InWorldz: Alizarin Goldflake
Posted: January 15, 2012 Filed under: Guest Bloggers, InWorldz 5 Comments »
Special guest blogger InWorldz correspondent Huckleberry Hax does not waste time! Huck has already visited InWorldz and looked into the captivating work of Alizarin Goldflake. Above please find his beautiful photographs and below the report. Please go check out Ali’s work InWorldz at: Acquarella: After the Apocalypse, Nexus Central (191, 65, 25).
Following on from Flora’s interview on Wednesday, I’ve come to Alizarin Goldflake’s Acquarella: After the Apocalypse in InWorldz (Flora would visit herself, except her computer’s a bit rubbish). This is a large, sim-sized piece based on a machinima – “Acquarella: The Fable” – created by Alizarin with Chantal Harvey in 2010.
The sim is divided into four quadrants, each depicting one part of the fable. Acquarella is introduced to us via a notecard as a sea goddess who lives 20,000 leagues under the sea; the starting quadrant – The Disaster Quadrant – depicts a time following the human apocalypse in the world above: “Wherever she wandered, the seabed was scorched black and smoldering with flames. Now and then chunks of rusty debris came hurtling toward the bottom, remnants of the ancient battle above.” This is a dead, burning area of charred plants and raining debris, and Acquarella looks down on it all in horror.
A red path leads us to the second quadrant – The Perfection Quadrant – a stunning world of pure white, Acquarella’s attempt to restore life for the remaining creatures of the undersea world. The detail in this area is staggering; pure white fish swim between impossibly delicate aquatic plant life. The condition of the world is that everything remains white so that harmony can be maintained. Crossing the area, you discover the lilly pads coloured mint green by the three naughty nymphs once Acquarella back has been turned, then the nymphs themselves in their rebelliously coloured clothes. Acquarella returns, furious to see the damage that’s been done and turns the nymphs into three little fish that circle sadly the exit to this section.
Quadrant three – The Dead Quadrant – depicts the growing depression of life in the aquariums in the absence of colour. The creatures beg Acquarella for it and the return of the nymphs; all turns black, making this a world of silhouetted outlines and stillness. Look for the three coloured fish (those naughty nymphs again) to guide you out of it.
Acquarella concedes, brings colour back to the world, and restores and forgives the three nymphs. The final quadrant – The Colour Quadrant – is a feast of colour and life, and all appears well with the underwater world. Above the scene, however, a dark monster bides its time, and a table laid with sushi underneath denotes the return of carnivorous ways. A seahorse merry-go-round titled “Here We Go Round Again” lies just a few steps away; a few steps more and you find yourself back in the Disaster Quadrant.
This is a wonderfully immersive sim and worth spending time in to explore properly. The accompanying notecards are really important if you want to understand the significance of all the detail, and add a whole extra layer of meaning to the work. And if you’ve not yet ventured into InWorldz, this would be a great place to start your life there!
This is the machinima by Juanita Deharo showcasing the installation:
The original machinima by Chantal Harvey that was the inspiration for this work:
Great review, Huckleberry! You really understood the installation and observed all the little details with the attention an artist craves. Your photos and Juanita’s lovely machinima make a documentation of my work that I treasure.
So glad you liked the review Alizarin – it was a pleasure to write
)
A great asset for InWorldz, for sure. Great article.
I want to correct my oversight and make sure that Jeri Rahja gets credit where credit is due. She owns 16 sims in InWorldz called Alexanderia Kingdom, and most of the sims host art installations by the likes of soror Nishi, Kolor Fall, Ub Yifu, Copan Falta, Wizard Gynoid, La Toymaker, Betty Tureaud, and Juanita DeHaro, making Jeri the foremost virtual art patron of the entire metaverse. “Acquarella” is installed on one of Jeri’s sims also, and so Jeri deserves major credit for the existence of the art. Without her encouragement, I never would have believed that I was capable of a full sim installation.
That said, thank you again, Huckleberry, for a review that captures the beauty of creating in InWorldz. It is sure to make readers want to come and the see the art sims for themselves.
There is only one thing I can think of that the review left out – you really ought to have warned people to beware of the first dark monster lurking between Perfection and The Dead Quadrant, just waiting to wrap the unsuspecting in its tentacles!
Thanks for this information, Ali.