MachinimUWA V Companion Event: Poster Challenge

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Poster Credit: Chic Aeon

A companion event is being run alongside the L$725,000 MachinimUWA V: Seek Wisdom, being a Poster Challenge helmed by Ginette Pinnazo & LaPiscean Liberty on behalf of the SL machinima Poster Archive & AviewTV.

Details, as follows are taken from the Machinima Artists Guild & AviewTv sites.

UWA MACHINIMA MOVIE POSTER CONTEST:

In conjunction with this year's world-famous UWA Machinima Challenge, artists of every medium are invited to participate in an all-new companion event: the UWA Machinima Movie Poster Contest, where works of art will be showcased in a special exhibit that celebrates the rich heritage and imagination of the movie poster!

Who can enter?
Any photographers, graphic artists, painters, or illustrators with a passion for the movies and creative flair for the promotional can enter by creating works that are posters for films submitted into the UWA MachinimUWA V Challenge.  And yes, artists who created videos that are submitted into the machinima contest are also permitted to submit posters for their own films!

How to enter:

1. To see the film submissions to date, go to www.aviewtv.com, browse the MachinimUWA V film gallery and choose from any of the submitted videos. Note that this year's film theme is "Seek Wisdom". Posters may or may not have anything to do with the theme, but posters should seek to promote the film in question in a way that may encourage more viewers. So, watch the film! Think about great poster ideas!
2. Create posters that are exactly 640x360 in proportion and resolution
3. Contact Ginette Pinazzo within Second Life via IM or Notecard to become registered and arrange for image transfers. Gina will confirm the validity of any submissions and enter you into the official entry list. (Gina is always available for early questions too!)

Deadline for Poster Submissions is June 30, 2012

What Happens Next?
All posters will be displayed in AviewTV's Machinima Gallery in Second LIfe and there will be art openings to coincide. Poster prizes will be awarded at same time as prizes for MachinimUWA V video awards. Details of this process will be made available at later date.

Why Should You Enter?

1. This contest brings artists of many disciplines together, into the machinima field, which is a dynamic and vibrant field of creative expression, and an exciting career path for many
2. Everyone loves movie posters
3. 10,000 Linden cash prize for best poster (other prizes to be announced later)

MachinimUWA V: Seek Wisdom - L$725,000 Challenge Kicks Off!

 poster credit: Eliza Wierwight

We are happy to announce the 5th Machinima Challenge put forth by the University of Western Australia (UWA). The theme is 'Seek Wisdom'. Sponsored by UWA, AviewTV, Philip Vought, Freemason Magic & The Tornado Gallery, the prize pool sits at L$785,000 (approx USD 3,400). We hope you are inspired by this to create many wondrous works as you have been through the years! (Please note the major rule & special prize guideline)

WHAT: MachinimUWA V : Seek Wisdom

WHEN: Entries Close at Midnight SLT 30th June 2012.  Winner will be announced in August 2012

THEME: The theme is 'SEEK WISDOM'. How you traverse the metaverse in this quest is totally up to you...the Machinimatographer. What is wisdom? What path do you take? Can it be attained? Is it an unending lifelong endeavour? Can it be found? Should one choose to seek only in the realm of the virtual or beyond? Is one doomed to fail? Is wisdom the embodiment of someone... something... somewhere... somewhen? Is this but another JOURNEY?

MAJOR RULE:
You machinima can be about whatever you choose, but there is one rule all entries must follow. The only requirement is that at least ONE of the 100 Treasures from UWA must form part of your story. These are actual treasures, however at least 17 of them exist on UWA land in Second Life. You may choose to include as many of the treasures as you like so long as there is at least ONE. Apart from this, feel free to film anything, anywhere. You may use props at the location, or maybe want to change the footage later during the post process, this is up to you... as long as the treasure or treasures you choose to be part of your Machinima can be recognized and form part of your storyline.

