People's Choice Voting Begins : UWA 3D Open Art Challenge (January)

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The People's choice voting round for the January round of the UWA 3D Open Art Challenge is now underway

We have 74 amazing entries this month (click here to teleport to gallery). The awards ceremony is Sunday, Feb 6, at 6:00AM SLT, at the same location.

UWA 3D Open Art Challenge Artworks for January
1 Alizarin Goldflake Ophion's Egg
2 Alesia Barbosa Big Brother is Watching You
3 Alexxannder Firehawk Inside Jean
4 Anley Piers Where is the world
5 Anley Piers Planet Censored
6 Arrow Inglewood Symphony in the Barrel of a Gun
7 Artfox Daviau Easel
8 Asmita Duranjaya The New Paradise
9 Asmita Duranjaya Aquarium
10 Betty Tureaud X-Ray
11 Betty Tureaud Dream Box
12 Bloodfang Clawtooth artpeice 1 glass
13 ChapTer Kronfeld Cogito ergo sum
14 ChapTer Kronfeld Interaction
15 Cherry Manga Trap
16 Cherry Manga Harpy of Gluttony
17 claudia222 jewell strange plant ... uglyness and beauty
18 claudia222 jewell serpent chair vehicle
19 Corcosman Voom Urbanity
20 Dusty Canning Life
21 Eifachfilm Vacirca I have a dream
22 Fae Varriale Daughter of the Wind
23 Fae Varriale Beginning
24 Faery Sola Music Box
25 fiona Blaylock Camille Claudel and Rodin
26 fiona Blaylock Angelove
27 Gingered Alsop Liquidity
28 Gingered Alsop An Act of Madness?
29 Giovanna Cerise La fleur du mal
30 Giovanna Cerise Ice castle
31 Gleman Jun Ethereal Wave
32 Harter Fall Fluchtpunkte
33 Harter Fall Mitternachts-Glocke
34 Jesse Keyes Wheels and Earth
35 Jimmy Debruyere Butter in White
36 kyra Roxan Tryst
37 LavitaLoca Vita Invincible Summer
38 Louly Loon Faith
39 Louly Loon The Origin of the World
40 Loup Erin The Brainwasher
41 Loup Erin Television Rules The Nation
42 Luciella Lutrova magic marble
43 Martini Discovolante Polar Kiss
44 mcarp Mavendorf Clock
45 Miah Seetan Silver Phoenix
46 Miso Susanowa Commodity
47 Mochi Nyoki Mochi's Rainbow Step
48 Moeuhane Sandalwood Shivering Rock
49 Neon Hammerer Putrescible
50 Nickola Martynov Random Coxcomb
51 Nik Gandt Antini
52 Nik Gandt Triode Tube
53 Nino Vichan Surveillance
54 Nino Vichan La Nascita de Venere
55 Oberon Onmura Chroma (Loom)
56 octagons Yazimoto Best of the West
57 Oldoak Merlin Elephant scene
58 patrich Merlin Rainbow Bridge
59 Penelope Parx The sad one and the bondage one
60 RAG Randt Ascension Ship
61 Reezy Frequency Loaves and Fishes II
62 Saveme Oh Uwart
63 Scarp Godenot Sigh Of The Breast Forgotton
64 Selene Putzo Telstar
65 Silene Christen The Matrix
66 Silene Christen Garden of Chaos
67 soror Nishi Xmas Daisy Tree
68 spirit Radikal Captive Heart
69 spirit Radikal Respite
70 Suzanne Graves Choose Your Blossom
71 Takni Miklos Invisible Sphere
72 Takni Miklos & Yasmine Paneer fragmented venus
73 Ub Yifu Evolution 429 explained
74 Yasmine Paneer Black Venus

Now also receiving entries for the February round

Australia Day @ The Gallery

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Australia day celebrated on the 26th of January!

Much thanks to Dusty Canning for the beautiful banner

74 Artworks in all for the January Round of the UWA 3D Open Art Challenge. Click here to Teleport

Announcements for the January Round will be from 6am slt, Sunday 6th Feb

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Machinima by Asmodea Damiano of Ginger Alsop's January Entry

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Ginger Alsop's "Liquidity" has inspired a Machinima by Asmodea Damiano!

