The Long Kiss Goodnight - Finale @ UWA

Adaptive Resonance Theory (ART) and Intrusion Detection System (IDS) from Glasz DeCuir on Vimeo.

The grand finale of the SLARTIST@UWA MACHINIMA CHALLENGE saw many farewells with hopes for a new beginning, with Glasz DeCuir's masterful creation, 'Adaptive Resonance Theory (ART) and Intrusion Detection System (IDS)' taking out the grand prize in what was the very last award ever presented in a UWA linked art or film challenge. Tribute was also paid to Alizarin Goldflake, one of the old masters of Second Life art, who fought a brave fight against illness before passing on surrounded by those she loved. Alizarin was one of the first artists who were part of the UWA events and her lovely creation 'The Maze' will remain HERE on the UWA sims for as long as it exists. The brilliant Frenchman in Pondicherry, India, Tutsy Navarathna, was stopped at the final hurdle on 2 fronts on the day, as his 'Serendipity' took 2nd overall as well as 2nd for the PookyMedia Prize behind Bryn Oh's Cerulean. The Merlion Prize, sponsored by the Writers Centre Singapore and fronted by Singh Albatross and Kaylee West resulted in a 3 way tie, with Lampithaler's for 'Art and Transformation - A Dialogue at Intervals', Amelie Marcoud's for 'For Love and Art' and Diana Rose 'A Journey From the Past: Singapore' sharing the honours. The UWA Special Prize also resulted in a 3-way tie, with Amelie once again scooping the honours, alongside Suzie Anderton's 'Never Say Never' and Chic Aeon's 'Amalgamation of Objects'. Jay Jay announced that after 9 long years of helming art and film challenges, that this would be his last, drawing to a close the UWA chapter in leading art and film challenges in Second Life, with hopes, the baton will be taken up by others, in the same way he and UWA stepped in when some or the original luminaries of Second Life were pulling back. For all interested, a full detailing of the announcements on the night are as below following the award summary.

"Thanks a lot for this recognition, I am very proud, am very happy! UWA calls in Second Life pushed me to make Machinima, here I met filmmakers I have admired a lot, and people around arts who taught me, artists who get my attention and musicians, composers who inspired me. To all them Thanks. Maybe I will win other contest in future, but all I lived here is part of my life, and the SLartist@UWA Machinima Challenge will be in my heart forever."
Glasz DeCuir

PHOTOS OF THE EVENT BY FREEWEE LING: HERE 

More News: Chantal Harvey Blog, Modem World (Inara Pey), Isabelle Cheren, Digital Rabbit Hole (Karima Hoisan), Echt Virtuell, New World Notes

AWARD SUMMARY

GRAND CHAMPION (1ST PRIZE) SLARTIST@UWA Machinima Challenge (L$75,000)
'Adaptive ResonanceTheory (ART) and Intrusion Detection System(IDS)' by GLASZ DECUIR

2ND PRIZE SLARTIST@UWA Machinima Challenge (L$50,000)
'Serendipity' by TUTSY NAVARATHNA of Pondicherry, India

3RD PRIZE SLARTIST@UWA Machinima Challenge (L$40,000)
'The River of Forgetting' by NATASCHA RANDT and KARIMA HOISAN of Gelsenkirchen, Germany and San Isidro del General, Costa Rica

4TH PRIZE SLARTIST@UWA Machinima Challenge (L$30,000)
'Before the World was Made' by ISABELLE CHEREN of the UK

5TH PRIZE SLARTIST@UWA Machinima Challenge (L$20,000)
'Cerulean' by Bryn Oh of Canada

UWA SPECIAL PRIZE (Joint 3-Way Tie @L$17,000)

• 'For Love and Art' by AMELIE MARCOUD of Washington DC, USA
• 'Never Say Never' by SUZIE ANDERTON of Inworld Films
• 'The Amalgamation of Objects' by CHIC AEON of Corvallis, Oregon, USA

MERLION PRIZE (Joint 3-Way Tie @L$16,666)

• 'For Love and Art' by AMELIE MARCOUD of Washington DC, USA
• 'A Journey from the Past: Singapore' by DIANA ROSE of Jakarta, Indonesia
• 'Art and Transformation - a dialogue at intervals' by LAMPITHALER

POOKYMEDIA PRIZES:

POOKYMEDIA 1ST PRIZE (L$25,000)
 'Cerulean' by Bryn Oh of Canada

POOKYMEDIA 2ND PRIZE (L$15,000)
 'Serendipity' by TUTSY NAVARATHNA of Pondicherry, India

POOKYMEDIA 3RD PRIZE (L$5,000)
 'Never Say Never' by SUZIE ANDERTON of Inworld Films

POOKYMEDIA  HONOURABLE MENTIONS (@L$1,000)

• 'For Love and Art' by AMELIE MARCOUD of Washington DC, USA
• 'Art and Transformation - a dialogue at intervals' by LAMPITHALER
• 'Happy' by IONO ALLEN of France
• 'Before the World was Made' by ISABELLE CHEREN of the UK
• 'The Amalgamation of Objects' by CHIC AEON of Corvallis, Oregon, USA

UWA CRAFT AWARDS:

AWARD FOR ENCHANTMENT (L$7,000) 
'Art and Transformation - a dialogue at intervals' by LAMPITHALER

THE INNOVATION AWARD (L$7,000)
'A Night of TV' by SECRET RAGE of Dallas, Texas, USA

THE ARTISTRY PRIZE (L$7,000)
'Alcyon and Ceyx'  by JOSEPH NUSSBAUM

AWARD FOR RHYTHM (L$7,000)
'Happy' by IONO ALLEN of France

AWARD FOR HUMOUR (L$7,000)
 'RRR – 3rd Eye Open' by GERHARD HELMUT (REBEL) and LILA~R

ANTON MESMER AWARD (L$7,000)
 'Staring Into the Aperture' by VEYOT

BEST PHOTOGRAPHY (L$7,000)
'MemesZ' by TANTRA SANGHA & M1NN0TAUR

EXPERIMENTAL FILM AWARD (L$7,000)
'Change Dreams' by ELLE THORKVELD

BEST DOCUMENTARY STYLE ART FILM (L$7,000)
 'A Journey from the Past: Singapore' by DIANA ROSE of Jakarta, Indonesia


VIDEO OF AWARD CEREMONY BY SECRET RAGE:

Slartist@UWA Machinima Challenge - Art of the Artists

FULL TEXT FROM AWARD CEREMONY:

[JayJay Zifanwe] Greetings everyone, and welcome to the University of Western Australia, or UWA as she is known, and also welcome to the winners announcements for the Slartist@UWA Machinima Challenge 2018. As is tradition at UWA, I 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.

Pretty sad day for me personally, and for all art in Second Life as we just learned that one of her finest exponents, Alizarin Goldflake has passed away peacefully after fighting a long illness. I met Alizarin in 2009, and she was one of the first artists at UWA. We have her artwork, ‘The Maze’ set up close to the Hackett Buildings. The artwork was one of the first 3 works received when UWA commenced their challenges. I received it when I was running the art events myself. I didn’t know what to do or how to do it. Before quadrapop Lane took over the art curation, before FreeWee Ling. Alizarin had to tell me not to try and wear her artwork like a HUD. Rest in Peace Alizarin.

The day is also sad as it brings to an end the grand art and film challenges run by UWA, which started almost a decade ago in 2009, with Alizarin and other pioneers, who included Soror Nishi & Oberon Onmura. In the past there had been tough times and moments when it looked we wouldn't make it this far, but we scrambled and pulled through, and now when we bring things to a close, there is no better way than through this challenge which would not exist if not for one of the unsung heroes of Second Life, LaPiscean Liberty founder of SLARTIST & AviewTV. UWA came into the art and film fold as some of the previous great champions, Bettina Tizzy of Not Possible IRL, Lumiere Noir of the Ivory Tower of Prims and Jopsy Pendragon of the Particle Laboratory were pulling back, and I think we started a different chapter in the art and film history of virtual worlds.... likewise as we disappear into the digital night, others will emerge and take the lead. Whats pleasing though is that we're closing the circle on film and art challenges at a time and place of our own choosing. Many of the award presentation events were held at the UWA-BOSL Grand 4-SIM Amphitheatre created by Patch Thibaud, but the very first Machinima awards ceremony we held, was right here, where Cisko Vandevere of Germany walked away with the grand prize! Anyway its not the end of the UWA Sims, which will be around another year with FreeWee Ling perhaps running art activities.

