Time

"...All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us."

-- Gandalf

(geeky quote, but very sage advice nonetheless.)

Test post.

Trying out my new phone. Plz ignore this.
Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

Oh, Glenn Beck... WHY do you exist?

High School Notebook Remix-Redux

Title: High School Notebook Remix-Redux: The Thorns of Life
Year: 199? and 2009
Media: paper, ink, various newspaper and magazine clippings, cellophane tape, and digital re-composition
Dimensions: approx. 6 in. X 9 in.

Scanned an old collage from an old high school notebook, which I then disassembled & re-assembled digitally in Photoshop.

Sometimes

Sometimes I feel so much and it overwhelms me, and there isn't anything I can do about it except ride it out & know that it will pass.

'The Essential Kenny G'... must be a blank CD.

"Heavy is the head that eats the crayons." -- Tracy Jordan

Breaktime = Mostly pointless. Meh.

Nothing

Not sure I have anything to contribute to this dialogue, anymore.

Art in Second Life - Dying out?

Brooklyn Is Watching seems to be pretty much dead in the water (the former weekly podcasts just aren't happening, the blog updates are becoming less and less frequent).

Now the Not Possible In Real Life blog is being discontinued.

So, what's going on? Is the art community of Second Life just going through a slump - or has the golden age of art in SL coming to an end? Is this pattern indicative of a downturn of Second Life in general?

Paralyzed

"You do not know how paralyzing that staring at a blank canvas is; it says to the painter, You can't do anything."

- Vincent Van Gogh, Letter #378 (to his brother Theo), October 1884

Quote of the day

Mankind have a great aversion to intellectual labor; but even supposing knowledge to be easily attainable, more people would be content to be ignorant than would take even a little trouble to acquire it.

- Samuel Johnson

...and this is why I haven't been making art lately.

(Although this is about writing, the same principles apply to my current situation.)

So You Want To Be A Writer

if it doesn't come bursting out of you
in spite of everything,
don't do it.
unless it comes unasked out of your
heart and your mind and your mouth
and your gut,
don't do it.
if you have to sit for hours
staring at your computer screen
or hunched over your
typewriter
searching for words,
don't do it.
if you're doing it for money or
fame,
don't do it.
if you're doing it because you want
women in your bed,
don't do it.
if you have to sit there and
rewrite it again and again,
don't do it.
if it's hard work just thinking about doing it,
don't do it.
if you're trying to write like somebody
else,
forget about it.
if you have to wait for it to roar out of
you,
then wait patiently.
if it never does roar out of you,
do something else.

if you first have to read it to your wife
or your girlfriend or your boyfriend
or your parents or to anybody at all,
you're not ready.

don't be like so many writers,
don't be like so many thousands of
people who call themselves writers,
don't be dull and boring and
pretentious, don't be consumed with self-
love.
the libraries of the world have
yawned themselves to
sleep
over your kind.
don't add to that.
don't do it.
unless it comes out of
your soul like a rocket,
unless being still would
drive you to madness or
suicide or murder,
don't do it.
unless the sun inside you is
burning your gut,
don't do it.

when it is truly time,
and if you have been chosen,
it will do it by
itself and it will keep on doing it
until you die or it dies in you.

there is no other way.

and there never was.

-- Charles Bukowski

(P.S. -- I can't remember if I have posted this before. Blogger's being a cunt and isn't cooperating, so searching my blog to see if this is a duplicate post has proven futile... arggghhh.)

@ the Met this weekend

I'll be in NYC on Saturday, October 3rd, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. If anybody else is going to be out that way & wants to meet there, let me know.

It is becoming clear to me that I have 2 choices (regarding art especially): EVOLVE or fucking DIE.

Etsy

Starting an Etsy shop:

http://www.etsy.com/profile.php?user_id=8125546

Nothing there yet, but there will be. Oh yes, there WILL be.

'The Lost Symbol'

Notice my 'optimistic' (read: sarcastic) prediction-- 1,000,000,000,000³

Maybe

Maybe someday soon I'll actually do a serious post about art... or what I've been up to in the past several weeks... or whatever.

Maybe.

Oeufs en cocotte recipe

I can't take credit for this recipe - my roommate-slash-BFFF read about it in the book Julie and Julia: My Year of Cooking Dangerously by Julie Powell and came up with this version. It's still one of my favorite breakfast-y things to make.

Preheat oven to about 360-ish F. I don't have a digital display, so I just estimate it to be somewhere between 350 and 375 F.

