ATOMIC SHOCK AS NYX ROLLS ON: WINNERS OF THE FEBRUARY ROUND OF THE UWA 3D ART & DESIGN CHALLENGE

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A wonderful steampunk based work called the 'Atomic-Go-Round' by US Midwest (Indiana) artist, Atomic Gaffer claimed the L$5,000 IMAGINE Prize in the February round of the UWA 3D Art & Design Imagine Challenge. At the same time, the Nyx Breen machine rolled on to claim another win in the Flagship Challenge with his 'AxS Gallery,' this is the 3rd time overall he has won the main Flagship Prize.



Nyx also went back-to-back with winning the Casey Cultural Prize with the same building as he constructed his Flagship entry from typical WA materials; jarrah and limestone.



For this prize though, he had to share the limelight, as there was a tie for first prize with Olmia Tenk and her entry 'Viewing WA'. Olmia's work brought together historic, contemporary and multi-cultural dimensions of WA in a diorama form.



Commenting on his win, Atomic Gaffer said, "Thank you very much JayJay, Quad and everyone else associated with the UWA! My artwork, both RL and SL tend to be very thematic, and I try to tell a story in every piece. Many are quite dark in their approach. "Atomic Go-Round" was a cathartic departure for me that was quite enjoyable and freeing. I use the same techniques and approach in RL and SL work, and the Carousel was really very enjoyable to create and watch people enjoy."

Nyx has also already submitted his March build for the Flagship challenge and it will take a lot from preventing this juggernaught from winning his 4th top Flagship Prize. Nyx Breen said, "Well thank you again, it has been an honor and a privilege to work with learn from and share with so many truly great artist that the UWA experience has provided to me. Honestly, it has been the highlight of my creative side in SL to associated with this group. And thank you to the Casey Cultural Committee for their opportunity in helping me recognize that SL is truly a multi-world and multi-learning opportunity that I believe it was originally designed to be when it was conceived. Thank you again. I'm looking forward to March and the wonderful art and experiences we will share. If the creations are as good as we have seen in the first half of the year we are in for some amazing things."



Numerous other awards were also given, and the Artist Book Prize was won by the RL/SL combination of Len Zuks and Miso Susanowa with their work 'Lil' Eizenstein'.



The People's Choice Award taken by Pol Jarvinen's 'Castle' over Fuschia Nightfire's somewhat controversial piece.



soror Nishi's 'Night Orchid' took out the Best Non-Scripted Imagine prize, and Alizarin Goldflake took 2nd Prize for the Imagine Challenge for a 2nd time with her piece 'Night light'.



A record total of 74 entries were submitted for the February round of the challenge with 71 artworks for IMAGINE and 3 FLAGSHIP builds. Challenge co-host, Jayjay Zifanwe said, "The international connections made through SL are very important to me, and through FEBRUARY, the challenges have seen Artists & Builders hailing from Canada, the USA, the UK, Uruguay, Scotland, England, Spain, Switzerland, Italy, France, Brazil, Chile, Denmark, Holland, Ireland, Portugal, Austria, Cuba, Serbia, Tunisia, Germany, Japan, New Zealand and Australia. Thats 6 of the 7 continents of the world represented. Special prize to the person who introduces me to an artist from Antarctica!".

Other winners on the night included Ivy Lane & Phil Metalhead (2nd prize, Flagship Challenge), Gumby Roffo (Honary Mention, Casey Cultural Prize), Physeter Nicholls (Honary Mention, Artist Book Prize) and the Honary mention prize winners from the Imagine Challenge fro February; Sharni Azalee, FreeWee Ling, Ub Yifu, and Feathers Boa.

Developments within the UWA presence in SL were also announced.
The 4th UWA Sim has come on-line, thanks to a partnership with Kip Yellowjacket & Second Life English. The 4th SIM, UWA Virtlantis will be launched at 5am SLT on Sunday 14th March and will feature what is probably the tallest structure currently existing in Second Life, DanCoyote Antonelli's Tower of Light. The Tower is symbolic as an anti-tower of Babel, as the aim of this SIM is to bring together peoples and cultures from all around the world for language exchange and learning

Another development is the partnership between BURNIVERSITY and UWA with regards to Artist talks. More to follow on this, but we'll end with this joint statement by White Lebed and Jayjay, "Sometimes the best things happen naturally, spontaneously without any planning. When it came up that the Burniversity educational program led by White Lebed was similar to the UWA Artist Talks, we both thought that is would be of benefit to co-brand the events. When hosted at Burniversity with White, it will be the Burniversity/UWA Artist Talk, and when hosted at UWA with quadrapop Lane it will be the UWA/Burniversity Artist Talk. Previous collaborations such as the Machinima have been very successful, and we know that our collaboration in this as well can be very productive and mutually beneficial. We are sure the art talks will become something extremely valuable for the SL artists, for those who participate in Burning Life events and also in the UWA 3D Art & Design Challenges!"

