Wednesday, January 25, 2012

UWA Art Activities Presented to Russian Conference

From FreeWee Ling:
JayJay and I were asked a few months ago by Yuri Krylov (SL: ykrylov Bluestar), an educator at Moscow State University of Economics, Statistics, and Informatics in Tver to present papers at the 10th International Scientific and Practical Conference on the theme: "Partnership of Business and Education in Regional Innovation Development." My first response was something like, "Lol. Who me?" Yuri is interested in developing resources in SL for his region and insisted that UWA's activities are a model that would be good to hear at the conference. He was not offering to fly us to Moscow to present the papers, unfortunately. In any case we were certainly honored to be asked and he told us they would publish our papers in the proceedings of the conference.

And so they have. A couple weeks ago I received in the mail a dense little package with brightly colored stamps containing a paper bound book of 400 pages. The table of contents is over 4 pages long. Of course most if it is in Russian, but it seems they bundled all the papers in English together at the beginning and the first and second articles are authored by me and JayJay, respectively. I'm thrilled to have my paper published at all, much less at the front of the book, though I presume there is no particular significance to its location.

JayJay's paper is an overview of UWA's presence in SL and especially the arts activity as a case study for bringing many creative people from around the world together in a highly productive and successful project. My paper is a bit more about relationship building and so on, but covers the same idea, i.e., that in virtual worlds a relatively small investment can have a very large impact. You may see our articles scanned from the book (with permission) this PDF.

Saturday, January 21, 2012

UWA SKY SIM SERIES (JAN): Between Orient & Occident (Asmita, ChapTer, Louly)


UPDATE! UPDATE!
A second special event is being held on Sunday the 22nd of January at 1pm SLT to celebrate the last week of this installation. You can expect a short event-program, this time also with Louly Loon, who was missing the first time due to a RL incident. Machinimas documenting the exhibition will also be screened.

BETWEEN ORIENT & OCCIDENT SPECIAL EVENT:
22nd of January 2012 at 1pm SLT
Location: HERE
Click Here for link to Giri's Blog

Program:
1. ChapTer's self-composed Stream with oriental dance by Asmita and Miriam
2. Louly Loon reads a text from "Madam Butterfly", that was point of origin for her installation; reading in voice English, French and Italian
3. Louly's movie documentation of her installation
4. Reinhold Apfelbaum plays a music piece with his oud, accompagnied by Uri with Daf
5. ChapTer Kronfeld reads an Egyptian tale
6. ChapTer's movie on his installation
7. Reinhold Apfelbaum plays a music piece with his oud; oriental dance by Asmita and Miriam
8. Asmita's movie documentation

ORIGINAL POST FOLLOWS:

The LEA FULL SIM ART SERIES, and 'little brother' UWA SKY SIM ART SERIES, moves to January with 'Between Orient & Occident', a wonderful collaboration led by Asmita Duranjaya along with Louly Loon and ChapTer Kronfeld. Artistide Despres will helm the January LEA FULL SIM ART SERIES (to be announced soon).

BETWEEN ORIENT & OCCIDENT OPENS:
6th of January 2012 at 1pm SLT
Location: HERE
Click Here for link to Giri's Blog which also describes this work


Asmita, Louly & ChapTer describe their work as follows:

In Asmita Duranjaya's words:
The sky-installation 'Between orient and Occident' is a personal statement, based on my Real Life experiences with travelling, living and working as an European in Asian countries. In RL I process my impressions and experiences in a more intellectual way and with this sky-installation in Second Life I took the chance to focus more on the emotional, associative and intuitive side of my mental and physical experiences.
In the developing process of the art installation I found at last five categories, which I like to present and those are:
1. Travel&Trade; 2. The TaleTower; 3. Color&Shape; 4. Urban Standardization; 5. Meditation & Healing.
These are the topics of my five virtual areas, open for exploration. The areas are accessible through teleport-doors. If one area is finally explored, one door with the label “EXIT” will lead to the next place.
There is a guidebook available, that can be worn as a hud in a corner of the screen. It gives short introductory explanations and contains a puzzle, which can be solved just for fun and with the aim to get a gift-box at the end. In every area the visitor has to find a special word and in this word one or two certain characters. The six found characters add up to a solution word and this word terms a symbol, used in the European mythology as well as in the Asian, insofar “between orient and occident”.
I want to thank the jury of the UWA-sky-series to give my colleagues and me the chance and the prims for this art challenge. Thanks also to my colleagues and friends Louly Loon and ChapTer Kronfeld for the motivating and inspiring partnership during the past weeks of preparation. Everybody of them has found an individual perspective on the topic.
In Louly Loon's Words:




When I started to work around that topic, "between Orient & Occident", I first decided to let me inspire by extreme-orient culture. I made the Geisha Butterfly (2d-platform). It was like an evidence, it was the center of my work, just an impulse. As usual in my art works, femininity and the conditions of women were at the beginning... intuitive source of inspiration.
Then I built the other platforms: one material, the other spiritual. But I felt frustrated, no guideline, just inspiration. And then it appeared to me as an evidence! Last year I was always listening to Madam Butterfly, the Opera, an old version sung by M. Callas with the Karajan orchestra. A version I have been offered by a friend.
That's it: my vision of the meeting between Orient & Occident, an opera one of the most beautiful versions that I ever have heard!
Such a beautiful love story, and so dramatical one!
The developing process of this art installation is three parts (as the Opera)
1.At the beginning Cio-Cio-San gives her mind and soul to Pinkerton and denies her culture.
2.She waits for his return, at my eyes one of the most beautiful aria of the opera history: "Un bel di vedremo".
3.She prefers dying than leave without him. "Who can't leave in honor, die in honor". I always cry when I listen to that part, I feel overwhelmed...
I build it as theatre decor. As scenes, just missing singers...
In ChapTer Kronfeld's Words:
Die Installation 'The Route from the Occident to the Orient' zeigt meinen subjektiven Versuch, einen Zugang zu den inneren Strukturen des Morgenlandes zu finden. Als mit toleranten abendländischen Werten und Ansichten aufgewachsener Mensch, begebe ich mich suchend, mit offenem, Wissen suchendem Geist, auf den Weg, die Welt des Orients annähernd zu begreifen. Je näher ich einem vermeintlichen Ziel komme, desto unklarer wird die Erkenntnis. Der Weg muss das Ziel bleiben und nicht ein statischer Endpunkt. Wir alle müssen und werden bemüht bleiben, immer und immer wieder Schritte zu dem Andersartigen und Neuen zu erwandern. Nur durch solch stetiges Bemühen entsteht Toleranz und gegenseitige Achtung.
(Translation by Asmita Duranjaya: The installation 'The Route from the Occident to the Orient' shows my subjective way to find an access to the inner structures of the Orient. As a person, who has grown up with tolerant occidental values and point of views, I set off in search and with an open mind for roughly understanding the world of the orient. The closer I approach my alleged target the less clear becomes the perception. The journey has to remain the reward and not a static end point. We all have to care and to make an effort continuously in approaching step by step the culturally different and new. Only this permanent effort creates tolerance and respect of each other.)

Report on Virtual Outworlding Blog
Report on Virtual Real Blog
Report on Quan lavender Blog

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

LEA FULL SIM ART SERIES LINEUP JAN-DEC 2012

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The LEA FULL SIM ART SERIES, which came to life in October 2011 following the end of the UWA FULL SIM ART SERIES  has confirmed the full lineup for 2012.
For this series, each artist/group of artists will have a full 15,000 prim SIM for 1 month from the 1st day of the month, till the last day of the month.  Events will launch when the artists say it is ready!

2012 LEA FULL SIM ART SERIES LINEUP

JAN 2012: Artistide Despres, 'Where I found my Ivory Tower Surrounded by a Huxleyan World, Which Turned out to be an Orwellian World'
FEB 2012: Romy Nayar & Ux Hax, 'An Interactive History of Life'
MAR 2012: Kicca Igaly and Nessuno Myoo, 'The Labyrinth of Absurdity'
APR 2012: Athena Bedrosian, 'Mulligatawny Light -- A Journey'
MAY 2012: Fae Varriale, 'Mirror Worlds'
JUNE 2012: David Denton (DB Bailey: SL), 'In A Tizzy'
JULY 2012: Lolito Larkham, 'Walter's Dream'
AUG 2012: Cajska Carlsson 'Whispers in Code'
SEPT 2012: Mary Wickentower, 'Cinema!'
OCT 2012: Solkide Auer, 'Architectonic Build'
NOV 2012: London Junkers, 'Project Guernica'
DEC 2012: Rebeca Bashly, 'Solar System'
JAN 2013: Barry Richez, 'Dreams in Space'
FEB 2013: Nexuno Thespian ''Dr Moreau: Seaworld'

PREVIOUS MONTHS

2013 SERIES III
MARCH 2013: Fuschia Nightfire, 'Fuschia's Fantasy Fairyland'

Monday, January 16, 2012

Victoria Lenoirre's Look at UWA Sky Sim Series: Between Orient and Occident

Explore the UWA Sky Sim once again this month and see "Between Orient and Occident" by Asmita Duranjaya. She is joined by ChapTer Kronfeld and Louly Loon.

At the landing point, you will find a bright orange/pink/yellow sign welcoming you to the installation. You are in Asmita's exhibition. Read on and you'll find that you need to click it to receive a HUD book that will guide you  through the sim. Plus, you'll be given hints throughout the book and at the end, you'll have to solve a puzzle. When you do, you'll be rewarded with a gift.