Gather stuff -- 4 oz. ramekins; a baking dish to put them in (for the water bath); butter; cream cheese (or whatever soft cheese-esque product you'd prefer to use); salt; pepper; eggs; herbs (here I've used fresh-snipped chives from the backyard -- mmm). There are endless variations you could do with this recipe.

Butter the ramekins and add a chunk of cream cheese to the bottom of each.

Spread the cream cheese around to cover the bottoms of the ramekins.

Crack an egg into each ramekin over the cheese.

Add salt, pepper, & herbs. The ramekins go in a bigger baking dish; add boiling water to the baking dish for a water bath. Fill it as high as possible without spilling too ridiculously & put into the oven. I usually set the baking dish onto the oven rack first and then fill it with boiling water.

Cook the eggs for about 13-15 minutes or until desired done-ness. Ideally, the whites should be mostly set but soft, and the yolk runny. Mmmmm.

Serve with whatever. I made toast and sauteed potatoes with onions & herbs. Oh, make sure to serve the eggies with a spoon; you'll want every last molecule, believe me.

Arthole is closing.

It is with regret we announce the closure of Arthole on September 30th 2009.

We are unfortunately unable to dedicate the necessary time to the gallery anymore, and for a number of other reasons feel it is time to move on and go our separate ways. We are enormously proud of what we've achieved over the last sixteen months and are very grateful for all the support from our members and the incredible talents of guest artists; Ichibot Nishi, Selavy Oh, Dekka Raymaker and Penumbra Carter.

Thanks also to Lysander Edo and Khamudy Mannonen for donating land, and Amy Freelunch for all her encouragement and enthusiasm.

We will continue to work in Second Life, keep an eye on our respective blogs for news on future projects and exhibitions -
Arahan Claveau
Nebulosus Severine

The final broadcast of Arthole Radio will be on Wednesday 26th August from 1pm Second Life time
(1pm US/PDT / 9pm UK/BST / 4pm US/EDT).

Listen live at the Arthole gallery in Second Life or open this link in your media player.

-Arahan & Nebulosus-

Lost

Who the fuck am I?

What the fuck do I want?

What the fuck should I do?

Why is the path so fucking unclear?

So fucking lost & terrified.

?

What now...?

Away

I will be away on holiday for the next week or so, from Second Life and from real-life. Not exactly sure when I will be posting here regularly again, not sure when I will be back to SL regularly either.

Arthole Radio - Wednesday, July 29th, 2009

Arthole Radio airs this Wednesday 29th July with live shows from Arahan Claveau and Amy Freelunch and the welcome return of Nebulosus Severine after a two month absence.

We start broadcasting as usual from 1pm Second Life time.
(1pm US/PDT / 9pm UK/BST / 4pm US/EDT).

Listen live at the Arthole gallery in Second Life or open this link in your media player.

Show archives here.

Thanks for listening!

Art I like lately - Simon Marsden and Adam Weiss

For this week's Arthole Radio show I wanted to mention the work of a couple of photographers I'm digging lately.

The first is Simon Marsden, whose work can be found on the website THE MARSDEN ARCHIVE:

"Over the last eleven years THE MARSDEN ARCHIVE has become widely recognised as a unique picture library specialising in the fantastic and the supernatural.

Exclusively holding Simon Marsden's extraordinary and powerful black and white images the collection contains material from the British Isles, Ireland, France, Belgium, Italy, Germany, Romania and the USA.

Categories include haunted houses, mystical landscapes, romantic ruins, gothic graveyards, secret gardens, fantastic follies, crumbling castles, grotesque gargoyles, moonlit abbeys and many more."

--------------

The second photographer is Adam Weiss:

"Currently his work ranges from portraiture and large scale conceptual advertising projects to intimate portraits of real people in ethereal landscapes. The word cinematic is often used when describing his work."

So, yeah. Check 'em out!

Making my brother's wedding cake.

At long last, the project of making the cake for my brother's wedding is FINALLY accomplished and behind me. Here's the full story:

Not long after my brother proposed to his now-wife, he asked me if I would be willing to make the wedding cake. He knew I had taken a couple of Wilton cake decorating classes and had been impressed with the cakes I had made for the final projects.

With a bit of apprehension, I accepted. I knew it would be a HUGE, huge challenge, and I knew it would likely be almost an overwhelming task, but... I love my brother, and his wife is an amazing, sweet person -- I love them both to death, and I wanted to make them happy on their wedding day. I approached the project as I would any other art project, so I think that made it easier for me to deal with.