To see the actual piece or visit the other 60+ entries to the January Round of the UWA 3D Open Art Challenge, CLICK HERE\
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Art's 3D Warriors !

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The Science Network is carrying a story on the UWA Second Life presence. Talks a little bit about all the arts and machinima activities, and does feature the winning machinima created by Laurina Hawks and Bradley Dorchester!

http://www.sciencewa.net.au/topics/technology/189-News/3253-arts-3d-warriors

Also refers Patch Thibau'd winning architectural build from the UWA 3D Art & Design Challenge.

And since I'm too self conscious to sing about the next thing in lights as I am more deeply involved than usual (and doesnt really have too much to do with UWA), I am thankful to Apmel Goosson for running a little piece on it. Hope to see you there this weekend

A Yesikita Coppola machinima of the December Winners - UWA 3D Open Art Challenge

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Thanks to Yesikita Coppola (Official Machinimatographer - UWA 3D Open Art Challenge) we have once more a presentation of the winners of the December Round of the challenge.

Yesikita's words as follows:

Winners of the December round of the UWA 3D Open Art Challenge.
Enjoy these fourteen 3D artworks exhibited in one of the Sims of the University of Western Australia in Second Life (3D Virtual World)- Click Here to Teleport

Il pleut sur mon coeur comme il pleut sur la ville. "It rains in my heart, as it rains in the town" by Cherry Manga
Travel in the Shadow of Technology by Anley Piers
Paranormal Frottage by Misprint Thursday
The Illusionist by Gleman Jun
Light Tower by Betty Tureaud
Miss N by Suzanne Graves
Painterarium by Trill Zapatero
Turning the Tide by Nish Mip
Stage 4 by Sabrina Nightfire
Mirror, Mirror by Blue Tsuki
Snakes by Takni Miklos
Creating the Wake of Your Dreams by Ginger Alsop
Fallen Angel by Cherry Manga
Ganesha by Pumpkin Tripsa

MACHINIMA:
Filmed and Edited by Yesikita Coppola
Special guest appearance: Iono Allen
Pictures by FreeWee Ling
Music: Inward by Hands Upon Black Earth
Album - The True Harvest

Report on UWA in the Artist's Chronicle (RL Publication)

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Very happy to report that the prestigious WA Artist's Chronicle is carrying a story on the UWA Second Life activities (art in particular) as its lead story for the Jan/Feb 2011 issue, and features on the cover page (as above).



As previously announced, Lyn DiCiero, the Editor has kindly agreed to sit on the main panel for the UWA 3D Open Art Challenge. It is pleasing that digital / virtual art features prominently in the Editorial!



I would like to thank Ginger Alsop, Eliza Wierwight Trill Zapatero, Abraxas McAndrews and Lentelies Anatine who dropped in at short notice for an impromptu discussion with myself and the Editor (who was with me in RL).

Course the 3rd paragraph of the story should read, "Behind the UWA Second Life presence..."



Betty Tureau's 'Light Tower' features on the cover. Kudos Betty, and on page 6, one can clearly make out the works of Penelope Parx, Tensai Hilra, Takni MIklos and Davina Glitter

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A Pia Klaar Machinima of the December Round, UWA 3D Open Art Challenge

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We are thrilled to announce another Machinima of the December Round of the UWA 3D Open Art Challenge, by Pia Klaar, featuring the works of Misprint Thursday, Anley Piers, Nish Mip, Gleman Jun, Miso Susanowa, Tani Thor, Suzanne Graves, Cherry Manga & Ginger Alsop.
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Better late than never: Sayumi’s last reflections on the December round

I would like to round off my commentary on the December round of the UWA 3D Art Competition somewhat belatedly by making a few remarks about several random pieces which I photographed with the intention of writing about, but never quite got to. I am sorry if this is distracting at all from the rapid cumulation of January works, as that is not my intention. I have had a tough few days in two worlds since Sunday, and even now I am not much in a frame of mind to write, but perhaps it will be therapeutic.

