Filed under: Educational, Events, Exploration, Arts and Culture

Mashup Islander, or Christopher Dodds in real life, unveils connections between literature and real-time 3D art through his virtual moiré sculptures. His exhibit opened recently among a sea of enthusiastic visitors who immediately began exploring the interactive pieces. You may experience the work yourself on Info Island until November 15th, 2007.

Many thanks to Daruma Picnic, Elizabeth Rookwood, and Rookie Voyager for showing me around!Organized in collaboration with artist Adam Ramona, Cantata Park is a real-time audio exhibit based on a concept developed in the essay "The Electronic Revolution" by Willaim S. Burroughs. The poet "believed that language contained a virus, which could be exposed, even enhanced by cutting up (rearranging) narrative", explains Islander. Each pillar in the Cantata Park contains a word from this essay. As an avatar passes through, those words are spoken and a new narrative emerges.

This show is a definite must-see and is curated by the hands of the loving librarians from Info Island. This sim is part of the "library archipelago" started in 2006 by the Alliance Library System of Illinois. It is now a hub of cultural and artistic expression. For those interested, I highly recommend joining the "artsllib" group to stay in touch with their events.

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Filed under: Shopping, Events, Arts and Culture

Kirk Claymore and Maddox Dupont, of KMADD ENTERPRISES, are providing a much needed service for men in Second Life. Tonight, at 7:30 pm PDT, they are opening their new sim, Kmadd Enterprise, to the public. In the sim, you can find men's shapes, skins, and clothing from over 35 designers in one convenient spot! Previously, guys had to travel all over the grid to get their shopping done.

In addition to housing menswear, there will be a Center for the Arts, where SL artists can showcase their work. If you can't get enough of a fix tonight, they will be holding a fashion show tomorrow, October 14th, at 5pm PDT. I encourage the ladies to bring a few male friends, or alts, along, and I hope to see everyone there!

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Filed under: Exploration, Arts and Culture

Who knew you could learn so much from hanging out in a virtual fishbowl? Artist Strawberry Holiday takes guests on a trip into the world of a 3D recreation of one of her real-life paintings through her exhibition at Kush City. Update: You can watch a machinima of it on Vlad Bjornson's Shiny Life site.

Besides being an interesting point of view to explore, the fishbowl installation also advocates acceptance for plus-size women in Second Life and beyond. On a canvas of blue water and a miniature midnight city, the artist's aquatic world is filled with plump mermaid sculptures, caught in the middle of their cheerful play. Although some residents present at the opening considered this work a combination between Van Gogh and Robbie Dingo, what captured me was the lovely way in which Holiday expressed her message. The style was fresh and lively, a definite must-see.

If you like the artist's work at Kush City, you can also see her work at The Second Louvre Museum or at her own Winged Gallery.

Thanks to Tayzia Abattoir for the heads-up!

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Filed under: Mixed Reality, Great Builds, Arts and Culture

Australian Metaverse developer The Project Factory has unveiled an artistic remix of the alleys and laneways of Melbourne (my local stomping grounds). Rather than simply replicating a chunk of the city, the installation draws on the elements and flavor of many scenes and locales, mixing them into an artistic reinterpretation of the feel and mood of Melbourne's almost mazelike webwork of minor streets and byways.

Gary Hazlitt (aka Gary Hayes), Head of Virtual World Development at The Project Factory said, "We wanted to catch the vibrancy of the Melbourne Laneways and the architecture of Federation Square. Second Life gave us the ability to animate these buildings and give them the movement that we feel they want."

The Flash video [courtesy of the fast and friendly folks at SLCN.TV] linked above shows the site being unpacked at Australian Broadcasting Corporation's ABC Island. So what are you waiting for? Get down there and soak some of the Melbournian ambience!

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