I started the process a few weeks prior to the wedding date. Fortunately, icing keeps well in the freezer, so I made all of that ahead of time.

Over the next couple of weeks, I bought the ingredients and equipment I needed, but had to wait to do the bulk of the work (like the actual baking, etc.)

I struggled for awhile with the design. I knew that the bride-to-be wanted Funfetti cake, but other than that, the entire concept of the cake was totally open. Fortunately, the cake stand I bought helped me to narrow down what I wanted to do.

Finally, on the Thursday before the wedding (which was on Saturday, July 11th), I decided on the final design and I bought the accessories I needed.

I started baking on Thursday night, and while the cakes were in the oven, I worked to assemble the accessories -- the beaded garlands that would circle the perimeters of the cakes.

I finished baking early on Friday, then worked late, late, LATE into the wee hours getting all the cakes filled, frosted, and covered with fondant. I didn't finish up til about 5 a.m.

The next morning before the wedding, I had to transport the blank cakes, the stand, and all the accessories to the reception hall, to finish assembling it. Once there, I arranged the cakes on the stand, hand-painted the metallic swirl designs (the "paint" is made of edible glitter powder mixed with vanilla flavoring), then added the ribbons and garlands to the base; then I affixed the bride & groom to the cake.

THEN, I ran the hell to the bathroom, got changed, and hurried along to the wedding -- I made it there JUST in time!

The wedding was beautiful, and as we headed to the reception, I felt relieved that I could finally relax. However -- I was worried that the cake wouldn't taste good, despite all the work I put into it -- but it turned out to be delicious, and got universal rave reviews. Most importantly, it made my brother and his wife happy, and that is the biggest and best compliment I could have received.

Making this cake was stressful, tiring, aggravating, nerve-wracking... and totally, totally worth it.

Slideshow of all the cake photos:

(If you cannot see the embedded slideshow, click here for a direct link.)

My two nominated works at the Best of Brooklyn Is Watching

I am extraordinarily grateful to announce that two of my artworks were nominated for the Best of Brooklyn Is Watching -


I'm Sorry, Dad

and

Bunnyken In La-La-Land.

I set them up near each other at the display space, and it's sort of odd to see them juxtaposed in such a way; I mean, the subject matter, the intent, the emotion that went into the pieces could not be more opposite.

Also, it was a bit difficult to revisit I'm Sorry, Dad. Fortunately, it was saved to my inventory in pretty much one piece, so there was no need to spend a lot of time dwelling on it.

Teleport to the exhibition space here - http://slurl.com/secondlife/KU%20Art/214/117/21

Make sure you have plenty of time to explore; there are a TON of amazing pieces of art to experience - many by some of my favorite Second Life artists: Arahan Claveau, Ichibot Nishi, Dekka Raymaker, Selavy Oh, Dancoyote Antonelli, Glyph Graves, Bryn Oh... and many more!


Press release about the festival here.

Arthole Season 3 is just around the corner!

Arthole Season 3 kicks off Saturday, July 18th, 2009 at 2 pm SLT (PST) and welcomes Penumbra Carter as our new guest artist!

Read all the details here, on the Arthole blog.

In preparation for Season 3, the Arthole gallery will close for one week beginning Saturday, July 11th.

Don't miss the last chance to see our current guest artist Dekka Raymaker's Church of Whoami on level 3, and Arahan Claveau & Nebulosus Severine's XXX PRIVATE SHOW on level 2!

Teleport to the gallery: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Kress/168/88/391

Download the Arthole Season 3 press release here.

Best of Brooklyn Is Watching Voting Results!

Taken from the Brooklyn is Watching blog:

Voting finished: The 30 best list

(*Note: Artists whose names are in bold are, or have been, Arthole artists.)

Podcaster’s votes:

ARAHAN CLAVEAU, Injustice
COMET MORIGI, foggy forest
DANCOYOTE ANTONELLI, Tower of Light
DEKKA RAYMAKER, 8 Platforms
GAZIRA BABELI, Avatar on Canvas
GLYPH GRAVES, Wind Installation
ICHIBOT NISHI & ARAHAN CLAVEAU, Beyond Human
ICHIBOT NISHI, episodic.atomized
JURIA YOSHIKAWA, A Window Into Your Mind
LONETORUS HABILIS, Garden of Colour
MISPRINT THURSDAY, Aeroport
NEBULOSUS SEVERINE, I’m Sorry Dad
NEBULOSUS SEVERINE, Bunnyken in La-La-Land
OBERON ONMURA, Beacon
PATRICIAANNE DAVIAU, Lilliton
PAVIG LOK, Intellectual Property Garden
RACHEL BREAKER, MAGICENCHANTED DREAM FACTORYNOBASE
REZAGO KOKORIN, Watching Brooklyn is Watching
SELAVY OH, Spiral
SELAVY OH, Attractive Art