As previously mentioned, the ‘title sponsor’ for the event is LaPiscean Liberty, and what he started mushroomed as many things in SL that we have been involved with does and evolved into a wonderful partnership with many other groups and individuals including Singh Albatross and The Writers Centre, Singapore who gave us the wonderful ‘Merlion’ part of the challenge, language teacher, Kip Boan & Virtlantis a long term sponsor for UWA events, and Pooky Amsterdam, doyen of the machinima world with PookyMedia. The final sponsor of course is the UWA Virtual Worlds Project. Much thanks for this amazing prize pool of L$430,000.

The theme of the SLartist@UWA Machinima Challenge was 'ART OF THE ARTISTS.' Collaborations and partnerships are something we have always wanted to encourage in SL. In fact, on the 24th of June 2010, I was asked to give an address at Second Life’s 7th birthday celebrations, and the title of my speech was “Unexpected Collaborations in Second Life” http://uwainsl.blogspot.com.au/2010/06/unexpected-collaborations-uwainsl-and.html

Anyway for this current event, we encouraged connections and collaborations between 3D artists and machinima makers. Any artworks that sat on the UWA Sims in Second Life at any point in time, going back to artworks created when the sims themselves were created in 2009, could be selected to feature in the machinimas. Filmmakers could choose individual artworks or a collection of artworks around which to weave a story, and machinima makers could work with the artists to film anywhere. It did not have to be shot on these grounds. Must acknowledge here Eliza Weirwight who created the artwork for the poster for this event. She has created the poster for events at UWA for as long as I remember and has always given us something truly special.

Its been an absolute pleasure for me to work with all of you over the course of these challenges, and over the years, and especially to those who went above and beyond the call of duty to make all of this a success. Thank you for being here. I acknowledge one last time that the UWA Art, Architectural & Machinima Challenges, the teaching & research have seen people from all corners of the globe involved, with students, artists, builders, researchers and machinimatographers hailing from Turkey, Kuwait, Romania, Indonesia, Malaysia, Lithuania, Singapore, Costa Rica, the Philippines, Finland, Greece, India, Colombia, Poland, Norway, South Africa, Sweden, Ukraine, Taiwan, Hungary, Latvia, Russia, Venezuela, Belgium, Mexico, Wales, Canada, the USA, the UK, Uruguay, Scotland, England, Spain, Switzerland, Italy, France, the French Carribean, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Denmark, Holland, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Portugal, Austria, Cuba, Serbia, Tunisia, Germany, Japan, New Zealand, Australia and parts unknown. More than 50 nations with 6 of the 7 continents of the world represented.

A special thanks goes to FreeWee Ling, curator of art at UWA and RL Honorary Fellow at UWA. I have already mentioned La Piscean, but this is probably my last chance to do so in public, so, just want to thank him again. He has been for so many years and still is, and we hope always will be a champion of machinima in Second Life. A lot of great things at UWA would not have been possible if not for this wonderful, reliable gentleman being there and with FreeWee Ling supporting everyone and everything across the sims.

We’re very proud of a number of innovations pioneered by UWA.

Year Long Challenge with Monthly Awards
That was my first foray into the SL art world. Announcing a year long challenge when I had no curator, no artspace, no knowledge of SL art. I was told by quite a few including Bettina Tizzy that there was no way we could sustain interest. That 1 month in SL was 1 year RL. But, I didn’t listen to that sage advice, and thankfully providence sent down the first of many angels who had assisted across the years in the form of quadrapop Lane, and that first year was an incredibly successful one managing to build an art community.

Art Receiver
We constructed an art receiver in 2009 in time for the first art challenge when something similar didn’t really exist in SL. I knew what I wanted it to do and had help from a number of scripters to create it. This allowed anyone to ‘drop’ their artwork in the receiver as a way to submit rather than have to give it to another avatar.

Immediate Exhibition of Artwork and Machinima
Most art exhibitions, the art is received and all collected and then set up and then when fully ready open to all. With us, we wanted anything that came in immediately displayed and highlighted on the blog, and this is what we did from the start both with artwork and machinima. Made it very tough for the curators across the years, but they managed magnificently in having to constantly change and adjust the gallery to accommodate the growing list of works for every challenge. 

