sculptures arranged on the court: two hands, some dancing figures, other figures and abstract objects. The scenery is very different depending on when you visit. I saw it in bright yellow, in red, in blue and in green. The ground is transparent and the the light from the ground changes as well.

Impressions of “Refractive Index” by Adwehe at Artsville (3) – 4 pictures of the same view

What seems to be rain first are particles that form words. I saw: silence, truth, post-truth, expanding, breaking-up, reflecting, responding, recording, focus, colliding and refractive. I assume there are more. Around the corner is a semie transparent wall with a quote from José Ortega y Gasset “… the stupendous reality that is language cannot be understood unless we begin by observing that speech consists above all in silences“.

Spheres of different colours pop up every once in a while. The combination of permanent changing colours, the permanent changing particles and the changing spheres make this installation so outstanding. There’s no single scene that isn’t unique. Every single picture you take is unique and not reproducible.

The sound adds to the experience. It’s not music, there are words and noises of different kind.

Impressions of “Refractive Index” by Adwehe at Artsville (4)

I took quite a lot of pictures again. The installation “Refractive Index” captivates the visitor. You can’t get enough to take different points of view. Everywhere there is something new to discover. And what was just blue now appears in red or is covered by a colored sphere or the particles become words or …. or. An intriguing great piece of art in Second Life. Thank you Adwehe.

Adwehe joined Second Life in September 2018 and describes herself in her profile as “Instable media Artist, Sound explorer, Painter and Photographer“.
What I saw so far from Adwehe was always very different as she tired out herself and the artisitic opportunities that Second Life offers: “I explore an ever changing drawing using lines, light and darkness, strong color and whatever i can find to express. Creating depth and perspective expanding the dimensions of the exposition room, mostly abstract and animating. The theme’s I always come back to are everlasting change, transformation, (in)stability, chaos, light, color, movement, slowness and (different) ways looking at the world. I mix textures from my traditional RL drawings, acrylic and oil paintings inside and outside of SL to achieve abstract and figurative patterns, moods and motions“

Impressions of “Refractive Index” by Adwehe at Artsville (5)

You can find more of Adwehe, mostly unedited landscapes and some art snaps, on her flickr page.
In the Virtuality blog you can find an interview by Violet Boa with Adwehe here.

Artsville is owned by Vally Lavender-Prodigy (Valium Lavender). Artsville was created in collaboration the Art Korner blog, owned and founded by Frank Atisso. Thank you Vally and Frank for creating Artsville and providing the space for the arts.

Landmark: ARTSVILLE – Refractive Index by Adwehe
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/ValiumSL/112/12/3201
Adwehe’s flickr
https://www.flickr.com/people/187796045@N03/
Virtuality Blog Interview by Violet Boa with Adwehe
https://www.virtuality.blog/interview-with-adwehe/

Art in Second Life 2022 (68) Amaranthine by Zia Branner at BOSL Arts

21 Jul 2022 Leave a comment

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

I got an invitation to visit the opening of Zia Branner’s latest exhibition at BOSL Arts. I went there Saturday, July 16th, a few hours before the official opening event. I just had seen Zia Branner’s art at the Gateway Gallery (read here).

I have never been to Best of Second Life (BOSL) before, The place is group owned, the group is described at a “group of fantastic artists that bring life to THE BEST OF SL Innovation Pavillion.” It is home to Miss Virtual World Pageant, BOSL Magazine, BLVD Models, the BOSL Arts Gallery and features some designers. Frolic Mills is the CEO and Jamee Sandalwood the COO of the group. I did not find out if they are the owners.
I only visited the gallery and the exhibition of Zia Branner.

Impressions of “Amaranthine” by Zia Branner @ BOSL Arts (1)

The gallery building is quite large and offers enough room for the about 25 to 30 pictures that are showcased along the walls of the gallery and at the two center blocks inside. When enter the building from the right (open) side you find a board where you can grab a gift from Zia Branner and some information about her and her art, a biography and a booklet. The exhibition poster has no name for the exhibition  but next to the board is a sign “Amaranthine”.

The word “amaranthine” means “imperishable”, but is mainly written in English as “amaranth” or “amaranthus”. It comes from the Greek word “amarantos”. Amaranth is a plant genus that grows almost everywhere due to its unpretentiousness and is interpreted in the poetic sense as a symbol of immortality.

