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 (59) “Freaking Beauties” by Maloe Vansant at Artsville Gallery #1

01 Jul 2022 1 Comment

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

Friday, June 24th, a new place for the arts has been opened – Artsville. Artsville consists of 3 galleries. The first exhibition at Artville is “Freaking Beauties” by Maloe Vansant.

The layout of the gallery space reminded me a bit of DixMix Gallery – 3 galleries, with space for around 10 pictures each and an event area in the center. The builder is Megan Prumier, who also built the DixMix Gallery.

“Freaking Beauties” shows pictures of – surprise – freaking beauties. The pictures are very colourful, most consisting of several layers. They focus on the kinkiness, yet the pictures are intriguing, not off putting. They invite the spectator to look for details. And the freaking beauties themselves look satisfied and proud. Each picture is an eye catcher!

Maloe Vansant joined Second Life in 2007, a new world for her who had never played games or joined any social network site: “After creating little Maloe, my barbie doll, my pixel soul, I discovered the possibility of making snapshots and I started to make a graphic diary of Maloe’s journey in Second Life, showing the emotions she experienced in this pixel world. I think I succeeded in doing this by using some post processing in Photoshop. I am not a woman of many words, I try to express myself, my feelings, my passion and probably my dark side through my pictures.”
Maloe has also a flickr account where you can see more of her artwork.

The virtuality blog published an interview with Maloe Vansant by Violet Boa back in August 2021. Violet Boa wrote in the introducing text about Maloe:
“Maloe belongs to the group of people who are strongly guided by feelings and she is blessed with ability to touch our souls with her photography.
With skillful game between light, shadow, color and composition she creates works that appeal to us not only on the quality level, but also write stories of life and with it catch our thoughts and hearts.”
Read the full interview on virtuality blog 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. Thank you Megan for building the gallery. And thank you Maloe for your art, I enjoyed my visit.

Landmark to Artsville and to Freaking Beauties by Maloe Vansant
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/ValiumSL/60/180/22
Artsville flickr
https://www.flickr.com/groups/14823986@N21/
Art Korner blog
https://www.artkornersl.com/
Interview with Maloe Vansant by Violet Boa in virtuality blog
https://www.virtuality.blog/interview-with-maloe-vansant/
Maloe Vansant’s flickr
https://www.flickr.com/photos/31954671@N08//

Simploring 2021 (18) Valium SL – Hermosa

09 May 2021 Leave a comment

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

In January 2021 I visited Valium SL – Marfa (read here). It was the lateast of quite some places created and/or owned by Vally Lavender (Valium Lavender) and sadly this sim is already gone again. With the opening of Valium SL – Marfa I became member of the Valium group and as a member I got an invitation to see the newest installation of Vally – Hermosa, built on a full moderate region. The membership has also the bonus that you can rez props for taking pictures if you like. I visited on Wednesday, April 14th, 2 days before it was opened to the public on Friday, April 16th.

With the invitation I got a notecard from Vally with some information about Hermosa:
Hermosa Tierra means ‘beautiful land’ in Spanish and is a fictional land on the West Texas border of Mexico and Texas (only separated by the Rio Grand River). It is loosely inspired by my impressions of the Big Bend National Park area, over 800,000 acres of desert, mountains, caverns, a vast and diverse range of flora, fauna and terrains. The area is also rich in Mexican and American, specifically Texan, cultures.
A journey to Hermosa will capture your imagination into the story of its land owners, Veleta and her husband Jorge, who were very much soul mates. They lived at the Hacienda La Veleta, spending many happy years together rearing their children, on their beautiful land. Veleta, an artist, spent many hours painting her visions of her lands…..while Jorge ran a successful ranching enterprise.

Hermosa – Bird’s eye view and orientation map

Then one day a terrible drought came and tragically destroyed everything they loved; the land, the canyons, the diverse landscapes, animals. Nothing would grow any longer and the animals starved. Their ranch workers fled but Veleta and Jorge stayed and endured the best they could. This drought lasted five long years and as the drought ended, Valeta and Jorge finally succumbed to illness brought on by the drought. They died peacefully together in their sleep, knowing their love of their land would continue on through their ancestors.
In later years, Veleta and Jorge’s great-great grand daughter returned to La Veleta and found it overgrown and abandoned. She revived the land, making a place for artists to come and work. Painters, sculptors, writers, poets and photographers all come to La Veleta and are able to create wonderful works in this beautiful place, known as Hermosa Tierra. Some artists report that at night they can hear Veleta and Jorge dancing and laughing in the courtyard. Perhaps you will also ….

