Rebeca Bashly’s Arctica Dreams at MetaLes

I’m with Rebeca Bashly at MetaLes one hour before the opening of her new exhibit, Arctica Dreams. This place is like a dreamy fairytale; I am really at a loss for words. Initially, when one teleports in, one finds oneself in a large snow landscape with only one large barren tree. After a short walk, one finds a way down under the blanket of snow, entering a world of ice. Here, amongst, tunnels, and various kinds of ice positioned upon water, we find Rebeca’s beautiful ice statues. This is a large work, it spans over a whole sim, lending a true sense of magic. Please set to midnight for best effect. Come take a look at this wonderful installation, you don’t want to miss it: http://slurl.com/secondlife/MetaLES/210/187/73. Bottom photo by Rebeca Bashly. Also, check out http://www.slifefantastic.blogspot.com/, http://metalesperformance.blogspot.com/, http://quanlavender.blogspot.com/2011/12/damned-cold-and-damned-nice-arctica-by.html, http://honourmcmillan.wordpress.com/2011/12/21/frigid-dreams-in-second-life-a-world-of-ice/.

Be Fearless!

Be Fearless! is a ten-day online festival with digital artists and live performers gathering for the third annual nonprofit Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) awareness event. The event goes from November 4 to November 13, 2011 and will feature informational resources about PTSD in order to educate about the disorder as well as banish stigma attached to it. Be Fearless! opens on November 4th at 10 AM SLT with a live lecture on PTSD given by Colleen Crary, M.A., Founder and Executive Director of Fearless Nation. The art exhibit part of this event is curated by the talented Eliza Wierwight, creator of Patron Gallery and Emporium. Artists exhibiting, in no particular order, include Claudia222 Jewell, Glenn Fitzpatrick, Kazuhiro Aridian, Tricia Farella, Bryn Oh, Starlash Sweetwater, PJ Trenton, Stephen Venkman, Glyph Graves, Trill Zapatero, Sabbian Paine, Bluu Jatho, Rebeca Bashly, Starax Statosky, Nicole Steen, Lina Stigsson, Bonni Reid, Gwen Carillon,  Scottius Polke and Eliza Wierwight. Live musicians will be performing and DJs will be mixing live sets during the festival. For more information about the Be Fearless! festival, artists, performers and sponsors, including the broadcast schedule and “listen in” links, please visit: http://www.fearless-nation.org/EVENT2011.html.

I checked out some of the art works, but did not include all here, there are simply too many for this one blog post. I strongly encourage you to go and check them out on your own, however, this is a wonderful collection of builds. The first work I came across was the Water Diva Guardian of Serenity, by Eliza Wierwight. This is a large female creation in a dress with water falling down and over it; in her hand a large key from which water is gently shooting out as well. There is something tribal about this female guardian, so stoic seeming. Textures and shapes are exquisite. So very beautiful. There other works by Eliza on the sims, be sure not to miss them.

The next works I came across were those of Claudia222 Jewell. Both of the builds that caught my eye (there are several others spread all over the sim) were of an organic nature; one, the Flower Bird, with its brownish branch-like extensions reaching for the sky and the other, the Golden Cave, consisting of golden colored snake skin-like textures, vegetation of all kind and creatures with human-like faces. This is fantasy extraordinaire. Above, Ladybug, is interactive, just click on her and you will be flying around.

My next discovery were the Aqua Seadryke Sculptures by Kazuhior Aridian. Wow! These three large flying creatures with spines were dancing in the sky, their wings translucent and without heads. The sculptures remind of some sort of prehistoric animals; their primitive yet also sophisticated builds seemed to bring forth an experience of a time that had long past.

Nested under the Kazuhior’s sculptures I found the Submarine, by Rebeca Bashly. This is a round and very sturdy little vehicle with two red seats. As with all Rebeca’s builds this one was created using outstanding textures and shapes, which together contribute to an outstanding overall work.