‘Seek Wisdom’ is the university's motto and can be found on UWA’s coat of arms. It was selected as the theme for MachinimUWA V to honour the new way education is delivered at UWA, "New Courses 2012." The inclusion of one of treasures from the book 100 Treasures from UWA also celebrates the 2013 Centenary of the University of Western Australia. This book of which UWA Second Life is listed among the treasures, was the inspiration to enshrining at least some of these treasures in virtual space. You can see all 100 treasures online at http://www.treasures.uwa.edu.au/treasures/ and locations of the 17 that exist in virtual space are as linked below.

PRIZES: There is a prize pool of L$785,000 with a L$140,000 top prize, and 11 prizes in all. From the field of entries, a Special UWA Prize of L$100,000 will also be awarded to the Machinima that best captures the essence or spirit of 100 years of seeking wisdom at UWA. L$10,000 will be awarded to the best machinima poster

LENGTH: 4 mins 30 seconds is the strongly recommended length, but this is not a hard rule. The UWA Special Prize however can only go to a machinima that fits within the recommended length.


METHOD OF ENTRY: Load the Machinima anywhere, preferably youtube or vimeo, provide link to Jayjay Zifanwe & LaPiscean Liberty

We look forward to seeing what you find when you SEEK WISDOM.


LOCATION OF 17 of the 100 TREASURES FROM UWA THAT EXIST IN SL:
Somerville Auditorium
Sunken Garden
Mosaic Marble Floor
Moreton Bay Fig
Winthrop Tower Clock and Balconette
Hans Arkeveld's 'Celestian'
Peacocks
Paul R. Montford's 'Socrates'
Business School
Whitfeld Memorial Seat
Lysippus, Apoxyomenos
UWA Second Life Presence
Rodney Alsop Memorial Seat & Reflection Pond
Victor Wagner's 'Diotima'
Winged Lion Frieze (Fly When Teleporting)

New Fortune Theatre
Rose Window

To find out the background of each of these treasures, please check the online 100 Treasures From UWA book:
http://www.treasures.uwa.edu.au/treasures

OTHER MATTERS
* Please acknowledge the works you feature and the lands you film at
* If you need to rezz (blue screen etc), contact Jayjay Zifanwe or FreeWee Ling
* If you have questions or want to discuss anything, please contact Jayjay Zifanwe

JUDGING PANEL
Professor Ted Snell (RL) - Director, Cultural Precinct, The University of Western Australia
Dr Sue Boyd (RL) - Member of Senate, UWA, Chair, UWA Centenary Planning Committee (Former Australian High-Commissioner & Consul General)
Jon Stubbs (RL) - Director of Student Services, UWA
Virginia Rowland (RL) - Senior Policy Officer, Centenary Planning, UWA
Adia Yu (RL) - Quantum Enginered Systems Centre of Excellence Coordinator, UWA
FreeWee Ling (SL) - Curator, UWA 3D Open Art Challenge
LaPiscean Liberty (SL) - CEO AviewTV and UWA Virtual World Technical Media Advisor
Pooky Amsterdam (SL) - CEO PookyMedia, Representative of OPEN THIS END, Film Maker, Writer, Machinima-Expo 2012 Producer
Wagner James Au (RL) / Hamlet Au (SL) - Editor in Chief of New World Notes
Cisko Vandeverre (SL) - Inaugural UWA Machinima Champion
Apmel Goosson - Scandinavian Author/Publisher
Nazz Lane (SL) - Journalist and Author
Apollo Manga (SL) - examiner.com Writer & Novelist
Bryn Oh (SL) - Professional Artist & Machinimatographer
Dr. Phylis Johnson (RL) - Media Professor, Southern Illinois University, Author - Machinima: Aesthetics and Practice (a.k.a, Sonicity Fitzroy, SL Virtual Journalist)
Mal Burns (SL), Metaverse News Aggregator and Broadcaster
Chestnut Rau (SL) - Journalist
Thirza Ember (SL) - Art Blog Writer
Persia Bravin (SL) - Journalist, media producer and TV host.
Dousa Dragonash (SL) - COO Metaverse Television
Rowan Derryth (SL) - Art & Design Historian; Writer for Prim Perfect Publications
Freemason Magic (SL) - Grand Patron Gan Logia Cibernetica 3D Vitual Lodge for Cyberfreemason Avatars
Tom Papas (RL) - Project48 Film Festival Director & Co-Producer
Ginette Pinnazo (SL)-  Dir of Development, AviewTV / Dir of Projects, Zindra Expo Group / Manager, Womens Resource Ctr in SL
K. DaVette See (Suzy Yue - SL) - Creative Director, Running Lady Studios and Theatrical/Film director.
Laetitia Wilson - Assistant Professor, School of Architecture, Landscape and Visual Arts, UWA
Jay Jay Jegathesan (RL) / Jayjay Zifanwe (SL) - Manager School of Physics/ Lead of UWA Virtual Worlds