ColeMarie Soleil's machinima review of the January IMAGINE Winners. And Magggnnus Woodget's use of the same machinima viewed from within SL using the new Beta SL Viewer 2.0's SharedMedia as part of his own video of the UWA Winners Party Feb 2010. This new SL viewer will see a renaissance in what Art can be and do in SL, what Magggnnus has done is but one small offering of the huge possibilities of this one new aspect of SL.

Photos of the February entries taken by quadrapop Lane are available on the UWAinSL KOINUP page.


IMAGINE CHALLENGE - 3D ART

Imagine Challenge 1st Prize
($L5,000 + Custom T-Shirt)
ATOMIC-GO-ROUND by Atomic Gaffer



Imagine Challenge 2nd Prize
($L1,250)
NIGHT LIGHT by Alizarin Gldflake



Best Non-Scripted Entry
($L1,250 + Custom T-Shirt)
THE NIGHT ORCHID by soror Nishi



Casey WA Cultural Prize 1st Prize
(L$4,000) JOINT AWARD FOR FEBRUARY
VIEWING WA by Olmia Tenk & AXS GALLERY by Nyx Breen



FLAGSHIP CHALLENGE - BUILDING DESIGN

Flagship Challenge 1st Prize
($L5,000)
AxS GALLERY by Nyx Breen




Flagship Challenge 2nd Prize
($L1,250)
ANGEL GALLERY by Ivy Lane & Phil Metalhead








Honourable Mention Prize for CASEY CULTURAL PRIZE
(L$500)
MV OCEAN DROVER by Gumby Roffo



Honourable Mention Prize for TECHNICAL BRILLIANCE
(L$500)
MAKING LOVE by Sharni Azalee



Honourable Mention Prize for ILLUSION
(L$500)
MAYA by Miso Susanowa




Honourable Mention Prize for INTERACTION
(L$500)
ODALISQUE 1 LACKING VERSIMILITUDE by FreeWee Ling



Honourable Mention Prize for RADIANCE
(L$500)
SUN'S BIRTH by Ub Yifu



Honourable Mention Prize for SUBTLETY
(L$500)
URBAN ANGEL by Feathers Boa



ARTIST BOOK PRIZE - 1st Prize
(L$2,000)
LIL' EIZENSTEIN Len Zuks & Miso Susanowa



ARTIST BOOK PRIZE - Honourable Mention
(L$500)
WHO WROTE THE BOOK Physeter Nicholls



PEOPLE'S CHOICE AWARD
(L$500)
CASTLE by Pol Jarvinen






The UWA 3d Art & Design Challenge Entries receiver will be accepting entries for the March round till 31st March. Get your entry in early, as works come in they are displayed, so the sooner the entries are received the longer they are on display. The February display will be pulled down by Wednesday this week and the new works will start to go up, we already have some exciting entries for March.

February People's choice

The UWA 3D Art & Design People's Choice board for February is up and running - you only have until midnight SLT Saturday 6th March (that's under 72 hours as of time of posting) to get on over to the Imagine Challenge display platform on UWA to look at an incredible 71 artworks (the board only fits 70!) spread over 4 levels. The People's Choice board has grown so big that we had to move it to the back of the main floor (Level 1).

Each visitor has 3 votes to cast on their favourite works (one per work) and we don't envy you the task as this month is no exception in the hard to pick stakes...

There is something for everyone... traditional sculpture, SL only sculpture, immersive builds, interactive, puzzling, even politically motivated works.

Turn draw to 128-250m, turn music down and sounds up, touch everything, sit on everything (you may even be rescued by a robot! - and get a free outfit for your efforts), try walking into sculptures, play streaming media and explore video art, and 'cam' inside. See if you can find the following.... a monkey, a goldfish, a sheep, a kangaroo and the earth at night.



As Soror said in her blog post about this month's display "There are 70 entries, this month, and everyone is worth a look and some are worth two looks"

February Artist Talks - Igor Ballyhoo

For the second of our monthly talks we have Igor Ballyhoo - artist and multiple UWA 3D Art & Design Imagine Challenge winner. Twenty two avatars gathered at 3pm SLT Saturday 20th February on the UWA Artist Talks Platform on UWA sim to hear Igor talk about works he has entered in the competition and some others, in so doing he demonstrating the wide ranging skills and interests of this dedicated artist.



What follows is the usual edited transcript of the talk and questions with images taken by quadrapop to illustrate the discussion.
If you do not see your contribution to the discussion it means we do not have blanket permission from you to publish your chat at the Artist Talks.