Audience Participation Prize
We tried people’s choice awards, but found it put pressure on artists in an undue manner, and we wanted to find a way to make things different from a popularity contest, so for our awards, the audience had to ‘guess’ the top 10 as they thought the judges would decide, this way, anyone who wanted to take part would have to see all the artwork before providing an educated guess, with no pressure on them to ‘vote’ for friends and no pressure on artists to ask for favours.

Collaboration Art Challenge
The 2nd year of the grand challenges was one which brought the many major art groups across SL together including Pirats, Uni of Texas San Antonio, SL Art, Odyssey, CARP, Nordan Art, BOSL, S&S Gallery of Fine Art, Tornado Gallery… where we provided L$5,000 each month in the names of 5 of these art groups, and some putting up their own prizes.

Judging Panel Construction
Many challenges we had panels of between 20-30 people from all walks of life and all over the SL & RL world. We did this to reduce the influence of any single judge and not allow one or two individuals to have to big a say.

And that brings us nicely to this next portion, prior to getting to the awards. Judging was done completely differently this time, and I do want to acknowledge the amazing judging panel we had. There were 4 distinct sets of judges here. The main judging panel, was led by the mother of SL machinima, Chantal Harvey!

The panel was brought together by Chantal, who was the panel chair, with other judges being:

• Chantal Harvey - Judging Panel Chair
• Harnake Hunspal - Freelance Producer and Director
• Tess Baxter (SL: tizzy canucci) – Digital artist and PhD candidate in contemporary art at Lancaster University
• Craig Harbison – CEO of Diamond gate Films, https://www.facebook.com/Harb40

The panel for the Merlion Prize, was jointly led by Singh Albatross and Kaylee West.

The panel for the PookyMedia Prize, led by Pooky Amsterdam.

The panel for the UWA Prize & Craft Prizes, was led by yours truly.

The order of events for today: I will invite Chantal Harvey to say a few words about machinima in general, then we will start with the awards announcements. Just before the announcement of the top 5 overall, we will have the announcement of the winner of the PookyMedia Prize, followed by an invite to Kaylee West to speak on behalf of the Writers Centre Singapore, and to announce the winner of the Merlion Prize, and then we will have the announcements of the UWA Prize, and then followed by the overall top 5.

CHANTAL, the floor is yours!

[Chantal Harvey]: First of all I like to thank Harnake Hunspal, she helped out with judging. She is an rl filmmaker. I also want to honor Alizarin Goldflake and the father of machinima, Hugh Hancock, who passed away recently. And Jayjay, Lap, all my old friends of machinima in here, it was great to be involved in this contest. I saw so many good films. I wanted to let them win all, of them! Your efforts are so wonderful. Even if u dont win first price, be very proud! We should continue the efforts of jayjay. The next contest will carry his name. I promise! I dont want to keep you long, as you are eager to find out who wins this. The jury was divided, but in the end we agreed congratulations to you all.

[JayJay] OK, now to the awards. A number of special Craft awards will be presented, before moving on to the top 5. When the winners are announced, it will be done in 1 minute intervals. We do invite everyone to comment and congratulate the winners and for the winners to respond before the next announcement.

First of all, is the AWARD FOR ENCHANTMENT which carries a L$7,000 prize. A truly enchanting film, the Award for Enchantment goes to:
“Art and Transformation - a dialogue at intervals” by LAMPITHALER,

This work features the art of Giovanna Cerise, FreeWee Ling, Noke Yuitza , Cherry Manga , Djehuti-Anpu (aka Thoth Jantzen) , Miso Susanowa/Len Zuks, Rebeca Bashly, Pale Illusion, Hankvoight Resident, Blue Tsuki, ErikoLeo, Myra Wildmist , Dusty Canning, Haveit Neox and Lilia Artis, Sean Tempest, Claude Belgar, Jedda Zenovka, Moewe Winkler. One of the judges commented on this work saying, “I like the film especially from 2.55, with the art references and particularly Salvador Dali”.

Next we have THE INNOVATION AWARD (L$7,000) to a work that told a story in a very interesting and innovative way. And thus The Innovation Award goes to:

“A Night of TV” by SECRET RAGE of Dallas, Texas, USA.
A prolific artist as well, this machinima features the creations of Secret herself. Secrets contributions to the various art and film challenges at UWA across the years are matched by few.