Impressions of Hermosa (1) – views from the landing point

Art is all around at Hermosa Tierra in a small way. At the Hacienda La Veleta there will be rotating artists from the covers in Flickr group pool. Since that has not begun, there is a ‘Memories of Marfa’ exhibit for the start. At the large barn Vally will feature selected artists from her Empty Chair Gallery.

Right when you land you will feel the heat. I strongly recommend to switch on “Use shared environment” (in Firestorm top menu “World” -> “Environment”). And don’t forget to switch sound on.
The air is filled with dust, the sky looks orange and with the red rocks at least I began to sweat just by looking on the screen. The first view I got was the way ending at the Hacienda La Veleta, blue blooming flowers at each side. Looking around some pueblos built into and onto the red rocks caught my eyes (actually they are off sim). And I saw some cactuses and a horse.

Impressions of Hermosa (2) – Hacienda La Veleta

I first visited the Hacienda La Veleta. At the entrance is a statue from Mistero Hifeng. I remember that I saw an exhibtion of Mistero Hifeng at Vally’s Art Park (read here). As mentioned above there is a small exhibtion with pictures from Marfa by Seb Neox and Hilaire Beaumont inside of the building. Actually I saw only 3 pictures of Marfa – and a few more pictures from Hilaire Beaumont that have nothing to do with Marfa (I think). Both artist were new for me.

Impressions of Hermosa (3) – Art at Hacienda La Veleta / Memories of Marfa / James Dean Forever Young by Hilaire Beaumont (lower left)

After visiting the Hacienda I began to explore the rest of the sim and there’s quite a lot to discover. In particular you find motifs for pictures that you won’t get anywhere else easily. Quite close to the Hacienda you find a corral with some grazing horses and nearby the obligatory windmill – and a water tower (off sim).
I walked back to the the landing and crossed the river. A colourful painted wall caught my attention there. It is part of a small rest area with a campfire and some other art objects. I called it “Art campfire”.

Impressions of Hermosa (4) – the corral, the windmill, the art campfire

There is a second house at Hermosa, a residential house that is fully furnished. There is a café in the outside area. Very typical is the large patio of the house, a great place to retreat during the hot noon hours. If you walk further from there you get to a camp site and to the pueblos.

Impressions of Hermosa (5) – the residential house, the café, the campsite and the pueblos.

And there is one feature that you shouldn’t miss – the large canyon that you can easily see on the bird’s eye view. It feels huge when you walk inside of it and again it really felt being scorching hot. If you have fun riding a horse, there is also a horse rezzer. I rezzed a horse an enjoyed riding it and seeing Hermosa from another persepctive.

Vally also wrote a bit about herself and her motivation for Hermosa in the above mentioned notecard:
There is not much to tell about myself really. Almost all of my entire existence in SL, since 2006, has been about creating beautiful sims, some with, and some without, help from some of SL’s great builders. It has been, mostly, a personal journey I embarked upon to make my SL more enjoyable. If I can share the joy with others, then all the sweeter.
I loved coming up with unique ideas and seeing them come to fruition, and then, as we all do, I started thinking about the next new vision. That is the fun of SL. I think the Valium Sea sim and the Boulder sim have been my most enjoyable thus far. They were very special to me.
And finally, the upcoming Hermosa Tierra project, built this time entirely by me, will be my last for quite some time. Due to real life demands, I lack the stamina required to keep up with major projects as this. I think I deserve a much needed rest and the time to study and grow. Let’s relax on Hermosa for a good long while.

Remark: I visited Valium Sea (read here) and Boulder (read here) in 2020.

Impressions of Hermosa (6) – exploring the canyon / enjoying a ride

Thank you Vally (Valium Lavender) for the gift of sharing this beautiful sim publicly. I hope you can enjoy your sim inbetween your RL demands. I enjoyed my visit a lot, a great sim!