Igor Ballyhoo: this thing (Igor rezzed his Imagine Challenge winning piece "Kunst der Fuge")
quadrapop Lane: if the piece is a bit big for the area you can rez to one side
Igor Ballyhoo: I think it is fine
quadrapop Lane: :)
Igor Ballyhoo: ppl seen it anyhow already :)
but I realised many ppl have no idea what I made
this is my visualisation of one of J.S.Bach's masterpices
"Kunst der fuge"
it is strange musical work for more reasons
first of all it was never instrumentalised
so it was played on many instruments from organs to saxophone
second, many music historians donet even consider it for a serous work from Bach
they suspect it is only his intelectual practice
like we do while we think about serious things, drawing on piece of paper without plan
most important view for me
many ppl think it is written as mathemathical formula
it has elements of binary code
IF we look at it from that point of view
it would be first digital music ever...
quadrapop Lane: :)
[here is You Tube of Glen Gould playing Kunst der fuge ]
Igor Ballyhoo: long before term digital existed at all
Kunst der fuge for me has fine grid cage
inside it I felt demons wjo were not hostile
I tryed to put it all in one sterile unlimited space dimension
of this white cube with no defined walls
this "chaos in order" cage is exactly frame which I hear in Kunst
that is all I can tell about it...
it is beautiful work from Bach, I feel just like instrument which adapted it for eyes
quadrapop Lane: this piece won both the Imagine Challenge and the People's Choice award for December
Igor Ballyhoo: since kunst was never instrumentalised, I guess visualising it is not wrong at all
in case some of u never listened to "Kunst der fuge" I sugest u search for Glen Gould's performance of it
he does it on organ and piano
quadrapop Lane: Do you see all your works as visualisations of specific things (a piece of music for instance)?
Igor Ballyhoo: should I talk about some other work?
Igor Ballyhoo: no
sometimes I make statements
difference between what I do and most artists is
that I have no boundaries of recognizable style

one day I make this, other day I make political statement, next day I make butterfly
I use art to empty my mental stomach
we eat every day and we empty our intestins every day
we consume info every day
we should empty it as well
Gumby Roffo: it never ceses to amaze me the types of displays that are here each month, so much thoght, and the application of techniques to capture and display that thought, TY Igor I find this one most mezmerising.
quadrapop Lane: you build something every day?
Igor Ballyhoo: I made so far about 5000 builds
in less then 1000 days of my sl



Gumby Roffo: ahh I have seen that before
Igor Ballyhoo: I like to play with idea of perpetual motion
quadrapop Lane: :)
Igor Ballyhoo: perpetuum mobili for example
it is pure surreal build
I made it with idea of recycling in mind
pure eco stuff
quadrapop Lane: I have noticed that in the works of yours i have seen - a certain surreal element
Igor Ballyhoo: no big idea behind it
quadrapop Lane: do you have a favourite surrealist?
Igor Ballyhoo: I even sometimes make some builds many will see as religious themes, even if I am not religious
Igor Ballyhoo: all group formed around Dada, BUT!
Man Ray is the king
quadrapop Lane: :)
quadrapop Lane: I thought De Chrico when i saw your lounge
Igor Ballyhoo: some ppl see this as pure religious work
quadrapop Lane: but yes Man Ray :)



Igor Ballyhoo: this work for example is pure observation of deviation of society
we are all aware of this
and we all take it for granted
noone I met dissagree with this
yet noone talk about it
quadrapop Lane: I loved this piece
it says it all
Igor Ballyhoo: it is just machine that turn green in to the red and red back in to the green
quadrapop Lane: Igor I'd love to know the symbolism and story behind your current work in the imagine challenge - it is a powerful image
Igor Ballyhoo: it is "Lost childhood"?
quadrapop Lane: yes




Igor Ballyhoo: u ask about that?
stollen childhood exactly
it is abstraction in surrealist maner
abstraction not in meaning u got used to
abstraction in meaning that all that storry is put in few symbols
there is scissors that cut umbical cord of childhood b4 it is time to grow up
childhood is represented with tricycle,
which is old and rusty
since childhood never really stoped in that storry
child never become man, man never stoped beeing child
child realised it's time is passing before it should
and become opsessed with observing time it has left
there are also two figures
of mother and father
who act like they admitt their fault
and accept guilt
but red silk shawls
they have on their necks
show us their hypocracy
and how in fact they are selfish
if u dont mind, I will paste u few lines from one poem
by Peter handke

When the child was a child
It walked with its arms swinging,
wanted the brook to be a river,
the river to be a torrent,
and this puddle to be the sea.
When the child was a child,
it didn’t know that it was a child,
everything was soulful,
and all souls were one.
When the child was a child,
it had no opinion about anything,
had no habits,
it often sat cross-legged,
took off running,
had a cowlick in its hair,
and made no faces when photographed.

Audience member: Der Himmel über Berlin....
Igor Ballyhoo: yes, Peter was cowriter on that film
Audience member: so beautiful piece
Igor Ballyhoo: yes, I adore that film
any questions ppl?
quadrapop Lane: the poem adds beautifully to teh artwork Igor Ty for sharing that with us:)
Igor Ballyhoo: that is only part of poem
rest u digg urself, u will find it is beautiful I am sure
in case some of u didnt see that movie, I warmly recomend it
der himmel über berlin
ty for coming
quadrapop Lane: TY for all coming to hear Igor speak
Scottius was to talk today as well but has had to postpone as he is not well;(
we will have Scottius Polke and Miso Susanowa next month
Thank you Igor for an illuminating talk
Igor Ballyhoo: I must remember that word

All typos in the chat are the responsibility of the speakers.

