Destination: Earth

The latest of the UWA Artists' Choice 3D Art Challenges was on the theme: "EARTH." Awards for the competition were presented this morning in the specially constructed sim-wide gallery. Taralyn Gravois emceed the proceedings.

The Artists' Choice awards are determined by the participating artists themselves. Each artist ranks their favorite entries (not counting their own) for the overall prizewinners, and a separate ballot for the special non-scripted award. There is a separate voting system for the public to vote for the People's Choice award. We had 27 entries by 24 artists.

And the winners for this round are as follows:

The First Place Award (L$7000) for the UWA Aritsts' Choice EARTH show goes to:
CHERISH AND RENEW by Carmsie Melodie


Carmsie is the first winner in the Artists' Choice series to win both the People's Choice award and the overall First Place.


The Second Place Award (L$5000) goes to:
EARTH PASSION by Nexuno Thespian

Nexuno's compact expressions of emotion are beautiful and unique, with exquisite attention to the positioning of figures and other elements that bring the works to life.

The Third Place Award (L$3000) goes to:
WHAT A WONDERFUL WORLD by Krystali Rabeni

Krys continues to excel in her execution of well conceived projects. Her diorama of a bucolic garden scene takes on new dimensions, both literally and figuratively, as it climbs the walls of the box that contains it.

Despite a diverse vote, the Non-Scripted Award tally resulted in a three-way tie. The three non-scripted winners will split a L$3000 prize. The Non-Scripted Award for EARTH goes to:

GOODBYE GALILEO, WE ARE REDESIGNING THE EARTH TO BE FLAT! by Sir Real

EARTH CHILD by Secret Rage

CONCEPTUAL EARTH by Silene Christen

The full transcript of the awards presentation follows:
 -----------------

Welcome to the sixth edition of the UWA Artists' Choice Awards!

As is tradition at the University of Western Australia, we would like to acknowledge that the University is situated on Nyoongar land and that the Nyoongar people remain the spiritual and cultural custodians of their land and continue to uphold their values, languages, beliefs and knowledge.

Before we announce the winners, FreeWee would like me to remind you that this amazing EARTH show is officially closing today, though it may remain up for another few days while the TRIPTYCH show gets installed. Do please take a last tour ASAP.

The exhibition catalogues for each of the Artsts' Choice challenges are being published in the online journal "UWA Studies in Virtual Arts." The current "EARTH" show will be added to the previous six editions that cover the "3D Self Portraits," "Perfume," "Music", "Air," “Water,” and "Fire" shows earlier this year. The catalogues for WATER and FIRE should be published very soon, with the EARTH edition coming shortly thereafter.. They and the earlier editions can be found on the UWA in SL blog: http://uwainsl.blogspot.com/p/uwa-siva.html

FreeWee also urges you to submit your work for the next show on the theme: "TRIPTYCH". Deadline for submissions is TODAY, SUNDAY at 6:00 PM SLT. The gallery for TRIPTYCH is under construction and the show should be open within a couple of days. Full details on the Artist’s Choice Challenges are on the website at this URL: http://goo.gl/eDF9j

Looking ahead, TRIPTYCH will be the LAST of the Artists Choice theme shows. 2012 has been another outstanding year of art for UWA and we expect 2013 to be just as innovative and engaging. We will be announcing a new major art and machinima competition to begin very soon and which will last a few months similar to last year's Centenary challenges. Details are being finalized now, so watch for notices.

The UWA Artists' Choice challenges are designed to inspire and support the work of artists. The key difference from earlier challenges is that the main awards are determined entirely by the votes of the participating artists and sponsors themselves. It's a special honor to be acknowledged by our colleagues.

We received 27 amazing entries for the EARTH theme by 24 artists.

L$15,500 was donated by our sponsors this month. Clearly, none of this would have been possible without the tremendous support of UWA in SL, and most especially the imagination and vision of JayJay Zifanwe.

We also express our deepest gratitude to the other sponsors for this event, including:

Armany Thursday and Dyce Underwood for DNA Art and Music Fusion
Flora Nordenskiold and NordanArt
Ginger Alsop and Phi Clothing Designs
and new this month are Nexuno Thespian & La Baroque for Colore Art Gallery
We also thank several anonymous donors for their generosity this month. Anyone wishing to support future challenges, please contact FreeWee Ling.

Now to the awards. Choosing "EARTH" for the latest theme was inspired by the idea of having four related shows based on the alchemical "elements” of air, water, fire, and earth. The interpretations of "EARTH" have been diverse as usual. From impassioned statements urging ecological consciousness, to satirical explosives to beautiful abstractions. In the call for entries, the artists were given this general impression of what the theme might mean:

        "Mother Earth, nurtures and sustains us all, a small orb among many orbiting an insignificant star. The origin of life, and destined to receive life back again as dust. A delicate balance. Tectonic plates shifting. Species, including us, evolving and facing threats of extinction. The planet is so strong and so delicate. It's astounding that life is resilient enough to survive here. And yet here we are. Show us what Earth is to you."

The EARTH show has hosted over 230 unique visitors who cast a total of 373 votes for the People’s Choice award.

The voting was close, with only 2 points separating the winner from its closest competitor.

The People's Choice Award (L$2000) for UWA Artists' Choice EARTH goes to:

CHERISH AND RENEW by Carmsie Melodie

Rounding out the top five were entries by GeeJAnn Blackadder, Herbie Haven, Nexuno Thespian, and Brunequildalalinda Birdsong,

Next we go to the Non-scripted Award. This was determined by a separate vote by the artists. This time there were six non-scripted entries to choose from. The voting was interesting, with certain entries getting a lot of lower scores while others may have gotten fewer votes, but higher rankings. Despite the chaos, the result was actually a bit starling.

The Non-Scripted Award for EARTH goes to:

GOODBYE GALILEO, WE ARE REDESIGNING THE EARTH TO BE FLAT! by Sir Real

But wait, there's more!

The Non-Scripted Award ALSO goes to:

EARTH CHILD by Secret Rage

And as if that was not enough, but this time we have an unprecedented 3-way tie!!

The Non-Scripted Award ALSO goes to:

CONCEPTUAL EARTH by Silene Christen

The three non-scripted winners will split a L$3000 prize.

