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:
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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.