Public votes:

COMET MORIGI, Wind Particles
ALIZARIN GOLDFLAKE, The Maze
BRYN OH, Sea & Sky
ALIZARIN GOLDFLAKE, Night Light
BRYN OH, Rabicorn Environment
ALIZARIN GOLDFLAKE, Come Go With Me
ALIZARIN GOLDFLAKE, Phosphoressence
BRYN OH, Drawing Out the Shiver
SOLKIDE AUER, Black Pearl
SOLKIDE AUER, Radiations (Radiazioni)

------------------------------------------

Thank you to all who have voted and participated - as always, I am grateful for your continued support!

Vote, Vote, Vote!

Public Vote for Best of BiW Year One Now Open! Voting deadline is the end of Saturday, July 4th.

Taken from the Brooklyn is Watching blog -

Ok here we go. Podcast participants are sending in emails to me with their picks- that will account for 20 of the choices.

Who picks the other 10? YOU DO. Anyone can vote. Vote wisely- Vote only once. Voting is only today (july 4) and tomorrow (july 5) till 2pm eastern. Artists- you might want to send out some emails about this to let your fans know.

Click Here to VOTE

What I’m going to do is take the 20 highest rated artworks from the podcasters lists- those are in, and then take 10 highest rated works from this survey that are not already in because of the podcasters voting and those 10 will be in too to make up 30.

FULL EXPLANATION OF THE FESTIVAL IS HERE

View results of voting so far

Description of all the nominated work here

Ten batches of icing.

Ten batches of icing achieved (FINALLY).
That's about 30 cups.
Phase 1 of my brother's wedding cake is complete.

Siri Woodget's blog

Siri Woodget was kind enough to write a review of my installation at the Caerleon Art Collective on her blog, My Life in Second Life:

Bittersweet memories -
...Severine built an evocative and typical scene for many children shipped off to summer camp each year, called Summer, 1985; a platform tent in the woods; sleeping bag resting on thin mattress, bag of clothes stuffed damply beneath the rusty springs of the bed, can of repellent rolling across the floor. Visitors are asked to lie on the bed and listen to the radio. Stations quickly change as though someone were spinning the dial looking for a good tune...

(full article here)

Thanks so much, Siri! I'm glad you were able to visit, and I'm glad you enjoyed group show as well.

Veggie wraps ftw.

Went shopping at Trader Joe's recently, & they had samples of a Mediterranean veggie hummus wrap that were just so amazingly good I had to buy the ingredients and recreate it at home.

What I used in this particular photo:

- Sundried tomato tortilla wraps (I prefer spinach wraps, but the store didn't have any at the time)
- Hummus (Cedar's original tahini)
- Green leaf lettuce
- English cucumber
- Trader Joe's Feta cheese with Mediterranean herbs

For the dressing:
- Lemon juice
- Trader Joe's white balsamic vinegar
- Olive oil

First I made the dressing -
I whisked together one tablespoon each of the lemon juice & vinegar, and two tablespoons of olive oil to make an emulsion (this will make enough dressing for 4 wraps).

To assemble the wrap --
I spread about a quarter cup of hummus on each wrap, right to the edges (it helps the wrap to stick closed).

On top of each went a shredded lettuce leaf, some slices of cucumber (wash but don't peel), a tablespoon of feta, then a tablespoon of dressing drizzled over that.

Wrap 'em up and EAT. Obviously, there are probably a zillion different variations you could make with this basic set of instructions. Could also very easily be adapted into a vegan version.

Srsly, this is my new favorite sandwich-esque food item.

SL Blogger Meme: Who Inspired Your Avatar?

Found on New World Notes:
Spread This SL Blogger Meme: Who Inspired Your Avatar?

My answer:

My avatar isn't based on anything other than perhaps my subconscious; it is a self-portrait of sorts, and strongly resembles many of the ink drawings I've done in the past - which are symbolic self-portraits as well.

I consider my avatar as an extension of my art - it is a very stylized self-portrait in itself.

Arthole Season 3 - July 18th 2009

Tune-in to Arthole Radio on Wednesday 24th June from 9pm UK time to hear details on Season 3 ...

1pm PDT / 9pm BST / 4pm EDT

Listen here.

