UWA SiVA 5 1: UWA 3D Art & Machinima Challenges: Pursue Impossible by FreeWee Ling

An exhibition series of original digital art in a virtual world

UWA 3D Art & Machinima Challenges:

Pursue Impossible

FreeWee Ling, curator

UWA Studies in Virtual Arts | January 2016 | Volume 5, Number 1 ISSN: 2200-7865 (Print)

ISSN: 2200-7873 (Online)

UWA Studies in Virtual Arts January 2016 Volume 5, Number 1 ISSN 2200-7865 (Print) ISSN: 2200-7873 (Online) http://uwainsl.blogspot.com/p/uwa-studies-in-virtual-arts.html Jay Jay Jegathesan (SL pseudonym: JayJay Zifanwe), Project Director, Co-curator D. A. Newton (SL pseudonym: FreeWee Ling), UWA Honorary Research Fellow, Lead Curator, and General Editor Copyright © 2016 by D.A. Newton. All rights to the original works depicted are owned by their respective creators, and images thereof are used in accordance with the terms of entry for the UWA Challenges. Contact: Jay Jay Jegathesan School of Physics The University of Western Australia (M013) 35 Stirling Highway Crawley WA 6009 Australia Email: jay.jay@uwa.edu.au UWA Studies in Virtual Arts comprise exhibition catalogues, special editions, and monographs on the arts in virtual worlds. Focus is especially upon the 3D art competitions held at UWA’s virtual campus in Second Life®. Citation Contributors retain intellectual property rights to their material and may re-publish it provided that UWA SiVA is acknowledged as the original place of publication. Material in UWA SiVA may be reproduced in whole or in part for non-profit use for the purposes of education, research, library reference, or stored and/or distributed as a public service by any networked computer. Any commercial use of this journal in whole or in part by any means is strictly prohibited without written permission. Any use of this journal in whole or in part should include customary bibliographic citation. “Second Life®”and “Linden Lab®” are trademarks of Linden Research, Inc. The university of Western Australia and UWA SiVA are not affiliated with or sponsored by Linden Research.

2015 UWA 3D Art & Machinima Challenges: Pursue Impossible

INTRODUCTION

THE 6th UWA GRAND 3D ART CHALLENGE

The Winners The Entries Exhibition Catalog

7 8 10

8th UWA INTERNATIONAL SHORT FILM CHALLENGE (MACHINIMUWA VIII)

The Winners The Entries Screen Shots

186 188 190

Event poster by Eliza Wierwight

Introduction

2015 was the sixth and final year of the major 3D virtual art and machinima challenges at the University of Western Australia’s virtual gallery in Second Life® (SL™). Through these competitions UWA in SL has been recognized worldwide as a preeminent venue for the presentation of virtual arts and machinima. ENDEAVOUR EXECUTIVE FELLOWSHIP Among the highlights of this year was the presence on the UWA campus in Perth by US curator FreeWee Ling as an Endeavour Executive Fellow from the Australia Department of Education. FreeWee spent four months in Perth working on several projects and meeting in real life several colleagues known previously only as their online avatars. As part of the residency at UWA, FreeWee presented four public lectures on creating 3D content in virtual worlds at the Lawrence Wilson Art Gallery on the UWA campus. The lectures were promoted as part of HERE&NOW15, the annual exhibition of contemporary Western Australian Artists. YORK UNIVERSITY PARTNERSHIP There was an exciting partnership between the artists exhibiting for PURSUE IMPOSSIBLE and students of York University, Canada. In this exercise, students of Dr Carolyn Steele in the second-year Humanities course “Culture and Expression.” (in a unit titled: “Art and Artists in 3D Multiuser Environments”), wrote 3D Artist Media profiles of various artists after interviewing them. This was a very valuable exercise and we thank the artists for being so willing to spend time helping the students. PURSUE IMPOSSIBLE The 6th UWA Grand 3D Art Challenge and 8th UWA International Short Film Challenge (MachinimUWA VIII: PURSUE IMPOSSIBLE) was launched with an open call for entries in August 2015. The theme was inspired by the recent UWA marketing campaign by the same name.