MachinmUWA Winners Announcement

At 1pm slt, Monday 8th Feb 2009, an absolutely out of this world (in more ways than one) Machinima, called 'SEEK' by Cisko Vandeverre of Berlin, Germany took out the $L65,000 first prize of MachinimUWA: The UWA Machinima Challenge in the presence of more than 65 avatars and the doyen of Second Life, Torley Linden at a sparkling awards ceremony on the University of Western Australia Sim.

A 12 member international judging panel led by Professor Alan Robson (RL), Vice Chancellor of the University of Western Australia awarded the top prize to Cisko, ahead of a couple of other spectacular entries by Bradley Dorchester (2nd Prize, L$44,000) and ColeMarie Soleil (3rd Prize, L$42,000).



This challenge co-hosted by White Lebed and Jayjay Zifanwe attracted entries from around the world, and 13 finalists were shortlisted from Texas, Massachusetts, New York, Florida, Barcelona, San Sebastian, Paris, Maastricht, Berlin, Toronto and Perth.

Stunned by the win, Cisko was over the moon, 'I'm overwhelmed...need to calm down. Thank you. I love all of you. I need another drink.'


The judges thought that this was an absolute firecracker of a Machinima with a brilliant and very different approach. This had wonderful humour, amazing visual effects, great quality of editing and remarkable camera control.

With Bradley's work, the judges felt this had wonderful velocity with fantastic cutting to music transients, an epic soundtrack and showed off the "4 main elements" to great effect.

ColeMarie's brilliant modern and edgy piece was another favourite. Responding to the announcement, she said, 'I would like to thank all the artists involved in the creation of the UWA sims,and to UWA in particular, for this terrific opportunity to creatively express myself. To all my friends who gave me my space and understood how much working on this project meant to me, to JayJay for asking me to make this video, and Surrealia Anatine for getting me into machinima to start with. To energy drinks for keep me working late into the night, and Bryn Oh for 'subtle' yet threatening encouragements to finish this video.'

The judging panel had an extremely hard time seperating the entries, and a number of stand-out works had to finish in the finalist position. The overall quality of the entries is emhasised by the more than doubling of the overall prize pool from $L90,000 to $L215,000 within 5 minutes of the completion of the viewing of the finalists by the RL (real life) members of the panel.

Chantal Harvey, Masterdark Footman and Laslopantomik Yao won the Honourable Mention prizes ($L12,000) with Pyewacket Bellman, Iono Allen, Glasz DeCuir & Sophia Yates taking the Finalist prizes ($L7,000).

'I am so thankful to all the wonderful machinimatographers of Second Life who have so artfully put together works of brilliance that I am sure will be able to smash through the SL/RL barrier, and make SL and virtual worlds more relevant and prominent especially in the education sector. Words cannot express how thankful I am to my co-host, White Lebed, without whom the Challenge would not have started, and also to the wonderful people who provided the prizes, including the Casey Family of Western Australia, Dr Chris Thorne (RL), Philip Vought (SL), MidnightRain Glas (SL), Professor Alan Robson and John Stubbs of UWA and a secret benefactor,' said Jayjay.

In the words of Torley Linden as he was being TP'ed out at the end of the ceremony to attend to Viewer 2.0 matters, 'This has been awesometastic!'.

Yes Torley. It has indeed.


JUDGING PANEL

Professor Alan Robson (RL) - Vice-Chancellor, The University of Western Australia
Professor Ted Snell (RL) - Director, Cultural Precinct, The University of Western Australia
A/Professor Wade Halvorson (RL) - Lecturing in Marketing, Business and Electronic Commerce, The University of Western Australia
Colin Campbell Fraser (RL) - Principal Adviser (External Relations and Advocacy),
Vice-Chancellery, The University of Western Australia
Kelly Smith (RL) - Director, International Centre, The University of Western Australia
Jon Stubbs (RL) - Director, Student Services, The University of Western Australia
Susana Willis-Johnson (RL) - Marketing Manager, The University of Western Australia
Dr Carmen Fies (RL) - Assistant Professor, The University of Texas at San Antonio
Torley Linden (SL) - Linden Labs
White Lebed (SL) - Lead of Burning Life Art Department, Director of Special Events at UWA-SL
Raphaella Nightfire (SL) - CEO SW&MB Fashion Productions, CEO Evane Model Agency, Snr Writer Best of SL Magazine
and me, JayJay who made coffee and tea for the panel!