Now to the overall awards.

The voting was diverse as always, with only one point separating the first and second place winners, and only 2 points separating 3rd place from 4th. So there was a solid consensus for the top group of winners.

The Third Place Award (L$3000) goes to:

WHAT A WONDERFUL WORLD by Krystali Rabeni

Krys continues to excel in her execution of well conceived projects. Her diorama of a bucolic garden scene takes on new dimensions, both literally and figuratively, as it climbs the walls of the box that contains it.

Proceeding now to the next award,

The Second Place Award (L$5000) goes to:

EARTH PASSION by Nexuno Thespian

Nexuno's compact expressions of emotion are beautiful and unique, with exquisite attention to the positioning of figures and other elements that bring the works to life.

And finally we come to the First Place award.

The voting was close, but this entry seemed to be overwhelmingly popular among the participating artists as well as the visitors.

The First Place Award (L$7000) for the UWA Aritsts' Choice EARTH show goes to:

CHERISH AND RENEW by Carmsie Melodie

Carmsie is the first winner in the Artists' Choice series to win both the People's Choice award and the overall First Place. Our congratulations to Carmsie!

Other artists who ranked strongly in the overall voting included Misprint Thursday's EARTH SIGNALS, Jeneve Felwitch's EARTH PRIESTESS, and Herbie Haven's THE BIG SQUEEZE.

Congratulations to all the winners and thanks to all who participated in another great show! Please take a final look around before you leave today.  The EARTH show will all be gone soon to make room for TRIPTYCH, opening soon. Thank you all for coming! Have a great day!

Victoria Lenoirre's Review of December LEA Full Sim: Rebecca Bashly's Tower

Hi people of UWA and LEA! I hope you're enjoying  the weather, the shopping, the sightseeing.....
Speaking of sightseeing, I hope you all come and sightsee at Rebecca Bashly's Tower.

In the artist's own words, "In fables the towers there is someone captured -- a princes and stuff like that. So it becomes metaphor for bondage, limits, etc."

When you arrive, you'll see a lovely, forest green flower and a wooden box that says "Click for all locations teleports." I'm in ultra and the glowing circle by my elbow is where you click to get the Locations notecard.

Me at the Starting point

I decided to sit on the lovely flower and see where it would take me. So, here I go....

Seconds later, I find myself on the bottom of a flight of steps.

The Stairs

A number of life-size glass jars are above me as i climb the wide steps. The figures are agonized, tortured, even a bit grotesque. Such suffering in their faces...like inside their souls are tortured by some internal or external pain. These figures are being punished for some sins or crimes they have committed. This is the Stairs. The torture and pain gets worse the higher you climb.

At the top of the flight of stairs is another flower.

After sitting on it, you are taken to a slightly lighter room that looks much like an alley or a prison cell. There is a dead end. Four figures are in various crouching positions. One is on the floor and the other three are clinging to opposite facing walls as they attempt to scale the high walls. This is Delirium. The four figures are going crazy within the cramped room with no doors or windows. This room is more specifically about mental anguish, unlike the Stairs which featured varying degrees of physical and mental anguish. A green flower at the end of the room signals the door to another level of this tower.

Next you find yourself in Casting Shadows.

Casting Shadows

A lone figure is sitting alone with its back to you. Tree branches cast shows along the wall and floor. The imagery suggests that the person is suffering alone, facing some deep inner turmoil surrounded by shadows of their past. They just cannot face it, but it is always at the back of their mind...following close behind them. Rebeca disagreed with my assessment and explained, "It's about growing some spine to make a tree to make a nice shadow for yourself as security, to feel safe."

Turn away from the figure and move on to the next level, This Walls.

This Walls is an intriguing level. This room is a bit bigger and there is a separator splitting the room in half. One figure is on each side of the divider. Both look like they're climbing up, feet planted firmly into the wall, the back hunched over and the hands pressed down onto the wall as they balance precariously on the fairly smooth wall. It is a bit mottled but mostly smooth.

My exchange about This Walls with Rebeca is below:

 Lady Victoria Lenoirre (victoria.lenoirre): what is this walls about? it looks similar to Delirium in that the women are climbing up on the wall.

Rebeca Bashly: in this walls, woman are not climbing they are merged with walls. If you dont go outside your home for  2 days you will capture that feeling. 

Lady Victoria Lenoirre (victoria.lenoirre): cabin fever

Rebeca Bashly: yess

Just when you thought it couldn't get any more interesting, you come to another room called The Sound of Music. This room is even bigger and has 2 dividers. The dividers form prison cells. In the first 2 cells, the figures are covering their ears to block out music or sound. Is it an annoying noise made by the prison warden or guard or is it an obnoxious piece of music? Sound can be such an irritant. And I have heard that one form of torture is keeping prisoners awake all night by constant noise blaring from speakers. Perhaps this is what we're seeing in this room. Rebeca said that "it is about listening over and over same story from the same source...its a woman screaming in pain not being able to take one more word, u have 3 scenes there, 1 she is standing, 2 she is on her knees curled up, 3 she is gone." She has gone to the next level. 

Notice that as you ascend the tower, the floor and wall textures get darker and darker, it is as though the punishment and suffering is bleaker and bleaker. The third cell is your ticket out and on to the next tower room.

Beauty is where you arrive from the dark flower. You are now in a dark cavern of rock. Beauty is up on a ledge. Keep walking forward and you'll see her. She is the figure bent in supplication with dark green flowers stuck in her shin, thigh, and hand. Rebeca tells me, "In the next level, you see a damaged statue with gorgeous flowers growing from her flesh. She is free from the begining of the story. In every step there is beauty, in beauty level itself, it explodes.

I noted that the textures get rougher and darker as you ascend the tower. Rebeca said, "dark is not really a negative thing in my head. But with roughnes you have a point. If you are in a tower, some dark corner hides you pretty well.

The final level is Hiden.

Hiden, background was lightened in GIMP, originally was black

There are two figures hugging each other tightly. I lightened the background on the photo. The black background makes it hard to make out the figures. It's like they are hidden.

Rebeca says, "hiden is thebeautiful part, but it is still part of the tower."