I found myself standing in front of Tricia Farella’s ship. This is a vessel with plenty of wonderful detail; the sails, the wooden body of the boat, the little boat tied at the back and much more. The ship is on water, moving from side to side. I was impressed by the beautiful craftmanship.

As I was flying around from work to work and writing in between, Eliza Wierwight invited me to join her on her newly received cushions by Maxwell Graf on the ground. We paused our work for a while, lounging and chatting in front of Eliza’s Nouveau Libertine clocks and in the background Scottius Polke’s Dock Spirit. Eliza explained that she worked on this project for only a week and a half; “I developed and styled the SIMs and curated pieces from all over. People were incredible. Kaz’s work has never left his SIMs before, ever. He gave it to me MOD/COPY to do as I wished. Tricia dragged Retropolis over and pulled it apart to suit what I was musing, Claudia worked for hours at 4am in the morning after working all night to make a SIM corner that was blank astounding (don’t know what the Hell I would have done if she hadn’t), Bryn spent bloody hours on the SIM at a days notice putting her works together (it’s vintage Bryn Oh!) as well as loaning me a huge sculpture by Starax, Starlash brought the first piece and her unlimited support, Venkman said I could have -anything- I thought suitabe from his collective works (Sabbian on par there), Trill gave me her work AND permission to pull it apart to see if my semi submerging it idea would work or not (it didn’t lol), Glyph had to rescript his work to update it (it’s a fun thing it stalks you), Rebeca offered to build anything I needed “I build fast,” seriously -all- the Artists were just incredible. I even bugged Maxwell Graf yesterday for these fabulous cushions he did with a meditation pose that I can rez around. I logged in and there they were.”

Head over and check out the creations by these incredible artists and listen to the music that will be performed and DJd starting Friday, November 4. This event is for a great cause, namely to further an understanding and demystify misperceptions of PTSD. This is the slurl: http://slurl.com/secondlife/OAK%20BEACH/96/156/22. 

Sneak Peek Preview: The Fall by Betty Tureaud

Betty Tureaud, accompanied by music by Ultraviolet Alter, opens her new show, The Fall, this Friday, October 28, 2011 at 2 PM SLT. I got a sneak peek at her work and let me tell you, Betty did it again! There are intense colors and various things shooting one up in the air; my heart always seems to beat a little faster when I’m safe on the ground again.

As you teleport in, you will click a cone to get to the exhibit itself and once you have entered, you find yourself on a metal floor, not so typical of Betty really. But across from a blue poem there is a board which I jump from. And I fall. Oh, my God, I have never fallen like this in Second Life before; its a long fall, the colors keep shifting. The suddenly all is black and I’m front of a blue poem again. We enter a gate of sorts. I don’t want to ruin your experience by giving away all that happens here, but be assured there is more shooting up in the air involved from this point on. Part of what lies ahead also involves a tribute in support of the recent Occupy events, to which Betty said “JUMP you Fuckeres!, kik thers ass, and they all got a new Porshe!” You don’t want to miss this kick-ass exhibit. Please be on the look-out for announcements.

Travel to Originalia

It is my great pleasure to introduce to you my impressions of the upcoming exhibit Travel to Originalia. The grand opening of this newest exhibit on Amase Levasseur’s sim Originalia will take place on Saturday, October 22, 2011 at 1 PM SLT. The artists showing their work are Callipygian Christensen, Cherry Manga, Fuschia Nightfire and Scottius Polke. Go and take a look at this intriguing show on Saturday at http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Originalia/38/154/21.