1ST PRIZE (L$65,000 + UWA Goody Bag)





CISKO VANDEVERRE
Berlin, Germany(SEEK)



2ND PRIZE (L$44,000 + UWA Goody Bag)




BRADLEY CURNOW
Perth, Australia
MachinimUWA: Art Architecture, Research, Teaching
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YN1k80dA3I8



3RD PRIZE (L$42,000 + UWA Goody Bag)



COLEMARIE SOLEIL
Florida USA (UWA Machinima Challenge Submission)




HONOURABLE MENTIONS (L$12,000 + UWA Goody Bag)

CHANTAL HARVEY
Maastricht, Netherlands
University of Western Australia in Second Life

LASLOPANTOMIK YAO
Barcelona, Spain
MachinimUWA

MASTERDARK FOOTMAN
Dallas, Texas, USA
(Link Unavailable)

FINALISTS (L$7,000 + UWA Goody Bag)

PYEWACKET BELLMAN
New York City, USA
University of Western Australia in Second Life


SOPHIA YATES
Lancaster, Massachusetts, USA
The Challenge - Architecture, Teaching, Research Arts on the UWA sims


IONO ALLEN
Paris, France
Seek Wisdom


GLASZ DECUIR
San Sebastian, Spain
MachinimUWA: UWA in Second Life, Achieving International Excellence


NOVA DYSZEL
Toronto, Canada
UWA in SL Challange


MASTERDARK FOOTMAN
Dallas, Texas, USA
(Link Unavailable)


SOPHIA YATES
Lancaster, Massachusetts, USA
Second Life Virtual University of Western Australia

After the party Jayjay rushed off to take part in an interview on Metaworld News - he's getting to be quite the media star!
You can view the video here...

Watch live streaming video from metaworld3 at livestream.com

FULL JUDGING PANEL
1. Professor Alan Robson (RL) - Vice-Chancellor, The University of Western Australia
2. Professor Ted Snell (RL) - Director, Cultural Precinct, The University of Western Australia
3. A/Professor Wade Halvorson (RL) - Lecturing in Marketing, Business and Electronic Commerce, The University of Western Australia
4. Colin Campbell Fraser (RL) - Principal Adviser (External Relations and Advocacy),
Vice-Chancellery, The University of Western Australia
5. Kelly Smith (RL) - Director, International Centre, The University of Western Australia
6. Jon Stubbs (RL) - Director, Student Services, The University of Western Australia
7. Susana Willis-Johnson (RL) - Marketing Manager, The University of Western Australia
8. Dr Carmen Fies (RL) - Assistant Professor, The University of Texas at San Antonio
9. Torley Linden (SL) - Linden Labs
10. White Lebed (SL) - Lead of Burning Life Art Department, Curator
11. Raphaella Nightfire (SL) - CEO SW&MB Fashion Productions, CEO Evane Model Agency, Snr Writer Best of SL Magazine
12. Jayjay Zifanwe (SL) - Owner of The University of Western Australia (SL), Creator & co-host of the UWA 3D Art& Design Challenge

Igor Ballyhoo & Nyx Breen: Historic winners in JANUARY ROUND of UWA 3D Art & Design Challenge

Igor Ballyhoo and Nyx Breen both made history by becoming the only repeat winners of the IMAGINE and FLAGSHIP sections of the UWA 3D Art & Design Challenge with their truimph in the January round of this year long challenge! In Igor's case it was a back-to-back win as well in the IMAGINE Challenge. So it's out there. Who can put the breaks on Igor and Nyx?

Igor's winning piece, CYBERSHARK was an absolutely mesmerising piece. Chair of the judging panel, Professor Ted Snell said, 'January's judging for the 3D Challenge was difficult but we are thrilled with the final choice. Igor Ballyhoo's strangely menacing shark constructed from a mish-mash of discarded machine parts and slowly circuiting the gallery was a strange and surprisingly beguiling presence'. Igor also took home an Honourable Mention for 'Message' with his other work for January, FROM GREEN INTO RED AND INTO GREEN AGAIN. A wonderfully interactiove piece which hearkened memories of yesteryear, MUTOSCOPES was 2nd for the IMAGINE prize.

CYBERSHARK by Igor Ballyhoo

At a loss for words, Igor said, 'I was genuinely surprised, I thought I got that one award, and was happy'. FreeWee helped him out, saying, 'The UWA 3D Art & Design Challenge has rapidly emerged as one of the top showcases for virtual arts. I am grateful to the selection committee for selecting my Mutoscope project and to JayJay, quadrapop and the UWA Imagine Challenge for providing such a stimulating venue for creative work. I never have any expectation of winning competitions. I'm more interested in just participating. To be selected for a prize among such a remarkable field of entries is both startling and truly humbling.'

Nyx Breen's AxS LAB, which won the Flagship prize, also won the inaugural Casey West Australian Cultural Award. The Casey Award judges were struck by the use of West Australian resources - limestone, jarrah, nickel and steel and the respectful inclusion of Indigenous art and important cultural symbols alongside European and Asian design influences to create a sense of contemporary harmony and complementarity.

AxS LAB by Nyx Breen

'I would like to say thank you to all involved in the UWA project. It has been a wonderful opportunity and experience to participate with such a high level of artists and builders. But for me on a very personal level its been one of the highlights of my SL experience to meet and learn about the peoples and places of Western Australia. As we look closer at an individual or group we discover that they hold close to their hearts the same dreams, ambitions and hopes that we all do. The UWA dream and that of the peoples of WA are one I truly do share, I'm very glad my dream took on a bit of OZ and it's no longer over the rainbow but just a click and smile away now.', said Nyx

Nyx Breen in side the AxS Lab

The build can be seen here through the end of February.