The first tarea you are in and where you land at is Travel & Trade. According to the book, "Travelling between Orient and Occident is the basis for individual experiences..." This tower portrays danger, war, bloodshed, and fear.

Your next destination is the Tale Tower. There you will find a book and a few yellow pose balls that allow you to sit in front of the book. The hint's answer is about a poet. Listen to the story and find out who it is.

Next is Color&Shape. You should be facing an image of the Taj Mahal when you turn your back on the door you entered by. Your task here is to listen to a tale. Click on a painting and you should get a link to a page. And you should hear the tale from the Windows Media player. The video is called 2 ways drum. Listen to it and figure out the clue.

The fourth destination is Urban Standardization. You hear faster, more upbeat, industrial drums. Everything moves faster and it's noisier. A lot of cities look alike with the tall structures, and air pollution. Walking around you get a sense of feeling overwhelmed by the noise. The effectt is more intense if you wear earbuds. You can even hear car noises. You might even feel lost in this place. Where is the exit? Your fourth hint has to do with pollution.

The fifth destination is Meditation & Healing. You are now in an Ayurveda garden. It is really lovely. Inside are descriptions for ayurvedic plants like Cardmom and Cinnamon. The answer to the last hint is one of the plants in the book. Read through the descriptions to learn which plant will give you the final letters.

The answer to the riddle is the name of a famous mythical creature.
Good luck solving the puzzle and have fun!

So come check it out here!


Between Orient and Occident @ UWA Sky Sim


I visited several times and thought up questions to ask Asmita Daranjaya about her exhibition She was most kind. I even met her while I was visiting one day.


Hi Asmita Duranjaya , I wanted to ask you and your team members about your UWA Sky Sim Installation "Between Orient and Occident". I find this an intriguing concept. I myself am of mixed European and Asian upbringing and ancestry. I believe that we all are of mixed backgrounds. But I've always noticed and felt the disparity between East and West throughout my life.

Can the 2 cultures be reconciled? And how? I agree with what Chapter says about how there must be tolerance. I have always noticed a culture gap when I talk to my parents or their friends. I am an American with European influences raised by Asian-born parents.  

Victoria, thanks for your inquisitive questions. Orient and Occident are not “cultures”, they are concepts, grown in the heads and fantasies of past and recent persons, authors, historians, scientists, philosophers, travelers, politicians etc. The terms orient and occident are discursive, that means there does not exist any fixed reality and you and me, we can create our own realm of orient and occident. That might be the biggest difference between Chap’s and my interpretation of the topic, that he tries to find something fixed, which he can take as “orient”, but it does not exist. I see it generally discursive, it is up to our own creativity, to make or see it as oriental or occidental. So I get at last for my person patterns, with whom I can play, which I can combine, modify, change, be it in my fashion style, the style of my interior or in my personality, my identity; the Cultural Studies use for that the term transculturality. It is not found outside, it is inside a person.

The first area is about a history of war and pain. Can you elaborate on that a bit?

No not only. There are also kinds of oasis for regeneration, art pieces, relaxing camels etc. It is an imaginative scenery of the so called Near East (desert countries) along the silk road, but very imaginative, without having the impact to show any reality.
The weapons and the bloody wall remind one of the recent incidents in Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq etc.
 I noticed the yellow particles, is that supposed to be sand? For some reason, it made me think of Dune. The series by Frank Hebert?

I was smiling here, because you are absolutely right with your imagination of Dune – I had exactly the same association, when I created that – it symbolizes a sandstorm and the tunnels remind of the worms in Frank Herberts books.

Why did you use all the bright colors? I was surprised to see the bright pink, especially.

I used only textures, which I created with my RL stamp-technique and some photos processed with graphic software; I didn’t want to show a desert reality – it is my imaginative expression of a desert, that is alive.

This exhibition is mainly oriental in flavor and I think some were expecting a bit more occidental flavor in it. Can you explain why it was designed this way?
 As I wrote in the guiding hud-book, it is my personal intuitive processing of my personal experiences and emotional perception as somebody, who has grown up in a European context and has spend some lifetime in Asian countires. It is not a documentation. So if the “oriental” parts seem to be dominant, it is the perception of the viewer. For me it is not like that; it is the mixture, that I wear inside of me.

Aside from the road you mention in the Travel & Trade section of the book, what other places stood out to you as being dangerous or bearing traces of suffering? The camel and the sand, does that portray storms in the Sahara desert?

As mentioned above, the travel route between Europe and Asia has been historically and recently a route of blood and pain. And the camels are symbols for the trading function of that road.
 In the Tale Tower, I read the story The Grapes. It seems to be about how four men all want the same thing and don't realize it. How has this fable affected your way of thinking and living?


It is a nice fable to articulate the basic constants of humankind despite of the diversity of languages, cultures, religions etc. All are hungry and want to get the same thing to eat, only the terms are different. It shows the discursiveness of reality and the embedment and dependency of terms in cultural contexts, at last the segregating function of culture.