Perhaps the piece which I spent the most time with apart from the addictive Falling Cubes / Light Tower was, surprisingly perhaps because of its simplicity in regard to viewer interaction, Blue Tsuki’s mirror mirror. I sneaked onto the platform during quiet periods many times during the month to simply kneel on the chair and be entranced by the continual flutter of gold just in front of my eyes as I reached towards the tantalising flurry of… leaves… butterflies… hands… Just what was it that I was gazing at with such reverie? Fortunately the velvet of the chair was soft to my knees, the old wooden back rail smooth and comforting in my hands as I steadied myself, the chair teetering precariously and yet I felt secure, the entrancing mirror holding me against the force of gravity itself. Then, I had to remind myself that this is a mirror… somehow, I was looking at a reflection of myself… I am not vain enough to chant the old lines which must have inspired Tsuki-san and expect the time-worn response, “You… are the fairest of them all”. But what is Tsuki-san’s purpose here but, perhaps, to give each viewer that very experience. As we gaze into the mirror, entranced by the fluttering gold, are we permitted to think that the mirror is revealing the true beauty in each one of us, no matter who it may be, whatever aged crone, grotesque other-world monster or barbaric blood-stained warrior might tarry to perch there a moment. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and as we behold ourselves on this magical chair, reflected ever in this wondrous mirror, we may behold the best of ourselves. No need for us to send for the woodcutter to take a young princess into the forest for an awful fate – this mirror, mirror on the wall will declare even the most wicked queen to be the fairest in the land.

Blue Tsuki mirror mirror

As an Australian at this time, I hesitate to tackle anything addressing the subject of rain, since much of our country is experiencing the most awful rain, flooding and loss of life from those events than has been seen for decades… notwithstanding that the part where UWA is located continues in interminable drought. But Cherry Manga’s Il pleut sur mon coeur comme il pleut sur la ville seized my attention the moment I saw it, and the fact that it ended up taking out the major prize was no surprise to me. This work is very personal for me just now… I have a massive cold front coursing through my heart, bringing torrential downpours of tears at times (eased to scattered showers, I must say, by some caring friends). This was not so when I first saw this work, but my writing about it now makes it so extremely real. The title of the work suggests that Ms Manga has in mind for us to think firstly of a real rainstorm in town, but it is a metaphor. (I’m pretty good at stating the obvious!) The deepest blackness of the rain, the continual chilling, penetrating deluge, happens in our hearts, pouring in a torrent from the dark clouds of our windswept emotions. The viewer may take some time, as I did, for it to dawn into one’s consciousness that the rain is falling only from under the umbrellas… that those which are meant to shelter us from the storm are in fact the least protection, and the source of our drenching. This is a chilling and awful message, though again one which is all too real for me. And the tree also weeps great tears… for these are not mere raindrops which fall, but surely here I see a symbol of those friends of whom I spoke, steady and reassuring brightness in a dark landscape, and yet weeping with me for my sorrow. Ms Manga did this work for me personally and for this moment in time… or so it seems, though of course a truly wonderful artwork has the capacity to speak with many voices to many contexts.

Cherry Manga Il pleut sur mon coeur comme il pleut sur la ville

Whether one sees the Bible as a religious work or simply a great work of literature, a knowledge of it is essential to understanding great swathes of Western art and literature. ChapTer Kronfeld’s Last Supper Defiguratives takes one of the great events of the Bible – if you don’t know which one, go here (where there is also a picture of one of the most well known artistic renderings of this subject) – and gives an apparently quite orthodox interpretation in a very novel medium. I am struggling to determine the significance of Jesus Christ and his twelve disciples represented as nails, but the key figures in the drama are immediately identifiable. Jesus, in Christian teaching the perfect son of God and the only straight nail in that upper room, shines in royal and divine gold at the centre of the rough wooden table, while his struggling disciples sit at this last supper with him, bent and bowed by the solemnity of the occasion and by the weight of their own sins and frailties. Judas Iscariot, the betrayer, stumbles from the room to do his filthy work, the noose with which he will later hang himself already trailing from his neck. The fact that Judas is represented as the only black nail must not be interpreted in racial terms – there is no tradition that Judas was physically black and I have no thought that the artist is suggesting this; the black colour here is used simply to define the evil in Judas’s treacherous actions. Now, Kronfeld has purposely used the term ‘defigurative’ to describe his work, and unless this is an artistic term* it would appear to be synonymous with the verb to disfigure. If this is the artist’s intention, we must note again the bent and misshapen form of all of the disciples, Jesus alone being not disfigured, and so I, perhaps superficially, am led to the conclusion that Kronfeld intends an orthodox view of the Last Supper in his work. From his artist notes, Kronfeld is firstly a painter, so it is wonderful to see his skills in 3D art displayed in this work. In his notes, also, the artist calls for “the soul” to be engaged in the artistic process, and one senses that the Last Supper is not merely a literary story for him.