Impressions of “Amaranthine” by Zia Branner @ BOSL Arts (2)

“Zia Branner had many drawing and painting art lessons at official institutes RL. She is also autodidact on things that did not come along in class. To her making art is a way of life. Often experimenting with techniques as a learning process …. The most important thing to her is that it makes her happy to see others enjoy her art as much as she loves creating it.”
Zia is in Second Life since 2008. She uploaded her RL paintings into SL. Zia owns an art gallery/shop “Elven Falls Art Collective“. Zia also has other permanent exhibitions at The Galleries, Emergent and at Carmel Art Community.

Zia Branner’s art is mostly colourful. She paints abstract and fills the canvas with what just in her mind. She’s inspired by nature and landscapes and consequently her art often looks like landscapes or like flowers. Hence the boarders between abstract and real life paintings are blurring. And what is dominating lies in the eyes of the beholder.
Zia intends to expand her art into painting RL, portraits or still lifes, but so far she’s painting abstract.

Impressions of “Amaranthine” by Zia Branner @ BOSL Arts (3)

Zia paints, primarily, for herself. It is a way for her to express herself. a way to step away from the everydy hustly and bustle of things.
“Figuring out, struggling with or succeeding in creating a painting, capturing things the way I see them on the canvas … it is a big drug. Well, okay, there you have my addicition…. ‘The Earth without ‘art’ is just ‘eh’…“

Thank you for your art, Zia. Thank you BOSL Arts for enabling the exhibition “Amaranthine”.
“Amaranthine” by Zia Branner at BOSL Arts shall stay open until August 27th, 2022.

BOSLArts Main Gallery @ BOSL Innovation Pavillion
Landmark to “Amaranthine” by Zia Branner
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/BOSL%20INNOVATION%20PAVILLION/104/174/22
Zia Branner’s art gallery/shop “Elven Falls Art Collective”
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Elven%20Falls/252/41/22
Zia Branner at “The Galleries”
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Georgiana/241/100/57
Zia Branner at “Emergent”
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Mystique%20Isle/191/20/21
Zia Branner at “Carmel Art Community”
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/McFarren/236/161/36

Art in Second Life 2022 (67) Immersed by Rage Darkstone

19 Jul 2022 Leave a comment

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

After my visit of the Gateway Gallery in July 2022 (read here) I got in contact with Terra Merhyem (TerraMerhyem), one ot the artists there. Terra is the partner of Rage Darkstone, who’s art was also featured at the Gateway Gallery.

Terra sent me an invitiation to the opening of Rage Darkstone’s exhibition “Immerse” on July 12th at Surreal Gallery. I visited Friday, July 15th.

Impressions of “Immersed” by Rage Darkstone at Surreal Gallery (1)

The Surreal Gallery is a complex exhibition building with 2 floors, surrounded at 3 sides by walls. These walls are used to display Rage Darkstone’s pictures. In the exhibition building Rage displays mostly 3D art. The pictures on the surrounded wall can be seen as the walls of the building are transparent from the inside. 

The exhibition plays with light effects and mirroring, hence you should use “Advanced Lighting” and “shared environment”. These light and mirror effects ensure that the visitor is immersed in Rage’s world. Rage 3D objects as well as his 2D pictures mostly show stylized figures and dancers in different situations. Some are split into pieces.

Impressions of “Immersed” by Rage Darkstone at Surreal Gallery (2)

Quite dominating are 2 coloured cubes in orange and purple at the entrace of the builing, both  have a dancing figure inside. Most of the other figures are in metallic colours. Inside it is hard to decide where to look at first and you see different scenes depending on your viewing angle and position.

Impressions of “Immersed” by Rage Darkstone at Surreal Gallery (3)

You can walk up stairs to a second floor gallery with some more 2D pictures at the walls and a new perspective looking down.. Rage’s art is unique and intriguing. I like the light effects and that you can immerse sourself into his art – are even become part of it.

Rage Darkstone describes himself as “Creativity Junky”. He’s in Second Life since 2007. Rage has an own gallery, the AvA Art Gallery. He also has some permanent and current exhibitions at The Galleries, Vision of Beauty Art Complex and at The Dove Rhoads.

Impressions of “Immersed” by Rage Darkstone at Surreal Gallery (4)

The Surreal Gallery was established in November 2015 by Juliette Surreal-D Blue (juliettesurrealdreaming). Thank you Juliette for enabling “Immerse” by Rage Darkstone and for providing space for the arts in Second Life.
Thank you Rage for this impressive exhibition.