In Color & Shape, why did you choose the Taj Mahal as the central structure?
 

If you look closely, you will find that the Taj Mahal is only a vague shape, which I have modified with a lot of other shapes from different buildings. I like the shape of Asian palaces, temples and dagobas and to play with them was my topic in this area and in addition the colourfulness of the daily sceneries, that is sometimes overwhelming, when you see it the first time.

What is a Memorialis? I see a few throughout.
Memorialis is a Latin word, that means ‘beloning to the memory’ and I have craeted some small 3D-sceneries as kind of a visual diary of my impressions.

Out of all the major cities you've travelled to, which is the noisiest and busiest, you've been to? Do they seem to be all the same in a way, based on how chaotic and polluted they get?

I wanted to show the standardisation of those mega metropoles, which are growing all over the world, but also between orient and occident. They are all very noisy, be it Bangkok, Hongkong, Istanbul, Colombo, Beijing etc. But the busiest for me was always Jakarta in Indonesia.

Great busy city soundbyte. Did you mix it yourself? The colors and spiral effects on the floor are fantastic.
Thank you. Yes I have mixed the soundscape myself.

Meditation & Healing is a great concept. The Orient has always stressed the importance of healing. I noticed you included a Buddha statue and made mention of Vanaransi, a great city in India where Buddhists go to seek enlightenment.

 I am not sure, whether we mean the same city; In German we call it Varanasi. It is a starting point for travelling on Buddhist traces, because the historical Buddha Sakyamuni is said to have started his sermons here. The travelroute is then going up the river Ganges to Bodhgaya, where the famous bodhitree waits for the pilgrim to meditate.

What is the meaning of ayurvedic? What is the role that a Bodhi tree plays in healing & meditation?

I see meditation and healing as two parts of the same medal. There cannot be physical healing without cleaning the mind and vice verse. The Ayurvedha concept has been developed in India as well as in Sri Lanka and it is a whole system of healing also based on a mind-body entity. I have often practised it in Sri Lanka and can only recommend it for people who search for profound relaxation. Sitting peacefully under a tree, like the historical Buddha seems to have practised it himself, what better place could you find?

Did you create the textures yourself?

As I have already mentioned, I created the textures myself with my RL stamp-technique and some photos, like for the urban area, I processed with diverse graphic software.

************
ChapTer Kronfeld: The route for Occident to the Orient: A subjective test of ChapTer Kronfeld


Near the beginning of ChapTer's exhibit

You find yourself in a series of dark tunnels that twist and turn. You walk through the walls. You hear strange music and strange letters on the walls. What does it all mean?

If you walk a bit you see scrolling marquee letters that say "Searches For Orient." What is that all about? Will the tunnel lead us to the Orient?

What does the tunnel symbolize?

Walk further and you'll see scrolling marquee words that say Orient meets Occident in English and several other languages. You might hear a strange sound. The best I can describe it is that it is like a creaky bed spring and it just keeps looping.

Where Is The Way To Orient? This is a set of letters you'll see along the way.

Then you see green smoke? What is that about?

Walk on and you'll see bits of pink fog. What does it mean?

Then you see red and you hear some Indian music. Maybe I'm getting closer to the Orient?

I kept walking then I saw a scrolling marquee that said "Searches for Orient" surrounded by pink fog. I walked towards it and found myself falling down a tunnel. You stop falling and land in a room with letters that say "Orient meets Occident".  The words crisscross and coincide all around you.  And that is the end of the exploration or "test."

It took me a few hours and at least 2 visits to go through ChapTer's entire exhibit. It was definitely a test of my persistence and patience. I found it a rewarding experience.

I sent ChapTer my writeup with the questions I wrote as I was wandering through his "test." Here are his answers:

Hi Victoria, thank you for your interest in our joint project, UWA Exhibition in sky 2012, January [sharing the sky with Asmita Duranjaya and Louly Loon].

Here first a statement of my entire installation: 'The route from the Occident to the Orient'
The installation "The route from the Occident to the Orient" shows my subjective way to find an access to the inner structures of the Orient. As a person, who has grown up with occidental values and tolerant point of views, I set off in search and with an open mind for roughly understanding the ?
world of the orient The closer I approach my alleged target the less clear becomes the perception.


The journey has to remain the reward and not a static end point.

We all have to care and to make an effort to continuously step by step approaching the culturally different and new. Only this effort creates a permanent tolerance and respect of each other.

Now to your questions:

All fog on my long journey, rest places symbolize my thoughts.

The different colors of the nebula express the variety of my thoughts.

On these rest places (fog), I hear, always at the beginning, a clear musical phrase.

The more I listen, to understand this single aspect of the Orient, the less I hear the melody of this basic musical phrase.

It creates a loop, a musical chaos. I feel that I am turning in circles on the long way to "my" East .