(reposted from the Arthole blog, which was most recently updated by Arahan Claveau)

Latest doodle

Throes
Ballpoint pen on paper
Approx. 8.5. in. x 11 in.
(2009)

Wedding cake process

Today I began the long and labor-intensive process of making my brother's wedding cake.

I have to start making the icing in advance, as this will be one of the most time-consuming steps.

First batch is done - I have to repeat this process 9 times more.

Summer Camp, 1985

This installation is the Second Life counterpart to my painting "Bending Trees," for the Aequitas group exhibition in both NYC and the Caerleon Art Collective sim.

When I was first approached to be in this exhibition, and was told that the theme of the show was to be based around childhood memories, I instantly knew which of my own experiences I would revisit:

I was a pretty sheltered, innocent, carefree child until I went away to summer camp when I was about 9 years old. The two weeks I was away destroyed me emotionally; I was terribly homesick, and was completely ostracized and rejected by the other kids in the camp (including my friend, whom I had gone with specifically so that neither of us would feel totally alone). It was really the beginning of a huge complex I still have to this day over my fear of rejection. Obviously, I've come a long way since I was 9 years old, but that experience with summer camp traumatized me deeply. When I returned home, finally, I had separation anxiety from my mother, and I had to go to therapy for a long time afterward. I did end up a stronger person in some ways, and my independent thinking & my resolve to fight and stick up for myself grew as a result. So, for what it's worth, the experience, though mostly bad, DID turn out to be positive in many ways, and really helped to make me what I am today.

In this installation, I attempted to capture an experience I had every sunrise while away at camp. As I'd slowly wake in my sleeping bag, for the first brief moments I would believe that I was home, in my own bed; and as I'd fully gain consciousness, the horror of my situation would set in once again.

I have a recurring fear that perhaps the past 24 years of my life have been a dream, and someday I will wake up, still in bed at camp.

Instructions for viewing:
- Set daylight settings to Sunrise (World -- Environment Settings -- Sunrise)
- Turn up the volume on Sounds
- Touch the bed (Disable your animation override, if applicable)
- Touch the radio underneath the bed

Teleport - http://slurl.com/secondlife/Caerleon%20Art%20Collective2/63/31/21

Great advice from a wise friend --

"Let all your expectations disappear and just BE."

Found in one of my old high school journals --

Frustration is one of the great things in Art, satisfaction is nothing.

-- Malcolm McLaren, college notes (winter 1967/8)

(I am not a huge fan of M. McLaren, but this is a pretty wise statement.)

Why

There are times that I feel like just walking away from all of this -- Second Life, an art career, stuff like that.

I can't help but wonder: what is the point of it all?

Do I really have anything important or significant to say to the world? I mean, really?

I struggle with the notion that my work is mediocre at best, for the most part; and that I just can't hack it. I feel some joy at minor accomplishments & small victories, but it's not enough; I am unfulfilled. I keep trying, but I'm still left feeling empty. I'm not satisfied.

Plenty of artists & creative people are perfectly content to retread familiar art territory; and plenty of good, even GREAT art comes out of that process. But that's not enough for me. I struggle to find something NEW, to discover something that has never been seen or done before. Second Life art is a start, but... it doesn't quite fill that void yet for me, not yet anyway.

And even if I found sudden success in that respect -- What the hell would I do with the whole art world rat-race anyway? I couldn't handle that, at least not now, as I am.

These are all simply rhetorical questions; the only answers I can really expect are from myself, and with time.

I'm not giving up, I CAN'T give up. Just having an existential crisis, again. Questioning, re-examining, searching, wondering, thinking.

Twitter

Oh yeah, by the way, I use Twitter sometimes --

http://twitter.com/Nebulosus

-- if you wanna follow me.

I'm still getting the hang of it, & still not posting all that regularly, but I'm getting used to it & more use out of it.

Sometimes I post pictures, too.

New commission piece - 'Talk To Me'

About twelve hours ago, I finished my latest painting, Talk To Me; and about 8 hours ago, I delivered it to its recipient.

Pics:

Title: Talk To Me (diptych)
Year: 2009
Dimensions: Approx. 32 in. X 20 in.
Media: Acrylic on canvas

Detail 1, Detail 2


Raw sketch

Aequitas -- first pictures of the real-life show

Photos courtesy of Stephen Beveridge/Sowa Mai.