Landmark to “Immersed” by Rage Darkstone at Surreal Gallery
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Claressa/16/133/32
Rage Darkstone’s AvA Art Gallery
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Terrage/133/138/504
Rage Darkstone at The Galleries
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Georgiana/223/127/57
Rage Darkstone at Vision of Beauty Art Complex
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Whinlatter/115/101/58
Rage Darkstone at The Dove Rhoads Gallery
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Jaxipun/85/90/21

Art in Second Life 2022 (66) Kids These Days by Lex Machine

17 Jul 2022 Leave a comment

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

I got a group message from Lex Machine (Archetype11 Nova) announcing the opening of “Kids These Days“, his latest installation.

Lex Machine (Archetype11 Nova) was formerly known as Schmexysbuddy Resident and created the Hotel California sims, which I visited in 2019 (read here and here). I saw Lex Machine’s installation “Isolation’s Passengers” in 2020 (read here), his installations Bermuda Locket (read here), “The House that Love Built” (read here), Numb (read here) and Nero (read here) in 2021, “Stillborn” in February 2022 (read here) and now I visited “Kids These Days“.

Impressions of “Kids These Days” by Lex Machine (1) – overview

Lex Machine’s installations are collections of art objects from different artists, some of the objects were not intended to be art. Lex’ art is arranging them in his own way and setting them into a context and into an intriguing environment. While quite some of Lex Machine’s installation were dark and yes, a bit depressing, “Kids These Days” is not dark. I wouldn’t go so far to say it expressed fun and happiness, but it is art nicely spiked with absurdity – in my eyes. You find many different scenes and objects at “Kids These Days“. The big whie figure on the top of a mountain range is from Bryn Oh and it overlooks the island like the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro.  And in the mountains you don’t the “Hollywood” sign but “Pretty Much Fucked”.

Impressions of “Kids These Days” by Lex Machine (2)

Once again there are many scences realised at “Kids These Days” and most probably I haven’t seen all of them. You land in a field, a tractor is nearby, irrigation systems and a piano. My eyes were caught first by the old Missisippi steamer a bit away. Huge scarecrows seem to guard the old boat. Behind the steamer is kind of a small village with a barn and a chapel … and a pouncing fox (another one from Bryn Oh) looking down at two artful statues (*CM* Sisters by Cherry Manga).

The many objects interfer with each other and it is difficult to focus on one. In the center of the sim is an old steam engine. I once reduced my drawing distance to get just the engine on a picture. The steam is built by birds btw.
Also the scene at the corner of the island, exploding female upper bodies, revealing robot technic inside is difficult to catch alone.

Impressions of “Kids These Days” by Lex Machine (3)

What else? Wrecked cars of course. a bit clown in the mountains, a killer cat with 2 skulls (that one could be from Halloween). slaves pulling a carriage … I sat down and played the piano.

Impressions of “Kids These Days” by Lex Machine (4)

There’s a whole circus in the mountains, the figures are from Silas Merlin. Other objects are from Rebeca Bashley and from Fresh3D (the scarecrows for example). You hardly know where to look first. The only common theme I could gather form all the art is: Enjoy, don’t take everything too serious, something nice in these days of war in Europe. Who knows, perhaps I didn’t realize the message … it is just “pretty much fucked” *winks*

Impressions of “Kids These Days” by Lex Machine (5)

Did I mention that avatars visiting “Kids These Days” are just dwarfs compared to the figures and art objects? Everything is huge, despite the wrecked cars and the piano, the tractor and the steam engine are “normal” sized and the Missisippi steamer is comparably small. I had fun spoiling my eyes with art and getting distracted like in a desolate dream, in which things often do not fit together.

Thank you Lex for another installation. I enjoyed my visit!

Landmark to “Kids These Days” by Lex Machine
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Eve%20Bayou/134/137/23

Art in Second Life 2022 (65) Inara Pey at NovaOwl Gallery

15 Jul 2022 2 Comments

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

I got an invitation by Owl (Owl Dragonash) to visit the NovaOwl Gallery and to see Inara Pey’s exhibition there. I’m a reader of Inara Pey’s blog for more than 14 years, actually I follow her “Living in a Modemworld“-blog since I became Diomita Maurer in Second Life. Her blog contains a lot of information, be it about the viewer, about locations, about developments in Second Life or art. I used and still use her blog to find ideas where to travel myself in Second Life and to get the latest Information about Second Life. Inara has an unique writing style, very picturesque and detailed. Her posts about places are always illustrated with pictures, and these pictures are always quite artful.