Callipygian Christensen’s work consists of several large postcards on a wall in a beautiful old post office. These postcards depict various scenes in Second Life; the back of the cards are visible as well and the writing on them reflect comments on the images. The postcard images are wonderful and combined with the writing they stir up in the viewer a desire to travel to these familiar places once again. I was fortunate enough to meet Calli on the sim and asked her to elaborate on her work Postcards Home; she noted that ” [w]hen Amase gave me the general theme of travel, I suggested postcards. They are the universal way that people document their travels – rich and poor, classy and kitschy. So I decided to just gather some ‘postcard images’ by selecting sims randomly, and a few that are special to me, and created postcards of them.” These cards can be purchased and sent to friends with personalized messages. Next, I found Cherry Manga’s installation Adapt or Perish. She integrates in this large work her elaborate and very colorful trees, animals and fantasy figures. There are also numerous small boards with messages on them to be found throughout. Initially one finds oneself standing in this paradise like environment, but when moving on one suddenly stands in front of an entrance, in front of which there is a large creature, half-snake half-woman. On the other side of the entrance we find an enormous amount of skulls, blood and a figure, Kali, with four arms; this is a dark and threatening seeming place. The overall experience of this work is one of tension and conflict, yes, of survival and sacrifice. It is beautiful in its depiction of contrast. Next, Fuschia Nightfire’s Gateway to Hell. Wow! How can I even begin to describe to you what is going on here? Deep orange, black, gray and infused yellow dominate this scene. I stand in front of a group of creatures, I think it might be men with tentacles, struggling to crawl up out of a deep cleft, they keep sliding down. In the background sharp silhouettes of mountains, a few large black crows circling above. This is not a large installation, but it is incredibly powerful using a few colors, shapes and movements. This is the way into hell, no doubt. I am so impressed by this work, I stay a while longer than I have to. Finally, I check out Scottius Polke’s work, The Docks. By popular demand this work has remained standing from the previous exhibition period at Originalia. I have seen it many times before and can’t seem to get enough (I blogged about it here on May 19, 2011). This cloud of purple blue, with its pathways and wooden things, is nothing short of poetic. Wandering around here, or sitting in the house or on the dock, there is a feeling of being captivated in a moment. This is a dreamy place.

This is an incredibly talented group of artists who have come together to provide you with their own very personal experience of travel; don’t miss the opening on on October 22, 2011. Pressday is tomorrow, October 19, 2011.

Sneak Peek: Robin Moore’s Relation Tower

There are some very fine builds being created at the LEA Art Sandbox. I visited at the sandbox today Robin Moore who is working on an incredible project named Relation Tower. This tower is well crafted, whimsical in a way, with wonderful detail, infiltrated with humor. A pleasure to take in. I always loved the boxes with scenes in them, the Diaramas, that Robin used to create, and I still do, but its also great to see something different made by this very talented builder. I’m very pleased to report that he will show the completed Relation Tower at Nordan Art later this Fall. Above two photos with details of this build. Please be on the look out for announcements for Robin’s exhibit at Nordan Art.

Sneak Peek Preview: Ice Gallery at UTSA Art Space

There will be an opening on Saturday, July 2, 2011, at 4 PM SLT of the Ice Gallery, by Rebeca Bashly, at UTSA Art Space. I feel fortunate to have had the opportunity to take a look at this permanent exhibit today, before the opening. This is again a collaboration of sorts between Igor Ballyhoo and Rebeca Bashly; Igor created the gallery and Rebeca the statues. The gallery itself consists of large black planks unevenly distributed on the ground. The walls are also black, but there are open spaces within and between the walls, lending it lightness. This modern space serves as the perfect backdrop for Rebeca’s fine ice statues. Her work is forceful, yet also delicate and very gentle. Rebeca describes her work best with her artist statement, “This collection represents a journey through my winter thoughts. It all started with an attempt to glaciate one perfect emotion in a somewhat poetic sense and ended up telling a whole story. Thru my work i am drawing parallels between the delicate and changing constitution of ice and of the female nature. Using luxurious crystal white with a soft glow and altering shapes, i create an amalgam of frozen, yet incandescent, emotions. Alluding to the hazardous mind and hesitating soul in every piece, I am trying to usher you to the very core of this allegory.” Come and check out these beautiful works on Saturday, July 2, 2011 at 4 PM SLT at: http://slurl.com/secondlife/UTSA%20Roadrunner%20II/133/125/1540.