(If you can't see the embedded slideshow, click here to view)

Aequitas
Artspace OSA
June 1 - June 30, 2009
Reception Friday June 19th. 6:30-8:30
178 Bennett Ave @ 189th St, NYC
1 train to 191st Street | A train to 190th Street

Second Life Version
Caerleon Art Collective
June 26 - July 3, 2009
Reception June 26th. 6:30-8:30slpm
slurl.com/secondlife/Caerleon%20Art%20Co llective2/108/48/24/

Friends

All of you out there who have a network of friends, with whom you socialize in-person, on a somewhat regular basis -- never, ever take that for granted. You may or may not realize just how lucky you are.

You're lucky, and I envy you.

Beta-testing AvaLine

Arahan emailed me today to tell me about AvaLine, a new way to use voice chat in Second Life -- it enables you to receive phone calls to your avatar. It's only in beta testing just now, but I thought I'd be one of the 1,000 people who would give it a shot!

Here's how it works:

1.) Dial one of the numbers listed below:
Boston: +1 617-861-0749
Chicago: +1 312-348-3694
Dallas: +1 972-813-0067
Los Angeles: +1 213-271-2575
New York: +1 212-660-9951
Philadelphia: +1 215-475-5291
San Francisco: +1 415-490-9443
Washington DC: +1 202-629-9859
London, UK: +44 20-7100-5624
(* long-distance rates may apply, check before you call)

2.) When prompted, enter the access code of the person you want to call, followed by the pound sign (#). [Obviously, you have to know their access code beforehand.]

-- If the person is logged in, and is currently accepting voice calls, they will get a notification, which looks like this:

If the call is accepted, it connects the way a regular voice-chat IM would:

-- If the person is offline, is unavailable, or does not have voice enabled, you will be able to leave a voice message, which will be emailed to them in the form of an .mp3 file:

Bear in mind that the person you call WILL be able to see what phone number you're calling from.

For more information about this service, or to sign up for the beta-test yourself, check out the following link:
http://secondlife.com/avaline
(Note that you will have to sign in to the forums using your SL user name & password.)

In case anybody is interested, my access code is 807141. Leave me a message!

Upcoming NYC show - Aequitas

More information about the show that my recent painting, Bending Trees, will be in.

From the press release:

AEQUITAS

Dekka Raymaker Andrew MacLachlan Penumbra Carter Beth Olds Nebulosus Severine CM Pauluh Sowa Mai Stephen Beveridge David Ferrando Banrion Constantine Robert Garlick Elif Arat

For immediate Release:

Social media has drawn together a group of international artists to New York for Aequitas, an exhibit of art based on childhood experiences.

Artspace OSA in New York City and the virtual community of Second Life will host a joint exhibition of international artists: paintings, digital work, and virtual world installations during the month of June 2009.

Artists can be a solitary lot but with the advent of virtual worlds and web 2.0 they are finding each other and communicating in the way they know best: making and exhibiting art together. This disparate group of artists, having never met face to face, nevertheless finds a common ground in exploring their childhood for art.

Sowa Mai, also known as the artist Stephen Beveridge, conceived and planned this exhibit as an extension of the relationships he had formed in the Second Life virtual world with artist/avatars from different time zones and cultural backgrounds.

The exhibit in Washington Heights, New York City will display paintings and digital work by the human artists. An exhibit in the Second Life virtual world will consist of (art) installations and scripted objects by the human artists' avatar counterparts. Both exhibits are based around the theme of mining childhood experience for art.

Aequitas
Artspace OSA
June 1 - June 30, 2009
Reception Friday June 19th. 6:30-8:30
178 Bennett Ave @ 189th St, NYC
1 train to 191st Street | A train to 190th Street

Second Life Version
Caerleon Art Collective
June 26 - July 3, 2009
Reception June 26th. 6:30-8:30slpm

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Caerleon%20Art%20Collective2/108/48/24/

Contact:
Stephen Beveridge
212 928 8351
SowaMai AT gmail dot com

AEQUITAS

Dekka Raymaker Andrew MacLachlan Penumbra Carter Beth Olds Nebulosus Severine CM Pauluh Sowa Mai Stephen Beveridge David Ferrando Banrion Constantine Robert Garlick Elif Arat

The Caerleon sims were founded by Georg Janick, the SL avatar of Gary Zabel who has been teaching in the Philosophy Department at the University of Massachusetts at Boston since 1989. Virtual Art Initiative (an associate member organization of the nonprofit company, Media Working Group, Inc.) is an organization of artists, writers, musicians, and scholars who are using the immersive and interactive digital media of such virtual worlds as Second Life to develop new forms of artistic content.