A deadline for submissions was set for 31 October and the exhibition was officially opened immediately after. Both the 3D art and the machinima were posted on the UWAinSL blog as the submissions were received, with the art being set out in the UWA gallery in SL. Judging took place through November and the awards presentation ceremony took place on 14 December. The exhibition and machinima challenges attracted many of the top winning artists from our past challenges, as well as many artists new to us. We were especially heartened to receive entries from several of the artists who participated in the recent FREEDOM PROJECT. PURSUE IMPOSSIBLE is expected to be our final major annual competition event in Second Life. We will continue to have smaller sponsored events as we go forward. We deeply appreciate the hundreds of artists who have made the major 3D art and machinima competitions so successful over the years, and we thank UWA and our sponsors for their generous commitments of time and resources to make them possible. INTERNATIONAL REPRESENTATION In 3D Art we had 59 entries by 61 artists (including two collaborative entries). Artists were allowed only one submission each. We had representation from 11 countries. 3D ART USA 22 Australia 7 France 5 Spain 5 Italy 4 Brazil 2 Canada 2 Germany 2 UK 2 Switzerland 1 Turkey 1

For machinima, we had 45 entries by 33 artists from 18 countries. (There was no limit for machinima.) Among these were several collaborative works including international collaborations, and some multiple entries. MACHINIMA

• UWA Founder’s Special Awards for longtime participation in 3D Art and Machinima challenges. • UWA Curator’s Prize and 5 Curator’s Honourable Mention Awards for 3D Art. Complete details of the awards given can be seen on the winners lists later in this publication.

USA 17 Spain 4 France 3 Australia 2 Germany 2 Italy 2 Netherlands 2 Brazil 1 Canada 1 Costa Rica 1 England 1 Finland 1 India 1 Indonesia 1 Kuwait 1 Malaysia 1 South Africa 1 Switzerland 1

OUR SPONSORS We gratefully acknowledge the generosity of the following sponsors for the The 6th UWA Grand 3D Art Challenge & 8th UWA International Short Film Challenge (MachinimUWA VIII) events: • • • • • •

AWARDS Prizes were awarded in Linden Dollars (L$).* Both art and machinima included 1st through 10th Place Awards, plus Audience Participation Awards (1st through 5th). Some levels were combined due to ties at higher levels. Additionally, special prizes were awarded including:

• • • • • • • • •

Tom Papas & SciFi Film Festival Reign Congrejo & BOSL LaPiscean Liberty & SL Artist AviewTV Pixel Bits TheDove Rhode with S&S Gallery of SL Fine Art and Peace Is A Choice Gallery Virtlantis Phillip Vought Dr Valerie Casey Carolyn Steele & York University (Canada) Taralyn Gravois Johannes1977 & Windlight Magazine Eleanor Medier & The Sim Street Journal UWA Marketing & Communications The UWA Virtual Worlds Project.

Special thanks to Eliza Wierwight for the event poster design and for all her support. Special thanks also to the creators of some of the spaces at UWA. These include FreeWee Ling, Chuckmatrix Clip, quadrapop Lane, Nyx Breen, Bradley Dorchester (Bradley Curnow, RL). Dragonmage Bogan (Dr Chris Thorne, RL), Sharni Azalee and Minny Werefox (Minh Tran, RL).

* Cash value of Linden Dollars is approximately L$250 to USD $1.00. The top award of L$60,000 is equivalent to about USD $240. 3

The Judging Panel The distinguished panel of judges included artists, journalists, and academics from Western Australia and around the world. The same panel was used for judging both the 3D art and machinima challenges (except where noted). (N.B.: The designations “SL” and RL” indicate “Second Life” and “real life” personae, respectively.)