Do they escape the tower? We may never know.

Thank you Rebeca Bashly for building The Tower! It is a phenomenal, masterful body of work. The figures and flowers are mesh, so use a viewer that lets you view mesh like the SL official viewer or Firestorm viewer. 

Please come over to LEA and see it, before it's gone! 

Happy Holidays to everyone! Have a Happy New Year!

http://slurl.com/secondlife/LEA6/140/143/21

Have fun and enjoy the art!

-Victoria Lenoirre

LEA FULL SIM ART SERIES (DEC): Rebeca Bashly's "The Tower"

Rebeca Bashly, one of the most successful LEA FULL SIM artists, returns with the incredible 'The Tower',  taking over at LEA 6 for the DECEMBER ROUND of the LEA FULL SIM ART SERIES (here for full year schedule), bringing to life a metaphor, with "THE TOWER".

 
GRAND OPENING:
6AM SLT, SUNDAY, 2nd DECEMBER
LOCATION: HERE AT LEA 6
 
Tight lipped as to what the installation is about, and setting up an entire SIM in under 24 hours, Rebeca explained, that 'The Tower' is symbolic of  restrictive areas, of closed minds, of self limitations and the like, as in kids fables.

V. Lenoirre's Review of Project Guernia at LEA6

On November 13th at 2pm SLT, Project Guernica, a full sim build by Lizzie Gudkov and London Junkers, opened. http://slurl.com/secondlife/LEA6/67/126/30

 Project Guernica is dedicated to Pablo Picasso's famous painting, Guernica. The painting portrayed the bombing of the Basque town, Guernica, during the Spanish Civil War. He created this huge mural in 1937 at the request of the Spanish Republican government.

The landing point to this full sim gallery is on a circular platform, surrounded by a railing. Lizzie and London stayed for a few hours to welcome friends and guests to their opening.

The platform location and its design is really quite clever. You feel like you're in the middle--at the very core of the art installation. And above and in front of you is the great mural....Guernica. It is like a grand presentation for your senses. You're in the midst of a great piece of art, kind of like being in the midst of war. It's awesome in its effect on your mind and your eyes. The images, the news, the people, the casualties...it is so real, yet at times you find it so surreal.

Landing platform at Project Guernica Nov. 13th, 2012

Closeup of Project Guernica, the red circle is SaveMe Oh. :-)

You can click either of the signs in the first picture for a Project Guernica gift and for a notecard describing the Project.

The rendering of this scene is great. Lizzie and London constructed it with prims. The 3-dimensional aspect is absolutely wonderful. One guest was thrilled at being able to sit on a section of this enormous build.

I even got a close up of the center of this image, the fallen horse and the fallen knight.

Center of Project Guernica

The timing for this work is relevant. The world is involved in the Iraq War and War in Afghanistan. There's just so much bloodshed and suffering. This mural has light that symbolizes hope. So my first question to Lizzie and London is: Where do you see hope in the wars we're facing right now?



*Where do you see hope in the wars we're facing right now?


London: Hope is a quality that we have. As the human kind progresses, culture changes and more of us understand that war is a futile effort. We shall never give up hope that peace will prevail some day.

Lizzie: Art is often an expression of reality, feelings and it may even anticipate solutions. Hopefully, art will have its share of contribution in finding a resolution for wars in the world.



*Is this your favorite work by Picasso?


Lizzie: Picasso is such an amazing artist, that it is difficult to choose one single piece!

London: I agree with Lizzie! It is definitely one of his best pieces but too difficult to compare to other epochs and styles of his work.



*What fascinates you about it?


London: Its dimension and what it represents.

Lizzie: I think that it is an impressive piece. It's incredibly rich and it allows for a diverse interpretation, in many ways reflecting our individual experiences and backgrounds.



*What was the hardest part about building this masterpiece in 3d for LEA6?


Lizzie: *points to London* :)

London: Building this piece was a joy and a challenge. In terms of the pieces the original painting has, the translation to a 3D environment of the horse was the biggest challenge.



*Where else do you have art showing in SL?


London: We had artwork in the UWA where we have participated in several of their contests. Plus we have also taken part recently in The Art of Protest exhibit.

Lizzie: We would like to thank LEA for giving us this chance and we are happy that the  Second Life community is enjoying it. The comments have been very positive. Thank you, Victoria, for this opportunity to share a few thoughts about "Project Guernica"!

------

To Lizzie and London, you are most welcome. I enjoy seeing your art and I love being able to ask you and other artists about your work. Building can take awhile and it is always wonderful to see the result. A lot of time and love really goes into it. Your time and effort is very much appreciated!

If you haven't seen it yet, you should visit LEA6 to see Project Guernica! It is up for your pleasure until the end of this month!

Happy Thanksgiving to all my American fellows in SL!

Have fun and enjoy the art!

-Victoria Lenoirre

Down to Earth

The UWA Artists' Choice Challenge for this month is on the theme: "EARTH". This is the last of the elemental themes the began with AIR, followed by WATER and FIRE.
Runs through Dec. 9.  SLURL

Mother Earth, nurtures and sustains us all, a small orb among many orbiting an insignificant star. She is the origin of life and is destined to receive life back again as dust. A delicate balance. Tectonic plates shifting. Species, including us, evolving and facing extinction. (A metaphor for every individual life?) The planet is so strong and so delicate. It's astounding that life is resilient enough to survive here. And yet here we are. Our artists were asked to show us what Earth means to them.

