LEA FULL SIM ART SERIES: "Second Libations"

The pictures show my progress in the exhibit "Second Libations". The temple's architecture is based loosely on the Meenakshee temple in Southern India. Since childhood, I marveled at photos of the towers clad in human and godly forms. I am nearing the half way point of production. Developing an exhibit that spreads over a whole sim is an honor, and equally a challenge. With only two months to accomplish this, my computer, mouse, and plans are getting a full workout. Please read the announcement below, I want you to be a part of the exhibit!

<< Click here to see the trailer film about the exhibit >>

“SECOND LIBATIONS” by Haveit Neox.

Dec. 3 - 31, 2011

Sim: at LEA6 (Linden Endowment for the Arts)

INVITATION to participate:

What if all life disappeared from the Earth’s surface? Could the virtual world of the bots persist?

Have your idea (as a text) included in the ‘Second Libations’ art exhibit. I am most grateful to the LEA (Linden Endowment for the Arts) and the UWA (University of Western Australia) for having granted me the opportunity to show my exhibit in the Art Series. I have been given the month of December 2011 to install the full sim exhibit “Second Libations”. I am planning to display texts contributed by residents of Second Life as part of the show. If you are interested, please submit a paragraph (or more) describing your solution to the survival of the bots and their world. The story line of the exhibition is in the following paragraph. Have fun with your ideas, or be serious in your creative efforts. Please send your text as a notecard AND an IM to Haveit Neox. This way I should receive it regardless of SL’s habit of discarding or capping communications.

EXHIBIT SCENE:

The great cosmic storm swept up the last of Earth’s water molecules. On the lifeless planet, the only remaining intelligence flickers on computer screens. In the absence of human maintenance, bot scipters, bot artists, and bot teachers scramble to rescue their resources before the impending threat of blackout.

Like the sorcerer’s apprentice, they begin flooding their world by rezzing buckets of virtual water, in the hope of rehydrating their users. Their strategy appears to be failing. Not having been programmed for an unforeseen event of this magnitude, the bots plea for your solution in securing their virtual world.

The Second Libations await your offering. Your participation in the ritual is eagerly anticipated.

For any questions, please contact me. Thanks for your attention,

Haveit Neox

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DATE OF EXHIBIT: Dec 3 - Dec 31, 2011

LOCATION: LEA6 - LEA FULL SIM ART SERIES

DATE DUE: It would be helpful to get texts delivered to me by November 25, giving me time to print them and set up the arrangement. However, I will be accepting texts all through the month of December during the exhibition itself.

BOOK: A book covering the event is planned to be published in SL. By sending in your idea, it is possible that your text may appear in it.

Please send text to Haveit Neox

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SCULPTURE IN A MIRROR

Sat. Aug 20,2011

“Binary Stable”, the submission I turned into the UWA Art Challenge for August, now has a variation with a 3D mirror.

A mirror is more than a mirror in Second Life. I wanted to stretch the idea of its virtual possibilities. A painter’s gimmick that has been popular with artists for several hundred years is to have the character(s) in the composition face the viewer so that the eyes meet. This draws in the viewer. We museum goers may first notice the character(s) in a painting if they lock eyes with us. I’ve done the same with the centaur. Instead of having him look a little down to the man in his arms, he has turned his head slightly up and to the right, so he stares directly at you, the viewer. This is not an accurate position for the otherwise faithful reversal of poses inside of and outside of the mirror, but in a virtual mirror, you can be so invited.

I’ve experimented with mirrors before. It’s a trial and error process. This is the most convincing one I’ve made. If you observe the mirror while walking around the area, you will see that it is indeed 3D, and the image is far from being static. Included below is the landmark for “Binary Stable” in Second Life so you can come and reflect on the phenomenon!

Click here to see the mirror at Binary Stable

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BURN2, in Preparation for Burning Man

Currently, I am preparing a project for BURN2 which is due to be placed on the sim for Burning Man on Aug 25. My theme is journeying from real life into a virtual world. This section of the sculpture is called Binary Stable, which will be submitted as a variation to the UWA Aug challenge. The yellow figure, only shown in frontal view and above the waist, is a centaur. As I finish textures and bring the build into a more finished stage, I'll post more pictures.

"HISTORY IN CREAM" façade for the House of ACCentaury

The installed façade near completion,

at the House of ACCentaury.

“HISTORY IN CREAM”

Teleport to House of ACCentaury

The UWA Art Challenge inspires me to further certain projects on my sim ACC Alpha. I decided to make a piece of sculpture with a practical use for the April 2011 contest. The piece titled “History in Cream” forms a section of the main entrance of the House of ACCentaury. It is an old structure which has undergone a series of remodels. As such, the building is perpetually a work in progress. The same applies to the seasonal landscape, which nurtures a rolling field of flowers and bamboo leading up to the House.

ACC Alphabet of Prims on the sail of the boat.

A narrative based on centaurs is spontaneously emerging across the ACC Alpha sim, and so they naturally figure into this new composition. As the artwork and writings encourage one another, the centaur becomes a ubiquitous element of the sim. The developing ACC Alphabet of Prims is the written code of these inhabitants. It is built with SL prims to form the alphabet and the hieroglyphs of the script. Described on the sail held in the hands of the centaurs is the dedication of arrival to ACC Alpha from Sparquerry. The texture with the text is shiny and crisp for the reason that it represents language. Unlike corrosion which over time eats into buildings, the ideas of language do not tarnish... or so a legend bases its hopes.

A painter and ceramist in real life, I import examples of my work into SL. Most often, this entails making modifications via Photoshop until the desired effect is achieved. The compositions are most frequently my own, though I occasionally borrow ideas from other artists. In this piece for example, I included a wobbly village scape that is influenced by the artist Soutine. It’s a sketch I did in pastels and charcoal a few years ago. Along with that, I collage textures from my sketch pad that fit the theme. Now an exciting challenge begins: figuring out in 3 dimensions where the shadows fall per the centaurs’ body positions, and factoring in the play of light cast onto the assemblage of characters and props. The texture on the accordion wall and the floor have undergone many transformations. Just as an artist spends many sessions applying layers of paint onto the canvas while composing a painting, the process I used for this piece is quite similar. After applying a texture to the 3d sculpture, I assess its effectiveness, and determine what else is needed. I go back and forth between Photoshop and SL until the effect is complete.

You may take out of the imagery whatever comes to mind. There is no specifically assigned determinant. The architecture of the House of ACCentaury is deconstructive in nature. The clotted painting is literally leaking from the panels onto the ground, soaking the hooves of the centaurs in the very painting for which they belong. In contrast, the back of the sculpture reveals a clean, smooth translucency. This sets off the silhouettes of the centaurs, as were they the inked words on a page of a history book. On site in ACC Alpha, they frame the Southern border of the color saturated Otter Quilt fields. To the North is the ancient darkened colonnade of ACC Builds, which additionally situates the centaurs into context. The process of history, the juices of its conquest, the passing of stories... these are the routes of exploration my centaurs must virtually travel. They assimilate the motif of history.

Thank you for reading,

Haveit Neox April 11 - April 19, 2011