Inara wrote about the exhibition of her pictures at NovaOwl Gallery:
“I don’t see myself as an artist or photographer, but rather a blogger who uses images to illustrate my writings about the places I visit in Second Life. They are intentionally devoid of narrative and avatars, and have minimal post-processing to achieve this. That people find them attractive and like them is genuinely flattering to me, as I am constantly in awe of those who can create such stunning images of Second Life, and I’m left with a sense of privilege when asked to display my pieces.”

Inara has an eye for the right view and motif. She slighty processes the pictures she takes in Second Life, some of the pictures featured at NovaOwl gallery are converted to monochrome to achieve the effect Inara desired. Inara’s pictures are as varied as Second Life is and reach from city scenes to beautiful landscapes, from art to fantasy and cover just what you can see in Second Life. What makes them even more facinating for me is that I recognize some places as I’ve been there myself, so they bring back fond memories of places that are gone by now.

Impressions of Inara Pey’s exhibition at NovaOwl Gallery (1)

You can see more of her pictures at Inara’s flickr page and of course at her “Living in a Modemworld“-blog. I can only recommend reading it regularly if you want to keep yourself up-to-date with Second Life or when you look for places to visit. Her entries almost always inspire me to visit myself.

Impressions of Inara Pey’s exhibition at NovaOwl Gallery (2)

The NovaOwl 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 exhibition. I enjoyed my visit.
The exhibition shall be opened until August 28th, 2022.
And thank you Inara for your great pictures and of course for your blog, that has become a part of my Second Life over all these years. It’s a real great source of information.

Landmark to NovaOwl – Gallery & Club
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Novatron/131/102/23
Inara Pey’s blog “Living in a modemworld”
http://modemworld.me
Inara Pey’s flickr
https://www.flickr.com/photos/inara-pey/
Interview with Inara Pey by Strawberry Linden (April 13, 2022)
https://community.secondlife.com/blogs/entry/10526-second-life-spotlight-inara-pey/

Art in Scond Life 2022 (64) Living Picture #3 by Milena Carbone

13 Jul 2022 Leave a comment

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

Milena Carbone invited me to see her newest installation named “Living Picture #3” at the dance hall of The Carbone Studio.

The landmark leads you to the entrance of The Carbone Studio. You get their instructions how to set up your viewer for the best experience. Choose “Dance Hall” from the teleport pad to get to “Living Picture #3”

Living picture is a series of art experience in Second Life that combines a short contemporary music video piece and a dance sequence in Second Life of one or more avatars in phase shift. The video and dance sequences run in a loop, 24/7. Milena calls this technique “phase dance” in tribute of the “phase music” created by Steve Reich and Terry Riley in the 1960s/70s.

Living Picture #3 by Milena Carbone at The Carbone Studio – Dance Hall

When you enter you see the phase dance in front of the video and you hear the music. The music is a beautiful jazz piece named “Rites” by composer and saxophonist Jan Garbarek. Two avatars, Milena herself and her dance model Lalitha, were dancing synchron when I visited Monday, July 11th. You can easily join the dancers and dance yourself by clicking the sphere next to the big board and below the smaller board with technical instructions.

There are 2 rather dystopian video clips of 5 minute length each that are shown in the background. One is a fantasy ficition with hunt scenes, the other shows scenes of waste, distruction and poverty and people who live under these circumstances. The scenes seem to be from the Middle East, some seem to be from the African continent. The dancers and their art are quite a contrast to the video. As the dance sequences are 4 minutes long as opposed to the 2 times 5 minute video clips, there’s hardly not a single scene or picture that you could reproduce once again.

There’s also a teaser video on youtube of Living Picture #3 by Milena Carbone, that you can see here.

Milena Carbone’s art always consists of at least 2 elements, one is always a text. The text Milena published along with Living Picture #3 did touch and impress me:

“A team of researchers recently discovered that the cells of a corpse continue to live after death. Their activity was even greater than before. Some have seen, blinded by hope and dread, the proof of eternal life, but it is not so.

The activity of the cells corresponds to desperate signals they send, like bottles to the sea, to other cells. All the cells scream, but apparently none hear the others. They can no longer listen to each other, to coordinate. It is as if, what is dead, is not a set of cells, but its consistency, the relations between them.