We received 27 entries from 26 artists (including one collaborative work and three artists with dual entries). People's Choice voting is now active for you to go explore and rate your favorites. The entries include:

• Aquaglo, MellyDee Macfanatic, Dinny Voom    Earth, without her?... We would NOT exist! 
• Barbara Wardell    Protect Our Planet Earth
• Brune BB Crash Queen    Madre Tierra
• Carmsie Melodie    Cherish and Renew
• Corcosman Voom    Harvest Dance
• Dragon Lord    Pachamama
• Dragon Lord    Please Recycle
• Finn Lanzius    The Formation of the Earth
• FreeWee Ling    Persistent Effects
• FreeWee Ling    It's the End of the World As We Know It
• GeeJAnn Blackadder    Microcosm
• Haveit Neox    Road Kill
• Herbie Haven    Earth (The Big Squeeze)
• Jeneve Felwitch    Earth Priestess
• Johnas Merlin    The desert in bloom
• Kandinsky Beaumont    EAT DIRT OR BE DIRT
• Krystali Rabeni    What a Wonderful World
• Lilia Artis    Earthen Patterns
• Lucignolo (coddax)    Universe Tao Ming
• Misprint Thursday    Earth Signal
• Nexuno Thespian    Earth Passion
• Secret Rage    Earth Child
• Secret Rage    Earth to Earth
• Silene Christen    Conceptual Earth
• Sir Real (vgtar.carlberg)    Goodbye Galileo, We are Redesigning the Earth to be Flat!
• Talia Sunsong    Abundant Earth Gaia Statue
• Talia Sunsong    I Will Shelter You

LEA FULL SIM ART SERIES (NOV): LONDON & LIZZIE'S GUERNICA

London Junkers & Lizzie Gudkov take over at LEA 6 for the NOVEMBER ROUND of the LEA FULL SIM ART SERIES (here for full year schedule), bringing back yesteryear with "PROJECT GUERNICA".
 
GRAND OPENING:
2PM SLT, TUESDAY 13th NOVEMBER
LOCATION: HERE AT LEA 6

IN LONDON'S WORDS:
In 1937 Spanish painter Pablo Picasso created one of the most important icons of the 20th century when he made the Guernica.

Painted in black and white, depicting the horrors of war, it is today as solid and modern as it was when it was first shown  in the 1937 International Fair in Paris.  T

he intention of re-creating this masterpiece in Second Life comes from the love for the original mural itself and what it represents. After a lot of thought and experimenting with external 3d software,a decision was made, this installation would be built primarily in prims, as an exercise of the possibilities that LEA has given us. With this piece, we would like  to pay  homage to Picasso and let visitors learn more from it.

A Ziki Questi image from the Grand Opening of Project Guernica

.

Extinguishing the Fire

Saturday morning brought the latest in the UWA Artists' Choice Challenge awards presentation and the official closing of the "FIRE" show. Taralyn Gravois emceed the event.

By an overwhelming consensus, Nexuno Thespian won the First Place award for the October challenge, which featured the theme "FIRE".Nexuno's entry titled "Fireflower" seemed to have everything one could want -- exquisite use of form, color, figures, animation, and music to express a surreal vision of passion and heat and beauty.

In Second Place was Krystali Rabenow's "Tragedy", a poignant diorama showing a puppet theater on fire, the collapsed marionette resigning to his fate of impending doom as the result of an unrequited love .

In third place was Secret Rage's cryptic, surrealistic vision titled "When Lightning Strikes."

While we had no unscripted entries in last month's "Water" themed show, this month we had five to choose from. There was a separate balloting for this award, and the participating artists chose Corcosman Voom's "Fire Birds."

The FIRE show was featured on the SL login screen for the last few days of the show, resulting in a flurry of voting for the People's Choice award. With over 700 votes cast overall, the decisive favorite was Barry Richez's "Douce Colombe" ("Sweet Dove") inspired by poem of Mlle. NGEUFEU KENNE Alvine of Cameroon.

The full transcript of the awards presentation follows:
----
Welcome to the sixth edition of the UWA Artists' Choice Awards!

As is tradition at the University of Western Australia, we would like to acknowledge that the University is situated on Nyoongar land and that the Nyoongar people remain the spiritual and cultural custodians of their land and continue to uphold their values, languages, beliefs and knowledge.

Before we announce the winners, FreeWee would like me to remind you that this amazing FIRE show is officially closing today, though it may remain up for another few days while the EARTH show gets installed. Do please take a last tour ASAP.

The exhibition catalogues for each of the Artsts' Choice challenges are being published in the online journal "UWA Studies in Virtual Arts." The current "FIRE" show will be added to the previous five editions that covered the "3D Self Portraits," "Perfume," "Music", "Air," and “Water” shows earlier this year. The catalogues for WATER and FIRE should be published very soon. They and the earlier editions can be found at this link: http://uwainsl.blogspot.com/p/uwa-siva.html

FreeWee has published the complete photo archive (166 images) of "FIRE" at this URL: http://goo.gl/Sqs7S

FreeWee also urges you to submit your work for the next show on the theme: "EARTH". Deadline for submissions is TOMORROW, SUNDAY at NOON SLT. The gallery for EARTH is under construction and the show should be open within a couple of days.

Looking ahead, start working on your submissions for the show to follow EARTH as we finish out the series of Artists Choice theme shows in December with a theme called "TRIPTYCH." Deadline for TRIPTYCH will be announced very soon. Full details on the Artist’s Choice Challenges are on the website at this URL: http://uwainsl.blogspot.com/p/artists-choice-challenge.html

The UWA Artists' Choice challenges are designed to inspire and support the work of artists. The key difference from earlier challenges is that the main awards are determined entirely by the votes of the participating artists and sponsors themselves. It's a special honor to be acknowledged by our colleagues.
We received 26 amazing entries for the FIRE theme by 20 artists.

L$15,000 was donated by our sponsors this month. Clearly, none of this would have been possible without the tremendous support of UWA in SL, and most especially the imagination and vision of JayJay Zifanwe.

We also express our deepest gratitude to the other sponsors for this event, including:

• Armany Thursday and Dyce Underwood for DNA Art and Music Fusion
• Flora Nordenskiold and NordanArt
• Ginger Alsop and Phi Clothing Designs
• and special donations by anonymous donors

Anyone wishing to support future challenges, please contact FreeWee Ling.

Now to the awards. Choosing "FIRE" for the October theme was inspired by the idea of having four related shows based on the alchemical "elements” of air, water, fire, and earth. The interpretations of "FIRE" have been diverse as usual. From fiery passion to nuclear fission to hot peppers and fried eggs. This has been one of the most engaging shows in the series.

The FIRE show was a featured site on the SL Login screen for a day or two this week. We have hosted over 300 unique visitors who cast a total of 725 votes for the People’s Choice award.

