ART & CHAT at DARK MOON CAFE

Gang at Dark Moon Cafe

Theoretical Afterthought

Today was the first of a series of small events I am holding at the Dark Moon Cafe. Basically, they are two dimensional, themed art shows accompanied by a discussion. These small gatherings will feature one artist showing themed work to talk about, on every other Sunday at 10 am PST or SLT.  Next one will be February 13th. Theoretical Afterthought was our first presenter. Theo's series of self portraits documents her avatar evolution here in SL, and her biting wit!

Zola Zsun & Ashe Haight

Einy & Widget

The group attending was small enough (eight all together) to really discuss the work. Zola Zsun had introduced me to Theo. Of course Zola was here and chatty fun as usual. Zola also brought up the fact that unless a real life photo is doctored in some way, say in photoshop, you get what you see, whereas in Second Life, one can also build what you want in the frame. Of course this does not negate exporting pics to another program, using the same process. Einy Marksman was interested in Theo's process. Einy is a photographer himself, and has very nice shows here in Second Life and real life (that is a hint, Einy). Fenix came as a mermaid, as the theme was the construction of an avatar. Widget Whiteberry, who organizes Virtually Speaking, was there (check below for the SLurl to the amphitheater of Virtually Speaking). Widget said that her avatar prompted her to lose weight in real life; which was interesting because my real life body has prompted Neph gain weight! This has had an interesting effect on me too. I feel better!

Why would I feel better? Well, I was sick of looking at how skinny Neph's butt was! We all know that most of the women in Second Life tend to be skinny with big breasts! How do these so called "perfect" bodies reflect us? How do they make us feel in real life and Second Life?  Of course this makes me think of the objectification of women in general, the pressure to be thin, yet somehow retain large breasts. Well, one of Theo's self portraits depicts her with several feet for breasts! The title is "Don't Look at My Feet!" To me this is a comment on the random, yet systematic sexualization of female body parts. Of course, Fenix Muhindra, who is a teacher, as well as a counselor, wondered how foot fetishists would react to the photograph. I say some research is afoot!

The Lovely Fenix as a Mermaid

At any rate, we were also happy to see Sapphoria Shilova back in world! I love her photographs too, and hope she will show them here at the Dark Moon Cafe soon too. Sapphoria will once again be opening Zanphoria Gallery (check below for SLurl). Another guest attending was Ashe Haight. Ashe is an interesting new friend who is frequently around Dark Moon, and I for one hope she continues to grace us with her presence at these events.

Sapphoria looking GOOD!

Theo on her work and other things

But here is what Theo says about her work. Here is a copy of the notecard of her thoughts about the show that she gave me to hand the guests:

"Some say that the imagination seems to be the limit within SL, but I disagree with that statement.  Without the proper skills and tools at our disposition, we are unable to convey that which we intend.  That is why I see my own avatar as a work in process, a never ending journey into what I could be, but am not as of yet.

What I have before you is but a glimpse of many attempts at assigning anthropomorphic qualities to a set of pixels.  I cannot recall how many incarnations I have had over the past two years as an avatar, but I can say that I have not remained in any one shape or skin for extended periods of time. Early on in my forays into SL, I discovered that I could change my shape at will, and I have never stopped experimenting with that aspect since.  Even as a completely free avatar, one without an account on record, I still managed to find suitable resources to enable to me have variability in every other form, be it skin, hair, clothes, or other artifacts that I could pile on my avi.  The capability for transformation led to a need for the development of a visual diary and that is how I became a screenshot capturer and consequently a creator within SL.

Yet with all the changes available to me, I still find a very strong identification with my multiple pixel selves. I have created the whole of those avatars through the compilation of multiple elements and thus they all represent me in virtual form. As a short anecdote, let me relate the strength of identification through a reference within the visual social network Flickr.  I recently purchased, after two years, my first animation overrider (AO) within SL.  Someone captured the likeness of my avatar in a hyper sexualized position enabled by said AO and by an invasive camera angle that I found distasteful. I am a creator, a vendor, a weaver of dreams for others; what I am not is a trophy, a sex toy, nor represent a person to be commodified. Were it not for a strong identification with my avatar, I would not have objected.  The image was quietly removed, but I suspect not without some form of surprise to the noob who had posted it.  All ended well, he was very apologetic, and I reverted to my hermit life.

