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


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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

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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

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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

UWA SL in RL Publications - Artist's Chronicle & Science Teachers Journal

UWA Features on the Cover of SCIOS

 Copyright (2012) Science Teachers’ Association of Western Australia (STAWA).  This article may be downloaded for personal use only. Any other use requires prior permission of STAWA and the author.

The UWA presence in Second Life made the cover of 'SCIOS', the Journal of the Science Teachers Association of Western Australia (Volume 48 Number 3 Sept 2012). It describes the development of 3D virtual worlds at UWA, and discussed the breadth of activities ongoing as well as providing an open offer to schools who might want both virtual and physical tours of the UWA campus.

Copyright (2012) Science Teachers’ Association of Western Australia (STAWA).  This article may be downloaded for personal use only. Any other use requires prior permission of STAWA and the author.

 

The following article appeared in SCIOS and may be found at www.stawa.net

Western Australia's Artist's Chronicle  (Issue 146, Sept/Oct 2012) also carries a story on the UWA presence, this time with a focus on the recent Centenary Challenge Grand Finale winners announcements, featuring Lollito Larkham & Tutsy Navarathna and includes Chief Scientist, Professor Lyn Beazley's views on the creations.

Artist's Chronicle Story featuring 'L'histoire de Petit-Gris as seen by Eliza Wierwight

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Artists take to the AIR

Fae Varriale, Barry Richez, and the team of Tyrehl Byk and Ultraviolet Alter flew to the top honors in the UWA Artists' Choice Challenge for August on the theme, "Air". This was the fourth in this year's series of theme shows at UWA and featured 21 entries by 17 artists. The awards were presented at a ceremony Saturday morning with Taralyn Gravois performing emcee duties.

This is the first of four shows to be based on the alchemical elements of air, water, fire, and earth. The series continues in September with "water."

Fae's evocative piece "On the Breath of the Wind" seemed to perfectly express the idea of the ethereal element of air.When informed of the result, Fae gasped, "OMG!! Thanks! I never expected that lol. My first mesh :) ...There were some really lovely entries."

In Second Place, and winner of the People's Choice Award, was Barry Richez's "Body Fan," a fun and energetic tableau of people being blasted by a giant fan, while others worked to unplug it.


In Third Place was "The Flavor of Things Unseen," another wonderful creation by particle master Tyrehl Byk with a subtle but profound aural environment of wind and voices designed by the talented sound artist Utraviolet Alter. This team seems to work beautifully together as previously demonstrated by their joint entry in the recent UWA Centenary Challenge where they took Second Prize overall.

The Non-Scripted Prize was won by Secret Rage for her work "Words in the Air." This piece is a wonderful play on words that float in air, either literally or figuratively, e.g., music, terror, chill, laughter, insects, etc. (N.B. In the awards ceremony Hypatia Pickens's entry "Learning to Breathe" was erroneously announced as the winner of the Non-Scripted award. The piece is actually scripted and thus does not qualify. This was my error, for which I apologized to both Hypatia and Secret. -FreeWee Ling,)

The Artists' Choice awards are judged by the participating artists themselves. It's a special honor to be awarded a prize from such talented colleagues. This was another show of rich diversity that made voting difficult. There were many very strong entries that were deserving of recognition. Congratulations to all who participated!

Here is the full text of the awards ceremony:

Welcome to the fourth 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 the amazing UWA Centenary show is closing today. The top winners will be moved to this space soon as she can clear the Air show.. Do please take a last tour of both wonderful shows 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 "AIR" show will be added to the previous three editions that covered the "3D Self Portraits," "Perfume," and "Music" 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.

FreeWee has published the complete photo archive (167 images) of "AIR" on her Picasa site.

FreeWee also urges you to submit your work for the next show on the theme: "Water". Deadline for submissions is TODAY at 6PM SLT. The UWA sim next door (under the Centenary exhibit) has been flooded to 100 meters and some of the pieces are already being installed, The Water show will open probably Sunday or Monday.

And finally looking ahead , start working on your submissions for the show to follow Air and Water, with an appropriately spooky October theme of "Fire" for Halloween month. And in November we will finish out the elemental themes with a show about "Earth."

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?

Today represents the end of the AIR show. We received 21 amazing entries for the AIR theme by 17 artists.

L$20,000 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:
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
and special donations by anonymous donors.

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

Now to the awards. Choosing "Air" for the August theme inspired the idea of this show being the first of four related shows based on the alchemical "elements' of air, water, fire, and earth. The interpretations of "air" have been diverse and in some cases, non-obvious. We were expecting maybe aircraft, kites, birds, or else subtle ethereal or gaseous objects. But most of the entries were fairly substantial.

The People's Choice voting received 252 votes total. The voting was clear, with 11 points separating the winner from its closest competitor.