Virtual worlds are computer generated three-dimensional environments that allow people from around the globe to interact with one another through “avatars” (digital bodies) and shape their environments, both individually and collectively, by using graphical and programming tools.

Those involved in the Initiative believe that virtual worlds are like photography, cinema, video, electronic music, and so on in that they provide the opportunity, in the form of a new technology, for radically innovative forms of aesthetic expression. Most of our work is done on the Second Life virtual world grid, though some of us have worked in other virtual worlds as well, such as VastPark and OpenSim.

http://www.virtual-art-initiative.org/Virtual_Art_Initiative/Virtual_Art_Initiative.html

Artspace OSA is part of Our Saviour's Atonement Lutheran Church. With Rev. J. Barrie Lawless the church building is an active hub in the community hosting music, poetry and visual art as well as dance yoga and public meetings. The building is home to an ELCA Lutheran congregation with people from many different faith backgrounds. OSA is a Reconciling in Christ congregration, which actively welcomes and supports participations of its Lesbian and Gay members.

Source: http://sowamai.wordpress.com/2009/05/25/aequitas-june-2009/

Groups - on Flickr, in Second Life, and otherwise...

4 years in Second Life.

Today marks the fourth anniversary of my arrival into Second Life -- my fourth "rez day," as it's called.

I celebrated the occasion as I usually do -- in solitude, in thought, while visiting the realms of an SL resident whose work I particularly admire, Baron Grayson.

(Incidentally, his rez day is about one year before mine, almost exactly - his is May 23, 2004.)

When I first came to SL, I spent much of my time at his island, Sanctum Sanctorum -- it was my "home" for the first couple of months. Baron's builds were my first realization that building, creating, and making art in Second Life could be something really extraordinary.

Several weeks ago, I visited his current sim, The Nameless Isle, and found a breathtaking scene at the virtual water's edge. I've spent hours there, immersed in the colors and ambient sounds.

As a tribute to Baron Grayson, I made a brief machinima with some video clips I filmed there:

(If you cannot see the above embedded video, click here)

Thank you, Baron, for continuing to inspire me 4 years later.

Arrgghh

Consumers of the world: Read the Return Policy BEFORE you buy. Don't take it out on us because you couldn't be bothered.

My newest painting in upcoming NYC show

I was asked recently by artist Stephen Beveridge (known as Sowa Mai in Second Life) to participate in a crossover real life/Second Life art event. A few other artists from SL are also participating, Dekka Raymaker (Arthole's current guest artist) and Penumbra Carter among them.

The theme of the show, as told to me by Stephen, is "mining your childhood for art exploration." I had no trouble coming up with an idea for a painting; in fact, I had a particular set of childhood memories in mind that I have been meaning to channel into some art for a long time now. I'm not going to go into exactly what those memories are in this post, but I will share the image of the painting itself and the title.

Bending Trees (diptych)
Year: 2009
Dimensions: 16 in. X 10 in.
Media: Acrylic and thread on canvas.

I am relatively close to NYC, but rather than deliver this painting myself, I shipped it out and it arrived there Tuesday. I haven't decided yet whether I am going to attend the opening reception, but I have time to think about it. At the very least, I will be attending the Second Life event.

Show details:

Aequitas
OSA Artspace
June 1 - June 30, 2009
Reception Friday June 19th. 6:30-8:30
178 Bennett Ave @ 189th St, NYC
1 train to 191st Street | A train to 190th Street


Second Life Version
June 26 - July 3, 2009
Reception June 26th. 6:30-8:30slpm
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Caerleon%20Art%20Collective2/108/48/24/

More details soon!

A call to my fellow artists: What do you consider YOUR first work?

On my last Arthole Radio show, I proposed an interesting challenge to my fellow artists.

I got the idea a few months ago, when I received the book No. 1: First Works by 362 Artists, edited by Francesca Richer and Matthew Rosenweig. It features a wide variety of 20th century artists like Matthew Barney, Dale Chihuly, Chuck Close, Gilbert & George, Takashi Murakami, and Robert Longo.

An excerpt from the review page for the book:

The artists were asked to submit what they considered their "first" work of art--not necessarily the first piece they ever created, but the one that first successfully represented who they are as an artist today. Some of the works are first "mature" works, others are seminal or pivotal, others are catalysts, some are new beginnings. These submissions, along with written artists' statements, make up this fascinating look at the process of art-marking.

(source: http://www.artbook.com/1933045094.html)

What do you consider YOUR first work?

Contact me with your contributions either in Second Life, on Facebook, or by email. Whether you'd like to record a conversation about it, or write something, or if you'd like to send pictures of the work in question, however you want to do it is fine by me.