Igor was also in the mix for the People's Choice Award, along with Sabine Stonebender, but in a very close outcome that went down to the final 30 minutes of voting, the People's Choice Award after more than 350 votes were cast, went to Gleman Jun's FLAME OF CREATIVITY. A stunning work that cannot escape attention. Gleman was also a double winner as he also took home an honourable mention prize for 'Wonder of SL'.

Flame of Creativity by Gleman Jun
more images here

People gather to hear the announcements

A total of 69 entries were submitted for the January round with 65 for the IMAGINE challengeand 4 entries to the FLAGSHIP. As months pass, more and more parts of the world are being reached.

The winning Imagine entry announced

Jayjay Zifanwe, co-host of the challenge said, 'The international connections made through SL are very important to me, and through January, the Challenges have seen Artists & Builders hailing from Canada, the USA, the UK, Uruguay, Scotland, England, Spain, Switzerland, Italy, France, Brazil, Chile, Denmark, Holland, Ireland, Portugal, Austria, Cuba, Serbia, Tunisia, Germany, Japan, New Zealand and Australia. Every country that has ever won the Soccer World Cup is represented!'

JayJay Zifanwe announces the Flagship Winner

A number of other awards were also presented including the the 'Best Non-Scripted Art' prize taken by Solkide Auer with 'BLACK PEARL'. Other winners included Miso Susanowa, Mcarp Mavendorf, Oberon Onmura and Shellina Winkler.

Non-Scripted winner BLACK PEARL by Solkide Auer

The competition is now receiving entries for the month of February at the landing area for the UWA 3D Art & Design Platform. All winning artworks can also be seen on the platform to the south of the landing area. Click the hyper links more images of the winning works and the Announcement afterparty.



Stay tuned for the prize ceremony for MachinimUWA: The UWA Machinima Challenge where the prize pool jumped from L$90,000 to L$215,000 following viewing of all finalists by the Vice Chancellor of the University of Western Australia, Professor Alan Robson. With Torley Linden speaking as guest of honour, the ceremony will take place:

WHEN: 1pm SLT, Monday 8th Feb
WHERE: Winthrop Hall, Uni of WA sim in SL


WINNERS OF THE JANUARY ROUND OF THE UWA 3D ART & DESIGN CHALLENGE

Images of teh winners and their works are available on the UWA in SL Koinup photo site
IMAGINE CHALLENGE - 3D ART

Imagine Challenge 1st Prize:
($L5,000 + Custom T-Shirt)
CYBERSHARK by Igor Ballyhoo
Imagine Challenge 2nd Prize:
($L1,250)
MUTASCOPES by FreeWee Ling

Best Non-Scripted Entry:
($L1,250 + Custom T-Shirt)
BLACK PEARL by Solkide Auer

Honourable Mention Prize for THE BEAUTY OF SL
(L$500)
FLAME OF CREATIVITY by Gleman Jun
Honourable Mention Prize for IMMERSION
(L$500)
CITY (LOS ANGELES) by Miso Susanowa

Honourable Mention Prize for INGENUITY
(L$500)
LAPTOP by Mcarp Mavendorf

Honourable Mention Prize for MESSAGE
(L$500)
FROM GREEN INTO RED AND INTO GREEN AGAIN by Igor Ballyhoo

The Honourable Mention Prize for INTERACTION
(L$500)
ANTIENTROPIC PARTICLES by Oberon Onmura
Honourable Mention Prize for WONDER
(L$500)
SECOND STAR TO THE RIGHT by Shellina Winkler

PEOPLE'S CHOICE AWARD
(L$500):
FLAME OF CREATIVITY by Gleman Jun
FLAGSHIP CHALLENGE - BUILDING DESIGN
Flagship Challenge 1st Prize : ($L5,000)
AxS LAB by Nyx Breen

Casey WA Cultural Prize
(L$4,000)
AxS LAB by Nyx Breen

MachinimUWA - UWA Machinima Challenge: FINALISTS REVEALED!

What a thing is Second Life! How else can the world converge on a university in the most remote capital city on the planet (Perth, Western Australia) to produce artistic brilliance that uplifts and seems to transcend geography....language.... art... time... space.

Launched in mid December 2009, the wondorous avatars of THIS world have delivered, and MachinimUWA: The UWA Machinima challenge is proud to announce the 13 finalists hailing from Texas, Massachusetts, New York, Florida, Barcelona, San Sebastian, Paris, Maastricht, Berlin, Toronto and Perth.

Winners of this L$215,000 challenge will be announced on the 8th of February (details below) following the deliberations of an international panel helmed by the Vice Chancellor of the University of Western Australia (RL), Professor Alan Robson, and the doyen of all things SL, Torley Linden.