The voting was clear, with just over 20  points separating the winner from its closest competitor.
The People's Choice Award (L$2000) for UWA Artists' Choice FIRE goes to:

DOUCE COLOMBE by Barry Richez

Rounding out the top five were: both entries by Nexuno Thespian, Krystali Rabeni’s “Tragedy”, and Talia Sunsong’s “Ignite Passion”.

Next we go to the Non-scripted Award. This was determined by a separate vote by the artists. Last month there were no non-scripted entries. This time there are five to choose from.

The Non-Scripted Award for FIRE (L$3000) goes to:

FIREBIRDS by Corcosman Voom

Corcosman’s entry was followed closely by Chic Aeon’s “Global Warming”, with Dividni Shostakovich’s "Fire Is a Verb”, Dragon Lord’s “Man on fire an eternal flame”, and Hypatia Pickens’s “Fire Elemental: Salamander” rounding out the top five (with only one point separating the last three).
We go now to the overall awards.

The voting was diverse as always, with only one point separating each of the 4th-through 2nd places. But the First Place winner got more than double the score of the next highest competitor.

The Third Place Award (L$3000) goes to:

WHEN LIGHTNING STRIKES by Secret Rage

Secret’s piece has so much going on, it takes close examination to take it all in. Her work always reflects a unique, often surrealistic, vision.

The Second Place Award (L$5000) goes to:

TRAGEDY by Krystali Rabeni

The aptly titled story of a marionette with a love that could never be touched many viewers. A work finely executed with a strong emotional impact.

Which brings us to the First Place award.

There seemed to be no question at all as to the winner of this round. By an overwhelming vote, the First Place Award (L$7000) for FIRE goes to:

FIREFLOWER by Nexuno Thespian

Our congratulations to Nexuno! Other artists who ranked strongly in the overall voting, in no particular order, included Nexuno’s other entry LEAVES DON'T FALL, RUST MAN by Herbie Haven, DOUCE COLOMBE by Barry Richez, PHOENIX RISING by Silene Christen, and FIERY FLAMES OF PASSION by Aquaglo and MellyDee Macfanatic.

Congratulations to all the winners and thanks to all who participated in a great show! Please take a final look around before you leave today.  The FIRE show will all be gone soon to make room for the EARTH, opening soon. Thank you all for coming! Have a great day!

Victoria's Look at Solkide Auer's Fontana and LEA6, October LEA Full Sim Series

Hi all!

This month, the month of October, features Solkide Auer's Fontana at LEA6. http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/LEA6/122/124/21 

It's a two-story build and the first I've seen that is gated. Surprising, right? Well, from the beginning, I noticed the tall gate or wall surrounding LEA6. I even had to teleport to LEA5 to peer in to see what was going on at LEA6. So I was really curious about what this build was all about.

On opening night, I came and met Solkide Auer and some of his friends and guests. It was a quiet, nice gathering of friends and fans.

Solkide Auer welcoming his friends and guests.

One guest noted that Fontana was the first fractal 3d build in SL. And what a fractal build it is!

The teleport point is inside this spectacular build, in the center. Right in front of Solkide was a fascinating-looking teleporter you could click to sit on. It takes you to one upper level.

The teleporter in front of Solkide.

The upper level is narrow and small. The walls are made up of triangles. I'm standing in front of what looks like a prism. I love how it glows and you can see the colors and the shine effect is so realistic.

Upper level of Fontana, yours truly

As I usually do, I asked the artist some questions about stunningly awesome Fontana.

What does Fontana mean in Italian?


SA: Fontana in italian means Fountain, looking from afar it might seem like a fountain in a static moment. a kind of a picture of a fountain.

One of your guests/friends called Fontana the first 3d fractal art in SL, what are your thoughts on that?

SA: I don't think that it seems like a fractal, but as it is art, it is not just what a person creates but also what  a person sees in a work, so I accept this definition.

I agree, spoken like a true artist.

Do you typically create fractals?

SA: No i don't like to create fractals but i love to see them.

Do you have any work at other sims or galleries?

SA: Not in this moment. In the future I  will re-open a gallery.

***

I am pleased to present my brief review of Solkide Auer's fabulous Fontana at LEA6. If you haven't seen it yet, please do teleport over. You might be in awe for a few moments when you cam out.

Have fun and enjoy the art!

-Victoria Lenoirre

UWA IS ON FIRE!

The UWA Artists' Choice 3D Art Challenge theme for October is "FIRE." With 26 pieces by 20 artists, the full-sim exhibition is one of the most engaging in the series so far. FIRE is the third of a sub-set of four "elemental" themes, including the previous "Air" and "Water" and upcoming "Earth" shows.

As with previous themed shows, FIRE has been installed in a specially created full sim space, with volcanoes, custom Windlight, and a first-time ever hunt for prizes called "Quest for Fire." There are 10 hunt objects hidden throughout the space with fun fire-related prizes. Come vote for your favorites.

We are also accepting entries for the November EARTH show. Deadline is Friday 9 November (which is approaching fast). Complete details for the Earth show are on this website.

An unedited slideshow of all the entries in the FIRE exhibition is available here.




Here's a complete list of the entries:

• Aquaglo and MellyDee Macfanatic - Fiery Flames of Passion
• Barry Richez - Douce Colombe
• Chic Aeon - Global Warming
• Corcosman Voom - Firebirds
• Corcosman Voom - Prometheus Brings Fire
• Dividni Shostakovich - Fire Is a Verb
• Dragon Lord - Man on fire an eternal flame
• Dragon Lord - Sanctuary of the heart; A soul on fire v
• Finn Lanzius - A Match Made In Heaven
• FreeWee Ling - Fractal Fireworks
• FreeWee Ling - Afterglow
• Friday Siamendes - Pearl of Wisdom
• Herbie Haven - Rust Man - Clean Coal Sculpture
• Hypatia Pickens - Fire Elemental--Salamander
• Krystali Rabeni - BOOM!
• Krystali Rabeni - Tragedy
• Nexuno Thespian - Fireflower
• Nexuno Thespian - Leaves Don't Fall Down Again
• Secret Rage - Down to my Last 6 tears (words left unspoken)
• Secret Rage - When Lightning Strikes
• Silene Christen - Friendly Fire
• Silene Christen - The Phoenix Rising From Its Ashes
• Sir Real - The Enigma of Oppenheimer
• Talia Sunsong - Ignite Passion
• Talia Sunsong - Woman on Fire with Water Woman
• Teal Freenote - Growing Pains

 

October LEA Full Sim: Solkide Auer's Fontana Opening...October 18th, 2012

Hi UWA supporters! Since Jayjay is busy with UWA RL business, I thought I'd let you all know about the LEA Full Sim Art Installation this October. It is Fontana by Solkide Auer.

