Simploring 2018 (5) Bird People by Cica Ghost

16 Jan 2018 1 Comment

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

To be able to fly (in the physical world) is an old dream of mankind and if we could fly we were free as birds, maybe we would be bird people. On Saturday, January 6th, I visited “Bird people by Cica Ghost“. Upon landing you’re asked to use region windlight and to switch the advanced lighting model and shadows (sun/moon + projector) on.

January 6th: Stepping into the world of “Bird People by Cica Ghost”

Where you land? In a bird cage of course. No worries, it is open and from here you can explore Cica’s Bird people. It is another very impressive art installation from Cica. Cica’s Bird People live in a dark and foggy world of metal bird cages, which are connected or accessed by stairs. Besides the cages, most of them are open, there’re large metal fences and frames, stell beams and some decorative ironwork. The ground is tiled with some islands of plants inbetween, the plants being in shadows of grey as the whole world of the Bird People.

Bird People by Cica Ghost in their cages

This time Cica gives away the central message of her piece of art “We are all living in cages with the door wide open (George Lucas)“. And yes, “Bird People by Cica Ghost” is full of metaphers. They are free yet they seek the protection of there cages, but they also seek to gather. Some of them have left their cages and gathered, maybe to talk or just to be close together. But they can always return to the security of their cages. Some do live alone in a cage, some as a family of two or three. Their world is dark and foggy and quite complex, structures are hard to reveal.

Bird People by Cica Ghost seeking togetherness

Some of the Bird people just observe the scenery from an elevated point, a higher cage, but they live in their cage like the others. Another thought came into my mind, Bird people could fly (they are birds!) yet they don’t. They could take advantage of their abilities, but they don’t. We learned to fly in the physical world, we can get over most barriers and frontiers but we don’t, we’re caught in our little world of cages, which offers security. And hence the world stays grey.

Diomita meets Cica literally in her installation “Bird People”

I met Cica in one of the cages a little bit apart of the main structure and with a good view on it. She was there with a friend or acquaintance and they were talking about the Bird People. And of course we exchanged as well about them. Cica Ghost’s art installations are always worth a visit and the Bird People is no exemption. I admire her creativity and art. You should get a look at the “Bird People by Cica Ghost“.
Thank you Cica. I enjoyed my visit!

Landmark to Bird People by Cica Ghost
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Imagine%20Hall/89/134/49

Simploring 2017 (100) Binemust Snow

23 Dec 2017 2 Comments

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

For my 100th simploring tour 2017 I looked up the SL destiantion guide and selected BinemustSnow: “This beautiful two-island winter wonderland is filled with surprises in all corners and under the surface. Explore Binemust now to see it covered in the loveliest of snow.“

December 15th: winterly Binemust overview with ground desitinations

The name Binemust did ring a bell and yes, I visited Binemust before in August 2016 (read here). There have been some changes. It was really worth revisiting!

Impressions of winterly Binemust

The landmark of the destination guide BindemustSnow leads you directly to the winterly island of Binemust. The island is really photogenic. I roamed around, explored and discovered. First I didn’t recognize that I was here before but when I entered the church I did remember and recognized it as not much changed here.

Binemust: Residential home (upper left) / beach house inside (upper right) / the curch (lower left) / the curch inside (lower right)

Upon your landing you’ll get a welcome notecard from Bine Rodenberger, who created and owns Binemust.
“Welcome to Binemust – a 2 island sim with an underwater world and experimental decor sites in the sky. You landed on the ground. You can find your way to the Portal, from where you have access to all the experiences on Binemust. At the portal you will find doors and holes in the ground to the different scenes on the ground, in the water and in the sky.. When you sit on a door or a hole, you will be transported to that experience, and you can find your way back to the portals by returning the way you came, or use the Portals landmark”

Binemust Portals (upper left) / campingsite (upper right) / fairground (lower left) / art garden (lower right)

There are several doors and holes spread over the island, one hole is directly next to the landing point. I recommend to explore and discover the winterly island of Binemust first. I really love it. Bine succeeded to create an atmosphere that seems to be cold. But when you enter the farm house or the residential home opposed to it, it feels cosy and warm inside. After visiting the church, I took a door to the Portals. From here you can explore and discover the following destinations:
– on the ground: Horse field (landing point of BinemustSnow), Beach, church, Beach house, Light house, Farm house
– underwater: art garden, campingsite, fairground, waterford
– Skybox
and Vimmershavn

Cica’s hugging tree (upper left) / waterford (upper right) / art inside of waterford (lower pictures)

The underwater desitinations didn’t change much compared to my visit in 2016. I recognized the campingsite, the fairground and the the art garden. New for me was Cica Ghost’s hugging tree Close to the art garten. And new for me was waterford. Inside of this fabric building you find soem more art installations.