In no particular order, the finalists are:

COLEMARIE SOLEIL, Florida, USA
UWA Machinima Challenge

CISKO VANDEVERRE, Berlin, Germany
SEEK

BRADLEY DORCHESTER, Perth, Australia
MachinimUWA: Art Architecture, Research, Teaching

PYEWACKET BELLMAN, New York City, USA
University of Western Australia in Second Life

CHANTAL HARVEY, Maastricht, Netherlands
University of Western Australia in Second Life

SOPHIA YATES, Lancaster, Massachusetts, USA
The Challenge - Architecture, Teaching, Research Arts on the UWA sims

IONO ALLEN, Paris, France
Seek Wisdom

GLASZ DECUIR, San Sebastian, Spain
MachinimUWA: UWA in Second Life, Achieving International Excellence

LASLOPANTOMIK YAO, Barcelona, Spain
MachinimUWA

NOVA DYSZEL, Toronto, Canada
UWA in SL Challenge

SOPHIA YATES, Lancaster, Massachusetts, USA
Second Life Virtual University of Western Australia

MASTERDARK FOOTMAN, Dallas, Texas, USA
UWA Jan 2010

MASTERDARK FOOTMAN, Dallas, Texas, USA
The Heart of UWA


Please join us for the winners announcements and party on the 8th of February:

Date: 8th February 2010
Time: 1pm - 2pm slt
Location: Winthrop Hall, University of WA sim in SL

Guest of Honour at the winners announcement party will be Torley Linden!



UWA would also like to thank Sophia Yates, MasterDark Footman, Iono Allen & Matt Jilley for some wonderful machinima of the UWA SIMS which are unrelated to the Challenge, but focus on a number of areas as to the UWA presence:

SOPHIA YATES, Lancaster, Massachusetts, USA
UWA Cultutal Precinct Nexus

MASTERDARK FOOTMAN, Dallas, Texas
The Trouble With Travel

MATT JILLEY, Perth, Australia
UWA in Second Life

IONO ALLEN, France
Nov 2009 UWA 3D Art Challenge Entries

Larkworthy Antfarm, USA
Strangers Also Dance

For more information, please contact co-hosts, White Lebed or Jayjay Zifanwe.

People's Choice Voting Open NOW! UWA 3D Art Imagine Challenge

People's Choice Voting is now open for the UWA 3D Art & Design Imagine Challenge for January. Everyone has 3 votes. Simply touch the image of the artwork you want to vote for confirm it via the blue menu and your vote recorded privately in chat:

the voting board & all the artworks:



Join us for the
UWA 3D Art & Design Challenges Winners Announcement Party
Date: Sunday 7th February
Time: 5am SLT
Location: UWA 3D A&D Gallery on UWA sim

January IMAGINE Entries:
Araminta Kroitschov Moon Forest
1Earthling Rang Color My World
1Earthling Rang Colorful Space
420 Xeltentat Doorway to the Mind
420 Xeltentat Dream Come False
Ainsworth Gastel The Sisters of O series - the Roissy Red Dress
Ainsworth Gastel Vera – ecstatic dancer
Alizarin Goldflake SUNRISE SUNSET
Asmita Duranjaya The_Satisfaction_of_Symmetry
Asmita Duranjaya Sleep_Well! Schlaf_Gut!
Bocan Undercroft Alice: Curioser & Curioser
ColeMarie Soleil Connection Error - The simplicity of heartbreak
Corcosman Voom The Parakeets
Dancoyote Antonelli Pixel Board
Desea Jules Modern Church Window
Dusty Canning Airport Terminal
Eifachfilm Vacirca Fingertip happy
emilio Charisma schelcolorsss
Four Yip YIPs birdnest for on ground/tree/house/
FreeWee Ling Mutascopes
Fuschia Nightfire Australian Raven
Ginger Lorakeet metal ramp with fishtank centre
Gleman Jun Flame of Creativity
Gumby Roffo XR-31 Fighter V5
Gumby Roffo Santa Crux
Hoyt Mode trip cube
Ichiko Miles Alice and Cards
Igor Ballyhoo Cybershark
Igor Ballyhoo from green into red and in to green again
Jesse Keyes tresures
June Clavenham PERSPECTIVE AND PERCEPTION
Kennie Klees In the Womb of the Earth Mother
Luko Enoch 3 Pondering Men
Magggnnus Woodget Cyclops Martini Drinker
magus36 Rau Shif ing Mind Game
Martazul Zemlja GEOMETRIC3A
Martazul Zemlja Private
Mcarp Mavendorf polygon
Mcarp Mavendorf display laptop
Merlina Rokocoko Street Spirit
Merlina Rokocoko Equipage
Miso Susanowa City (Los Angeles)
Molina Rhode Burning
Molina Rhode Reflections in the night
Oberon Onmura Antientropic Particles
Oldoak Merlin Augenweide gefunden
Oriscus Zauberflote & FreeWee Ling Archlute
Patch Thibaud Drift Point
Pol Jarvinen Box 16
Pol Jarvinen Box 10
Sabine Stonebender Serpentine Steam tree-Cycles
Sabrinaa Nightfire Red Passion Flower
Samara Borkotron lightening sculpture
Samara Borkotron Sculpture Rotating Prism
Shellina Winkler SECOND STAR TO THE RIGHT
Sigma Rees Mooi 222 Glas
Sigma Rees Blok met Triangle
Sistagrlro Wei Always Were and Always Will Be...96 Aboriginal Nations In WA.
Sledge Roffo Spatial Entry
Solkide Aeur Black Pearl
soror Nishi Tree
Steve Kilby Joy
Ub Yifu Colossus
Venom Silverfall Cranks
Venom Silverfall VS_Engine_P-73

Artist Talks - Magggnnus Woodget - Cocktail Robots

Below is the edited transcript of Magggnnus Woodget's Artist talk held at 5am SLT Sunday 24 January at the UWA 3D Art & Design Artist Talks.