L$785,000 PRIZE POOL (Sponsored by  AView TV, Project48, Philip Vought, Fremason Magic, SL Machinima Poster Archive, The Tornado Gallery & UWA)
1st Prize - L$140,000
2nd Prize - L$120,000
3rd Prize - L$100,000
4th Prize - L$70,000
5th Prize - L$55,000
5 Special Awards (6th - 10th) - @L$30,000 
UWA Special Prize: L$100,000 (awarded by UWA members of the committee)
Audience participation Prize - L$20,000 (L$10,000, 1st; L$6,000, 2nd; L$4,000, 3rd)
Best Machinima Poster: 3 Prizes Totalling L$30,000  



* Special thanks to Eliza Wierwight for creating the wonderful poster for this challenge
* Special thanks also to the creators of the UWA Treasures in Second Life. These include Chuckmatrix Clip, quadrapop Lane, Nyx Breen, Bradley Dorchester (Bradley Curnow, RL), Ninka Darkstone, MichealAnthony Wirefly (Micheal Flynn, RL), Lilli Field, Dragonmage Bogan (Dr Chris Thorne, RL), Sharni Azalee & Minny Werefox (Minh Tran, RL).
* Special thanks also to our sponsors Aview TV (LaPiscean Liberty), Philip Vought, Freemason Magic & the Cyberfreemasons, Virtlantis and The Tornado Gallery (Taralyn Gravois)

More information on New Courses 2012 @ UWA
http://www.newcourses2012.uwa.edu.au/http://www.uwainsl.blogspot.com.au/p/machinimuwa-v-seek-wisdom.html

MachinimUWA V Prize Pool rises to L$725,000

With thanks to Freemason Magic and the Cyberfreemasons, joining other sponors, AviewTV, Virtlantis, Phillip Vought and the Tornado Gallery the MachinimUWA V: Seek Wisdom prize pool has risen to L$725,000.

Freemason Magic explained that it was the theme, 'Seek Wisdom' was one close to their hearts and this is the reason for the support.

He explained that Cyberfremasonry, "Is a path of illuminations for seekers of wisdom in the virtual worlds to discover who they are and help other residents of the virtual worlds to obtaibn the same benefits.

Consist in the design, building and opeation of Cyberfeemason Cybertemples in the Virtual Worlds to make good avatars cyberfeemason avatars. We accept eveyone who want to expand the knowledge of cyberfreemasonry in secondlife helping then to learn how to use primatology, texturing, virtual lands and scripts.

The temple of wisdom contains 3 chambers to explain that wisdom is a path rather than something you obtain immedialtly. The Cyberfreemason EnterApprentice, Fellowcraft and Master Cyberfeemason avatas are elavated in degrees by rituals and ceremonies all practice in the cybertemple."

Freemason Magic is Gran Patron of Gran Logia Cibernetica 3D virtual lodge for cyberfreemason avatars.

MachinimUWA V: Chic Aeon's 'The Search'

'The Search', by Chic Aeon is the very first entry to the L$700,000, MachinimUWA V: Seek Wisdom.  MachinimUWA V's theme is a tribute to the Centenary of the University of Western Australia and UWA's New Courses 2012.

Entries to MachinimUWA V: Seek Wisdom close on the 30th of June 2012 and seeks for the creation of machinima with any storyline that fits to the theme of 'Seek Wisdom' so long as at least ONE of the 100 Treasures from UWA form part of the story. Click HERE for full details and landmarks to the locations of the treasures in Second Life.
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Victoria Lenoirre's Exploration of the UWA Sky Sim Series: CYBORG NATURE b Giovanna Cerise

For this month, the month of February, the UWA Sky Sim Series is hosting an installation by Giovanna Cerise called CYBORG - NATURE. Intrigued? Read on, dear explorer of art.