*Note also the use of the term in regard to an understanding of modern dance, as discussed here.

ChapTer Kronfeld Last Supper Defiguratives (detail, Judas and Jesus)

Sabrinaa Nightfire’s Stage 4 deals with so serious a subject that I am hesitant to offer an appreciation of it, but I have had both recent and current experience of people I know well being diagnosed and, in more than one case, being taken away by the awful illness of cancer. The artist does not say so in her notes, but I am not surprised to read in Jayjay’s commentary her own words that confirm what one suspects – this is drawn from the artist’s personal experience. The picture is somber and terrifying. The full range of physical symptoms, anger, frustration, fear and despair are conveyed dramatically in the word-bites chosen, and represented in angry red. The sufferer has Stage 4 of the cancer, one assumes one of the final stages; but the stage-motif goes deeper, as seen by the plinth-like formation of the work. The cancer patient is a performer, very vulnerable and seemingly alone, a solo act on the stage of life observed, too often at a discreet distance, by so many. This work is a cry for us to get on the stage ourselves, to join the soloist, to enter their drama and their suffering, to cry with them, to live with them and make their performance at least a duet if not a full, amazing opera chorus complete with curtain call and thunderous applause from a sympathetic and engaged audience. We all pray and hope that we will never be diagnosed with cancer, but if we are may it be that we are joined on stage by those who love us. And in conclusion to this piece, my main thought is of course to wish Sabrinaa all that she needs and hopes for as she likely continues to face her illness in the first world. This has to be one of the bravest artworks we are likely to ever see entered.

Sabrinaa Nightfire Stage 4

I have photos for several other works but I have to end somewhere. I would have loved to write about them all! Attention is already and rightly on the entries for January, and I would encourage every artist who has inspiración (it looks so much nicer in Yesikita’s native Spanish!) to get to work, twirl those prims, write those scripts... (I have no idea about much of that, though I did make a simple window frame the other day!) ... and get it in by 25th January. For myself, I am not likely to write much here for the January round, as one of the busiest times in my working year is about to begin in another universe, so I want to thank those who have encouraged me and bothered to read my thoughts, and to Jayjay and my fellow UWAers for affording me the space. I do hope to continue to write here again soon, and I also have my own blog where I have a multitude of things I would like to say also. It was wonderful, by the way, to attend the celebration party for Betty Tureaud’s installation at the Virtlantis sim this morning, and don’t forget to get along to tour that immense work when you have a little time.

I must add a footnote that the first three paragraphs of this post were written over 24 hours before I posted, and that my mood had changed hugely by the time I posted; but my reading of the first two works still stand as how I was reading them at the time of writing. An interesting exercise, perhaps, in how our view of a work will be critically impacted by our own life circumstances, and may change as those circumstances change.

A Machinima of a January Submission (Liquidity)

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The January round is in full swing for receiving of works (closing date 25th January), and already we have a Machinima of one of the submitted works.

A beautiful work by PhiDesigns of Ginger Alsop's 'Liquidity'

Click here for location of Art receiver for January submissions
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Cheri Cherry Lady - December Winners of the UWA 3D Open Art Challenge

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Cherry Manga's December Winner

Bringing back memories of Buddy Holly, Cherry Manga's IL PLEUT SUR MON COEUR COMME IL PLEUT SUR LA VILLE (It's raining in my heart, as it's raining in the town) took the top prize (L$10,000) for the December round of the UWA 3D Open Art Challenge. Serendipity or synchronicity (depending on how you look at it from) struck, with her great friend Anley Piers' work, TRAVEL IN THE SHADOW OF TECHNOLOGY taking 2nd prize (and also the Summerland Special Prize). There was also a 3-way tie for 3rd place as the panel could not separate PARANORMAL FROTTAGE (Misprint Thursday), THE ILLUSIONIST (Gleman Jun) and LIGHT TOWER (Betty Tureaud).