I am moving forward, but don't see any goal. This is the meaning of the long tunnel.

On this long way, I keep asking myself  "Where is the way to the Orient". In between, I have to remind myself again and again of the topic: "Occident meets Orient meets Occident meed meets East - - - ".
After wandering for a long time I come to a subjective endpoint and I fall into the abyss of my doubts. These doubts become clearer, the deeper I fall. Now I can see all my doubts clearly infront of my eyes.

And these doubts show me that I will never find the  complete access to the Orient. A solution for this dilemma I think to find on others paths. But which ones? I do not know. I am going to the right, or straight, or I go to the left, or I go back. I'm trapped in a network. Like a small fly in a spider web, I move back and forth .. . I'm trapped. I don't find any way out. I did not find the quintessence of the Orient. I am not oriental. I remain a European.

**********
Louly Loon's Extreme Orient un reve occidental.


Cio-Cio-San and Pinkerton from Madame Butterfly as depicted by Louly Loon


Based on the great, world-famous Italian opera Madame Butterfly. It's a blend of spiritual, musical, and cultural. Louly built 3 platforms. It looks and feels like a grand theatre. My favorite part was the platform where you land.

I find it fascinating that with white, Louly is able to capture sweetness and beauty. The music creates a delicate, poignant, touching ambience.

In the opera, Cio-Cio-San falls in love with Pinkerton and accepts his culture, turning her back on her own. It's always tough choosing between family and love, especially when one's culture is strict about marrying outside one's race and one's cultural background.

The second platform shows her waiting for him to return to her. Others surround her and it's as though you can feel their disapproval and shame for her. But she is so much in love that she no longer cares what her elders think of her and her behavior.

What does "Un bel di vedremo" mean?

In the end, she decides to die. So the third platform shows her on her knees praying, before she leaves off from living. The music is so sad. You feel this sense of hopelessness and despair.
At the third platform, what are the sounds one hears? Are there dogs barking?

I wrote to Louly about her exhibit and she kindly replied:

Hi Lady
Ty for your note

First you have to know that I'm Italian by my mother, that's why I'm more easy with Italian than English, and the text at the exhibit between Orient to Occident is Italian too..
I love music, and theater discovered Opera since few, and fall in love immediately, "La Wally", "Madame Butterfly", "La flute enchantée"...
For me Madame Butterfly is the symbol of the impossible love between extreme-orient and Occident. So many misunderstood, between those very different cultures. So very fascinating too!

Un bel di vedremo means "One good day we will see" (Google) it express hope in a beautiful future. Cio Cio San  thought with the filter of her culture, of her emotion. Honor, engagement, fidelity. She accepts his culture but she can't understand it. It's not how what she was educated in. So dramatically misunderstood, and such a beautiful gift! Her life and the fruit of her body, her son.


My work also talks about a woman's condition. As usual. I always explore this mysterious concept, "femininity".

The sound is an addition of sounds I found right and left in sl. Don't ask me what it is exactly, I don't know... but it's a water sound... a sound of life, of tears, of peace in death...

So there's my exploration of "Between Orient and Occident." Visit it here! You should all come visit the entire exhibition yourself. Take the challenge and have fun!

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

UWA Artists’ Choice Theme: Perfume!

This information is available as a notecard from the posters at the UWA gallery or from FreeWee Ling.
TWO ANNOUNCEMENTS!!

I. UWA ARTISTS' CHOICE THEME FOR FEBRUARY: PERFUME!
UWA Gallery SLURL

Express odors visually in a sort of synthetic synesthesia. The ozone smell of burning pixels. Interpret the smell of your lover's hair. The ocean spray on a tropical beach. The pollution spewing from the stacks of an oil refinery or an urban sewer. Meat on the grill. A delicate flower. The decay of rotting prims. .. One of those ideas that you can't really imagine how to visualize, but ferments in your brain for a while until some amazing concept smacks you from behind.

ESSENTIAL:
  • Deadline is January 30.
  • Max prims: 210 (300 PE for mesh)
  • Up to two entries
  • SEE DETAILS BELOW
CURRENT SPONSORS INCLUDE:
  • artFiona
  • DNA Art and Music Fusion
  • Eliza Wierwight/Patron
  • Mysterious Wave
  • NordanArt
  • Phi Designs
  • projectZ
  • UWA
Please thank these great people for their generous support of the arts!

II. UPCOMING THEMES
There's no shortage of ideas. I've listed a bunch I think might be interesting and made it into a survey. Check it out and tell us what you think. Rate my ideas and offer your own!


THE FINE PRINT

THEMES:
This year it’s about you. A different theme will be announced each month, but the core theme is personal expression. We want you to use this as an opportunity to explore some aspect of your personality, not only as a creative artist, but also as a critical observer.

THE THEME FOR THE CURRENT ROUND IS:

PERFUME!