The landing point is here: http://slurl.com/secondlife/WASP%20Land/128/137/25

At the landing point you should see a big, white spider, "ragno blanco". It looks amazing.

You'll see a dark blue door next to you, an anywhere door, with a white frame. Click it and sit and you'll be taken up to 1002 meters. In front of you, you should see a sign in blue with the heading "CYBORG - NATURE" and a picture of a grid on it. Click that sign for a notecard about this new installation.

The notecard says:

The careless use of their intelligence led the man to the self-destruction. On our planet, without humans, the Nature missed her aspect, almost plasticizing themselves, in cold colours.
A few species of insects have survived because they have adapted themselves in the new environment. But unfortunately, there are always some creatures that repeat all the humans’ errors.
They use the technologic to overwhelm the others, they manipulate them by their cybernetic and they exploit them.
Through their work, some natural element survives whose benefits effects are for the exclusive use of the dominant race.

Up in the sky, you find yourself in a wide space and there's a narrow corridor. At the end of the corridor you'll find yourself in another wide space. All around you see a grid. You can walk through it as well. It is like walking in a corn field. It surrounds you through its vastness and density.

I kept walking to my right until I saw an object called faccia luminosa. Standing guard next to this machine were two big scorpions with prosthetic legs. Men gave them those artificial legs so that they could stand near the machine and operate it. Men have programmed and trained cyborgs like these to do all the work, just like robots.

I interviewed Giovanna Cerise about her body of work, below is the interview:

What is faccia luminosa? The machine with the golden spiral and the flashing lights, what is  that called?
“Light Face" is the Italian name for panels, which emit light intermittently, a light that produces energy. I have not given a specific name to the machine, even as other elements of the installation, but keep in mind that its function is to produce energy to keep alive the few natural elements, trees, that can survive on our planet, we could also call it  an "Energy converter".

Why do you believe that there "are always some creatures that repeat all the humans' errors"?
I imagined a world in which humans are gone, because the selfishness prevailed, and consequently  the desire to dominate. I found that the survival instinct is always prevails and that, when combined with the law of the strongest, understood not only like a physical strength but also as the power to control the technology and science in general, leads to dramatic consequences. I think this may be extended not only to men but to all living beings, of whatever kind they are. This is already evident in periods in which the resources are enough for everyone if shared equally, imagine what will happen when it is not so.

Insects will survive the destruction. What do you find fascinating about insects? Is the spider your favorite insect?
I love all animals. Insects fascinate me in a particular way because despite their small size, they are perfectly capable of surviving against the inventions of men who seek to destroy them. Just think that when they evolve, they develop a resistance to insecticides ever stronger, so you are forced to create ever more powerful insecticides and in the end they hurt a lot of men.
As for the spiders, it is true, I have a sympathy toward them. A little 'time ago I had a spider , that lived in my room. Unfortunately he had a bad end. My mother killed him when I was not there. He made too many cobwebs! And when I built these spiders I thought of him.

"They use the technology to overwhelm the others, they manipulate them by their cybernetics and they exploit them."
How do they use technology to overwhelm others? How do cybernetics overwhelm others in this situation?
We know very well that any invention may be used for positive or negative purposes. Any scientist or inventor, of any epoch, should always think about the problem on the use of his invention or discovery.
The use of technology, to threaten, intimidate, overwhelm and exploit others, the weakest, is a constant reality, unfortunately, in our time.
Cybernetics is one of those examples, because through the use of artificial elements, you can create beings superior in strength and ability. They don’t think to improve the quality of life but to enhance the capacity to dominate. Cyborg nature is in fact a metaphorical vision of what, unfortunately, is a clear reality of our times and not only, at the same time a small invitation to reflect on it.