• Professor Ted Snell (RL) - Director, Cultural Precinct, The University of Western Australia • Fred Mafrica (RL) - TV Producer & Host, The Couch (thecouch.com.au) - Machinima Only • Lyn DiCiero - Editor, WA Artist’s Chronicle (Art Only) • Len Zuks (RL) - West Australia Artist & Sculptor • Oron Catts (RL) - Director, SymbioticA, UWA (Art Only) • Jeremy Burton (RL) - Marketing Manager (Digital), UWA • Taryn Mokrzycki (RL) - Brand Manager, UWA • Reign Congrejo - Owner, BOSL (Best of Second Life) • Merle Hearns (RL) / Briarmelle Quintessa (SL) - Senior Lecturer, Foundation Studies Department, Manukau Institute of Technology, Auckland, New Zealand • Dr Helen Farley - Senior Lecturer (Digital Futures), Australian Digital Futures Institute - University of Southern Queensland • Carolyn Steele - Lecturer, Culture & Expression, York University • Temi Sirbu (SL) - Blogger & Journalist from Japan • Jake Bamford (RL) - Production Manager and Creative Director, WASTV (Machinima Only) • Inara Pey - Journalist & Blogger • TheDove Rhode - OWNER, CEO, CURATOR, JANITOR: S&S Gallery of SL Fine Art & Peace Is A Choice Gallery • Draxtor Despres - Media Producer, Europe • FreeWee Ling (SL) - Curator, UWA 3D Open Art Challenges • Kip Yellowjacket (SL) - Co-creator, Virtlantis • LaPiscean Liberty (SL) - CEO AviewTV and UWA Virtual World Technical Media Advisor • Mal Burns (SL), Metaverse News Aggregator and Broadcaster • Tom Papas - SciFi Film Festival & Screen My Shorts, Australia (FILM Only) • Saffia Widdershins (SL) - Owner and Editor of Prim Perfect Publications (ART Only) • Ziki Questi - Photographer & Blogger • Bevan Whitfeld - Avatar Designer & Member of the Board of Directors, Rockcliffe University • Dousa Dragonash (SL) - COO Metaverse Television • Johannes1977, Owner & Publisher, Windlight Magazine • Eleanor Medier, Publisher, Sim Street Journal • Thinkerer Melville (SL) / Selby Evans (RL) - Journalist & Blogger • Victoria Lennoire (RL) - Journalist & Blogger • Jay Jay Jegathesan (RL) / JayJay Zifanwe (SL) - Manager of UWA School of Physics, Founder and Project Director, UWA Virtual Worlds Project.

The 6th UWA Grand 3D Art Challenge: Pursue Impossible

Event poster by Eliza Weirwight

Exhibition Catalogue

The Winners Awards were announced at a special ceremony on the 13th of December 2015 at the BOSL Amphitheater in the UWA sims in Second Life.

1st Place Award (L$60,000)

Alpha Auer (Istanbul, Turkey) ~ The Bridge

2nd Place Award (L$40,000)

Carmsie Melodie (Australia) ~ Achieve Impossible

3rd Place Award (L$30,000)

Nino Vichan (New York City, USA) ~ Pursue the End of Homelessness

4th Place Award (L$20,000)

Jipe Loon (Haute-Savoie, France) ~ Impossible Quest

5th Place Award (Two-way tie: L$10,000 each)

Kazuhiro Aridian (Ray, MI, USA) ~ Rise Above the Mundane Takni Mistwalker & Misio2 (Barcelona/Melbourne, Spain/Australia) ~ Pursuing order is pursuing impossible

(6th Place Award not given due to 5th place tie) 7th Place Award (L$5,000) Peli Dieterle (Cologne, Germany) Impossible Geometry

8th Place Award (L$5,000)

Haveit Neox (Los Angeles, California, USA) The Shadow of Quicksand

9th Place Award (L$5,000)

Sharni Azalee (Perth, Western Australia, Australia) RACE: Human - PLANET: Earth

10th Place Awards (Four-way tie: L$5,000 each) Mistero Hifeng (Italy) Dream Pixels Sideways (Southern California, USA) Perspectives Secret Rage (Dallas, TX, USA) The Gift quadrapop Lane (Perth, Western Australia, Australia) Pursuing the Impossible

UWA Special Prize (L$35,000)

(Selected by the UWA members of the judging panel for the entry that best encapsulates the UWA essence of ‘Pursue Impossible’) Krystali Rabeni (Blackpool, England) ~ Dream Within A Dream

UWA Curator’s Prize (L$25,000) (Chosen by curator FreeWee Ling)

quadrapop Lane (Perth, Western Australia, Australia) ~ Pursuing the Impossible

Curator’s Honorable Mentions (L$2,5000 each)

Lilia Artis (Bern, Switzerland) ~ Again K3W Resident (Pacific NW, USA) ~ Will I Dream?

Barry Richez (Toulouse, France) ~ Love Impossible Ronin1 Shippe (New Mexico, USA) ~ Elephant Whimsy

Founders Special Awards (L$5,000 each) Dusty Canning (Perth, Western Australia, Australia)

Jesse Keyes (Dawsonville, Georgia, USA)

Audience Participation Prizes

Awarded to members of the public who most closely guessed the rankings of the actual winners.