Landmark to Hermosa Tierra
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/ValiumSL/82/211/21
Valium SL homepage
https://valiumsl.com/
Vally’s blog about Hermosa Tierra
https://valiumsl.com/?page_id=317
Vally Lavender’s personal flickr
https://www.flickr.com/photos/vally-lavender/
ValiumSL Hermosa flickr
https://www.flickr.com/groups/valium/

Simploring 2021 (7) Valium SL – MARFA

16 Feb 2021 Leave a comment

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

For my simploring tour on Tuesday, January 26th, I picked Valium SL – MARFA from scoop.it SL Destinations. The entry led to an entry of Susann Decuir “Neueröffnung: Valium SL- MARFA (Moderat)” (the post is in German). It attracted my immediate attention because of several issues: Firstly I visited often places created and/or owned by Vally Lavender (Valium Lavender), secondly Fred Hamilton, Lotus Mastroianni and Sofie Janic built the sim, and thirdly the published picture reminded me of “Kun-Tei-Ner”, another place that was built by Fred Hamilton (frecoi) and Lotus Mastroianni (read here).

In addition I visited Marfa, Texas, already in Second Life back in 2017 (read here) and had done some research.
Marfa was founded in the early 1880s as a railroad water stop. The town was named “Marfa” at the suggestion of the wife of a railroad executive. The Marfa Army Airfield served as a training facility for several thousand pilots during World War II. It was closed 1945. Marfa has a population of about 2,000 people, hence it is really small.

Impressions of Marfa, Texas (source https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marfa,_Texas)

Today, Marfa is a tourist destination and a major center for Minimalist art. Attractions include Building 98, the Chinati Foundation, artisan shops, historical architecture, a classic Texas town square, modern art installments, art galleries, and the Marfa lights. The city is also 37 miles (60 km) from Prada Marfa, a pop art exhibit, which might be the most photographed and visited site in Marfa. The area around Marfa is known as a cultural center for contemporary artists and artisans. In 1971, minimalist artist Donald Judd moved to Marfa from New York City. Since Judd’s death in 1994, two foundations have worked to maintain his legacy: the Chinati Foundation and Judd Foundation. Every year the Chinati Foundation holds an open house event where artists, collectors, and enthusiasts come from around the world to visit Marfa’s art (Source: wikipedia).

As mentioned above Valium SL – MARFA is built on a full moderate region owned by by Vally Lavender (Valium Lavender). Fred Hamilton, Lotus Mastroiani und Sofie Janic have rebuilt Marfa quite realisitc. You recognize the buildings, the art and the weiredness of this place in Texas, art in the middle of nothing. No wonder that many people visit it nowadays.

Valium SL – MARFA: Bird eye view and orientation map

The landing is admist the town center next to the fire department. If you zoom out, you can see how in the middle of nothing Marfa is located. Close to the landing point is a Motel, a garage and a gas station. And right across the street is one of the largest buildings, the “Empty Chair Gallery”. I visited the gallery first before further exploring Valium SL – MARFA.

Impressions of Valium SL – MARFA (1): around the landing

In the Empty Chair Gallery Vally showcases pictures that she had collected. All pictures are about empty chairs: “I felt that the ’empty chair’ in most cases created the emotion of being lonely, sad, or waiting, and wanting from the observer. They seemed to ask the same question over again and that is “Do you feel what I am feeling about my empty chair?” And often time the chairs instilled a sense of happiness, knowing perhaps, that soon someone would occupy their empty chair.”
The pictures exhibited right now at the Empty Chair Gallery are from Adam Cayden, Cecilia Nansen, D e F o e, Duna Gant, GlitterPrincess Destiny, Key Monk, Loegan Magic, Powder Grau, Samyi Basevi, Sander Sunborne, Shawn Shakespeare, Sunset Theas and Venicio Armin,

Impressions of Valium SL – MARFA (2): The Empty Chair Gallery

After visiting the gallery, I first explored the little town. There’s a lot to discover and I didn’t see all. Close to the residential area is a nice flower store and I saw an antiques store, both decorated with love for details. The largest building in town is the countyhouse. It was built fitting the original building in Marfa, Tx.