Opening Day:

Thursday, October 18, 2012 1.30 pm slt
Giovedì 18 ottobre 2012 1.30 pm slt
 http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/LEA6/122/124/21

Solkide says of this work:

I'm proud to present this work for Linden Endowment for the Arts (LEA)

This work is for me an important step in my career of artist in SecondLife. I joined the passion for colours to the almost maniacal love for geometric shapes. This union has always been present in my works and this time I wanted to exaggerate completely.

In Italian:

Sono felice di presentare questo lavoro per la LEA.

Quest'opera e' un passo importante per la mia carriera di artista in SecondLife. Ho unito la passione per i colori al quasi maniacale amore per le forme geometriche. un'unione sempre presente nelle mie opere. Questa volta, però, ho voluto esagerare moltiplicando quasi all'infinito gli effetti che nascono dalla combinazione di questi due elementi.

Hope to see you there!

Victoria Lenoirre

UWA Artists' Choice WATER Winners!

Winners of the 5th UWA Artists' Choice 3D Art Challenge on the theme "Water" were announced this morning in the specially created sim-wide gallery space. Taralyn Gravois performed emcee duties as usual.

Coming in First Place was an installation by Hypatia Pickens based on the the peculiar words and images from a mysterious indecipherable medieval manuscript.


In Second Place was  Secret's evocative connection between the sea and the womb, which clearly resonated with a lot of people.


Third Place went to the entry by Lilia Artis. Several people noted that Lilia's piece was not obvious and warranted close examination. For others it was a clear and brilliant evocation of the irony of a planet covered in water while people are starving for lack of water.

The show had nearly 1500 unique visitors over the month, resulting in a dramatic increase in participation in the People's Choice award voting. Coming out on top was Finn Lanzius's dramatic immersive sunset on the beach.

 
The complete photo archive of the Water show can be seen on FreeWee's Picasa site.

Following is the full transcript of the  presentation ceremony:

Welcome to the fifth edition of the UWA Artists' Choice Awards!

As is tradition at the University of Western Australia, we would like to acknowledge that the University is situated on Nyoongar land and that the Nyoongar people remain the spiritual and cultural custodians of their land and continue to uphold their values, languages, beliefs and knowledge.

Before we announce the winners, FreeWee would like me to remind you that this amazing WATER show is closing today. Do please take a last tour ASAP.  The water surface has been temporarily frozen for the awards ceremony. Soon as we're done you'll be able to sail around and go down to explore the undersea mermaid grotto if you wish.

The exhibition catalogues for each of the Artsts' Choice challenges are being published in the online journal "UWA Studies in Virtual Arts." The current "WATER" show will be added to the previous four editions that covered the "3D Self Portraits," "Perfume," "Music", and "Air" shows earlier this year. This latest edition is lacking only the announcement of the Winners and should be published very soon. It and the earlier editions can be found at this link: http://uwainsl.blogspot.com/p/uwa-siva.html

FreeWee has published the complete photo archive (181 images) of "WATER" at: http://goo.gl/GEFKA

FreeWee also urges you to submit your work for the next show on the theme: "FIRE". Deadline for submissions is TODAY at 6PM SLT.  She is working hard on the gallery for FIRE, but the show seems prone to.. accidents..

Looking ahead, start working on your submissions for the show to follow FIRE as we finish the series of elemental themes in November with EARTH. And finally in December we will finish out the year with a theme called "TRIPTYCH." Details on both EARTH and TRIPTYCH will be announced very soon.

The UWA Artists' Choice challenges are designed to inspire and support the work of artists. The key difference from earlier challenges is that the main awards are determined entirely by the votes of the participating artists and sponsors themselves. It's a special honor to be acknowledged by our colleagues. Who knows art better than they?

We received 19 amazing entries for the WATER theme by 17 artists.

L$15,000 was donated by our sponsors this month. Clearly, none of this would have been possible without the tremendous support of UWA in SL, and most especially the imagination and vision of JayJay Zifanwe.

We also express our deepest gratitude to the other sponsors for this event. We are especially delighted to welcome back our long lost friend Flora Nordenskiold and NordanArt.

Other sponsors this month include:
Armany Thursday and Dyce Underwood for DNA Art and Music Fusion
Ginger Alsop and Phi Designs (now Phi Clothing Designs with a brand new store!).
and special donations by anonymous donors.

Anyone wishing to support future challenges, please contact FreeWee Ling.

Now to the awards. Choosing "Water" for the September theme was inspired by the idea of having four related shows based on the alchemical "elements' of air, water, fire, and earth. The interpretations of "water" have been diverse as usual. We were really expecting a few watercraft. But our artists showed us once again that they are not the kind to create the obvious.

The Water show was a featured site in the SL Destination Guide. We have hosted nearly 1500 unique visitors in the past few weeks. One result is a near tripling of votes cast for the People's Choice awards over the previous month.

The voting was clear, with nearly 20  points separating the winner from its closest competitor.
The People's Choice Award (L$2000) for UWA Artists' Choice WATER goes to:

EVENING SHORE: A LIVING PAINTING by Finn Lanzius

Rounding out the top five were: both entries by Krystali Rabeni, the the entries by Lilia Artis and Barry RIchez.

Next we go to the Non-scripted Award. This was determined by the highest ranking in regular voting for a piece that is non-scripted.

The Non-Scripted Award for WATER goes to:

NOBODY!

That's right, but it's not because of a tie. This may be the first round ever in which we had NO unscripted entries. So the unscripted prize will not be presented this time.

So we go directly to the top three overall awards.

Because of FreeWee's peculiar position, she has again decided to withdraw her entries from consideration for a prize. She thanks all who voted for her and is pleased to have been able to participate in this show.