Magggnnus Woodget: welcome everyone, i am magggnnus woodget in SL - magnus wurzer in RL
on my board you can see my entry in to UWA challenge for january - a cyclops sculpture leaning on a contraption which dispenes cocktails



in RL i have been dealing with cocktail robotics for over ten years -
roboexotica festival promotes a flavor of robotics that doesnt so much concentrate on efficiency as it does on aesthetics and "personality" of the robot
so in RL we have been awarding the best cocktail robots with the "ACRA" (annual cocktail robot awars) since 1999



on my board now: robomoji
a robot that is only making mojitos
in a loud and beautiful way
not so much efficient
but loads of fun to watch up close
last year we held our first workshop
this here is the result



a robot that mixes white russians and white hippies (the vegan version)
so the situation in RL is that cocktail robotics still needs promotion and is still considered something exotic
in SL on the other hand ....
when i entered SL in 2007 i found that cocktail robots are rather normal
so the challenge in SL not to promote the idea itself
but to further the evolution of contraptions
and see what can be done to make things more interactive and or awesthetically pleasing
in 2009 we decided to award the first ever Virtual Cocktail Robot Award
which was won by Misprint Thrsday with her beautiful Wodkabot
at the mixed reality Awards ceremony -
qDot Bunnyhug, a former Linden, demonstrated the first mixed reality cocktail robot
which was featured on NWN as you can see on my board now
the left pic shows SL
the two boxes are "buttons"
with which one could trigger the outpu of liquids in RL
(right picture)
this kind of mixed reality interaction is something i want to look at myself in the future



so, since i arrived in SL i did some tinkering myself
some cocktail robots would look like this one - more "realistic" in that it looks like a box one could slap together in RL



some more like one would wish a robot would look like
here again you see the one i entered in january into the uwa challenge ...



and i have a give away for you all now
get this animated picture of cyclops martini drinker :)



so if you want to know more about all this - visit roboexotica.org for info on RL cocktail robotics
and mechatiki.blogspot.com for info on our inworld activities
theres also this roboexotica booklet out
i put it on the floor here, you can take a copy ..



when u click it, it opens a link to amazon where you can get the real book
.... thanks for your interest! i am taking questions now :)

quadrapop Lane: TY Magggnnus - Do you make these robots in RL as well?
Magggnnus Woodget: well quadro, although i am "dealing" with them since 1999 it took until last year that i actually got involved in physically building one - at the workshop

Phillip Vought: you referred to an interesting phenominon earlier.. do you find people prefer to make SL reflect RL or fantasy..
Magggnnus Woodget: @phillip ... i see both!

rant Ugajin: Magggnuss, what is the purpose of your smoking in SL?
Magggnnus Woodget: um to obfuscate my face? or the joy of never having to light a new one?

420 Xeltentat: is the purpose to make these robots efficient ? or more crazy off the wall like a rune glifberg type thing?
Magggnnus Woodget: @rant purpose is 1. personality, flair, aesthetics .... & last efficiency

Corcosman Voom: How many participants were there in the workshop?
[edit after asking Magggnnus again:]
Magggnnus Woodget: thanks for the chance to answer this one ;D .... we had just 2 participants, but 100% of them were female, which looks good statistically ;)

quadrapop Lane: Do they actually make decent cocktails?
Magggnnus Woodget: some actually do ...
have to say not ALL do
but i have had excellent drinks made by some
Magggnnus Woodget: so .... folks, we do plan to have a Virtual Cocktail Robot Award this year as well ... so if any of you has an idea for a cool SL cocktail robot ...

quadrapop Lane: how many entered last year? and were they all in both sl and rl?
Magggnnus Woodget: hahaha, just misprint, all other cocktail robots were noncompetitve. nono, either sl or rl, except qDots which overlapped
misprint was the first SL artist who expressed her will to participate in the awards
so that was the signal to start with VCRA ;D
and naturally she deserved the award for entering
next year will be more competitive i suppose lol
quadrapop Lane: great - be sure to give us the info to distribute closer to the time for more SL based ones:)

Magggnnus Woodget: here are landmarks btw to roboexotica's inwoprld office
where you find more documentation as well and the Skyloft where you'll find art and cocktails and robots ;)

quadrapop Lane: TY for a great Talk Magggnnus - and everyone else be sure to go visit Magggnnus' entry in the Imagine competition
Magggnnus Woodget: thanks for having me quadro!