Are we, the human species, already dead ? We have never communicated so much, and we have never been so alone. Every second, thirty thousand billion bytes of information is emitted worldwide. Data, new data, data adjusted for seasonal variations, data on data, personal data, pornographic data, financial data, a lot of financial data, lolcats, spam, seflies, lots of selfies… These data scream “Hey! I’m here ! Why do not you hear me! “And the more data shout out personal information that never interests others, the more data they have and the more they scream.

Refugees in their little cabin, stood petrified in front of their makeshift radio. They were no longer receiving any message. Neither from Earth nor from the sky. The cells eventually die, too.“

Impressions of Diomita, Milena and Lalitha dancing in Living Picture #3 by Milena Carbone at The Carbone Studio – Dance Hall

I played a bit with my camera while dancing and noticed that the video screen is semi transparent from the backside. Looking from the backside you can see the dancers completely embedded into the video, quite intriguing.

Diomita, Milena and Lalitha dancing in Living Picture #3 by Milena Carbone at The Carbone Studio – Dance Hall – seen from the backside of the semi-transparent videoscreen

Milena Carbone (mylena1992) is a French artist and is in Second Life since mid 2019. She discovered its artistic potential and since then has devoted all her free time to creation, associating, as in real life, images and texts: “Milena Carbone is a fiction in which, as in any artistic work, biographical and imaginary elements are mixed.” Her creative process is iterative: some of her images inspire her stories and these stories modify the development of the image, which itself transforms the story.
Milena has an own gallery, the Carbone Studio and she has a bookstore @ Noir’Wen City.
Milena has an own website, you can also find her on flickr here and you can read her texts here.
Milena also published an own article about “Living Picture #3” on her website.

Thank you Milena for another great art experience.
Living Picture #3 by Milena Carbone cane be experienced at The Carbone Studio until July 31st.

Landmark to The Carbone Studio
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Woiler/176/182/3331
Landmark to The Carbone Bookstore @ Noir’Wen City
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Noir%20Wen/243/203/32
Milena’s website
https://sites.google.com/view/thecarbonegallery/news
Milena’s video teaser
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJSKUHVNw6I
Milena’s post about “Living Picture #3” on her website
https://sites.google.com/view/thecarbonegallery/dance/living-picture
Milena Carbone’s flickr
https://www.flickr.com/photos/milenacarbone/
Milena Carbone’s writing
https://medium.com/@539568

Art in Second Life 2022 (63) Gateway Gallery July 2022

11 Jul 2022 Leave a comment

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

Nils Urqhart sent me an invitation for an opening event at the Gateway Gallery. On June 30th a joined exhibition was opened there featuring 4 artists with different segments of art:
Nils Urqhart (RL photos)
Rage W Darkstone (Rage Darkstone) (large sculptures)
Terra Merhyem (TerraMerhyem) (colourful sculptures)
Zia Branner (paintings)

The Gateway Gallery is embedded into the main building of the Gateway International Airport in Second Life, the entry point to Sansara and Heterocera for air and sea traffic from all over the mainland. The airport itself is owned by Lethra. As the management is done by a group, founded by Lethra, I couldn’t find out who curates the Gateway Gallery.

The Gateway Gallery extends over two floors. In the entrance area and in the main hallway are one big sculpture named “Split” by Rage W Darkstone (Rage Darkstone) and three smaller sculptures of Terra Merhyem (TerraMerhyem).
The hall on the left side shows the exhibtion “Meraki” by Zia Branner and the sculptures by Terra Merhyem, who titled her part “Beings”. The hall on the right side shows Nils Urqhart’s exhibition “And darkness came..” along with a few large sculptures of Rage W Darkstone. Rage titled his part “Trompe l’Oeil”

I visited Zia Branner’s exhibition “Meraki” first. Meraki is a Greek word and means about as much as doing something with passion, love and creativity and giving a piece of yourself into it. Quite a fitting title!
I found a board where I could grab a notecard from Zia:
“Zia Branner had many drawing and painting art lessons at official institutes RL. She is also autodidact on things that did not come along in class. To her making art is a way of life. Often experimenting with techniques as a learning process …. The most important thing to her is that it makes her happy to see others enjoy her art as much as she loves creating it.”
Zia is in Second Life since 2008. She uploaded her RL paintings into SL. Zia owns an art gallery/shop “Elven Falls Art Collective“. Zia also has other permanent exhibitions at The Galleries, Emergent and at Carmel Art Community.