The voting was diverse. Several entries receive many votes, but were not top ranked. Only one point separated the top entry from Second place, and only 2 points between the Third and fourth place.

The Third Place Award (L$3000) goes to:
THIRST by Lilia Artis

Several people noted that Lilia's piece was not obvious and warranted close examination. Some thought it was difficult to understand, while other found it intriguing. In either case it at least made people stop and think.

The Second Place Award (L$5000) goes to:
THE WATERS OF LIFE by Secret Rage

Secret's evocative connection between the sea and the womb clearly resonated with a lot of people. Her piece received many individual votes, but was not ranked at the top in the voting, and so she misses the top prize by only one point.

Which brings us to the First Place award.

The First Place Award (L$7000) for WATER goes to:

THE BATHING LADIES OF VOYNICH by Hypatia Pickens

Our congratulations to Hypatia! Her rendering of the peculiar words and images from a mysterious indecipherable medieval manuscript was a clear favorite, 

Other artists who ranked strongly in the voting, in no particular order, included Barry Richez's KOI; Dusty Canning's ROW, ROW, ROW YOUR BOAT; Finn Lanzius's EVENING SHORE; and Corcosman Voom's BIG FISH.

Congratulations to all the winners and thanks to all who participated in a great show! Please take a final look around before you leave today.  The WATER show will all be gone soon to make room for the FIRE show, opening soon. Thank you all for coming! Have a great day!

Pearl of Wisdom

Machinimist Friday Siamendes has created a fantastic story of discovery using UWA's treasures in SL among other locations. Passed along for your pleasure...

Machinima of UWA 3D Centenary Artworks + More RL Media Coverage

The sublime Yesikita Coppola, one time official UWA machinimatographer of the Netherlands,  has put together a wonderful machinima displaying all the winning artwork from the UWA Centenary 3D Art Challenge. A fitting tribute to an amazing collectiong of works!

Also, the 17th September 2012 issue of the hardcopy publication UWA News (Vol 31 No 14) carries an article on the event run at UWA to celebrate the winners of the UWA Centenary 3D Art Challenge as well as MachinimUWA V: Seek Wisdom.


Nobel Prize Winner Professor Barry Marshall stands in front of his avatar


.

Cool Water

The Artists' Choice WATER theme show is open and we're now taking entries for October's challenge on the theme of FIRE. The WATER show is highlighted in the Destination Guide, which is generating lots of visitors. The show is in a specially designed space, with the sim's water level raised to 100 meters. Each art entry is on a separate island. In addition to the 20 super cool art installations there are boats and submarines and tubes and other unusual means of navigating the seas. 

A leisurely ride on a fantasy tall boat among the atolls is a swell way to to see everything.

Hypatia Pickens has a wonderful piece inspired by the mysterious medieval Voynich Manuscript that no one to date has been able to decipher.

 Barry Richez made this intensely colorful figure riding a giant koi.

Finn Lanzius presents a rather spectacular sunset diorama.

And many more. When you're done looking at the art, you can explore the remarkable undersea park below. Free scuba outfits and Hobo dive suits are provided at the entrance. The space is great for a gathering of mermaids or marine exobiologists. Just dive in from anywhere in the gallery above or take a submarine ride.

(Many of the great ocean features are from the talented Aley, who built a wonderful sub-surface world on a LEA sim earlier this year with bunches of full perm freebies.)

If you explore a bit, you might find the portal to the mysterious ancient UWA campus that sunk into sea...

September LEA6.....Cinema! review by Victoria Lenoirre

Up at LEA6 this month is Cinema! TAKE BACK THE AMBIENCE by Mary Wickentower. Mary Wickentower has been a Second Life resident since 2008, located in the snowlands of Sansara, mainland.  Mary is a poet/writer songwriter, artist, SL builder and machinimatographer, and owner of Wickentower Art and owner of the film production company, Polished Puppet Productions.  "Cinema!"  represents a collaboration of some of the finest creators, builders, machinimatographers  in Second Life and is a tribute to their amazing talent.

It is a grand gallery with so much to see and the ambience is just marvellous. Set in the 1940s and 1950s in California, it really takes you back to a time when moviegoing was such a magical, delightful experience. Visiting here, just made me feel like a tiny kid again and I love when a piece of art fills me with that childlike wonder.

Cinema! opened on September 3rd at 4pm SLT. To celebrate the opening, the classy and distinguished Antonio Galloway was present to sing in his  "melodious voice." He sings in the style of Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, and Elvis Presley.

The landing area is set behind the La Paloma and next to planter corner filled with flowers. Walk to your avatar's left to move towards the front. On the marquee you can see that The Foutainhead is playing, that old movie starring Gary Cooper that is based on the novel by Ayn Rand. La  Paloma theater was built by Hideo Inaka. It won second place in the 2011 Virtual Museum of Architecture Build-off. He kindly donated it for use in Cinema!, thank you Hideo! You can also find it at marketplace. 

I took these pics with different windlights for better effect, but when you get here, the windlight is midday.

La Paloma Theater, taken with the Doomed Spaceship windlight

To the Southwest, across the way from the front entrance of the Paloma is the Dirty Rat Gas station. Take a look inside. There is even a working cash register inside that opens and closes on touch. There does seem to be a clash between classy and gritty. The streets look gritty as doing the gas station. It reminds me of how society is divided into classes. 

Next door to the gas station is the Empire Movie Palace. It is a large theater built by Khan Omizu, specifically for Cinema! How awesome is that? This theater looks grand and majestic, with crimson carpeting and several flights of stairs. Two sections for people, the upper class section and the middle class section, Box A and Box B, respectively. You can find this splendid build at marketplace. 

Front view of EMPIRE Movie Palace, taken with Analu Outdoor City Night windlight

Walk out and to your avatar's right is the Roadside Diner. It was built by the same creator who built the gas station, n0th1ng Ackland. He is the owner of ~Dirty Rat~, a brand that makes vintage builds. You can find the mainstore in his picks.