DEADLINES
Entries for display in February are open NOW until January 30. Entries will be held until the first of the month and will then be displayed all at once. This assures that all entries have equal time and are all on display for close to a full month. Visitor will always see a complete show except when shows are being dismantled or rebuilt.

(NOTE: There will be a hiatus in the middle of 2012 (dates to be determined), during with the major one-time UWA 3D Open Art & Machinima Challenge will be running.)

JUDGING/PRIZES:

IMPORTANT!! The role of the artist is changing in these UWA challenges. When you submit an entry, YOU AGREE TO SERVE ALSO AS A JUDGE for the prize awards. You're work will be judged by your colleagues and the challenge sponsors--people you know and whose work you know. People like you who know art in SL.

There will be at least three top artist awards, plus a non-scripted award and a people’s choice award in each round.

The entries will be judged by the participating artists themselves (YOU), rather than a rl panel. By entering a piece you agree to look at the other entries and vote for your favorites. Obvious limitations apply:
• You are voting for the entry, not the artist.
• You may not vote for your own work or that of your partner.
• We ask that you vote for at least 5 entries that are not your own.
• Any vote is a positive vote. Do not vote for entries you don’t like.

We have developed a separate web-based voting system for the participating artists to use. You will be given the URL when the show opens and you will have all month to look at the work of your colleagues and express your opinions. (Because this is not judged by a deliberative panel, the UWA curator is not disqualified to enter the competitions unless there is objection by the participants.)

The cash awards for this year’s challenges will be less than last year. Actual amounts are to be determined by contributions and sponsorships, and may vary month to month. We welcome sponsors interested in contributing to the prize pools. Our target for fund-raising is L$20,000 each round. The prize money distribution will be as follows, whatever the amount:
  • First Prize: 35%
  • Second Prize: 25%
  • Third Prize: 15%
  • Non-Scripted 15%
  • People's Choice 10%
HOW TO SUBMIT ENTRIES:
To submit entries for the UWA 3D Open Art Challenge, visit the UWA platform and drop your entry in the receiver.
• Select the entry in your inventory (left mouse button) and while holding the button, press CTRL and drag the entry from your inventory to the surface of the receiver object. The outline of the receiver should turn RED when it’s ready to release.
• When the cursor is over the receiver, release your left mouse button and the item will be transferred. A chat message will confirm.
• If you have difficulties doing this, you may give the object directly to FreeWee Ling.
UWA Gallery SLURL

LICENSE:
Note that by submitting an entry, you are giving permission to the University of Western Australia to place the objects anywhere on UWA owned land, and to have information and images of the entries placed on websites or other publications promoting the activities of UWA. The UWA sims are public spaces. By allowing us to display your work, you permit the entry to be photographed or used in machinima by UWA or by any visitor, within the SL TOS.

PERMISSIONS:
You may make copy/modify/transfer permissions on your entry as restrictive as you want. We ask that you submit two copies of any no-copy items.

You should have full permissions to transfer your entry to FreeWee Ling or her alt on behalf of UWA. We strongly discourage the use of any parts that you cannot transfer (requiring you to install them at UWA yourself), but we will work with you if needed. We are not responsible for the loss of any no-copy or no-transfer objects.

LIMITS:
• Entries: Maximum 2 entries per month per person.
• Prims: Maximum 210 prims per entry. Objects using mesh can be up to 300 prim-equivalents as long as the number of actual prims remains under 210. This is a hard limit. No exceptions.
• Size: There is no size limit other than sim space available.
• If you’re entry is large, it may have to be placed on a platform above the gallery. If that is the case, you may design a simple TP device to move people to and from the gallery floor, or one will be provided. The tp device does not count towards your prim limit as long as it is no more than 6 prims total for both up and down devices (i.e., 3 prims each).
• Scripts: Maximum script time of 0.5ms, and anything that runs at over 0.05ms is to have an on/off on touch with time out of 10 minutes max (if you are unsure of your piece's script load please contact one of the Challenge hosts to have it evaluated).
• Lighting/Sound: The size of your entry includes any internal lighting and sound radius. If the light or sound from your piece extends much beyond the limits of the prim object, it may be placed on a platform where it will not interfere with other entries, depending on space available. Please be careful when using these features. Sounds should not loop continuously when no one is around.
• Please do not use pre-loaders for sounds or textures.
• Media: You may request a media parcel for your entry. Please note that media parcels do not allow us to easily move entries, so the possibilities for positioning those entries may be limited. You will need to provide us with the media texture and URL.
• We reserve the right to reject an entry that would limit the availability of space or any other resources on the sim to the point that it would prevent others from being properly displayed, or would interfere with the normal operation of the other activities on the UWA sims.