I will discuss the contributions to this project, including my own, beginning with my next show on Arthole Radio, which airs on Weds, May 27th. I will follow up with more entries during later shows, so if you can't make this month's deadline, that's okay too.

I look forward to hearing about YOUR first works!

Bunnyken Party video

Here's a quick machinima I threw together with footage I captured this past Friday --

(Click here if you cannot see the embedded video)

Last-minute Bunnyken party at Le Cimetiere

Some of my friends from Le Cimetiere have requested a Bunnyken party!

So at the last minute, I had to scramble to throw something together, but I think it will be a fun time.

It will begin Friday evening at 7 pm SLT and last until the wee hours of the morning.

My friend, DJ Emi Brissot, will be spinning the tunes.

FREE Bunnyken avatars will be provided!

All are invited!

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Le%20Cimetiere/206/218/167

Technical difficulties

I will be taking most of this week off from Second Life and other internet-related activities to do a complete system restore of my computer. This will take awhile since I have a TON of backups to make beforehand.

I will still be able to access my email for the most part (via my cellphone).

Wish me luck. :(

Arthole Radio on New World Notes

Hamlet Au of Second Life blog New World Notes has generously written a very positive article about Arthole radio's most recent broadcast:

...This is an inspiring, profoundly moving audio compilation of great music and voices, artists from around the world of every age, offering insights into how they became the creators they are today. You'll be awed by the eclectic diversity of the music, everything from an avant garde composer from the 1960s to a contemporary Oakland hiphop group with belly dancer accompaniment, and the stories told by Residents from Japan, the US, the EU, Australia, and elsewhere. Sometimes there's a direct line from the music to their Second Life work, sometimes the connection is more subtle. In either case, it's one of the very best things to come out of the metaverse art world, audio testimony to a vibrant community, and the soundtrack that helped make it real...

Read the full article here.

Arthole Radio show archives from Weds. 4/29

Recordings of all our shows from April 29th are now available in the archives.

Direct links:
Amy
Arahan
Nebulosus

Thanks to Klink for the server space!

Art I like lately - lots of Second Life stuff and more.

I've been finding a lot of fantastic art these past few weeks.

Earlier this month, I read about artist Adam Makarenko via the website PDN Photo of the Day:

"...Influenced by science and nature, Makarenko creates a vivid tableau vivant through miniatures, which he photographs into poignant visual narratives concerned with human intervention in nature..."

Not only are his miniatures amazingly well-crafted and minutely detailed, the photographs he takes of his work are evocative and haunting. More of his art can be viewed on his website, adam-makarenko.com.


Right around the same time I found Makarenko's miniatures, I came across miniatures by a different artist, this one working in Second Life.

PatriciaAnne Daviau creates tiny villages and scenes, working with the smallest prims (SL's building blocks) imaginable. I was lucky enough to see her miniatures up close. [Those are my legs & feet in the picture; I stood close to this scene to give a sense of scale.]

These builds are so impossibly small that one has to learn how to maneuver SL's camera controls with a bit of skill in order to see any of the details. Check out the slideshow to see more snapshots:

Unfortunately, I'm pretty sure this installation was only temporary, so I don't think there are any current locations to see it in SL. However, Youtube member chenderson33 has made a video dedicated to PatriciaAnne's work:

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AM Radio's The Red and The Wild was another build I was fortunate enough to see for myself in SL, during a preview of the show for members of NPIRL/ImpIRL.

As all of his works are, The Red and The Wild is rich with imagery, detail, and genius loci (spirit of place); it is intensely evocative. AM talks about the build in an excellent interview on the NPIRL blog:

"...I had the courage to say that this abstraction means something, that here is a symbol of something, that we have these abstract parts of ourselves, these fears, these wild things we try to bury, and without them, we don't become who we are..."

Excerpt from A Burst of Conversation: AM Radio's "The Red and The Wild"

Words and mere snapshots cannot adequately do it justice, so if you are in Second Life, do yourself a favor and spend some time immersed in The Red and The Wild, which is now open to the general public. Explore every detail, make sure to read the notecard given to you upon arrival, click on everything, look at everything.

SLurl: http://slurl.com/secondlife/IDIA%20Laboratories/15/154/20

More snapshots from my visit are in this slideshow:

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I've also spent a bit of time exploring Enluminuria, a collection of artists whose work is bright, colorful, and abstract:

Slideshow here:

SLurl: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Saucier/128/128/20