Next we have THE ARTISTRY PRIZE, also carrying a L$7,000 prize, which goes to:
“Alcyon and Ceyx” by JOSEPH NUSSBAUM
This stylish work features the artwork "A Virtual Wander in Two Dimensions and a Half" by ErikoLeo. A judge commented, “The title references the Greek myth of Alcyone and Ceyx, husband and wife who are transformed into kingfishers. I like the addition of the classical artwork at 2.04 and 2.18.”

Next up is the L$7,000 AWARD FOR RHYTHM, and the winner of this award has shown the same across years of brilliant filmmaking in virtual worlds. One of the foremost exponents of machinima in the world, the Award for Rhythm goes to:
“Happy” by IONO ALLEN of France
This lyrical work features the art of Chim Kami, JadeYu Fhang, Theda Tammas, Misprint Thursday, Rose Borchovski, Scottius Polke, Nevereux, Oberon Onmura, Igor Ballyhoo, Jo Ellsmere, Eupalinos Ugajin, Simotron Aquila, Artistide Despres, Haveit Neox and SaveMe Oh. A judge commented, “The film is well made, I like the vibrant colors and the music track suits the concept. The crisp graphic feel of the film, and the playful edit, make it a joy to watch.”

The ability to make us laugh is one of the greatest gifts one can have which is whi we are recognizing an AWARD FOR HUMOUR (L$7,000). And keeping us all in great spirit, this award goes to:
“RRR – 3rd Eye Open” by GERHARD HELMUT (REBEL) and LILA~R
Artworks featured in this are "The Pineal Gland" by Ub Yifu, "He Holds Her Heart" by LunaEnigma - Luna Cobain, "Skeleton" by JointVenture Resident and "The Merlion" by Rebecca Bashly.

Moving on, we have the ANTON MESTER AWARD (L$7,000), this is a tribute to the person who lent his name to the phrase ‘mesmerising’. This award goes to:
“Staring Into the Aperture” by VEYOT
This work has a special focus on the artwork of FreeWee Ling.

There are many styles of film and many different ways to create machinima, and one method relies on photography. We do have an award for BEST PHOTOGRAPHY in film, and this goes to:
“MemesZ” by TANTRA SANGHA & M1NN0TAUR
This work features creation by a number of artists including Rebeca Bashly and Kazuhiro Aridian.

As mentioned there are many styles of film, and one of this is Experimental film, which does not follow conventional narrative structure. The EXPERIMENTAL FILM AWARD (L$7,000) goes to:
“Change Dreams” by ELLE THORKVELD
This creation features artwork by FreeWee Ling, and Isadora Alaya (otcoc) & Emma (phillysmaybe).

The final ‘Craft’ type award, celebrates yet another style of film, and we have an award for BEST DOCUMENTARY STYLE ART FILM (L$7,000), and this goes to:
“A Journey from the Past: Singapore” by DIANA ROSE of Jakarta, Indonesia
This creation spans many hundreds of years features the art of Rebeca Bashly, Nish Mip, Djehuti-Anpu (aka Thoth Jansen), Elle Thorkveld, Rosie Dimanovic, Ama Avro, Igor Ballyhoo, Krystali Rabeni, Eliza Wierwight and Pumpkin Tripsa.

Now on to the UWA Special Prize, which originally carried a L$50,000 sum, however due to a number of reasons which will become apparent very soon, this amount had to be increased to L$51,000. Now many people who attended UWA events in the past will notice something curious. Up to now, 9 awards have been presented, and there have been no ties at all. Very unusual. Well, fret no more as we have now a 3-way tie for the UWA Special Prize, so each will receive L$17,000.

These are all beautiful works that touch the heart.

The first joint-winner of the UWA Special Prize L$17,000) is:
“For Love and Art” by AMELIE MARCOUD
Featuring artworks by Krystali Rabeni, Elle Thorkveld, Rebecca Bashly, Nish Mip, and Mistero Hifeng. One of the judges said of this work, “Well-made short rounded story. Good detail. Creative sequences. Voice fits the main character, and is delivered well.”