This is quite a somber scenario for the future of the world we live in, in which we are increasingly becoming more and more dependent on machines, robots, and other forms of advanced technology. While they can and do make our lives easier and efficiency increases, it could lead to serious consequences for the well-being of the human race.

Thank you, Giovanna for sharing this vision with us!

To see this body of art, go here: http://slurl.com/secondlife/WASP%20Land/128/137/25

As always, have fun and enjoy the art!

faccia luminosa & 2 scorpions with prosthetic limbs

Victoria Lenoirre's Look at LEA Full Sim: "You Choose" by Romy Nayar & Ux Hax

This month's LEA Full Sim gallery is "You Choose" by Romy Nayar & Ux Hax.

The landing point is in the water.http://slurl.com/secondlife/LEA6/239/217/20

Follow the water in front of you and you'll see a robot with a top hat. You can get a copy of him even. Enable sound. I think he says hello in at least 5 languages. Can you identify all the languages? I think it looks cute. Maybe you'd like to put him near your front door? :-)

According to Romy & Ux:

The exhibition “You choose”, part of the idea of the tree of life. A wooden tree symbolizes the construction of the life of the visitor.

The path through its branches, symbolizes the life progression until the first of the election.

At that point one starts on three ideas :

- The alarm clock: Where you venture in a “relatively” real world. Your choices : go to work or stay at home sleeping have different ends.

- The little house fantastic: adventures in a fantastic world. Two different points of views on the same story. According to the visitor choses will happen a thing or another.

- Flower: You walk into a surreal word in which you need to find the right path to the end.


You choose a game, in which the visitor himself is the protagonist.


And now on to my questions:

VL: Haces las texturas y las sculpts? Do you make the textures and the sculpts?

R: Yes I do it myself

VL: Por qué hiciste tu obra sobre el destino? Why did you make your work of art about destiny?

R: Destiny...it’s something uncertain, you never know what will happen. As the choices that you make, you never know where you are going to finish.

We like this concept of the choice and Ux Hax and myself thought about this exhibit where the visitor have all the choices...Where he is part of the history and makes the path to go to a different ending.

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Here's the rest of what I have to say regarding navigating through this excellent installation or obra, as Spanish-speaking people would see, which means "work of art."

After you go several paces past the little robot guy in the top hat, you'll see a chairlift to your left. Sit and you'll be lifted to a staircase. Tread carefully or you'll fall and you'll have to start all over again. Or if you prefer, just fly up. I find it easiest to take the stairs though. You'll see a sign saying "Destiny under construction!!".

"You Choose" is a tall wooden tree that's a series of wooden stairs, pulleys, and chair lifts, much like a construction scaffold. You'll need to sit on the chairlifts to get to some sections of stairs.

Walk carefully on the stairs, so you don't fall. The drop is deep. Fortunately, damage is not enabled.

Keep walking until you see a beige-colored sign that says "Teleport to your Destiny."

After that, you find yourself in a dark room with 3 tables. One item is on each little table. There's a clock, a sunflower, and a tooth? You can sit on each table to be teleported to another location. In front of each table is a beige screen with the words, "You Choose" written on it.

At every scene, you'll find at least one thing to sit on. It'll either take you forward on your journey or backwards to the point where you made your choice. Don't you wish real life was like that--that you could stop when you know you're on the wrong path and return to where you started?

*****
This is one of the most thoughtful bodies of work I've ever seen in SL. We all wonder and worry about whether we're truly living out our destiny. Are we making the right choices? Are we following all the right paths?

I find it interesting how at some places in this exhibition, you see road signs that tell you that you went the wrong way. Sadly, this is not how it is in real life. This work definitely has a dreamlike quality to it. Incidently, there is a room about sleep. I could not resist myself so I took a picture of it.

As I walked through this exhibition I kept feeling like I was small like an ant. In the scheme of life, we are small and uncertain about where the way will lead us. At times we just have to "go with the flow", we cannot always be in control of every single detail of our existence.

And so, I hope you all come and view "You Choose" by Romy Nayar and Ux Hax. It is a well-built and thought-provoking body of work! And as one of my photographer friends said, "It's a photographer's dream." I know I'll visit again and again to take some pictures.