Still, as I come into yet untapped resources, I cannot help but wonder what the coupling of imagination and tools will yield for the evolution of avatars."
 ~ Theoretical Afterthought

 Be sure to see Theo's Flickr stream at:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/theoreticalme/ 

Virtually Speaking Amphitheater: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Virtually%20Speaking/125/124/25 
Or you can listen to the show from anywhere LIVE: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/virtuallyspeaking

Zanphoria Gallery: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Lionheart%20Vitani/238/114/32

 And be sure to check events for Sunday morning discussions at Dark Moon Cafe. Here is the SLurl:
 http://slurl.com/secondlife/Dark%20Moon/147/149/55

OH! Stop by anytime!

Winter Has Come to Dark Moon~

Finally, in January, winter has come to Dark Moon. The cafe is warm, people are gathering and having discussions. I have been hiking through the snow, over the precarious trails that are covered with snow. And my good friend Zube has made another video of Dark Moon! Enjoy!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48bfld8wjSk

I LOVE TERRAFORMING!

 So I had this chance to terraform 3 sims for UTHSC. It was a lot of fun, cause as we all know, I LOVE TERRAFORMING! The university wanted kind of a camel back mountain flowing into the beaches east and west of it. So that I did. The really fun part was landscaping and creating little areas to interact within. ConstructivIST Solo provided the major structures that educational evens would take place in. Zola Zsun, of course, made all the plants, and I provided the final touches includings all the animals. I created a little shanty town in the west, the Frida Kahlo Memorial Library in the east, right next to a fishing village. Now don't forget this is Texas, so much of the lanscape and theme reflects this.
 

 

However, the sims are scheduled to be reclaimed! No one was using the joint! So I had a little fun! I figured the shanty town had a history that went way back to the Victorian Era. And indeed there was the Green Faery Pub! Fallen to disuse now, we openend a burlesque club! Of course Zola HAD to perform, but I guess I did too (tee hee). The club was in a swampy area and had to be demolished due to malaria.

So then I decided to really go nuts! I re terraformed the western sim, textured all three of the sims again, and made the islands a giant, but slightly surreal grassland full of ruins and herds of goats and sheep. *Sigh* That was fun! Here is a pictorial record of it all!

Thanks to my friend Zube~

 As you can see, my friend Zube has made a video of Dark Moon! If you click on the below here, or go to the left side of my page, you will be taken to the blog of Zube Udimo, my friend in Second Life. I first met Zube ages ago when she entered a photo contest at the old AngelGate sim. Turns out she is a graphic artist, and a very good photographer! I was very impressed that Zube made this film just a few days after we talked about how she was going to try to learn machinima. Pretty darn good for a first try, yes? Be sure to scroll down past the first two photos to see the video. after clicking on the highlighted words below! Thank you Zube!

Zube's World: Dark Moon: "Well where do I start!

In the very early days of my second life I was blessed with the good fortune to have stumbled into a place of sur..."



or on YouTube:   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IEaJ1aySRKU&feature=player_embedded

Virtual Native Lands: A Great Place to Visit and Learn

Are you Native American looking for a place to go in SL? Are you anyone else looking to learn about Native Americans? I mean really, not the inaccurate myths or romanticized versions of history, but the real deal? Well Second Life has just the place! Virtual Native Lands are a group of sims that represents its own non-profit organization. In fact, Virtual Native Lands exist because Nany Kayo’s project won an award from Linden Labs.

Nany Kayo of Virtual Native Lands

Ms. Kayo is a Cherokee citizen who happened to work with software in a high tech industry. She came into Second Life see what her employer was doing. Turns out, she loved it, thought it was fun, bought land, and had an idea to meet other Cherokees. One thing led to another, until she discovered the need for a project like this! A contest for good ideas, sponsored by Linden Labs, attracted her, and she wrote up the project. The proposal was one of 3 winners, another being Virtual Ability, and she got a few hundred dollars, and land for a few months to see what they could. That is how Virtual Native Lands got a full sim finally. So Second Life’s own Virtual Native Lands are indeed a non-profit based completely on work in Second Life.