Next the joint-winner of the UWA Special Prize L$17,000) is:
Never Say Never” by SUZIE ANDERTON of Inworld Films
This machinima pays special tribute to an artwork which won one of the UWA Grand Challenges, created by Australian artist Sharni Azalee. One of the judges said, “This is a creative film with good detail, and script. Well made. Fantasy vs Reality. Very cinematic. Excellent transitions and fit between audio and visual. The idea is a classic, and the dreamlike filming works well.”

Rounding out the 3-way tie, the joint-winner of the UWA Special Prize L$17,000) is:
“The Amalgamation of Objects” by CHIC AEON of Corvallis, Oregon, USA
Featuring the art of Shenn Coleman and Rebeca Bashly. Chic’s creations are always of the highest order and have the ability to reach deep within one’s consciousness.

Now moving on to the PookyMedia Prize of L$50,000 awarded by Pooky Amsterdam. For this. I would like to invite Pooky up to say a few words and announce the winner!

[Pooky Amsterdam]: Film making is about that intimate magic which happens when your film meets my eyes and ears- about how we are moved emotionally and thoughtfully by the materials and elements of film which have been created, and here tfor this challenge. The films were wonderful to watch and I looked for meaning and beauty, which were provided, inspired by the great art from many great artists at the UWA sims.

There is someone for whom rendering all aspects of film, from potatoes to protagonists is not just second nature, but first, third and fourth. Their touching film film this year gave me chills, tears and cheers, I would like to announce what has to be called The Bryn Oh Award and this years recipient for $25,000L is Bryn Oh! for Cerulean featuring the artist's own work "The Cerulean" Or possibly, "The Shape of Prims in Water".

For 2nd Place 15,000L is the film which gave me a beautiful overview of the works while showing is an artist who made a wonderful piece that delivered everything pacing, visual pow, quotes to live by and a great deal of personal drive, . A great Artist indeed --Tutsy Navarantha for "Serendipity".
3rd Place for 5,000 is a lovely romantic piece using real life footage and greyscale very well -Suzie Anderton (Inworld Films): Never Say Never", featuring the prize-winning installation by Sharni Azalee.

Honorable mention who get 1,000L each:

• Amelie Marcoud: "For Love and Art"
• Chic Aeon: "The Amalgamation of Objects"
• Lampithaler: "Art and Transformation - a dialogue at intervals"
• Iono Allen: "Happy"
• Isabelle Cheren: "Before The World Was Made"

Thank you to LaPisceanLiberty who is a driving force in all Machinima in Second Life and should very well get the recognition and rewards he deserves in being such a great power and believer in our art form. The world is still catching up with you Everyone a huge round of applause for Lap!
Thank you JayJay for everything you do and have done and will do, we would all be poorer in artistic ambition and realization without you! Yay JayJay Goodnight, good day and good morning!”

[JayJay]: And now, we have “The Merlion” Special Prize of L$50,000 which was kindly sponsored by Singh Albatross and The Writers Centre Singapore. Representing the Writers Centre  Singapore, we have a wonderful Australian academic, Kaylee West, who will say a few words and announce the winners as well as hand over the winners cheques. Take it away Kaylee.

KAYLEE WEST (FOR THE WRITERS CENTRE, SINGAPORE)
[Kaylee West]: My name is Kaylee West. I am a lecturer in the Chinese Studies program at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia. On behalf of the Director of the Writers Centre, Singapore, my esteemed colleague Dr Sing Albatross and myself I would like to take this opportunity to thank Jay Jay, FreeWee and the other people associated with the creation and running of the Slartist@UWA Machinima Challenge for the opportunity to take part in this truly inspiring event. I would also like to express my admiration for all of the entrants in the competition for the incredible talent and creativity they have demonstrated through their entries.

The Merlion Portal here in Second Life is a multi-dimensional art and literature gallery focusing on unpacking the national myth making of Singapore's most iconic symbol, the Merlion, and the poem it inspired called "Ulysses by the Merlion" by the island nation's elder statesman poet Professor Edwin Thumboo. It is also the starting point for an epic journey of literary and cultural exploration envisaged by Singh and myself that hopes, in the form of machinima and live performance, to traverse the historic, geographic, literary, cultural, and ethnic length and breadth of the nautical Silk Road from the South-East Asia spice trade era and the New Silk Road in the modern era. From Singapore, through South-East Asia, Indo-China, China, Central Asia and on to Europe, this journey is an opportunity to forge closer ties between Western and Eastern cultures. We believe SL is a perfect place to imagine how this might take place. To this effect, in addition to the Merlion Portal, we held our first live performance in 2017 entitled "Caravanserai". Later this year we will be offering a 2nd Merlion Prize as part of the Lit Up Asia Pacific Spoken Word Festival being held in RL in Singapore and in SL from October 12 - 14. We warmly welcome ongoing collaboration and look forward to exhibiting your works during the festival. If you would like to learn more about the festival the following links will be useful:

http://litup.sg
https://www.facebook.com/LitUpSingapore/

To visit the Merlion Portal please click the sign on stage for a notecard and LM. We also warmly encourage you to contact either of us about potential future collaboration or details of the festival, or with any questions you might have about the Merlion Portal.

It is with great delight that I would now like to announce the winners of the Merlion Prize. Given the caliber of the entries this was a tough decision for Singh and I. Indeed, we ultimately decided on three winners. In no particular order, the three winners of the Merlion Prize are:

• Lampithaler for "Art and Transformation - a dialogue at intervals"
• Amelie Marcoud for "For Love and Art"
• Diana Rose for "A Journey From the Past: Singapore"

We would like to invite the winners to come up on stage to receive their prize of L$16,666 each from Dr Albatross.

Please show your appreciation for our winners.

[JayJay]: Now heading for the finale, we move to the top 5 as we head to the grand finale as selected by the main panel led by Chantal Harvey.

So now in 5^th place overall for the Slartist@UWA Machinima Challenge, taking home L$20,000 is:
“Cerulean” by Bryn Oh of Canada
This machinima centres around one of Bryn’s own creations and one of the panel commented, “The dreamlike quality of the work is very successful. The mise-en-scene is visually appealing. The film has the right duration. I think the music track works well with the concept. Bryn‘s virtual art and machinima are stunning together. The graphics and the pace of the film, the sound effects and the music, it is a perfect match. I really like this film, it is beautifully made, and has a sweet narrative - I even like the title”.

4^th place overall for the Slartist@UWA Machinima Challenge, taking home L$30,000 is:
“Before the World was Made” by ISABELLECHEREN of the UK
This film featured the work of artists Noke Yuitza, Otcoc Resident & Phillysmaybe Resident, Peli Dieterle, Igor Ballyhoo, and Rosie Dimanovic. One of the panel offered, “The concept of this film is very good; it is beautifully made, very artistic and creative.  The section in the middle almost feels like it belongs to a different film, and I appreciate it as a separate entity. I like the delivery of the poem, it is easy to follow. There is a dream-like feel to this film, very soothing.

3^rd place overall for the Slartist@UWA Machinima Challenge, taking home L$40,000 is:
”The River of Forgetting” by NATASCHA RANDT and KARIMA HOISAN of Gelsenkirchen,Germany and San Isidro del General, Costa Rica
This sumptuous creation, features the work of artist Silas Merlin, where they worked together with him, or rather received his permission in tweaking the artwork to suit the needs of the film. A panel member commented, “Well made, good detail. Script follows the imagery. Some sequences have amazing artistic skill. The wonderful edit certainly plays a big part in the success of this film. The story takes you by the hand. I like the way this film takes one artwork as a concept, instead of showcasing it.”

And then there were 2…

2^nd place overall for the Slartist@UWA Machinima Challenge, taking home L$50,000 is: “Serendipity” by TUTSYNAVARATHNA of Pondicherry, India
"Serendipity" featured art by Misprint Thursday, Giovanna Cerise, Holala Alter, FreeWee Ling, Igor Ballyhoo, Alpha Auer, Myra Windmist, Rebeca Bashly, Nish Mip, Frankx Lefavre, Jipe Loon, Jo Ellsemere, Rosie Dimanovic, Miso Susanowa, Thierry Lowtide, Hankvoight Resident, Jade Yu Fhang, Mistero Hifeng, Pumpkin Tripsa, Anley Piers, Claudia222 Jewel, Cherry Manga, Elie Maurice, Romy Nayar, Livio Korobase, Theda Tammas, Kristali Rabeni. A judge commented, “Here is a creative setting for an assembly of works. The film is artistic, with beautiful imagery and quotes to create a uniform structure and theme. Good and appropriate music track. This film shows a lot of the virtual art presented at UWA, and honors it rightly. I like the narrative, the film has you captured from start to finish.”