This is the landing spot:http://slurl.com/secondlife/LEA6/239/217/20

Enjoy the art and take care!

The Pillars of UWA (Educational Machinima)

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'The Pillars of UWA' an inspirational machinima by Bradley Dorchester, joint MachinimUWA II champion, setting out the conerstones of the UWA presence in virtual worlds.

This machinima will be on display at a major meeting of senior managers at UWA on the 14th of February 2012.

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UWA SKY SIM SERIES (FEB): Cyborg - Nature (Giovanna Cerise)

Giovanna Cerise's 'CYBORG NATURE' opens 1PM SLT 7th February 2012

The LEA FULL SIM ART SERIES, and 'little brother' UWA SKY SIM ART SERIES, moves to February with Cyborg - Nature, as Giovanna Cerise describes a path mankind might be on! is on.... a wonderful collaboration led by Asmita Duranjaya along with Louly Loon and ChapTer Kronfeld. The February edition of the LEA FULL SIM ART SERIES, 'You Choose' is helmed by Romy Nayar & Ux Hax.

CYBORG - NATURE OPENS:
7th of February 2012 at 1pm SLT
Location: HERE
http://slurl.com/secondlife/WASP%20Land/128/137/25

On Art's Vision Blog 
Report Quan's Travelogues
NicoleX Moonwall machinima Part 1
NicoleX Moonwall machinima Part 2
NicoleX Moonwall machinima Part 3
On Linden Lab Destination Guide


IN GIOVANNA'S WORDS:

CYBORG - NATURE
The careless use of their intelligence led the man to the self-destruction. On our planet, without humans, the Nature missed her aspect, almost plasticizing themselves, in cold colours.

A few species of insects have survived because they have adapted themselves in the new environment. But unfortunately, there are always some creatures that repeat all the humans’ errors.

They use the technologic to overwhelm the others, they manipulate them by their cybernetic and they exploit them.
 
Through their work, some natural element survives whose benefits effects are for the exclusive use of the dominant race

Cherry, Rose, and Suzanne see themselves winning

Following the amazing UWA Artists' Choice 3D Self Portraits show, the three standout winners were clear, but the order of the top prizes could easily have swung a different way with even a single additional voter. This is the first time the participating artists themselves determined the prize winners.

Cherry Manga's fractal self portrait draws you in to deeper and deeper levels. Rose Borchovsky's mesh figure is stunning in its emotional impact and fine details and was the decisive People's Choice winner. And Suzanne Graves's portrait fragments and transform, never seeming to be the same but still always the same essence.

The awards ceremony this morning was ably emceed by Taralyn Gravois with FreeWee's assistance. See the full text of the program below.

Among the special announcements were:

FreeWee is publishing an online exhibition catalog for the Self Portraits show. It is nearly finished, but you can see the current draft. Any of the participating artists who wish to add a brief text comment about their work should contact FreeWee as soon as possible.

Also announced is the theme for the March UWA challenge: MUSIC. Interpret that any way you choose. Think outside the music box! Deadline for entries is March 1. Details are similar to previous challenges: 210 prim limit (300 PE for mesh). Otherwise pretty much open to anything you can imagine.

Winners of the January UWA Artists' Choice 3D Self Portraits challenge:

First Place Award (L$7000): AUTOPORTRAIT by Cherry Manga
Second Place Award (L$5000): ANGRY BETH by Rose Borchovsky
Third Place Award (L$3000): S IN PRIMS by Suzanne Graves
Non-Scripted Award (L$3000): AUTOPORTRAIT by Cherry Manga
People's Choice Award (L$2000): ANGRY BETH by Rose Borchovski
Sponsors:

JayJay Zifanwe.and the University of Western Australia
Flora Nordenskiold and NordanArt
fiona Blaylock and artFiona
armany Thursday and Dyce Underwood for DNA Art and Music Fusion
Eliza Wierwight and Patron
Cherry Manga and Anley Piers for Mysterious Wave
Ginger Alsop and Phi Designs
Zachh Cale and projectZ

The full list of entries:

• Carmsie Melodie - Portrait
• Cherry Manga - Autoportrait
• Chic Aeon - Do You See Me?
• Corcosman Voom - Self portrait in Yellow
• Dusty Canning - Thinking Outside the Box
• Eifachfilm Vacirca - Smiley d-oo-b
• Fiona Blaylock - Self portrait
• FreeWee Ling - Am I my avatar's pet?
• Gleman Jun - nuJ namelG
• Haveit Neox - Portrait Clock
• kjs Yip - Self portrait
• Lilia Artis - One of billions
• Miso Susanowa - Self portrait: i am not my code
• nexuno Thespian - ancient ruins of temple of nex
• Nish Mip - Self portrait
• Praxis - Prax - Nut
• Rose Borchovski - Self portrait
• Sea Mizin - Juggling Away the Day
• Secret Rage - There was a little girl
• Silene Christen - Inner Light
• Silene Christen - When you left
• Sledge Roffo - Self portrait
• Suzanne Graves - S in Prims
• ToySoldier Thor - Swimmers - The Arrival
• Wotthe Dickins - Magic Mirror

Full Text of the awards presentations (written by FreeWee Ling and read by Taralyn Gravois):
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Welcome to the first 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 announce the publication of an exhibition catalog for the Self Portraits show. The current draft is online now and will be revised to add the award results. She also asks the participating artists to please let her know any brief descriptions or comments you would like to add to your entries for the book. It is expected to be complete within the next couple of days. See: http://issuu.com/freeweeling/docs/uwa_artists_choice-self_portraits

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. Who knows art better than they? 22 of the 24 artists in this show participated in the voting process. Votes were kept by FreeWee Ling and verified by Taralyn Gravios, JayJay Zifanwe, and Eliza Wierwight. Anyone wishing to know their particular ranking may contact FreeWee.

So you know what the future is to bring, the Artists' Choice Challenges will continue through March. Beginning April 1 the main UWA 3D Open Art Challenge will commence with a single round over three months with 500 thousand Lindens in prize money. Details to be announced. Look for the Artists’ Choice challenges to start again with a theme announced in early July (or perhaps earlier) for an August show.

JayJay also wanted to announce that MachinimUWA V will start very soon with a L$650,000 prize pool. The theme will be “Seek wisdom.” More details about that to come.

In other matters, you have until midnight tonight to submit an entry for the next UWA Artists' Choice Challenge on the theme: Perfume. Make something smelly! Touch the poster next to the entry box for details. The Self Portraits show will be removed tonight and the new Perfume show will be installed Sunday. We will announce the opening as soon as it's ready.

And finally, our next challenge for March will be on the theme: Music! Make something musical. Something that looks like music, sounds like music, feels like music.. even smells like music! Musical instruments, musical impressions, harmonic distortion as a metaphor for... something ... It's up to you. Details will be announced shortly, but you get the idea.

We had a total of eight sponsors for this show. 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.

Among the most enthusiastic of our sponsors was our dear friend Flora Nordenskiold. We are all saddened by her sudden departure from SL. We thank her for everything she has done to enrich our lives and we send her our love and best wishes.

We also express our deepest gratitude to the other sponsors for this event:
fiona Blaylock and artFiona
armany Thursday and Dyce Underwood for DNA Art and Music Fusion
Eliza Wierwight and Patron
Cherry Manga and Anley Piers for Mysterious Wave
Ginger Alsop and Phi Designs
Zachh Cale and projectZ

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

Now to the awards. L$22,500 was donated by our sponsors this month. Our goal is to provide at least L$20K each month. In order to help ensure our funding for next month, L$2500 of our pool will be held for the Perfume show awards.

The People's Choice voting received 636 votes total. The voting was clear, with 42 points separating the winner from its next competitor.

The People's Choice Award (L$2000) for UWA Artists' Choice Self Portraits goes to:
ANGRY BETH by Rose Borchovski

Rounding out the top five were:
AUTOPORTRAIT by Cherry Manga
S IN PRIMS by Suzanne Graves
PORTRAIT by Carmsie Melodie
and
AM I MY AVATAR'S PET? by Freewee Ling

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

The Non-Scripted Award (L$3000) for UWA Artists' Choice Self Portraits goes to:
AUTOPORTRAIT by Cherry Manga

Now for the top three overall awards. Since the awards are determined by individual votes rather than by a panel deliberation, the result, while extremely close, is unequivocal. We have no ties, but the top three awards could easily have gone a different way with one more voter. .