1st Place (L$12,000): Lalie Sorbet 2nd Place (L$10,000): Elle Thorkveld 3rd Place (L$8,000): Morituna Watanabe

4th Place (L$6,000): Pearl Grey 5th Place (L$2,500): Lira Savira 5th Place (L$2,500): Vivian Shan 7

The Entries

There were 59 entries by 61 artists (including two collaborations) Alpha Auer (Istanbul, Turkey) ~ The Bridge Ama Avro (Strasbourg, France) ~ Wisdom for Future Art Eames: Presence Barry Richez (Toulouse, France) ~ Love Impossible Bibi Rives (Petropolis - Rio de Janeiro, Brasil) ~ The Mask Blue Tsuki (Seattle, Washington, USA) ~ Endless Suspended Carmsie Melodie (Australia) ~ Achieve Impossible Charles Hera (Portland, Oregon, USA) ~ Flight Chic Aeon (Corvallis Oregon, USA) ~ In Search of Perfection Corcosman Voom (Sierra Foothills, CA, USA) ~ An Ibis In Pursuit DarcyChocolat (Moreno Valley, California, USA) ~ Winning isn’t Always Winning and Losing Isn’t Always Losing Delain Canucci (Tiel, Netherlands) ~ Connecting with the world and unite Doe Silverspar (Greenville, South Carolina, USA) ~ Impossible? Says Who? Dragon’s Lord (Chicago, USA) ~ Reaching the Impossible Dusty Canning (Perth, Australia) ~ Impossible today? ... Possible tomorrow! Elle Thorkveld: Visionary Reach Frankx Lefavre (Sydney , Australia) ~ Child of Light Ginger Lorakeet (Phoenix, Arizona, USA) ~ It’s always greener Giovanna Cerise (Naples, Italy) ~ Memories Haveit Neox (Los Angeles, California, USA) ~ The Shadow of Quicksand HOLALA Alter (Marid, Spain) ~ Only Prince: Purple Rain Ionsilver Whitman (Málaga, Spain) ~ Parallel Universes Isaa Gelber (Sao Paolo, Brazil) ~ RE LIQUIA (relic) Isadoradean Rossini (Moreno Valley, California, USA) ~ My Impossible: Rising Above the Pain iSkye Silverweb (Green Bay, Wisconsin, USA) ~ A Touch of Birdsong Janine Portal (Seattle, Washington, USA) ~ Leonardo Da Vinci Jesse Keyes (Dawsonville, Georgia, USA) ~ Mars JesseJames Rossini (Moreno Valley, California, USA) ~ The Future is in Our Hands Jipe Loon (Haute-Savoie, France) ~ Impossible Quest

K3W (Pacific Northwest, USA) ~ Will I Dream? Kazuhiro Aridian (Ray, MI, USA) ~ Rise Above the Mundane Kiesta Aljon (Toronto, Ontario, Canada) ~ Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m Possible Krystali Rabeni (Blackpool, UK) ~ Dream Within A Dream Lemonodo Oh: North Farallon Island Lilia Artis (Bern, Switzerland) ~ Again Louly Loon (Toulouse, France) ~ Pursue Impossible Mistero Hifeng (Italy) ~ Dream Nino Vichan (New York City, USA) ~ Pursue the End of Homelessness Othella ~ MAGE Magazine #7 Pale Illusion (Berlin, Germany) ~ The Void Pearl Grey (Rocky Mountains, USA) ~ Impossible Leaps Peli Dieterle (Cologne, Germany) ~ Impossible Geometry Pixels Sideways (Southern California, USA) ~ Perspectives quadrapop Lane (Perth, Western Australia, Australia) ~ Pursuing the Impossible Richard de Grataine Suoh (Es Mercadal , Menorca. Balears Islands) ~ Changing gender Ronin1 Shippe (New Mexico, USA) ~ Elephant Whimsy Secret Rage (Dallas, TX, USA) ~ The Gift Sevio (Barcelona, Spain) ~ Pursue the Impossible - World Peace Sharni Azalee (Perth, Western Australia, Australia) ~ RACE: Human - PLANET: Earth Sheba Blitz (Nimbin, NSW, Australia) ~ Shrine to the Impossible Slatan Dryke (Milan, Italy) ~ The Flutter Solana Python (Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada) ~ Journey Past Impossible Solkide Auer & Sniper Siemens (Italy) ~ Runners on Fibonacciâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Spiral Takni Mistwalker & Misio2 (Barcelona/Melbourne, Spain/Australia) ~ Pursuing order is pursuing impossible Tarquin Evermore ~ Believe in myself Tim Timaru (Ploiesti, Romania) ~ Rain UABlue (London, UK and Leipzig, Germany) ~ Find the Ultimate Blue understandingcomplexity (Havelock, NC, USA) ~ My rl avatar Yepar Saenz (Paris, France) ~ Labyrinth