Zia Branner’s art is mostly colourful and ranges from abstract pictures over landscapes to flowers

Impressions of Gatway Gallery July 2022 (1) – Entrance hall (upper left) with Rage W Darkstone’s sculpture “Split” (lower left), Zia Branner’s paintings (upper right) and Terra Merhyem’s sculptures (lower right)

I had seen Nils Urqhart’s exhibition “And darkness came..” last year already (read here). As the Gateway gallery offers more space Nils’ photographs get more room and you can focus more on each photo than in the exhibition I had seen before.
Nils Urqhart (Paul Maurice in RL) is a French photographer in RL. He takes his photos mainly in French Alps and other French mountains (Vosges, Jura, Bugey, Aubrac…). Nils has a lot of exhibitions in different SL galleries every year.
Nils is in SL since December 2007. Since 2010, his photos have been on display year-round at Art gallery Rill’Arts. Nils (or Paul in RL) has an own website where you can purchase his pictures to decorate you RL home.
Nils Urqhart is the creator of the RL Photo Festival Helvellyn, the Helvellyn Christmas Market and the Helvellyn Summer Fair – all three are annual artistic events. There are quite some potential contact opportunities besides his webpage: Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Impressions of Gateway Gallery July 2022 (2) – Zia Branner (upper left), Terra Merhyem (lower left), Rage W Darkstone’s sculptures (upper and lower left), Nils Urqhart photos in the backgroun (lower left and upper and lower right)

Rage W Darkstone (Rage Darkstone) describes himself as “Creativity Junky”. He’s in Second Life since 2007. Rage has an own gallery, the AvA Art Gallery. He also has some permanent and current exhibitions at The Galleries, Vision of Beauty Art Complex and at The Dove Rhoads.

Terra Merhyem (TerraMerhyem) is in Second Life since 2016. She’s a “French 2D / 3D artist, makes phostos, machinima and performances, is a choreographer and curator. Leitmotiv in my life is “Beauty”, that’s why the sentence in my profile is a verse of “The Beauty” (Baudelaire): “I am beautiful, ô mortals, like a dream of (Dark)stone…””
Terra also has several exhibtions at The Dove Rhoads Gallery. You also find her at flickr.
Terra Merhyem and Rage Darkstone are partnered in Second Life.

Impressions of Gateway Gallery July 2022 (3) – Rage W Darkstone’s sculpture “Trompe L’oeil” (upper right), one of Nils Urqhart’s photos (upper middle), Terra Merhyem’s sculptures with Zia Branner’s paintings in the background (upper right and lower left and right)

Thank you Lethra for providing the space for the arts, thanks to all who were involved to enable this great varied exhibition of different art. And last but not least, thank you to all participating artists.

Landmark to Gateway Gallery
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Meighen/104/107/116
Landmark to Nils Urqhart’s Art Gallery Rill’Arts
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Helvellyn/180/234/32
Nils Urqhart (Paul Maurice in RL)’s website
https://paul-maurice.pixels.com/
Paul Maurice on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/paul.maurice.92
Paul Maurice on Twitter
https://twitter.com/apollo0300
Paul Maurice on Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/paulcmaurice/
Zia Branner’s art gallery/shop “Elven Falls Art Collective”
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Elven%20Falls/252/41/22
Zia Branner at “The Galleries”
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Georgiana/241/100/57
Zia Branner at “Emergent”
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Mystique%20Isle/191/20/21
Zia Branner at “Carmel Art Community”
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/McFarren/236/161/36
Rage Darkstone’s AvA Art Gallery
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Terrage/133/138/504
Rage Darkstone at The Galleries
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Georgiana/223/127/57
Rage Darkstone at Vision of Beauty Art Complex
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Whinlatter/115/101/58
Rage Darkstone at The Dove Rhoads Gallery
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Jaxipun/85/90/21
TerraMerhyem at The Dove Rhoads Gallery
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Jaxipun/85/90/21
TerraMerhyem’s flickr
https://www.flickr.com/photos/192279183@N07/albums

Art in Second Life 2022 (62) Somewhere by Cica Ghost

09 Jul 2022 Leave a comment

by diomitamaurer in Art in Second Life Tags: , ,

Wednesday, July 6th, Cica Ghost opened a new installation named “Somewhere“. The thought Cica provides with the landmark description is a quote taken from Winnie the Pooh: “I am not lost, for I know where I am. But however, where I am may be lost.“

As usual with Cica’s installation you shall use shared environment, set advanced lighting and activate shadows from sun/moon and projectors. The environment settings are part of Cica’s art. For “Somewhere” she selected a very hazy environment wiht a gloomy sky. Of course I zoomed out again to get an overriew of “Somewhere” but that made no sense as you don’t see much even with another environment setting. Enough of technical foreword.

