More on NatureCon

 

By Gemma Cleanslate

 

I have been spending quite a bit of time over at the Naturecon which is open until the 31st . If you have not been there yet, you are missing so much. After roaming the two regions I found little nooks of information about so many places to visit on the mainland that I never knew existed. I have a list and will get to some of them.

The train rides on the regions are fun. At the entrance you can hop on Cranston’s railroad that will drop you off at several levels where you can get to visit the booths of many of these places and find information about them. Hop on and off as you like. It will take you all the way to Mt Campion National Forest. The Zany Zen runs from the Lighthouse to the Treetop Overlook where the view of the volcano and the waterside in the distance are visible. There are also horse rezzers at many sites .

Strawberry Linden came to do a Lab Gab and I hopped the train with her for a ride . Her discussion and tour of the area with the organizers and team members was great fun. I had such a laugh when she hopped on the glider and fell off into the ocean. I really laughed out loud to see a Linden at the bottom of the bay asking for a tp! Watch the Lab Gab to see and hear more from all the team and see some of the locations. 

 

Speaking of the ocean floor do not miss the beach area and the installations there. Then venture into the underwater world to see its beauty.

I entered the artist search contest to find the six canvases where one has to paint the canvas at those points and then send them off to Cranston Yordstorm for a prize. It too a while but I finally found all six with help from the hints on the instructions. The first one is placed right at the railway station near your landing point.

As a real life birder a visit to the Bird Observatory was a treat. Just sitting at the pond looking at the birds in the wetland was relaxing. 

 

True Redrose and Lautlos Resident have information about importance of birds in our lives on the infoboards on the boardwalk.

This taxi will take you to the entrance http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Ruthenium/139/93/34

Gemma Cleanslate

Bryn Oh's "Music And Art Event For ALS"

By Bixyl Shuftan

A year and a half ago was quite a time for ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis aka Lou Gehrig's Disease) charities with the "Ice Bucket Challenge," which made it's way into Second Life. Since then, attention to ALS has cooled down some. But the quest for funds for research continues.

On Sunday February 21 at 2PM SL time, a fundraiser event began at the Sandstorm sim, with proceeds going to an Italian ALS charity,  AISLA Onlus. There were a few art items up for auction, but the one getting the most attention was an exhibit by noted Second Life artist Bryn Oh. Later that day, I would drop in to check on how things were progressing.

"I was here for the opening," spoke resident Mona Eberhardt, "There were 97 or so people in here. ... Biggest crowd I've ever seen in a single sim, Bixyl. I nearly burned my laptop just standing here."

Bryn Oh happened to be around when I was there, "Sorry I could not be here for the opening." She told me the sim's lasting theme was art, not just for events, and this event took place every year. She thought while there were about 100 people here at the same time during parts, she thought about 400 people in total attended.

Attention soon went to her exhibit, a songbird caught in a string to the point it had been immobilized in a string, which she felt symbolized what ALS does to the body. It gets more and more trapped until eventually all is taken from it.

 Sniper Siemens, the head of the group, had a few things to say, "The ALS Awareness Music Festival is a special event ... important for the spread and awareness  of ALS." She told me the event was "for our dear friend Harvey. He always had a rabbit avatar. For this reason in our logo is a rabbit. Harvey was in this way until the last day in Second Life, and always smiling. ... Harvey died in October 2014, (our) group (was) founded in November 2014, (and) February 2015 the first Memorial Festival. And now the second. This has become an annual project, fundraising continues every day in our land." Of Bryn Oh's work, "Wonderful artwork and very significant for her. "

Checking back a few days later, the kiosks collecting donations had raised a total of 286,000 Lindens. This included a top bid of 25,000 Lindens for Bryn Oh's exhibit.

While not quite generating the buzz of the Ice Bucket Challenge, Sniper and Bryn's event gets ALS research closer to a cure.

Bixyl Shuftan.

The End of the 1000 Avatars Exhibit

On the afternoon of Sunday June 3, 2012, Gracie Kendal's 1000 Avatars exhibit came to a close. Before the end, the artist threw a party at Noon SL time to celebrate it's success, and a number of friends and fans came by during the time. Among them were artists Scottius Polke and Wizard Gynoid, and blogger Treminari Huet.