Alpha Auer (Istanbul, Turkey) ~ The Bridge

An architecture of associative images which form a conceptual bridge. ~ Alpha Auer

d First Place Award Winner c “I would like to express my total delight and honor to have been selected for the first place amongst the “Pursue Impossible UWA 3D ART Challenge” participants. I am especially thrilled for this since there are so many artists whose work I greatly admire and respect who seem to have participated in the challenge. To have become first in a list of such content creators is a true reason for me to celebrate. I wish to thank the UWA, Jayjay Zifanwe and all the other organizers and the jury - not only for this event alone but for their presence in Second Life and the support for metaverse art that the institution has valiantly provided for so many years.” ~ Elif Ayiter (RL)

Ama Avro (Strasbourg, France) ~ Wisdom for Future

A challenge that seems impossible today: improving the lives of all people while preserving this beautiful planet where we live and its biodiversity .... be wise. ~ Ama Avro

Art Eames: Presence

In 1981 James Morrow (author of the Godhead Trilogy) used the word "Presence" this way: “Sozyo made 4-D equipment. The image had height, width, depth and a fourth D that eluded precise definition. It was called Presence. Somehow, you felt that the subject was there in the room with you. You could seemingly walk up to it, savor its fragrance, finger its texture, rub a few eons’ grime off its contours.” In short words: we have to feel 3D, to feel depth. Virtual gets real. ~ Art Eames

Barry Richez (Toulouse, France) ~ Love Impossible

In all my life in SL I have never found a true love — was for me Pursue Impossible — and at the final have found it; and all is possible now, its that I want show with my sculpture. In French we say IMPOSSIBLE is not French ::)) ~Barry Richez

d Curator’s Choice Honorable Mention Award c Barry Richez has been one of my favorite artists over the years. His work always has motion and vivid color and is highly expressive. ~ FreeWee Ling, Curator “Thank you so much all the judges and JayJay Zifanwe and FreeWee Ling for awarding me a prize for this challenge. Thank you so much for appreciating my work.” ~ Barry Richez

Bibi Rives (Petropolis - Rio de Janeiro, Brasil) ~ The Mask

Inspiration for art: From ancient forge metal with anvil to a new generation of robotics. Love Art in SL. The opportunity to build the impossible and contagious, like to make the impossible possible. And extremely delicious to create the impossible. ~Bibi Rives

Blue Tsuki (Seattle, Washington, USA) ~ Endless Suspended

Second Life artists have for years pursued that which is impossible in the physical world. Here we can make dreams manifest. We embrace striking visions that evoke emotional resonance from a place of sideways logic and impossible space. Pursue your own meaning and embrace these visions in this new medium. ~ Blue Tsuki

Carmsie Melodie (Australia) ~ Achieve Impossible The theme, Pursue Impossible, started me thinking about past inventors and how preposterous their ideas seemed UNTIL they made them a reality. It takes a great mind to envision something new and an even greater mind to have the tenacity and ingenuity to make it happen. In this artwork you'll find failed attempts depicted along with real life successes - both are key when pursuing the impossible. ~ Carmsie Melodie

d Second Place Award Winner c “It was a great honour to receive this award. I found the theme ‘Pursue Impossible’ particularly interesting. Not only did I get to create a 3D artwork (always fun), but in doing so I researched loads of inventors until finally settling on Edison. So this time I had the added bonus of expanding my knowledge on a range of historical figures. Go figure! I’ve thoroughly enjoyed being involved in UWA’s Challenges. I can even go so far as to say that these events are the very reason my skills have developed over time. Each Challenge challenged me to experiment with new techniques, learn and stretch myself. The Challenges also introduced me to others with amazing skills and these connections resulted in some awesome collaborative works. I feel sure that the same applies to many other artists who were regular participants. I extend my sincere gratitude to UWA, Jay Jay, Freewee and all the other behind-the-scenes avi’s whose hard work and commitment made these Challenges possible. I’d also like to acknowledge those who promoted them, spreading the gospel of 3D art and machinima via blogs and video. Of course, the artists themselves cannot be overlooked. I always find myself awestruck and inspired by the creativity and variety of your artworks. Thank you! It is sad knowing that this is the last Challenge of its kind but life is full of changes. UWA has formed a strong artistic community and I look forward to seeing where this turn in the road leads our ‘family’ next.” ~ Carmsie Melodie