Impressions of Valium SL – MARFA (3): countyhouse, flower store, antiques store

In the residential area you find several house, some of them were still empty duing my visit but that might have changed in the meanwhile. Between two houses closer to the town I found a nice little court to sit and enjoy. Also quite close to thre residentail area is Thor’s Café & Bar. I recommend that you have a look inside. The decoration is outstanding. I think these little details make Valium SL – MARFA so particular. For example you find a wardrobe in the form of a cactus.

Impressions of Valium SL – MARFA (4): Residential area and Thor’s Café & Bar

The visitors and I assume in particular those who visit the Marfa Lights Festial live in a seperate camp in containers, in tents and caravans. In the center of the site is an event area. really amazing is the the gate to the site has exactly the same form and symbol as in real life. The containers did remind me of “Kun-Tei-Ner” (read here). I didn’t have the time to go into every tent or container but they are furnished and I bet there’s also a lot to see. If you get hungry after all what is to see at Valium SL – MARFA you can take a break at the bbq stand right next between the camp and the Lights building.

Impressions of Valium SL – MARFA (5): containers, tents and caravans and the bbq stand

The “Lights-Building” is another landmark of Marfa, Tx. in RL. It has a pertciluar egg form and daylight just comes through a small gap in the ceiling. The entrance and the exit are built in a waythat avoids any light coming it. Marfa is renown for its art. And you find it spreaded around the town. There’s the renown Prafa store, a care on a concrete box, a large board showing James Dean (I think at least) next to a scaffold in the middle of nothing

Impressions of Valium SL – MARFA (6): Lights building, Prafa and other art

And finally there is art spread on ranch land, many boxes and cubes made of concrete, iglus, and inbetween grazing cattle, quite weired.

Impressions of Valium SL – MARFA (7): Art and cattle, the railroad

I was impressed of my first visit. Fred Hamilton (frecoi), Lotus Mastroiani, Sofie Janic and Vally Lavender (Valium Lavender) created a really outstanding place. I enjoyrd seeing Marfa, Tx. again. In these days and age where you can only travel virtually it was a feast for me. A big thank you to all who were and are involved in realizing Valium SL – MARFA.

Landmark to Valium SL – MARFA
https://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/ValiumSL/179/131/59
Valium group flickr page
https://www.flickr.com/groups/valium/
Vally Lavender (Valium Lavender)’s flickr page
https://www.flickr.com/photos/vally-lavender/
Susann Decuir “Neueröffnung: Valium SL- MARFA (Moderat)”
https://mein-zweites-leben.blogspot.com/2021/01/neueroeffnung-valiumsl-marfa-moderat.html

Simploring 2020 (62) Boulder

14 Sep 2020 1 Comment

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

I had in mind to make a short simploring tour on Sunday, August 23rd. It turned out to become a longer and really great Sunday morning tour. I picked Boulder from scoop.it SL Destinations because the name of the owner caught my attention immediately.

Boulder – overview

Boulder is a moderate full region owned by Vally (Valium Lavender). I saw already several places of Vally. In 2020 I saw Valium Creek (read here) and Valium Sea (read here).
Boulder was (once again) designed by Dandy Warhlol (Terry Fotherington). Boulder is a beautiful photogenic coastal land inspired by the African Penguins of South Africa and intended to bring attention to this endangered species.

Impressions of Boulder (1) – at the landing point

At the landing poit I had a view to the town, named “Simon’s town” and had to decide where to go first. There’s a sign post with 3 directions: Art gallery, Simon’s town and Penguin Colony. I decided to walk to the penguins first. One of their colonies is at the beach not far from the landing point.

Impressions of Boulder (2) – a green oasis above Boulder

At the colony I saw another sign post “Follow the Stairs” and I began walking up the large rock. The higher I got the better was the view over Boulder. Finally I reached a beautiful place for a first break. At the end of the stairs you find several small huts offering beer and coffee admist a green oasis. The place can also be used for small parties.