SPONSORSHIPS
We welcome sponsors to contribute to the prize pools. We will gladly publicize your events, let you put posters in the gallery, and will acknowledge your contributions at the awards ceremonies. We will not have group awards as we did in the past, where a sponsor gets to select a winner of a sponsored prize, UNLESS you make at least an equal contribution to the general prize pool as well.

Curator for the UWA 3D Open Art Challenge is FreeWee Ling
Host for the UWA 3D Open Art Challenge is UWA & Jayjay Zifanwe

Sunday, January 8, 2012

Victoria Lenoirre's Look at Aristide Despres's 'Where I found my Ivory Tower Surrounded by a Huxleyan World, Which Turned out to be an Orwellian World'

This month's installation at the LEA Full Sim is by the fabulous artist, Aristide Despres, Artée, as she prefers to be called. It is a phenomenal body of work. Make sure to increase your draw distance to about 800 or so, if your computer can take it. I have taken a wide shot of the scene.


Doesn't it look amazing? You have to come see it for yourself!

I asked Artée several questions about the vast body of work and I thought her answers were insightful and intriguing.

To quote what Jayjay wrote about your title at blog, your  title is a bit unusual: 'Where I found my Ivory Tower Surrounded by a Huxleyan World, Which Turned out to be an Orwellian World', far cry from its original title in early proposals, which was 'Research on Musical Instruments'.  Why the long title and why did you choose that title?

Yes quite a long title. I think the installation needed such a title-explanation as I decided to avoid text or navigation on the sim itself.
I was persuaded that the world we are living in, was a Huxleyan one. You know the novel of Alduous Huxley, Brave New World, in which he describes a world where people are entertained. Amusement and fun are the way to keep the crowds from asking too many questions. Since 9/11 the world has changed to a more Orwellian type of society. Phone taping [or Wire tapping], true identity policy on Internet, drone attacks, the freedom of the press under fire, etc.
In October when I was working on the concept of the sim for UWA/LEA, I followed the news events intensively: OWS, the revolution in Libya etc. That had an immense influence on my work.
So of course, technically this is all about my instruments, but it's in a scenery that reflects my state of mind at this time.

Those red particle bugs, are those ticks?

I have no ideas what those insects are. Of course they symbolize something wrong going on. They are a bit apocalyptic, some visitors are quite scared about them.

VL: I was a little alarmed to see those insects, but they do convey the sense of something "wrong" infesting the world right now. They seem to be everywhere, kind of like the media spreads fear, a concept I remember from Michael Moore's documentary Bowling for Columbine.

How long did it take you to create the mesh crab? It looks really great. The texturing is excellent and I love how it hangs down slightly and dwarfs visitors.

The mesh crab was created in 'sculpt mode' with Blender and textured with photos I made from our fishing-holiday in Normandy. The interesting part of this mesh is that I did not try to make it clean in terms of prim count. So the mesh is much too precise and so are the textures. It also uses a new function of LSL to make it move slightly.

That flying camera, is that a Leica? I love cameras, old and new ones. I think that a camera is one of the most fascinating inventions ever created. Why does that camera  have wings?

The flying camera is a recursive item in my builds. I am a photographer, and the Leica is still my favorite camera, although i mainly shoot digitally. This camera is a naughty camera, that keeps flying around and repeats, in Canadian-French: " Bravo, c'est vraiment bien! - Toutes mes ficelles de caleçon ! "  - If you want to translate it, use the mocking mode and say: " Whaah! It is really good what you've done - For all the laces of my underwear " (which might seem stupid in English, but is a well-known expression in French).

I like how you used the avatar clothing templates on the giant female who is brandishing a long metal rod..

The big avatar is almost a copy of my avatar and the way i dress myself in SL since 2 years. Big Artée is supposed to defend her Ivory Tower (the small island) from the big gray world outside. The greek industrial village being a first Huxleyan layer, then the gray (financial) buildings, even more authoritarian.

I love the movement in this work. The animation you put in is always amazing and unique. There is always so much action going on. Life is in constant motion, isn't it? Would you agree that we are never really motionless? We never really stay still?

I think interaction is one of the most important principles of virtual worlds. It leads to more immersion, also caused by the sound events and the constantly changing elements. By the way, formally i do not use any animation on the sim, all the movements are created by the reaction of the avatars to the moving physicals I use. I call these physicals 'super-physical' as I can control them entirely by script. This way people can still walk while being animated and transported.

Thanks for creating! I love your work and look forward to seeing more in the future!

Voilà Victoria. Feel free to bounce your text back for more questions.

-End of interview-

So that's just a bit of information about Aristide Despres's new installation at the LEA sim. When you get a chance, definitely TP over and wander around. Watch what happens when you walk near the 'roundabouts.'

As always, have fun and enjoy the art!

Thursday, January 5, 2012

UWA 3D Artists' Choice Challenge: 3D Self Portraits

We have received 25 outstanding entries (SEE LIST BELOW) for the first UWA 3D Artists' Choice Challenge on the theme of 3D Self Portraits. The range of work is stunning, from small simple representational pieces to grand meshes to large immersive installations. Many of the familiar names are back, and many are new, but every piece here is worth taking the time to look at carefully. They will be up for the month of January.

