2008 in review

2008 was a pretty big year for me; I feel that I made a good amount of personal and artistic growth, so I'd like to spend a moment or two documenting some of the more significant moments.

[I actually started this post about a week ago and have only just finished it. :P]

JANUARY 2008
-- I uploaded the infamous 'Odious Source' picture to Flickr that stirred up a shitstorm (technically, it was uploaded on Dec. 31st, 2007 but the resulting controversy came the day/s after):


-- I hosted the Second Annual David Bowie Birthday Bash in SL:


-- I was invited to exhibit an art piece in the Amsterdam sim in SL, so I created the installation 'Come Closer,' a site-specific interactive, kinetic piece:


-- Construction of Arthole, the collaborative gallery in SL for me and my friend/art co-conspirator Arahan Claveau (Steve Millar) began:



FEBRUARY 2008
-- I did the construction & art directing for a sociological / identity / gender exploration / embodiment / performance-art piece in SL called 'The Labor Project,' concept by Rivka Rau and Jubilant Quackenbush:



MARCH 2008
-- I was featured in the (now-defunct) SL tabloid The Avastar as one of the Top Ten most influential women of SL (I was chosen as the art candidate):


-- I began exhibiting work semi-regularly at Brooklyn Is Watching, beginning with Bunnykenball:


-- I found an actual Bunnyken on Ebay, bid on it, and won:



APRIL 2008
-- Arthole opens! Our first guest artist was Ichibot Nishi:


-- I was invited to join the Not Possible In Real Life (NPIRL) group in SL.


MAY 2008
-- Arahan, Ichibot, and I participated in the Kunstvlaai festival, held in the Virtual Holland and Amsterdam sims, an event in Amsterdam with components both in real-life and in SL:


-- Khamudy Mannonen, a friend, donated the Arthole Annex, a piece of virtual land, to our gallery so that we'd have a bit more space in which to build:


-- I participated in the group Hyperformalist exhibition in SL called Kiss the Sky:


-- I participated in the Garden of NPIRL Delights, a multi-artist event held in SL; my build was called 'Excess of Sorrow Laughs / Excess of Joy Weeps':


-- I hit my third rez-day, or the 3-year anniversary of the date I first came to SL:


-- I bought a Wacom digital drawing tablet, finally! --


-- Changed my avatar shape to be less-skinny.


JUNE 2008
-- I hosted an event at Arthole for Arahan, who had decided to cancel his Flickr account:


-- I was offered the use of a sim for 2 months by Bettina Tizzy, founder of NPIRL; that project eventually became the installation 'Chasm,' but originally started off VERY differently.

-- I decided to close my SL shop, Numinous, to focus on more art projects:



JULY 2008
-- I finished my SL installation 'So Flows the Current' at the Depot 7 sim:


-- I also completed the 'Chasm' installation:


-- I was asked by SL fashion designer Callie Cline to work with her on an ensemble for a virtual fashion show at the Black Swan sim:



AUGUST 2008
-- Arahan and I created the performance piece 'ORIENTATION' for the Club Goodbye Dollar event held in both SL and real life:


-- The second season of Arthole opened, with new guest artist Selavy Oh:


-- I took day trips to Boston and Maine:



SEPTEMBER 2008
-- I collaborated again with Callie Cline for another virtual fashion show at the Black Swan sim:


-- I helped to plan and build for the third anniversary celebration of Le Cimetiere, a virtual nightclub owned by my good friend Jinx Paz:


-- I built an installation, 'Ornamental Love,' for the Sintetika sim in SL:


-- 'ORIENTATION' is re-created and filmed for PICNIC 08, an arts and technology event in Amsterdam:


-- Arthole Radio launches its weekly show, with Amy Freelunch (Amy Wilson) joining the line-up shortly after:



OCTOBER 2008
-- I built a Halloween-themed installation, 'In The Hall of the Pumpkin King' for the Cetus Gallery in SL:



NOVEMBER 2008
-- I accepted my first real-life commission for a work of art, which was sold to my friend known as Sunshine Kukulcan in SL; it was completed and shipped in December:

(crappy phone-cam pic; better photos to be added soon)


DECEMBER 2008
-- I was interviewed on Skype by Amy Wilson (aka Amy Freelunch) for Arthole Radio -- you can listen to it here - http://arthole.shadow-dominion.com/Amy/wilsonep12.mp3




Also of note in 2008:
-- I overcame my fear of the dentist (for the most part) and started going back regularly, which was a HUGE step for me, since I had not gone in many years. Fortunately, I had no serious issues and only needed a series of deep cleanings.
-- I met a few Second Life friends in person, though I am not going to mention their names, out of respect for their privacy and my own.