Impressions of Boulder (3) – the open hole / the waterfalls

I continued my simploring tour walking through a passage in the rock that led to another beautiful spot with a waterfall and a bench to enjoy the view. At one end of this spot it a big sign “Danger – Open Hole”. In Second Life that’s more or less an order to take the risk and I stepped forward to see the hole. But I didn’t see it – instead the stone I was stepping on became instable and I fall down …. finding myself at the foot of a large waterfall. Luckily in Second Life you don’t get injured *winks*. From where I landed I could see the beach through another passage and was back at the penguin colony.

Impressions of Boulder (4) – Blurred views by Fred Hamilton (frecoi) and Lotus Mastroianni at Boulder Art Gallery

I went to the art gallery next. I don’t know if the exhibtion there is permanent or will change. At the time of my visit the gallery presented “Blurred Vibes” by Fred Hamilton (frecoi) and Lotus Mastroianni. I know them both as creators of great places in Second Life. Just recently I saw their sim “Summer in the City” (read here). The exhibtion is not very large but would have been worth a seperate blogpost. Fred and Lotus play with the artistic effect of blurring. Several texts accompany the pictures: “Blurring and focus are powerfl photographic deveices. Not arbitrary, because the theme chosen to focus on, regardless of the apparent irrelevance, makes the observer reflect on its meaning“. I strongly recommend not to miss this great small exhibit.
Remark: Lotus Mastroianni told me that the exhibtion will be available until End of September 2020 …. hence hurry up, if you want to see it.

Impressions of Boulder (5) – whale watching / the lighthosue languet

After my visit of the art gallery I went down to the beach again for another look at the penguins and at a whale which was just jumping out of the sea. And I was not alone watching this spectacle, as there was one of several NPC’s (static non-player characters) spread on the whole sim – a photographer.
From here I could see the lighthouse and I went there next. The lighthouse is at a languet right opposite of the penguin colonies. To get there you either have to walk along the beach and the town or you have to swim. Again I took advantage of the possibilities in Second Life and swam over there. The lighthouse and its surrounding is another beautiful spot at Boulder. I enjoyed another short break at the campfire close to the lighthouse. Several birds are around there and invite to just watch or take more pictures. Next to the lighthouse are a few huts. You can get fresh fish here.

Impressions of Boulder (6) – Simon’s town farmer market and sun beach

Acutally Boulder is two sims in one – one is the nature part with the beaches, the penguins, the waterfall and the languet with the lighthouse, the other part is Simon’s town. A special feature is that two different windlights are used for these parts. The windlight for the nature part is quite natural and couldy while the windlight used for Simon’s town is sunny with a clear deep blue sky. This windlight makes the town look a bit Mediterrean although the penguins live in South Africa. The town itself is really picturesque. I visisted the market and the sun beach on the backside of the town.

Impressions of Boulder (6) – Simon’s town waterfront promenade

The waterfront of Simon’s town offers many places to sit and is a perfect background for pictures. And of course there’s a lot to discover here. I really had fun looking at all the details and took many pictures.

Boulder is really a great sim and I fully enjoyed my Sunday morning immersing into another world. Vally intended to bring attention to the endangered penguis of South Africa, hence my last pictures shall reflect that. At the landing point are two pictures of these penguins and a reference to the “Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds”. You can read more about the foundation here.

Impressions of Boulder (7) – support the preservation of Southern Africa penguins

Thank you Vally for sharing your place publicly and thank you Dandy Warhlol (Terry Fotherington) for another great sim.

Landmark to Boulder
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Boulder/182/131/22
Boulder flickr
https://www.flickr.com/groups/valium/
Vally’s blog
https://www.vallystyle.com/
Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds
https://sanccob.co.za/

Art in Second Life (34) Non-Perishable by Marina Münter at Art in the Park

15 Jun 2020 Leave a comment

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

A few days ago I got an invitation to attend the opening party of “Non-Perishable by Marina Münter” at Art in the Park. The opening was on June, 7th. I visited a few days later.

Non-Perishable was Marina Münter (vivresavie)’s first exhibtion back in September 2017 and it is now presented again at Art in the Park. Art in the park is a public area next to Valium Creek, a sim with rental homes and a public area that I visited in January 2020 (read here).

Non Perishable consists of 6 containers. Opposed to these 6 containers is an event area fitting to the exhibtion with 3 more containers.