The People's Choice Award (L$2000) for UWA Artists' Choice Air goes to:
BODY FAN by Barry Richez

Rounding out the top five were: Fae Varriale, both of Hypatia Pickens' entries, and Barry's other entry "On Air",

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 (L$3000) for AIR goes to:

WORDS ON THE AIR by Secret Rage
 (N.B. In the awards ceremony Hypatia Pickens's entry "Learning to Breathe" was erroneously announced as the winner of the Non-Scripted award. The piece is actually scripted and thus does not qualify. This was my error, for which I apologized to both Hypatia and Secret. -FreeWee Ling,)

Other entries ranking highly in the Non-scripted category included Ush Underwood, Chic Aeon, and Corcosman Voom.

Now for the top three overall awards.

Because of FreeWee's peculiar position, she has decided to again 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 Third Place Award (L$3000) goes to:
THE FLAVOR OF THINGS UNSEEN by Tyrehl Byk & Ultraviolet Alter

The Second Place Award (L$5000) goes to:
BODY FAN by Barry Richez

There were only 3 points separating the second and third place winners. But the First Place winner was a clear favorite with 9 points separating it from second. A clear consensus by the participating artists.

The First Place Award (L$7000) goes to:
ON THE BREATH OF THE WIND by Fae Varriale

Our congratulations to Fae. Other artists who ranked strongly in the voting, in no particular order, included FreeWee Ling's GRASSWINDS, Barry Richez's ON AIR, Jessie Leahy's ALBERTIANA AIR PLANT FLUTE GARDEN, and Secret Rage's WORDS IN THE AIR.

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 AIR show will all be gone by this evening to make room for the CENTENARY winners. Thank you all for coming! Have a great day!

LEA FULL SIM ART SERIES (SEPT): Mary Wickentower's "CINEMA!" Take Back the Ambience

Mary Wickentower takes over at LEA 6 for the SEPTEMBER ROUND of the LEA FULL SIM ART SERIES (here for full year schedule), with the one of its kind "CINEMA!" Take Back the Ambience.

 
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Mary Wickentower, of "Polished Puppet Productions" presents "Cinema!",the latest of the LEA FULL SIM ART Series.  Mark your calendar for Monday 4PM SLT, 3rd September 2012, when the melodic voice of Antonio Galloway, in the style of Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, and Elvis Presley will lead in  the grand opening ceremonies for "Cinema!".  "Cinema!" will run for the month of September.

GRAND OPENING: 
"CINEMA!" Take Back the Ambience by Mary Wickentower

DATE AND TIME: 4PM SLT, Monday, 3rd September 2012

LOCATION: HERE AT LEA 6

SPECIAL PERFORMANCE BY: Antonio Galloway

                             

In Mary's words:

Take a trip down memory lane and take back the 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, 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 leaves us hungering for a touch of class, a bit of chic. Come take back the ambiance.

But there's more.  Each of the spectacular theatres featured in "Cinema!" also showcases films from the best machinima in Second Life.  Relax in fabulous surroundings and watch films from LEA MOM; the 48 hour Machinima; and the University of Western Australia's MACHINIMUWA contests.

The panorama of "Cinema!" also features a cozy home-style dinner and vintage gas station, all set in a 1940-1950's California landscape. Bring a bike, brig a car, bring your honey or best friend and share in the experience of "Cinema!"  and take back the ambiance!

Theatre's featured in "Cinema!"

Empire Movie Palace by Khan Omizu / [K.O.]
https://marketplace.secondlife.com/p/KO-Empire-Movie-Palace-Boxed-Rezzer/3819139
Walk through the ticket office and enter the main lobby, and you will catch your breath as the beauty of this grand palace style theatre unfolds.  Rich marble, red and cream interior gives way to the grand carpeted, black marble and mahogany staircases which lead up to the highest tiers of private smoking rooms and elegant period bars.  Ease back in elegant surroundings of the tiered main floor, the balcony or private boxes and enjoy some of the finest films in second life. The experience is everything you hoped it would be and more.

La Paloma Theatre  by Hideo Inaka / E&D Designs
https://marketplace.secondlife.com/p/ED-Designs-La-Paloma-Theatre/3384898

Richly art deco, this smaller scale, but still magnificent theatre is an invitation to chic ambiance. Loving attention to detail makes this award winning gem shine.  An animated ticket booth and a pair of sculpted, animated streetlights complete with moths add to the atmosphere. Custom textures add a note of elegance.  This design was awarded Second Place in the Fall 2011 Virtual Museum of Architecture Build-Off.

Drive-in Screen by Ethos Erlanger
The impressive Drive-in screen is a generous donation by Ethos Erlanger, "passionate" builder and resident of SL since 9/12/2006.  Visit Ethos Erlangeron marketplace or contact him in-world.

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.

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