Cherry (whose other work, FALLEN ANGEL, also took the BOSL Prize) was overwhelmed, "I could not imagine to win the first prize, there were such amazing entries this month, that I could not think that my work compared to those. Thank you so much for appreciating the poetry I tried to give in this work."

Travel in the Shadow of Technology - Anley Piers

Anley chimed in, "I'm so happy for Cherry, for myself. We have shared our work over the past few months and I am even more pleased with our cooperation today. We're a good team, we have proof now!"

Defending Grand Champion, Nish Mip's work, TURNING THE TIDE once again struck a chord, as it gained direct entry to the Grande Finale round by virtue of winning more than one of the Group Awards, taking both the SL Art Prize and the Pirats Prize. "I'm just so excited that my piece was liked so much. It means a lot to me and I'm soooo happy. I hope the environmental message from this was taken on board and wow just great thanks".

Turning the Tide - Nish Mip

The message was definitely not lost, as demonstrated by the comments of the Pirats panel in awarding the prize, "Initially we were captured visually by her work. Next it was the message of the work, great optimism in an apocalyptic world, urging us all to become aware of our role in response to changes in our environment."

A veteran of the UWA Challenges, Sabrina Nightfire's very personal and emotive work, STAGE 4, took the Odyssey Prize. We know this piece inspires everyone to fight hard to bravely face and overcome the numerous challenges life throws at us. "I am so glad to share this piece with others. It really shows how I have felt for the past year. I am so happy that it touches others."

Stage 4 - Sabrinaa Nightfire

The Odyssey panel commented "We were moved by this very powerful piece. It has everything - cleverly incorporating interactivity and participation while communicating something genuine and important. It is a piece that shares something special and that stays with you. "

Aside from the shared 3rd prize, Misprint's work, which also inspired two Machinima (by Yesikita Coppola & Apmel Goosson - links below) also took the Nordan Art Prize, "Thank you UWA for the opportunity and recognition for so much fine virtual art. It is an honor to have won 2 prize categories amidst such great work. I look forward to continued participation!"

Paranormal Frottage - Misprint Thursday

68 entries were received for the December round of this Challenge which represents a grand collaboration between major art houses and groups in Second Life. These include The University of Texas San Antonio (UTSA) led by Dr Carmen Fies, SL Art, led by Gleman Jun & Sunset Quinnel, CARP led by Josina Burgess & Velazquez Bonetto, Pirats Art Network led by Merlina Rokocoko & Newbab Zsigmond, Odyssey led by Fau Ferdinand & Lizsolo Mathilde, Show & Tell @ Avaria led by Florenze Kerensky & Barney Boomslang, BOSL led by Frolic Mills & Giela Delpaso, Nordan Art led by Flora Nordenskiold and Apmel Goosson & UWA with Professor Ted Snell, Chair of the Visual Arts Board of the Australia Council as Chair of the UWA judging panel.

The second month of this year long L$1,000,000 challenge, saw an expansion of the countries represented in the various UWA events, spanning 6 of the 7 continents of the world. Artists, Builders & Machinimatographers from across the globe are represented including Russia, Venezuela, Belgium, Mexico, Wales, Canada, the USA, the UK, Uruguay, Scotland,England, Spain, Switzerland, Italy, France, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Denmark, Holland, Ireland, Portugal, Austria, Cuba, Serbia, Tunisia, Germany, Japan, New Zealand and Australia.

A new dimension was added to the People's Choice Award, as GeeJAnn Blackadder redesigned the voting system, resulting in a huge increase in participation in the People's Choice awards. In a close contest, Betty Tureaud's LIGHT TOWER took the top honours over Nish Mip's TURNING THE TIDE. The works of ChapTer Kronfeld, Faery Sola, Trill Zapatero, Anley Piers, Cherry Manga, Tensai Hilra, followmeimthe Piedpiper, Pumpkin Tripsa, Blue Tsuki and Aloisio Congrejo all featured strongly in the People's Choice.

Other winners include MISS N by Susan Graves (Best Non-Scripted), PAINTERARIUM by Trill Zapatero (UTSA Prize), MIRROR, MIRROR by Blue Tsuki (Show & Tell @ Avaria Prize), SNAKES by Takni Miklos (Carp Prize), CREATING THE WAKE OF YOUR DREAMS by Ginger Alsop (Carp Joint 2nd Prize) THE ILLUSIONIST by Gleman Jun (Carp Joint 2nd Prize), and GANESHA by Pumpkin Tripsa (Curator's Choice Prize).