Non-Perishable by Marina Münter at Art in the Park – exhibition poster and overview

Each container holds distinct groups of objects, objects Marina can relate to. And each container is given a title, a description that can be found at the entrance. Each container is in a different main colour: White, Green, Yellow, Orange, Red and Blue.
Marina has a connection to containers as she was born in a port city and grew up with seeing this boxes, innumerously piled up at the port. Marina writes in the accompanying notecard that she always asked herself, if she could live inside of a container.

Non-Perishable by Marina Münter at Art in the Park – White container

Next to each container you find a picture of the inside of it and always a woman is in the container admist of all the stuff inside. “The same woman is portrayed under different personas; from trauma (birth) until the unavoidable (death). The visitor is invited to enter, inspect and interact with what, for some, can be seen as a “neat way to organize your inventory”, and for others, an obsessed way of coordinating non-perishable objects in monochromatic containers.” (taken from the accompanying notecard)

Non-Perishable by Marina Münter at Art in the Park – Green container

Each of the containers also contains at least one opportunity to sit and I tried that in all six containers (and took a picture). But getting out can be tricky as you’re stuck behind other stuff when you stand up (I used the seat in the white container to “escape”).

Non-Perishable by Marina Münter at Art in the Park – Yellow container

Marina Münter (vivresavie) is almost 8 years in Second life. She’s an artist, curator and photographer. As mentioned above “Non-perishable” was her first exhibtion in Second Life and soon after she founded the GBTH project, which I came across this year the first time (read here). GBTH means Grab By The Horns, the GBTH Project is an urban sim dedicated to contemporary art. It is Marina’s main interest on the grid nowadays. You find more information at www.thegbthproject.com.

Non-Perishable by Marina Münter at Art in the Park – Orange container

The containers at Art in the Park are stuffed with objects, silly objects, useless objects, bizarre objects like the penis candelabra in the green container or the collection of dildos of all sizes in the blue container. There are seats, a record player, beach toys, all kind of illuminated signs, pictures, candles, flowers, cooling boxes, a piano, a chess game, a paddling pool, a television, cooking pots, a bicycle, a fridge, a coffee can …… I could extend this list endlessly. Nonetheless the objects are sorted by the theme, not just by the colour itself (which fits mostly) but also by the overall theme of the container.

Non-Perishable by Marina Münter at Art in the Park – Red container

I bet if I look at all of my RL stuff, it must look like a whole mess for all others, but not for me! Every item tells its story – but only to me. And I couldn’t tell anyone every story as they’re not of any interest for outsiders. Nonetheless looking at other people’s stuff does tell a lot about them, at least we tend to interpret what we see and the objects might tell a story, but not the true story, just another story, a story that fits to our life and prejudices.

I had fun looking at each container and at all the stuff – and the stuff told me a story *winks*.

Non-Perishable by Marina Münter at Art in the Park – Blue container

Thank you Marina for the exhibition. Thank you Vally Prodigy (Valium Lavender) for providing Art in the park. I enjoyed my visit a lot!

Landmark to Art In The Park
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Broken%20Vessels/141/53/21
The GBTH Project website
http://www.thegbthproject.com
flick-group Art in the Park
https://www.flickr.com/groups/valium/pool

Simploring 2020 (8) Valium Sea

01 Feb 2020 2 Comments

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

Yesterday I got an invitation from Vally (Valium Lavender) to visit Valium Sea “Once my private homestead sim, I have decided to open it to the public now. Enjoy! – beautiful, peaceful and very photogenic“.

Valium Sea – overview

Valium Sea is a moderate homestead, of course owned by Vally. Vally is also the owner of Valium Creek and the Valium Creek Art Park, a place I had visited and reported about just recently (read: Simploring 2020 (4) Valium Creek, Valium Creek Art Park, Relax Club and Kekeland – Bardeco).
Valium Sea was built by Jacky MacPherson.

Impressions of Valium Sea (1) – landing point and residetial house

Valium Sea is an almost round almost flat island with a lot of beach, beach grass, some scattered trees that have been formed by the wind, Some areas are a bit rocky.In the center of the island is a residential home on a little hill. Beside of this house there’s just a roofed patio a bit aside of the house.