VOTING:
People's Choice voting is active and will remain on for the rest of the month.

JUDGING:
Please note that the participating artists themselves will be voting for the main prize winners using the same system as for the People's Choice voting. We will know who votes for what and can extract the artists' votes from the pool.

IF YOU ARE A PARTICIPATING ARTIST:
Please be sure to come look at all the pieces and vote! Your opinion is important!

SPONSORS:
Our current sponsor list includes:
  • artFiona
  • Eliza Wierwight/Patron
  • Mysterious Wave
  • NordenArt
  • Phi Designs
  • UWA

Please let them know you appreciate their support!

PARTICIPATING ARTISTS:
  1. Carmsie Melodie Portrait
  2. Cherry Manga Autoportrait
  3. Chic Aeon Do You See Me?
  4. Corcosman Voom Self portrait in Yellow
  5. Dusty Canning Thinking Outside the Box
  6. Eifachfilm Vacirca Smiley d-oo-b
  7. Fiona Blaylock Self portrait
  8. FreeWee Ling Am I my avatar's pet?
  9. Gleman Jun nuJ namelG
  10. Haveit Neox Portrait Clock
  11. kjs Yip Self portrait
  12. Lilia Artis One of billions
  13. Miso Susanowa Self portrait: i am not my code
  14. nexuno Thespian ancient ruins of temple of nex
  15. Nish Mip Self portrait
  16. Praxis Prax - Nut
  17. Rose Borchovski Self portrait
  18. Sea Mizin Juggling Away the Day
  19. Secret Rage There was a little girl
  20. Silene Christen Inner Light
  21. Silene Christen When you left
  22. Sledge Roffo Self portrait
  23. Suzanne Graves S in Prims
  24. ToySoldier Thor Swimmers - The Arrival
  25. Wotthe Dickins Magic Mirror
Report on Toy Talks Blog

    Monday, January 2, 2012

    LEA FULL SIM ART SERIES (JAN): Artistide Despres' Musical Masterpiece


    The LEA FULL SIM ART SERIES, and 'little brother' UWA SKY SIM ART SERIES, moves to January Artistide 'Artee' Despres at the helm for the LEA, presenting a musical feast with what is believed to be the longest title ever announced, 'Where I found my Ivory Tower Surrounded by a Huxleyan World, Which Turned out to be an Orwellian World', far cry from its original title in early proposals, which was 'Research on Musical Instruments'.  For the UWA SKY SIM Series, Asmita Duranjaya along with Louly Loon and Chapter Kroenfeld are presenting a delightful collaboration entitled 'Between Orient & Occident'.

    GRAND OPENING: 2PM SLT, THURSDAY 5th JAN 2012
    LOCATION: HERE @ LEA 6 

    Report on Quan Lavender Blog
    Report on Apmel Goosson Blog
    Virtual Real Blog
    Virtual Outworlding Blog
    Victoria Lennoire Report
    Juanita Deharo Machinima
    Temi Sirbu (Japanese Blog)

    IN ARTEE'S WORDS:
    Sometime ago, when it was known I will have to make a full sim installation at LEA, I saw the possibility to gather all my music instruments in one scene. Although code writers and 3D modelers are mostly working alone behind the keyboard, I found myself much influenced by what was happening in the world. The crisis, OWS, Fukushima, the war machine, everywhere. My small creative ivory tower was under attack.

    THEME
    On the rest of a tiny island Artée is defending her last bastion. Clusters of Greek holidays houses are popping at random and big gray financial buildings are growing all over the place. The music instruments restrained in a small area have no choice but trying to play in tune. The visitor will be tempted to play around, but will still feel the oppression of the world behind the broken dome.

    THE MUSIC INSTRUMENTS
    All instruments are playing music with a certain level of randomness. The Coney Island attraction in the middle plays short sample based on the rotation of the platform, while the visitors (and a rusted ball) create random WIZZ-PAW-BLOP. 'Petite Etude sur Olivier Messiaen' uses a complex formula where many parts interact and collide to create some sounds of short samples. Like an African instrument, a white drum produces notes at random while the wind of the sim gives a variation of the execution speed. The three blades of 'Harmony in C Great' keep on moving and buzzing while a discrete piano sequence gets through.
    Twelve dwarves spring in the merry-go-round and more…

    ABOUT THE TECHNIQUE

    This build is a mix of several techniques, please set the 'Media' and 'Steaming Music' OFF and be sure the 'Sound Effects' are ON. You will need a MESH-ENABLED viewer like SL-Viewer3 or Firestorm (i haven't tested the last). Many objects are using my 'super physical' script that allows to interact and move your avatar while walking.

    .