And so it is, one of the greatest champions at UWA falls just short twice in a row at the final hurdle. Tutsy's record is unparalleled! Tutsy has featured in every single UWA film challenge except the very first one, and has been in the top 3 every single time, with only Laurina Hawks, Bradley Dorchester, Vilvi Rae and Kobuk Farshore having ever finished ahead of him. We add one more name to that list today.

In MachinimUWA II: Art of the Artists, Tutsy took 3rd with 'An Artform is Born'

In MachinimUWA III: Journeys, Tutsy was Joint 1st along with Eric Boccara with his groundbreaking work, 'Journey into the Metaverse'

In MachinimUWA IV: Art of the Artists, Tutsy was 1st with 'Welcome to the OtherSide'

In MachinimUWA V: Seek Wisdom, Tutsy was 1st again, with 'The Last Syllable ofRecorded Time'

In MachinimUWA VI: Reflections, Tutsy was 2nd with 'Narcissus'

And in MachinimUWA VII: Transcending Borders, Tutsy roared back to 1st with a dominating performance with 'MetaPhore'

MachinimUWA VIII Pursue Impossible, Tutsy’s Death of Death was pipped by Kobuk Farshore of Alaska, by 1 point.

4 time winner of the MachinimUWA challenges. Thank you Tutsy Navarathna!


Before announcing the winner, I would like to acknowledge ALL the grand champions of past UWA Challenges. For 3D art, they include Nish Mip, Misprint Thursday, Lollito Larkham, Glyph Graves, Alpha Auerand Sharni Azalee. For machinima they include Cisko Vandeverre, Bradley Dorchester, Tutsy Navarathna, Eric Boccara, Laurina Hawks, Vilvi Rae and Kobuk Farshore. Now we add one final name to this illustrious list going back to 2009, as the digital light flickers off on the chapter that heralded the grand challenges at UWA.

The WINNER of the Slartist@UWA Machinima Challenge: Art of the Artists, taking home L$75,000 is:

"Adaptive ResonanceTheory (ART) and Intrusion Detection System(IDS)" by GLASZ DECUIR
This creation featured the art of Isadora Alaya (otcoc Resident) and Emma (phillysmaybe Resident), Nish Mip, Rose Borchovski, FreeWee Ling, Bryn Oh, Yooma Mayo, Betty Tureaud, Holala Alter, Silas Merlin, Cica Ghost, Bryn Oh, SaveMe Oh, Blue Tsuki, Cherry Manga, Shenn Coleman, Krystali Rabeni. The Chief judge commented, "I really like this piece, it is well planned, artistic and creative. Good work. The theme of the ‘head’ links the film throughout. I also really like the closing sequence, it’s different to the rest of the film but it works really well as a resolution. The music track suits the concept. The edit is outstanding and fits the music, there is a story told. This film works beyond the Second Life environment and honors the artworks. Excellent use of pastiche/collage.Visuals and music worked together well. 

Glasz advised me that for the future instead of doing ‘Art of the Artists’, we should do ‘Machinima of the Machinimists’, with focus on machinima. That’s a great idea actually and perhaps one formulation of this idea could be such that artists create an artwork as a response to a machinima. All that I leave to the next generation, who will step in as the curtains come down here.

It has been an honour for me, the accidental art and film caretaker over the years to work with so many of you and have the privilege of viewing your art and film. The relationships built here have crossed over to RL as well, as I have met a number of artists and filmmakers from SL in RL, with FreeWee Ling spending a few months at UWA on an Australia-US Fellowship as well. The people of SL have helped my older son win a number of Peoples Choice events, as sometime over the past 2 years he suddenly became quite a successful filmmaker being selected for 4 Academy Award qualifying festivals, and when I travel to Denmark this July with my younger son for the World Triathlon Championships, another SL artist has offered to put us up for a while and show us around. Life has been definitely richer because of my involvement with SL, and I hope the friendships created will last well beyond the middle of 2019, when the digital night is likely to set on the UWA sims themselves. Thank you one and all.

Thank you again LaPiscean Liberty. I hand the floor to you to end the Grand Finale by saying a few words, after which the winner will play.

I am glad that my final official act in Second Life is giving the floor, to the amazing Lapiscean Liberty.