FreeWee Ling in describing the Curator's Choice selection explained, "The work of this month's Curator's Choice winner is well known across SL. I have come across his work many times in disparate contexts. And in all probability, so have you. He was a winner of the 2007 Second Life Sculpted Prim Contest, which SL used to showcase the possibilities of the then-new sculpty technology. As JayJay can testify, when I saw his entry this month I was transfixed by its beauty and technical execution. The attention to detail is extraordinary. I encourage everyone to examine his work and to find inspiration in it as I have."

The December round inspired a number of spontaneous Machinima relating to the works on display which is a pleasing development. These include:

'Spin Cycle' by NicoleX Moonwall and 'Impromptu Performance Art' by Nina Camplin as to Fuschia Nightfire's 'Forbidden Fruit'

'Covered in Black' by Yesikita Coppola and'Paranormal Frottage' by Apmel Goosson of Misprint Thursday's work of the same name

Ginger Alsop favourites from the December round

The UWA blog has also almost been turned on its head (for the good), with the introduction of 2 amazing guest bloggers in the prolific Sayumi Tsunenaga and art historian Rowan Derryth (http://www.uwainsl.blogspot.com/).

On other fronts, the UWA Virtlantis SIM, has been transformed into a space for the display of FULL SIM art, the first month of which features Betty Tureaud's ART PLANET (click to Teleport). Betty's exhibition will be on display across all of January and this will be followed by Blue Tsuki in February, Anley Piers & Cherry Manga in March, soror Nishi in April and Wizard Gynoid in May.

Jayjay Zifanwe (Jay Jay Jegathesan - Manager, School of Physics @ UWA) has been invited speak on Second Life and the use of Virtual worlds in education at the 4th Australian Higher Education Congress (7th-9th March 2011) in Sydney, where numerous Vice Chancellors of Australian Universities are also speaking. Programme is as linked, and Jayjay's presentation will close out the congress on the final day http://acevents.com.au/higheredu2011/programme.html

The January round of the UWA 3D Open Art Challenge is officially open for receiving. Artwork entry receiver is located here

WINNERS OF THE DECEMBER ROUND OF THE UWA 3D OPEN ART CHALLENGE

1st Prize: ($L10,000)
IL PLEUT SUR MON COEUR COMME IL PLEUT SUR LA VILLE ("It rains in my heart, as it rains in the town") by Cherry Manga

2nd Prize: (L$7,500)
TRAVEL IN THE SHADOW OF TECHNOLOGY by Anley Piers

3rd Prize: JOINT (L$1,700 each)
PARANORMAL FROTTAGE by Misprint Thursday

THE ILLUSIONIST by Gleman Jun

LIGHT TOWER by Betty Tureaud

Best Non-Scripted Entry: (L$5,000)
MISS N by Suzanne Graves

UTSA Prize: (L$5,000)
PAINTERARIUM by Trill Zapatero

SL Art Prize: (L$5,000)
TURNING THE TIDE by Nish Mip

Odyssey Prize: (L$5,000)
STAGE 4 by Sabrina Nightfire

Pirats Prize: (L$5,000)
TURNING THE TIDE by Nish Mip

Show & Tell @ Avaria Prize: (L$5,000)
MIRROR, MIRROR by Blue Tsuki

CARP Prize: (L$5,000)
SNAKES by Takni Miklos

CARP Joint 2nd Prize: (L$2,500 each)
THE ILLUSIONIST by Gleman Jun

CREATING THE WAKE OF YOUR DREAMS by Ginger Alsop

BOSL Prize: (L$5,000)
FALLEN ANGEL by Cherry Manga

Nordan Art Prize: (L$5,000)
PARANORMAL FROTTAGE by Misprint Thursday

People's Choice Award - First Place (L$2,500) :
LIGHT TOWER by Betty Tureaud

People's Choice Award: Second Place (L$1,000) :
TURNING THE TIDE by Nish Mip

Curator's Choice Award (L$5,000):
GANESHA by Pumpkin Tripsa

Summerland Special Award (L$2,500)
TRAVEL IN THE SHADOW OF TECHNOLOGY by Anley Piers