Gracie's friend Kaj Juutilainen DJed for the event high above the Coyote sim. During the time people talked about when they and friends had their pictures taken, about the mixed reality art show she held in both Second Life and a Los Angeles art gallery about a month earlier, and general joking around, such as the "crab dance" gestures.

Finally at five minutes after 3PM, Gracie asked, "Are we ready? … Oh, we may want to fly, 'cuz you may fall (laughter). … Ready to take down the installation. (smile)" Scottius began chanting, "Tear down the wall! Tear down the wall!" Gracie laughed, "Hahaha Scottie." Then she turned to the DJ, "Ohhh Kaj, some Floyd? 'Tear Down The Wall?' Heeheehee." "Great call Gracie!" one of the other attendees cheered, and soon Pink Floyd's "The Wall" came up.

"Okay," Gracie told, "we will count down. I'll start with 10." "These are going to be Gracie's Walls of Jericho," someone commented. And as people started flying, "Fly peeps," Gracie did the countdown, "Okay, here we go … 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 … Wait!" "Oh my God!" "Just kidding (grin)." And a few people laughed.

"There we go!" And with Gracie's announcement the place began to crumble. The 2000 avatar pictures became individual bricks as the bonds holding them began loosening, and they began plummeting down. The floor came apart too, and also fell down in chunks, "Whoah!" "Wow." "Oh wait, there go my keys!" ""Oh my God! They are all going separately." "(singing) All in all, you're just another prim in the wall."

And soon, there was nothing left of the build, save the artist and the others whom were there, floating around, "Damn, that was cool." "That rawked!!" Gracie grinned, "Hey, I could always rez it and do it again (laughter)." For a few minutes, everyone continued to hang around. Then everyone began to head their separate ways.







And so the 1000 Avatar Project is over. But it still exists in the minds of the 2000 people who took part and numerous others whom stopped by, and of course numerous Flickr pages, articles and pictures, and numerous screenshots in who-knows-how-many computers.

"It’s been a great run these past couple years. The 1000 Avatars project has been a wonderful experience for me. I am so lucky to have met all the people and made so many new friends. Online identity is still very important to me and I definitely continue to work on other art projects relating to it."



For more information on Gracie Kendal's 1000 Avatar Project, go to it's website at http://1000avatars.wordpress.com/ . 


"Thank you to all who attended the fun and exciting event. You guys rock!!!"

Bixyl Shuftan

PAD! Not So Common

Pop Art, ”The transformation of the Commonplace“. We see it every day. It is used in advertising, in the comics, in magazines, in museums, just about everywhere. Some is funny, some very serious, but it is all real Art.

I was invited to attend the opening of a new exhibit of Pop Art Display, PAD, in SL on Tuesday. It was an amazing opening with 45 avatars there at various times and for most of the tour. The tour was enlightening as Matteus Taurog, one of the principles behind the exhibit, narrated the vision of the exhibit in Italian. And Ramona Halsey translated for the English Speakers. He described some of the 176 works with 40 in 3-D. Eros Boa, famous for his 3D work in Second Life, has placed some duplicates of famous pieces that you allows you to join with costumes and avatars he has placed there for you.

The exhibit building is 10 stories, so be prepared to stay a while to view and interact with many of the components of the exhibit. We moved from floor to floor by either flying or falling through appropriately marked openings. I know I will be going back several more times. There is so much there to appreciate.

Many of your favorite real-life artists and celebrities are represented in this magnificent exhibit. I saw Zorro Hirvi, another of the creators looking surprisingly like Andy Warhol, as did Eros. One floor is a complete re-creation of Warhol’s Silver Factory, his studio and the gathering place.

You will find an information card as you move through the museum at floor 1 that will give you a concise history of POP Art. The exhibit plans to stay in Second Life for a long time. At my last visit Eros was arranging a machine that had gum balls rolling all over the floor so it is still a work in progress. There is no closing date.

The Pop Art Display is located at the Solaris Island sim at (46,167,486)


Gemma Cleanslate

Feel the Burn!

Burn2 offered a lot to see over six sims, both at day,

and at night

The event attracted a number of musicians, such as Debi Late in the red dress. Pooky Amsterdam was there as well.

There was no end to the oddity of the exhibits.

And even the President dropped by ... sort of.

Just a few scenes from Burn2.

Bixyl Shuftan