Talking to Nany in Florida

I went over to Virtual Native Lands to explore. I arrived in Florida! The main landing point is situated in the Southeastern United States, although the now five sims cover the United States, Canada, and Mesoamerica. Philosophically speaking, Nany says the project does not have a linear path, and in a way that makes sense. You can wander about through the loosely ordered structure of Virtual Native Lands in a way that reflects a native view of things. Not so linear. Wandering the sims is in parallel process with Native thinking. About time for instance, what modern Americans consider the far future or past are not so far in the past or future to tribal peoples. Everything is more here and now. The ancestors are very real and present to Nany, and most Native Americans. In fact, the actual production of a representation of the land reflects this. It is symbolic. Face it, the size of avatars to land on a sim make it a requirement that things be out of scale, in a project this big. On the notecard about Virtual Native Lands, it says:

"The regions are not all geographically oriented and are not to scale.  Entire
 mountain ranges are represent by a single mountain,  river systems are
hinted at, and some regions extend around corners ending up adjacent to
areas that are far distant in real world geography.  As with all
representations in Second Life, idea is to tell the best story possible with
available resources."

 And this quality truly represents the cultures of Native Americans. The scale of time is very long to Native peoples. There is a sense of great depth of history, not just the individual, but that one is part of a much larger, and older existence. This is a cultural trait, to not feel so individual or separate, more collectivist in everyway. You really get a feel for this on the sims too.

The sims of Virtual Native Land

So after arriving in Florida, I took a tour on a feather that flew me from the Southeast all the way to the Artic. I flew past my own RL neck of the woods, the Pacific Northwest rain, totem poles and all, and back down through the Southwest, and finally the pyramids of Mexico! Lots of fun. I highly recommend you take a friend on this tour, two to a feather you know!

Read all about it

When I talked to Nany Kayo about Virtual Native Lands, she had just come back from a meeting of Non-profit Commons, a collection of 80 non-profit organizations in Second Life, and boy was she excited about the collaborative nature of the work everyone is doing. But Kayo’s big news is about working with The National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI), one of the Smithsonian Institution’s collection of museums. Kayo said, “Virtual Native Lands is a solution provider and is assisting with a program co-sponsored by the Smithsonian Latino Virtual Museum and the National Museum of the American Indian.” This would involve a contract using collections from the museum rendered in 3D exhibits, interactive content, designed by the NMAI. The Virtual Native Lands team will create the content, scripting, machinima, native plants, and everything else under their direction. Exciting news indeed!

Now it is official Nany got the contract

Meanwhile, Nany and the team at Virtual Native Lands are already providing educators with authentic and helpful information for RL and virtual projects. Nany gives tours to educators regularly. Does your group want a tour? IM Nany Kayo! One project involved a group of middle and high school teachers who wanted to build and interactive exhibit about a Native American tribe as an educational forum. Nany was able to have an Apache tribal member of her organization consult with them. Through Virtual Native Lands one can contact a tribe member, and get accurate information on culture. Belonging to a tribe gives one a national identity, not just a background. The difference is in knowing the politics, and being involved in day-to-day activities. Nany described the difference to me using Irish Americans, who say, have a background, a history of a culture behind them, and people living in Ireland today. Actual tribal members have a different culture and perspective than those who are not. Most Virtual Native Lands members have tribal affiliations.

The facinating Apache area

Aside from providing education in SL, Virtual Native Lands supports Native American artists through jobs. And there is a marvelous Indian Made craft store in the sky you can shop at complete with frybread and tacos! YUM!