Leaving the entrance of the diner, walk to your avatar's right and you should arrive at the doorstep of the Skyview Drive-in Theater. The Drive-in was created by Ethos Erlanger. He built the drive-in specifically for Cinema!. Thank you, Ethos for your generosity! Vintage cars are parked up front, waiting for the movie to start playing. One of the vehicles, the Dune Buggy RC3 is a premium gift from Linden Labs. The figure standing on that rusty car is me. That car wouldn't let me sit in it. I was able to set in the red racer at the end of the row I'm in and just in front of the door, that classy Ford Coup. The RC3 is the car on my left. A concession sign announces that food can be had at this small, cozy place. Ethos has been building for years. Feel free to IM him inworld and visit his marketplace page. He is a great builder and supporter of Builder's Brewery.

Front view of the SKYVIEW Drive-In

SKYVIEW Drive-In Theater and the EMPIRE Movie Palace  intersection, taken with the A-3AM windlight

All theaters have screens from rezzed.tv, the Shared Media Frame TV screen. Just click and media should be enabled and you should be able to watch movies. Besides old movies, you can also watch videos from the LEA MOM, the 48 hour Machinima, and the University of Western Australia's  MACHINUWA contests  It did not work for me, but it is pretty awesome anyhow. I came for the art, not to watch though. Maybe it will work for you. :-)

This sim got me so excited and I could not wait to hear from Mary about this sim. Below is my interview with her.

1.What do you like about old movie theaters?

MP: The old move theaters reflect  an ambiance of an earlier time - a time of elegance, when going to the cinema was luxurious, and the theatres were grand places; huge and ornate with immense balconies, high domed ceilings, massive red carpeted staircases and décor that rivaled the Vatican. Their equally impressive facades dominated that landscape.  Even the cozy, smaller theatres had a rich character, where you could ease back in splendid surroundings and suspend all worries, leave you tribulations behind and enter a world of imagination.  And then there was the drive in movie - a culture all to itself.  The mammoth screen filled the sky, and you could hunker down with friends or family, cuddle in a fluffy blanket, and bury your head in a soft pillow, all in the comfort of your own car.  The real life movie cinemas of today are colorless and sterile places, much like the work cubical that we spend our lives in. They leave us hungering for a touch of class, a bit of chic.

2.What inspired you to put together "Cinema!" ?

MP: Producing & viewing Machinima is one of my favorite SL hobbies. When I applied for the grant from the LEA Endowment for the Arts for the Full SIM Series, I specified that rather than use an entire SIM just to represent only myself and my own art, I wanted bring together and represent a broad range of top talent in Second Life. "Cinema!" is a tribute to first and foremost to Machinima, as well as to the designers, builders, performers & the amazing talent that is Second Life.

3. How did you meet  or hear of the three individuals who provided you with the movie theaters?

MP: I have known  Khan Omizu  [K.O.] the builder of the Empire Movie Palace for a few years now.  I have a large collection of his textures and sculpties.   When I asked Khan to build a palace style theater for my "Cinema!" project , he did not hesitate for one minute.  When Khan donated the spectacular Empire Movie Palace, my jaw hit the ground.  The attention to detail, the enormous effort and love of design that radiates from this build is palatable. Khan Omizu is a sterling example of the generosity of spirit of some of the finest, creative community that is Second Life. 

Empire Movie Palace by Khan Omizu / [K.O.]

https://marketplace.secondlife.com/p/KO-Empire-Movie-Palace-Boxed-Rezzer/3819139

--

I did not know Hideo Inaka / E&D Designs when I contacted him about the La Paloma Theatre, which took  second place in the Fall 2011 Virtual Museum of Architecture Build-Off.  Despite my contacting him out of the blue, he didn't miss a beat and kindly donated the magnificent art deco La Paloma Theatre.  Hideo Inaka is another sterling example of the generosity of spirit of some of the finest, creative community that is Second Life.

La Paloma Theatre  by Hideo Inaka / E&D Designs 

https://marketplace.secondlife.com/p/ED-Designs-La-Paloma-Theatre/3384898

--

The impressively detailed Drive-in movie screen is a generous donation by Ethos Erlanger, a  "passionate" builder and resident of SL since 9/12/2006.  When I contacted Builders Brewery for donations, Ethos Erlanger responded and built this vintage classic specifically for "Cinema!"  Ethos Erlanger is also a sterling example of the generosity of spirit of some of the finest, creative community that is Second Life.

4.I noticed the vintage cars in the drive-in parking lot. Which is your favorite?

MP: I am not really much of a car buff, but if there had been a tangerine orange Classic Dream Series Edition PT Cruiser, then  that would have been my favorite.  I contacted a number of car dealers in Second Life for car donations and got a response from Loki Dancer who generously donated two of the vintage cars to the Cinema project;  PREFABRICA Cheetah - v2.0  and  PREFABRICA Cougar - v1.0

PREFABRICA Cheetah - v2.0  and  PREFABRICA Cougar - v1.0

https://marketplace.secondlife.com/stores/17227

5.The Empire reminded me of the theater in Inglorious Bastards, the movie starring Brad Pitt and Christoph Waltz. Have you seen that movie? Do you think movies should be used for propoganda, as seen in that movie?

MP: I have not seen Inglorious Bastards but it does look interesting and I will make a point to see it.  Movies are products of the imagination, and expression of ideas.  At their best, they allow us to get lost for awhile in a great story.  They are not documentaries; they are not meant to be real.  I do not have an issue with movies that have any kind of agenda, other than those that would promote abuse or brutality to any living thing.

***End of interview****

I love the paved road in this full sim build. In my head I was singing, "Follow the black paved road", to the tune of "Follow the yellowbrick road." I know, I know, the original is the best but I got used to following the road to get to the buildings in this old town. There didn't seem to be a bus service and I don't think the cars are drivable. Hehe. But then, I have such respect for vintage cars that I'd worry about ruining them (even if this is virtual :P ).

"Cinema!" is an outstanding homage to the classic, golden years of filmmaking when going to the movies was a magical, grand experience. Now they seem "colorless" and hackneyed like any other commercial building we enter to obtain a service. This full sim collaboration brings that joy back and makes us feel excited and happy that we will see a movie in a fabulous theater. 

Please drive over to see "Cinema!" TAKE BACK THE AMBIENCE, going on all this month.

Have fun and enjoy the art!

- Victoria Lenoirre