Impressions of “Somewhere” by Cica Ghost (1)

Usually Cica builds happy places, that make you smile. “Somewhere” doesn’t belong into this category. The ground is dried out, the grass is dried out, the trees are just skeletons, even the flowers are dried out and the sunflowers don’t glow yellow. I looked around at the landing point and saw a house in the fog quite close by and i went there. Acutally this spot might be the most busy place on the whole installation. On my way to it a came long a wodden trailer and a (dried out?) water well. The house itself was empty. Next to it is one of the two benches at “Somewhere” (at least I saw only two). A man sits in one of the dead trees next to the house and plays flute.
What made me smile was the cat in front of the house (thank you, Cica).

I walked around looking out for other attractions, for animals or flowers or houses or people. There are 2 more (empty) houses and you find a few animals, storks and one deer. Beside that “Somewhere” offers only bare trees, dried flowers and grass, some old fences. The ponds are also almost dried out.

Impressions of “Somewhere” by Cica Ghost (2)

There’s also no in-world store this time. You can purchase the houses, the storks and the deer in the sim itself.

“I am not lost, for I know where I am. But however, where I am may be lost.” is quite a fitting qoute and as it is taken from Winnie the Pooh, it is the only reference to the happy world seen with the eyes of childres that we’re used to see in Cica’s installations. Cica might address the extreme heat and drought that we just experience in Nothern Italy, she might address the climate change or she might address all the other scaring crises in the world, including the war in Europe. I don’t know, it is in the eyes of the visitor.

I for my part prefer to see the small signs of hope, the surviving storks and the deer. Storks are also a symbol of life. “Somewhere” is a place that makes you think, in particular knowing Cica’s installations.

Impressions of “Somewhere” by Cica Ghost (3)

Thank you for another great installation, Cica, even though it is not made for making the visitor smile. As usual we don’t know how long “Somewhere” by Cica Ghost will stay open. It could be a week, it could be a month or even more.

Landmark to Somewhere by Cica Ghost
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Reflections/146/220/26
Cica Ghost’s shop inworld
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Del%20Mondo/36/192/24
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 2022 (61) City Scenes – Modern and Vintage by Colm Midnight @ Galerie ARTCARE

07 Jul 2022 Leave a comment

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

I got a group message about a new exhibition of Colm Midnight (colmmidnight) at Galerie ARTCARE. The artists name rang a bell. I had visited the exhibition “Bouquets and Flowers” by Colm Midnight at Noir’Wen City Gallery back in 2020 (read here).

The new exhibition of Colm Midnight is called “City Scenes – Modern and Vintage“. It consists of 12 smaller vintage pictures of city scenes and 16 larger pictures of modern scenes. The pictures are arranged around a court, so that you are in a city scene with a few trees, a fountain and some benches to sit.

Impressions of City Scenes – Modern and Vintage by Colm Midnight @ Galerie ARTCARE (1)

The vintage pictures are arranged in groups of 3 pictures in each of the 4 corners of the squared exhibition space at ARTCARE Gallery. As far as I could gather, all pictures are based on pictures taken in Second Life. The vintage pictures are monochrom,e processed to look old, a bit blurry and with shadows in the corners. Also the scenes were selected accordingly.
What you don’t notice on a fist glance is that some one the modern pictures – not all – are based on exactly the same picture as the vintage pictures. That is a nice contrast showing what can be done with processing.

Impressions of City Scenes – Modern and Vintage by Colm Midnight @ Galerie ARTCARE (2)

When you hoover your mouse over the pictures you can also see where the pictures were taken and I recognized some places, like Soft Melody, a palce that I visited this year (read here).
Also the modern pictures are processed in different ways. For some pictures Colm added a colour filter or exchanged colours thus making them more colourful and intriguing. One picture of the modern scene is in black and white, it could be a vintage picture as well (although it is not placed in the corners. Here Colm used another technique, using a semi-transparent layer of a flower above the corner of a city buildiung with a fire escape. This picture is my personal favourite.