Binemust skybox (upper left and right) / interior of Lighthouse (lower left) / Beach house (lower right)

Binemust at the beach and Binemust lighthouse (lower right)

The skybox is a residential home and contains everything you need for a comfy home.

Completely new is Vimmershavn, a modern shabby town that is mostly abandonned. But there’re oases of life where nothing is abandonned, they are neat and clean. These oases give Vimmershavn a particular charme. It is ood to be in such an oasis and to look at the shabby abandonned town, that was taken by criminals and homeless people. Vimmershavn could be a great place for roleplay. I spent a lot of time there, it’s a really interesting creation.

Binemust: Impressions of Vimmershavn (1)

Binemust: Impressions of Vimmershavn (2)

Binemust and all the experiences is a great place for simploring. Bine Rodenberger has created something outstanding in Second Life. This time I also visited her website which contains a lot of additional information. Thank you Bine for providing Binemust to us all. I should return more often!

Landmark to BinemustSnow
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Binemust/53/110/21
Landmark to Binemust Portals
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Binemust/131/155/717
Bine Rodenberger’s website
http://www.bine.se
My first visit to Binemust
https://themaurers.me/2016/08/31/binemust/

Simploring 2017 (87) Land of Owls by Cica Ghost

10 Nov 2017 Leave a comment

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

Again I became aware of a new installation of Cica Ghost by floowing Inara’s Living in a modemworld blog. Thank you, Inara! She wrote about Cica’s “Land of Owls” here.
As every installation I saw so far from Cica, her Land of Owls is again outstanding and different to what I saw before from her, but you can see Cica’s style. Land of Owls is a barren island with uprising stones comparable to menhirs, trees without any leave, bamboo sticks and some tundra gras. All is covered in blueish light. But there’s more …. some islands of flowers, some (not as many as I expected) owls watching the scenerey and what is going on, a couple of Flamingos at one corner of the island and some squared stones with holes that seem to be owls homes.

Impressions of Land of Owls by Cica Ghost (1)

You can take a ride with a strange boat on weels and with an umbrella. It will take you around but to discover more you’ll need to walk. Spreaded around are also some benche where you dan sit and watch the scenery. Although it’s a barren island, it doesn’t feel cold nor scary, maybe due to the flowers that made me strangely happy. The owls seem to be in control and made it their place and the watch who is disturbing them. I felt that I have to be quiet in order not to disturb them, same with the Flamingos, bt they somehow look like just being tolerated like us human visitors.

Impressions of Land of Owls by Cica Ghost (2)

Land of Owls is another piece of art from Cica ghost to enjoy. Thank you Cica!

Landmark to Land of Owls by Cica Ghost
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Flocke/128/128/27
Inara Pey’s blog entry “Cica’s Land of Owls in Second Life”
https://modemworld.me/2017/10/31/cicas-land-of-owls-in-second-life/

Simploring 2017 (84) Floating

28 Oct 2017 Leave a comment

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

Inspired by Inara Pey’s blog post “Floating in Second Life” my simploring tour Friday, October 20th, led me to Floating . Floating is a LEA sim designed by Bryn Oh and Cica Ghost. As I saw already some of Cica’s and Bryn’s art and installations, just these two names attracted my attention.

Floating is build on rocks, just by the sea and has a yacht harbour. Everything is in shades of grey. At the landing point you can sit on one of 3 coloured umbrellas and being to float around getting different views on the town. According to the board at the landing point you can also use a ballon to float, but I did not try it. There’s also a game offered, Zap Gun. You can grab such a zap gun to shoot your friends. When you’re hit, you’ll be sent back to the landing point (supposed you accepted the expierence – otherwise you’ll be sent back to you home point). I didn’t try the zap gun, but I can imagine that it is fun.

Impressions of Floating by Bryn Oh and Cica Ghost (1)

Back to Floating, the grey in grey town with the yacht harbour. It looks strange as it’s houses are small and high but not skycrapers, more like squared lighthouses with no lights but with roofs instead. And they all stand very close to eachohter on the rock. All houses are just grey silhouettes. And you can’t look into them. Just a few windows allow a view inside. And this view is full of colour and show everyday scenes.

On one side of Floating, there are frameworks filled with barrels that look like eyes on the first view, on the second view they appear to be build for living, for those who can’t afford to live in the houses. And yes, one barrel allows a view inside and there’s just an ugly sleeping person inside. Below are some huts and agains you can have a look inside of one of them. The huts are not as small as the barrels but offer a bit more comfort.