The Third Place Award (L$3000) for UWA Artists' Choice Self Portraits with 37 points goes to:
S IN PRIMS by Suzanne Graves

The Second Place Award (L$5000) with 38 points goes to:
ANGRY BETH by Rose Borchovsky

and finally
The First Place Award (L$7000) with 40 points goes to:
AUTOPORTRAIT by Cherry Manga

other artists who ranked strongly in the voting, in no particular order, included Lilia Artis, Nish Mip, Carmsie Melodie, Secret Rage, and Silene Christen.

Congratulations to all the winners and thanks to all who participated in a great show!

28 Australian Tertiary Institutions in Joint Paper on Second Life

28 Australian higher education institutions released a joint paper at the ascilite 2011 Conference between the 4th-7th of December at the University of Tasmania in Hobart.

The paper, titled, "How are Australian higher education institutions contributing to change through innovative teaching and learning in virtual worlds?", was a landmark event bringing together all these institutions and was made possible in part by the close cooperation forged among Australian institutions of higher learning via the Australian and New Zealand Virtual Worlds Working Group.

The University of Western Australia was one of the institutions contributing to this paper, with Jay Jay Jegathesan, co-founder of the UWA presence in Second Life describing UWA's involvement (pg. 478).

Citation
Gregory, B., Gregory, S., Wood, D., Masters, Y., Hillier, M., Stokes-Thompson, F., Bogdanovych, A., Butler, D., Hay, L., Jegathesan, J.J., Flintoff, K., Schutt, S., Linegar, D., Alderton, R., Cram, A., Stupans, I., McKeown Orwin, L., Meredith, G., McCormick, D., Collins, F., Grenfell, J., Zagami, J., Ellis, A., Jacka, L., Campbell, J., Larson, I., Fluck, A., Thomas, A., Farley, H., Muldoon, N., Abbas, A., Sinnappan, S., Neville, K., Burnett, I., Aitken, A., Simoff , S., Scutter, S., Wang, X., Souter, K., Ellis, D., Salomon, M.,Wadley, G., Jacobson, M., Newstead, A., Hayes, G., Grant, S. & Yusupova, A. (2011). How are Australian higher education institutions contributing to change through innovative teaching and learning in virtual worlds? In G. Williams, P. Statham, N. Brown, & B. Cleland (Eds.), Changing Demands, Changing Directions. Proceedings ascilite Hobart 2011. (pp. 475-490).

Full Copy of the paper can be found here:
http://www.leishman-associates.com.au/ascilite2011/downloads/papers/Gregory-full.pdf

LEA FULL SIM ART SERIES (FEB): 'YOU CHOOSE' by Romy Nayar & Ux Hax

 The LEA FULL SIM ART SERIES, and 'little brother' UWA SKY SIM ART SERIES, moves to February with Romy Nayar & Ux Hax at the helm for the LEA,presenting a mysterious serving of art called 'You Choose'. For the UWA SKY SIM Series, Giovanna Cerise will be bringing to us 'Cyborg -Nature' where Nature rebels against the thoughtlessness of  man (more info on this later - Launch will be 6th or 7th of Feb). 

 
GRAND OPENING

Date & Time: Saturday 4th Feb 2PM SLT

Location: HERE on LEA 6

http://slurl.com/secondlife/LEA6/251/214/20

You Choose from Ux Hax on Vimeo.

IN ROMY'S WORDS:

"I think that the best words to describe the exhibit are:

You Choose it's a life  trip. You Choose it's the decisions that you take. You Choose it's what you choose to be...

Do you think we have a destiny or do you think that all depends in the decisions that you take? Explore your destiny and be careful with the decissions that you will take...you choose.."

* The exhibit is best seen with the following Skysettings: Windlight Sky:"Bristol"