Art in Second Life 2023 (9) Reflections by Maddy (Magda Schmidtzau) & Onceagain Art Gallery

I got an invitation to visit Maddy (Magda Schmidtzau)’s latest exhibition named “Reflections” at Onceagain Art Gallery. A good reason to visit Onceagain Art Gallery (once) again, as it is more than one year since I my last visit there (read Art in Second Life 2022 (2) Onceagain Art Gallery).

The landmark leads you to a small gazebo within a park. From there you walk through the park, cross the gate, turn left twice and walk a path upwards to reach the exhibition “Reflections” which is shown in kind of a cloistered court.

Impressions of “Reflections” by reflections by Maddy (Magda Schmidtzau) (1) – from the landing point to the exhibition

Onceagain (Manoji Yachvili) wrote about “Reflections”:
I’m really pleased to host in my gallery a delicate artist, who I discovered last year by chance when I won one of her works at an auction.
In life you don’t always need to look for deep meanings, sometimes beauty is enough to reconcile you with the world and Maddy with her works is what she manages to do.”

The exhibition consists of 11 pictures all showing woman, mainly portraits, in their beauty. Most of the pictures are monochrom (not all) and the women are all dressed beautiful and they wear flowers, ornaments, jewelery and other accessories underlining their beauty and attracting the spectator to look for details and to get pulled into the picture.

Impressions of “Reflections” by reflections by Maddy (Magda Schmidtzau) (2)

Maddy wrote: ““Reflections” is a journey of portraits that experiments with new ideas using A.I. technologies. The exhibit showcases photos created with Midjourney and Second Life Avatars, combined with the use of A.I. to create a melancholic and dark atmosphere that captures the essence of the subjects portrayed. The soft colors and blurs emphasize the intense emotions and intimacy of the portraits, inviting the viewer to immerse themselves in the images.”

Maddy (Magda Schmidtzau) is in Second Life since 2009. She’s passionate about photography in RL and SL. She writes: “I’m not an artist but a researcher of images to be developed… a dreamer with open eyes of this world “out of time”. In SL always open to new possibilities of experimentation trying to convey the magic that I see.”
I’ve seen Maddy’s art the first time back in 2017 at Enchanted Art where her exhibition “Maddy 2017” was showcased (read here). Further on I saw Maddy’s work at La Maison d’Aneli in 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2022 and at GenovArt Glass Gallery in May 2021 (read here). You can see more of her art at her flickr page.

Once at the gallery I took the teleporter, where I landed for my visit to “Reflections” and visited the Onceagain Art Gallery.

Impressions of Onceagain Art Gallery (1) – Two buildings / Two sculptures (Cherry Manga and Bryn Oh)

The place has changed quite a lot, the concept is still the same. In a large park are several buildings. The park and the buildings are full of Onceagain (Manoji Yachvili)’s art collection. In the park you find 3D art as well as inside of the buildings at windows or larger spaces. The buildings are galleries and feature the art of many artists.

Impressions of Onceagain Art Gallery (2)

I know and wrote about most of them, though I admit that there’re some, who I didn’t come across yet. The following list of artists is certainly not exhaustive, but it testifies to the size of the art collection and the many styles:
Moki Yuitza, Mihailsk Syros (mihailsk), June Langer, Kika Yongho, Eviana (eviana.robbiani), Maddy (Magda Schmidtzau), Milena Carbone (mylena1992), Filthy Fluno, Marina Münter (vivresavie), Melusina Parkin, CioTToLiNa Xue, Zia Branner, Maloe Vansant, ZYNTHEA, Mareea Farrasco, Celestial Demon (celestialdemon), Gully Rivers (gullyrivers), Karma Daxeline (Karma Weymann), Cad (cadwallader), Lika Cameo (LikaCameo), Scylla Rhiadra, Mara Telling, Frank Atisso, Cherry Manga, Harbor Galaxy, miu miu miu (miumiumiusecond), Therese Carfagno, Bryn Oh ….