Impressions of Valium Sea (2)

And that’s it! You will find innumerable places to sit, recline, enjoy and cuddle all around the island. You can enjoy the peace and the sound of the ocean. Valium Sea is a perfect place to retreat and wind down – and to take pictures. And of course I took some pictures.

Impressions of Valium Sea (3)

Impressions of Valium Sea (4)

I can only repeat what Vally said: “Enjoy!”. Thank you Vally for opening Valium Sea to the public. I did enjoy a peaceful time-out on the island.

Landmark to Valium Sea
https://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Valium%20Sea/105/203/21
Vally’s Flickr
https://www.flickr.com/photos/vally-lavender/with/49464024893/

Simploring 2020 (4) Valium Creek, Valium Creek Art Park, Relax Club and Kekeland – Bardeco

17 Jan 2020 3 Comments

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

I came across Valium Creek following Inara Pey’s blog and her post “Time at Valium Creek in Second Life“

Valium Creek is a moderate full region, owned and operated by Vally Lavender (Valium Lavender). Roughly 3/4 of Valium Creek is dedicated to residential usage, about 1/4 is public. The landing is in the public area, which includes a coffee shop hangout, a local bar, church and other interesting features. Valium Creek was designed/built by Jacky MacPherson and Dandy Warhlol (Terry Fotherington).

Valium Creek – overview

The public area offers a lot of nice views and great backgrounds for pictures. I had fun exploring. To enter the residential area you need to be a group member. And of course you could decide to live here, the houses are rented out by Vally. Part of the group join fees are donated to the Nature Conservancy, an international conservation group. Vally also has a website for Valium Creek.

Impressions of Valium Creek – public part

But that’s by far not all. Vally also owns Broken Vessels, another moderate full region right next to Valium Creek and connected to it with a bridge. The Valium Creek Public Area is being extended over to almost 1/2 of the Broken Vessels and is home for the Valium Creek Art Park. When I visited the first time the Art Park on January 8th it was full of place holders for future art objects. When I visited again on Tuesday, January 14th, the Valium Creek Art Park presented it’s first exhibition featuring the art of Mistero Hifeng.

Broken Vessels – overview

Impressions of Valium Creek Art Park

The remainder of the Broken Vessels sim, is occupied by Kekeland – Bardeco and Relax Club. Kekeland – Bardeco rang a bell. I visited it back in 2018 (see Simploring 2018 (21) Bardeco & Kekeland). Kekeland – Bardeco is owned by Belle des Champs (Bridget Genna) and was also built by Dandy Warhlol (Terry Fotherington). At it’s new location it is split between what you see on the ground and the club itself that is located on a sky platform. Kekeland – Bardeco is for sure on my list of places to visit in the near future.

Mistero Hifeng’s art featured at Valium Creek Art Park (1)

Mistero Hifeng’s art featured at Valium Creek Art Park (2)

The Relax Club is group owned and I assume that the group founder Night A. (Nightattack Guardian) owns the club. I didn’t do much research so far. The Relax Club has a own website – www.relaxclub.pt, is running since 2013, offers music (Club, Tech, Deep, Techno, Soul, Funky, House) everyday between 10 AM and 6 PM.

Thank you Vally (Valium Lavender), Jacky Macpherson, Dandy Warhlol (Terry Fotherington), Belle des Champs (Bridget Genna) and Night A. (Nightattack Guardian) for these two joined sims, that offer a lot for everybody: residential houses for rent, an art park, places to hang out and a music venue. It was for sure not my last visit.

Landmark to Valium Creek
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/valium%20creek/157/131/24
Valium Creek Art Park
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Broken%20Vessels/166/59/22
Landmark to Relax Club
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Broken%20Vessels/181/230/23
Landmark to Kekeland – Bardeco (skyplatform)
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Broken%20Vessels/65/159/3002
Valium Creek Art Park Flickr-group
https://www.flickr.com/groups/valium/
Valium Creek website
https://valiumcreek.com
Nature Conservancy
https://www.nature.org/en-us/
Inara Pey’s blog post “Time at Valium Creek in Second Life”
https://modemworld.me/2020/01/07/time-at-valium-creek-in-second-life/