Impressions of Floating by Bryn Oh and Cica Ghost (2)

I floated around and saw nothing else in they gray world. Nothing? No, I discovered one person that was not in a house, hut or barrel but walking around.

Inara had her own interpretation of Floating. She thinks that Floating shows a town with quarters for the wealthy and for the poor. I share her interpretation but that might be due to the fact that I read her blog before visiting. I also think that everything is just grey in grey unless there’s life, and life brings colour.
You might take the sim’s description text as a start for your own interpretation. The text reflects more on the floating with the umbrella or with the ballon:
Floating in the sea
You and me
To the sky you flew
But I will wait for you

Anyway, Bryn and Cica created another piece of virtual, temporary art. Thank you both.

Landmark to Floating (LEA13)
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/LEA13/121/105/21
Inara Pey’s blog entry “Floating in Second Life”
https://modemworld.me/2017/10/19/floating-in-second-life/

Simploring 2017 (72) Fairy Tale by Cica Ghost

09 Sep 2017 Leave a comment

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

My simploring tour Saturday, September 2nd, led me to “Fairy Tale” by Cica Ghost  . I became aware of it by Inara Pey’s blog entry “Cica’s Fairy Tale in Second Life” .

If you’re interested in art within Second Life, it is very likely that you’ll come across Cica Ghost. She has had many art installations and sigle pieces of her can be found in several other sims which deal with art. Cica Ghost is an artist from Serbia and in Second Life since 2010. Cica Ghost runs a little shop where you can buy some of her art. Her list of exhibitions and installations is quite long. You can grab one at the landing point at “Fairy Tale“. I myself visited some of the sims, that she has created and I wrote bout them: Cica’s Library, Frogs, Keys, Ruins.

September 3rd: Impressions of “Fairy Tale” by Cica Ghost (1)

“Fairy Tale” is once again different. It is build on a rocky and hilly island. Many towers, build of separate large flat stones, rise up very high. The vagetation is meagre and and look like in winter, there’s no single leaf. In the middle of the island are two dragons that seem to supervise the island. On one bigger rock at one side of the island is a single one room shed. And there’s a fence around the shed and a littel garden with some flowers (and colours as opposed to the rest of the island). Some cats and one woman live their lonely life there.

September 3rd: Impressions of “Fairy Tale” by Cica Ghost (2)

The landmark description is a quote of C. S. Lewis, a british novelist and poet: “Some day you will be old enough to start reading fairy tales again.”
Like Cica’s other installations there’re plenty of possible interpretations and she avoids giving any direction. I personally can’t really get the quote into a reasonable relation to the sim “Fairy Tale“. Just the single house with the garden and it’s strange inhabitant with the cats build a sharp contrast to the rest of the island with it’s stone towers and the two dragons. Overall the atmosphere is cold but it’s not hostile, and the dragons seem to be peaceful (to me). I found a dancing animation on one rock and tried it out, as well as a sitting pose just next to one of the dragons. What reminds me of a fairy tale is that the whole installation seems to be like dream, as not everything makes sense in a dream.

September 3rd: Impressions of “Fairy Tale” by Cica Ghost (3)

Build yourself your own picture and your own interpretation. Thank you Cica for another piece of art for Second Life.

Landmark to Fairy Tale
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Seth%20Island/212/49/40
Inara Pey’s blog post “Cica’s Fairy Tale in Second Life”
https://modemworld.me/2017/08/30/cicas-fairy-tale-in-second-life/
Cica’s shop in Second Life
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Appalachian/140/139/3502

Simploring 2017 (49) Blue Orange

27 Jun 2017 3 Comments

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

When I visited MetaLes..O..Art Virtual Space (read here) I saw among other art, the exhibition Melancholy by Ini (in.inaka). I got in contact with Ini and she proposed to see her last project: Blue Orange and she passed me the landmark to it.

Friday, June 23rd, I had the opportunity to visit Blue Orange. The landmark text describes Blue Orange as a friendly bohemian club for MUSIC and ART lovers. And it is! The landing is at a subway train station, that already contains quite a bit of art. I got welcomed “Hello to all and welcome at BLUE ORANGE bohemian underground club and art project 2, space around club may look tricky and easy to get lost, please use notecard with all locations(inside poster on wall), sure if also lazy to walk 😛 no pressure about advanced lights and WL, but it could help, lets have fun :-)”
I took the notecard, that contains landmarks to see the pieces of art at Blue Orange from Theda Tammas, Cica Ghost, Rebeca Bashly, Jarla Capalini, Gitu Aura, NicoleX Moonwall, In Inaka and Igor Ballyhoo. Blue Orange is group owned, the group was founded by Ini, hence I suspect, that it is Ini’s baby.