Impressions of Onceagain Art Gallery (3)

onceagain (Manoji Yachvili) ist in Second Life since 2007. Manoji is Italian and lives and works in Tuscany, Italy. She “likes photography, art, landscapes, animals, visiting strange places, most of these things she also does in RL“. You find more of her also on her flickr account.

Thank you for showcasting so many artists in a great environment and for enabling Maddy (Magda Schmidtzau)’s exhibition “Reflections”.
And thank you Maddy for your art.
I enjoyed my visit.

Landmark to Onceagain Art Gallery and to Reflections by Maddy
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Peaceful%20Mountains/51/173/3502
Maddy (Magda Schmidtzau)’s flickr
https://www.flickr.com/photos/magdyne/
Onceagain (Manoji Yachvili)’s flickr
https://www.flickr.com/photos/69389809@N03/

Simploring 2022 (2) Dyrhólaey

Serene Footman is back in Second Life. A few weeks ago he re-opened Furillen for a few weeks and I visited it again and enjoyed the many memories (read my post about Furillen here). Serene’s sims are always outstanding. He rebuilds RL places in Second Life, places many of us never heard about before, or weired places with a very particular history or background. I didn’t see all of them, but many. And visiting a place of Serene like Khodovarikha (read here and here) or Rummu (read here) or Ukivok (read here) ..or… or.. was always a highlight of my Second Life.
And now Serene opened Dyrhólaey, his interpretation of Iceland in Second Life. It was not Serene’s attitude to rebuild exactly a part of icleand, he wanted to provide the atmosphere and to highlight some specific features of this beautiful place. I’ve never been to Iceland, it is still on my list of places to visit some time (hopefully). But now I can visit at least visit the southernmost point of Iceland, the home to the ‘endless black beach’ in Second Life and inhale some of it’s atmosphere and get some unique impressions.

Birdeye view and orientation map of Serene Footman’s Dyrhólaey

Serene wrote a very detailled blogpost about Dyrhólaey. He explained what you can see on the sim, which buildings he has picked for Dyrhólaey and where they are in reality. He described Icelands flora and fauna, the different birds, the sheep and horses. He gave background information about the wrecked plane and about the piano on the beach. To sum it up – I didn’t want to rewrite Serene’s post, I can’t do it any better! I strongly recommend to to read Serene’s post about Dyrhólaey before visiting the sim in Second Life.
Dyrhólaey is best viewed using shared environment with advanced lighting. The day/night cycle set to 24 hours. My first visit was late at night and I had the luck to see some aurora borealis in the skies, my second visit was during the day and the sim looks different at daytime.

First impressions of Serene Footman’s Dyrhólaey – aurora borealis in the skies

Serene Footman’s Dyrhólaey – The cliff retreat by architect Alex Hogrefe / Diomita enjoying the view over Dyrhólaey

Serene Footman’s Dyrhólaey – The café inspired by the Ion Hotel in Nesjavellir / the piano and horses on the beach

Serene Footman’s Dyrhólaey – wreck of the DC3 US Navy airplane 1973 / puffins / Skarðsviti Lighthouse / buildings on the high plateau of Dyrhólaey

Serene Footman’s Dyrhólaey – Svartifoss waterfall / columns of Reynisdrangar / places to enjoy and relax

As with previous sims Serene had some help from others builders. Harry Cover (aka impossibleisnotfrench) buildt the wreck of the DC3 US Navy airplane 1973 and Mara Telling made the bar in the cliff retreat by the architect Alex Hogrefe (which was never realised).

For your own visit, keep in mind that Serene’s sims usually are only available for a few weeks.
Thank you very much, Serene! I did enjoy my visit to the fullest.

Landmark to Dyrhólaey
https://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Aride%20Isle/148/47/39
Serene Footman’s post about Dyrhólaey
https://furillen.org/2022/03/21/dyrholaey/
flickr group for Dyrhólaey
https://www.flickr.com/groups/dyrholaey/