TP upstairs for fry bread

But back to the land itself! Nany knows the Southeast, being Cherokee and all, so this part of project is most well developed at this point. She does not expect to do it all either. Nany is always on the look out for contributors from various tribes to participate. You will see unobtrusive, artfully done slide shows near each exhibit scattered throughout the land. Each part of the landscape shows how native life reflected the land: the homes, the crafts, and the rituals. The Apache exhibit in particular explains several native rituals that are just beautiful. So from the tropics, to the woodlands, to the Great Plains, the mountains, the deserts, and the cold north, Virtual Native Lands have week’s worth of lessons, more probably. So come back often and check it out in little bits. Don’t forget, this project is not even done yet.

Pacific NW, my neck of the woods

Inuit territory

Turtle Island is beautiful

Let me tell you, Nany has thought of every detail! One would not want the natural landscape lit up or littered with billboards, therefore Nany has even put tiny lights over the exhibits to keep it discreet. Great idea, I say. So it it’s dark when you visit, don’t change the sun, click a light to read by. Nany says “it was real tricky trying to represent something that large with avatars out of scale with land" She tries to continue the "narrative" have information, and design fluidly, to make it visually compelling and authentic. And guess what? It really works! Check it out inworld! Here is the SLurl:
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Native%20Lands%20East/212/34/22

The Rocky Mountains

Seminole Chickee

ZOLAAAAAAAAAAA

So this is my good friend Zola Zsun! You can see her blog, Zola Novela, by clicking on the link on the left of this page! Zola’s great! We talk quite a bit, and are constantly modifying our skirts due to the fact that we don’t want to be skinny like the standard Second Life avatars. Well, the human ones at least. Though I must say, I see very creative women about! Not everyone is anorexic. Now I am feeling like I should be saying something extremely intelligent about how avatars reflect our mainstream culture of sexist lookism, but actually, I just wanted to talk about Zola.

Zola Zsun

So there she is. One night we were feeling silly and made a little zoo. Absolutely no reason except we wanted to take all our animals out! Now, you got to realize, this was a very silly thing, nothing elaborate. But a few friends did finally drop by and we all chatted and sat on hippos and things. Sometimes SL is just about hanging out and being silly. Hell, in my case it usually is!

You know? That’s not really true at all! Zola had a great a idea a while back for a Role Play Exposition. She is an educational design and technology grad student who works here in SL. So the idea was to have different role play groups display and demonstrate their stuff. You will have to ask Zola, but I guess the idea is to use SL for interactive, immersive and synergistic learning, not just each student clicking on things alone. Actually, my sister, Elle Bellah is in the field too. Now she is working on machinima for nursing classes. Anyway, Zola had this idea, and I got to do the terraforming! 

Zola, Miss Wright & Me

Dramatic Terraforming!

Zola in all her glory

More terraforming

Each role-play group needed a space that reflected what they did, and it had to be parceled for media and music. If I recall, ultimately it was Pandora, Deadwood, Antiquity, Pern, Toxian City, and Renaissance Island. It was quite a well-rounded sample: three different historical periods, fantasy, science fiction, and a dystopia.

Gianfar

Pandora

Renaissance Island

Antiquity's Tea Area

Deadwood

Antiquity's lighthouse at the site

Toxian City's Miss Wright

After getting commitments from all the role-play groups, terraforming, landscaping, parceling and setting up, Zola decided we needed a tour and party! So I got Ragnarok Dragonash, my good friend to DJ and we set up a fun dance area too! Rag’s a great DJ, btw, he does Celtic music, on Fridays, at Sarras Village’s medieval tavern. Rag and his partner Katje Broek are my oldest friends in Second Life, and own the sim next to Dark Moon. ANYWAY... the tour! Now that was a gas! (hahaha~) Zola got stage fright! But I tell you she came through! We were on voice, and I walked her through the first stop, Toxian City. After that, all I had to do was type in chat, “FOLLOW THE REDHEAD!” and everyone trailed after her. 

The Party

Follow the Red Head!

The dragons of Pern were particularly interesting because they gave a live role-play demo of a dolphin healing a sick dragon! I don’t know about you, but that’s something I don’t see everyday~! 

Tiny Dragon Advising

Einy Marksman & Me watch

Zola is happy the dragon is healed!

 So, as I said, for smart fun, FOLLOW THE REDHEAD Zola Zsun! Kiss, Zola : )