The Blue Orange Club

The landmarks in the notecard didn’t work for me, I just got teleported back to the landing point when using them. But you can as well explore Blue Orange without the landmarks. Blue Orange is a club, with exhibitions and pieces of art arranged around this really cozy and individually styled club. I read that every once in a while at Blue Orange there’ll be parties, cozy or crazy, simple or very messy or themed events as well – with some really exclusive Blue Orange music lovers or guest dj’s.

I explored the whole club and the current exhibitions. As with Ini’s exhibtion that I saw at MetaLes..O..Art Virtual Space, Blue Orange offers a different way to exhibit art, from classic exhibtions like those from Gitu Aura, NicoleX Moonwall and Jarla Capalini to art playing with light like Duality from Igor Ballyhoo, from single 3 D art like Great Escape by Rebeca Bashly to 3D art showing 3D statues within a labyrinth from Tehda Tammas, from just 2 pictures from Ini herself to the art installation of Cica Ghost “Rainy Day”. It is not that difficult finding the exhibition even without teleporting, you just have to find the stairways down and up from the club level. When you explore the exhibitions don’t miss to take the notecards that are offerend at some exhibtions and that will provide some more Information about the artists and about what you see.

I liked a lot what I saw. I think the concept is similar to MetaLes..O..Art Virtual Space, changing exhibitions from various artists, and various forms of art. Ini made a great job in realizing this art project. I did enjoy my visit to the fullest and got a lot of inspirations. Thank you, Ini, for providing the landmark but most of all for providing this space for the art within Second Life.

Landmark to Blue Orange:
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Empire%20State%20Island/213/28/1435

Simploring 2017 (41) – Surreal Chess Wonderland

07 Jun 2017 1 Comment

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

Inspired by Inara Pey’s blog post “A Chess Wonderland in Second Life” I went exploring Chess Wonderland – The Life of Black and White. “Chess is all about black and white trying to conquer each other. There is no grey in chess and same goes for life.” is the description of the landmark.

Chess Wonderland is surreal. The ground is made of black and white squares yet not flat but undulating. Right close to the landimg point is a sculpture of Mistero Hifeng “Siamo diversi”, a figure sitting on a bench. If you walk a bit further you’ll see a stage with some muscians. Those are contributed by Cica Ghost. It looks that I come across these two artist quite often on my simploring tours. Chess Wonderland is enclosed in a box, the wall glow in different colours of a rainbow and on the ceiling is one large light that illumintes the scenery together with the glowing wall. The preset ambient is foggy and mysterty. You can find all chessmen spread over the installation, there’s also one real battlefield where the chessmen are in close-quarters fighting. In one corner of the isntallation is a big castle, which rooms to explore. Some parts of the castle are fake though, contain no rooms and you can fly through it walls. On one of the roofs are a black and a white sofa and you can sit there to watch the scenery and to suck in the impressions. There are for sure a lot of symbols hidden not only in the castle but also in the installation itself. Everybody has to interpret them individually. For me it was like diving into a battlefield and not looking at a game. It lifts chess into another dimension giving winning and loosing another meaning.

Of course you can take fantastic pictures of Chess Wonderland, and I took a lot. In the end I changed the windlight settings to get a better insight how the installion is buildt – and it looks totally different if you change the settings. Thank you EgyptRocker for providing this peice of art to us!

Landmark to Chess Wonderland
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Egypt/41/18/23
Inara Pey’s blog post “A Chess Wonderland in Second Life”
https://modemworld.me/2017/05/28/a-chess-wonderland-in-second-life/

simploring 2017 (9) Frogs by Cica Ghost

09 Feb 2017 2 Comments

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

Tuesday, February 7th, I came across “Cica’s Frogs in Second Life” in Inara Pey’s blog. Cica Ghost is an artist from Serbia, in Second Life since 2010. Cica’s art in Second Life has impressed me and I went exploring and discovering “Frogs by Cica Ghost” right away.