Impressions of City Scenes – Modern and Vintage by Colm Midnight @ Galerie ARTCARE (3)

Colm Midnight (colmmidnight) is from the US, he’s an artist, creator, and admirer of all that is beautiful in SL. He is in Second Life since 2017. Colm “specializes in vivid photography and colorful painting. He seeks to create unique, positive, and bright abstract artworks that enhance and complement the favored environments of Second Life. Rather than presenting a factual reality, he fabricates an illusion to conjure the imagination and lure the viewer into each canvas. He also is a sculptor in real life.” (taken from the accompaying notecard)

Colm has an own gallery, the Gallery CM at Noir’wen City. I decided to have a quick look. At his gallery Colm showcases colourful pictures, mainly pictures of his exhibition “Bouquets and Flowers”.

Impressions of Colm Midnight’s Gallery CM at Noir’Wen City

ArtCare Gallery is owned and curated by Carelyna. Thank you Carelyna for providing the space for the art and for enabling “City Scenes – Modern and Vintage” by Colm Midnight. I enjoyed my visit.

ARTCARE GALLERY – City Scenes – Modern and Vintage by Colm Midnight
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Melody%20Valley/208/234/3081
CM Gallery Noir’Wen City
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Noir%20Wen/89/221/42

Art in Second Life 2022 (60) Colores Primarios by Bamboo Barnes

05 Jul 2022 1 Comment

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

Bamboo Barnes is one of the artists I covered quite often in the blog so far. When I got the invitation from Dido Haas to see Bamboo’s newest exhibition “Colores Primarios” at Dido’s Nitroglobus Roof gallery, I went there right away and before the official opening, that took place on July 4th, 2022.

When I think of Bamboo Barnes, I immediately think of colours, of colourful pictures, of a feast of colours. And the title of her newest exhibition reflects her passion – “Colores Primarios” or “Primary Colours”. And the Nitroglobus Roof Gallery with the mirror effect transparent floor is really predestined for her artwork. Bamboo wrote a text about her exhibition “Colores Primarios”. You find the text also at ome wall of the gallery and in the accompanying notecard:

In a hot and humid room, blue at the hem of the curtains.
In a windless room, red on the floor.
In closing your eyes and seeing it disappear, yellow.

What color is the ground you cower on?
What color is the sigh your breath makes?
What color is that place where you fall asleep?

What are your basic colors?

Impressions of “Colored Primarios” by Bamboo Barnes (1)

Some of the pictures are static, others consist of several layers that are moved permanently so that the impression changes constantly. All pictures show females, mostly the faces or the upper body along with decorations, abstract geometric forms, colour layers …. something to look at and to immerse into – and to enjoy the colours.

I was in particular facinated by “Assemble 3!”. This picture is exhibited 3 times and all hand side by side. But as it is a picture (actually each picture consists already of two pictures) with a moving layer, each look different, all the time and Bamboo created a particular effect by hanging them in a row.
Once again on wing of the exhibition room is separeted with a transparent picture through which you can look through and walk through. It adds an additional 3D effect.
Very fitting to all the colours, Adwehe made the light effects again, colourful balls. And thinking of Bamboo’s description, I could ask myself: Which ball is mine?

Impressions of “Colored Primarios” by Bamboo Barnes (1)

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). Last December I saw her exhibition “The path” at Art care gallery (read here) and this year “Metaphysics” at the Kondar Art Center, (read here). “Drawer” is still open for visitors.
And I also had a look at her flickr page.

I enjoyed my visit. “Colores Primarios” is another perfect fit for the Nitroglobus Roof Gallery, a feast of colours, a feast for the eye and great art.

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 “Colores Primarios” by Bamboo Barnes. Thank you Bamboo Barnes for your art, even when you yourself consider not being an artist – you are! And many thanks also to Adwehe for the light effects and to David Silence for creating the exhibition poster for “Colores Primarios” by Bamboo Barnes.
“Colores Primarios” is the July exhibition at  Nitroglobus Roof Gallery and hence shall be open until end of July 2022.

Landmark to Nitroglobus Roof Gallery
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Sunshine%20Homestead/38/22/1001
Bamboo Barnes’ flickr page
https://www.flickr.com/photos/bamboobarnes/
Dido Haas’ blog
https://exploringslwithdido.blogspot.com

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