Feb 7th: Frogs by Cica Ghost

Feb 7th: Frogs by Cica Ghost

“Frogs by Cica Ghost” is surreal. The landscape looks artificial, like a model, in particular as you can see how it was build with fiber mats. Nonetheless there’re flourishing flowers and some lonely trees. The island is dominated by huge giant frogs, which slowly jump up and down. Your avatar is really short in comparison to them. and you feel a bit scared beside them until you climb on them. On the top of the one hill of the island is a wall with a door. On one site an ugly girl is painting what might be a self portrait with a bubble that she’s dreaming of a prince just like in the fairytale “Frog King”. On the other side of the wall sits the same girl with a lollipop watchting tv (but it is not a tv, it is a box with a broken glas front and in the box is a christmas scene with a bald christmas tree). It is hard to guess what Cica wants to express with her installation and I assume everybody sees it different. As a human the scenery is a bit scary on the first glance.20170207-cicas-frogs_015
While I was visiting Cica Ghost herself showed up and she transformed herself into a frog. You can grab the frog avatar at the landing point and become one of the frogs, hence they are not giant anymore for you and you become part of the installation. I asked Cica which frog to kiss and of course she answered that nobody knows that. I agree with Inara, after a while I began to smile and enjoy “Frogs by Cica Ghost“. It is for sure unique, a virtual, creative and artful approach to the fairtale Frog King.20170207-cicas-frogs_014
Landmark to “Frogs by Cica Ghost”
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Aggramar/27/174/25
Inara Pey’s blog “Cica’s Frogs in Second Life”
https://modemworld.me/2017/02/07/cicas-frogs-in-second-life/

Cica’s Library

04 Sep 2016 2 Comments

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

Following the Destination guide I came across Cica Ghost’s Library. I have visited several of Cica’s art installations before, the last I saw was Key’s. Cica’s Library is also – no surprise – described in Inara Pey’s blog “A visit to Cica’s Library in Second Life“. “The only thing that you absolutely MUST know, is the location of the library (Albert Einstein)” is what you’ll find as a sim description. No wonder, Cica’s library is full of books!

September 2nd: Cica's Library

September 2nd: Cica’s Library

Upon you arrival you have to pass the librarian, an old Lady supervising the library and she’s not only pale (as an librarian is usually), she also old and wear thick glasses and hence fulfills all cliches. To me she looked really scary as she’s tall, really tall, like everything in Cica’s library.

September 2nd: The librarian at Cica's Library

September 2nd: The librarian at Cica’s Library

Because everything, every book, even the mobile library truck is huge, I felt small – just like my knowledge is small compared to all what is written down in books. Good thing is that you can climb up the piles of books and immediately get an overview about all the knowledge *grins*

September 2nd: The mobile library truck at Cica's Library

September 2nd: The mobile library truck at Cica’s Library

September 2nd: Climbing up a pile of books at Cica's Library

September 2nd: Climbing up a pile of books at Cica’s Library

This is anothter great installation from Cica Ghost – of course everyone will interpret it differently and have own thoughts. I enjoyed my short visit and the impressions I got. Thank you, Cica!

Landmark to Cica’s library:
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Sky%20Atoll/243/202/40
Destination guide entry:
http://secondlife.com/destination/library-by-cica-ghost
Inara Pey’s blog post about Cica’s library:
https://modemworld.me/2016/08/26/a-visit-to-cicas-library-in-second-life/

Kultivate Magazine / Windlight Gallery Summer Art Show

15 Aug 2016 Leave a comment

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

Following Inara Pey’s blog I came across and art show and event in Second Life “Kultivate Summer Art Show in Second Life“. The Kultivate Magazine / Windlight Gallery Summer Art Show has opened in Second Life. Running through until Saturday, August 20th, the event features, art, music and shopping.
August 14th: Diomita as living art in Silas Merlin's installation

August 14th: Diomita as living art in Silas Merlin’s installation

Over 50 2D and 3D artists are participating in the event. And some of them did appear already in this blog and hence are my favourites: Bryn Oh and Cica Ghost. The whole show is placed on a beach, with a few larger buildings for the 2D art and many kiosks for shopping. Inbetween is a big event stage (see list of events in Inara’s blog article or at the show web page) and the 3D art pieces. I placed myself into Silas Merlin’s sphere and I really stand out there, don’t I?).
I also got into Cica’s art “Cica’s hinging line” tumbling in a huge washing machine (poor me!) and I became part of Bryn Oh’s “Lazy Lazy Bryn”.
20160813 Diomita living art Cica Ghost 20160813 Diomita living art Lazy Lazy Bryn
There’s a lot to see. Have fun!
Link to Inara Pey’ blogpost
https://modemworld.me/2016/08/12/kultivate-summer-art-show-in-second-life/
Link to the event’s web page
https://kultivatemagazine.com/summer-art-show/
Landmark for the event in Second Life
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Water%20Haven/140/137/21

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