Charles Hera (Portland, Oregon, USA) ~ Flight

Man has always wanted to fly. We have planes. We have virtual reality flight. But someday with a mix of cybernetics and genetic modification we may be able to actually fly. There is a leap of faith involved. We must believe we can do something before we can achieve our goal. ~ Charles Hera

Chic Aeon (Corvallis Oregon, USA) ~ In Search of Perfection

I never define my art â&#x20AC;&#x201D; believing that each person will see what they need to see. It is up to the viewer to interpret and analyze. I will however explain how this work came to be. Long ago and far away in a land called RealLife I painted a work entitled "In Search of Perfection". When the theme of this year's challenge was announced, it brought back echoes of those times and places. As I worked on my 3D depiction of my 2D art I discovered that I had unconsciously incorporated another work of that same time period â&#x20AC;&#x201D; one with bright skies and pyramids. It wasn't a plan. Or perhaps it was and I simply wasn't paying attention. The installation is original mesh made in Blender. The sky was made using Windlight as a starting point and then painting over by hand in graphics software. The long Cycles Rendered corridor is obviously a metaphor for the journey, but what's with the egg? As often happens in art, or at least MY art, the cracked egg was an accident. A large texture that I planned to reduce later for faster downloading, it shows the lines made up from the automatic mapping of the egg. I rarely let Blender map things for me. This was a quick step on the way to a finished project. But I LIKED what the slow rendering revealed. Sometimes we don't know what lies behind our perception of perfect. ~ Chic Aeon

Corcosman Voom (Sierra Foothills, CA, USA) ~ An Ibis In Pursuit

On touch, she whispers a little poem by Nicholas Gordon (much modified) about the pursuit of the impossible: Every moment is a revelation Placed behind the scrim of what we see. In every unremarkable sensation. Poised to dance, some truth awaits a breeze. How might we then step behind the veil? Alive in ways we have not learned to live? We can not bear such beauty long, nor fail, while yearning... To revere that which grace might give. ~ Corcosman Voom

DarcyChocolat (Moreno Valley, California, USA) ~ Winning isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t Always Winning and Losing Isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t Always Losing Chess is much like life. People make strategic or not so strategic moves. Unfortunately, there always seem to be politics involved in many systems. Some players have more power than others, and if they are good at what they do, they can manipulate life for others at will. Sadly, what is not fully understood is that winning isn't necessarily winning, and losing isn't necessarily losing. Yes, a person may win "the" game, but he or she may lose his/her soul in the process of winning. A person who "loses" in terms of the political landscape may actually preserve his or her own soul in the process. Regardless, one should never give up on the important things in life even if a loss occurs here and there. After, all a loss can produce growth. ~ DarcyChocolat

Delain Canucci (Tiel, Netherlands) ~ Connecting with the world and unite

I never could have dreamed I could actually connect to the rest of the world and unite with so many people on so many different levels. My ambition was always to become a artist and make and create whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s in my mind. In the real world this is difficult but in this virtual world it made it possible for me to actually do what I always dreamed of. Connection and Unite is an artwork I feel was impossible to do but after many years of hard work and determination I feel I finally succeed in my goal and feel my pursue impossible is turned into possible connecting with the rest of the world. ~Delain Canucci

Doe Silverspar (Greenville, South Carolina, USA) ~ Impossible? Says Who?

Our beliefs about ourselves are sometimes the very traps that keep us down. That makes the trap self-inflicted, doesn't it? Trust the divine, inner spark of creativity more than the discouraging words people speak over you. Your inner spark is truly unique in the world, If it can emerge uncensored, magic happens. Trust it, cherish it, let it loose! Many thinks to Neural Blankes for her expertise and invaluable help uploading my mesh figure. If it weren't for Neural this piece would not exist. ~ Doe Silverspar

Dragonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Lord (Chicago, USA) ~ Reaching the Impossible

This artwork is an allegory of all of our lives, is the conquest of our fears, hopes and disadvantages that we face in life, man's journey through mountains of sand, reaches the summit of his mountain that turns in rock after he reach his goal, the impossible in his life, for some can be a social issue, others can be a scientific issue, perhaps a theorem or anything else, the discover of a new vaccine, the eradication of cancer, a world harmony, the cease of wars, interstellar travel you name it; each of us always faces something in life and when reached praises and happiness or the pursue of another impossible with better hopes!. Each of this items in this artwork tries to show that and how mankind soars to the skies! ~ Dragonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Lord

Dusty Canning (Perth, Australia) ~ Impossible today? ... Possible tomorrow!

It's a light hearted look at a serious theme. This is my ninth year in SL and building and creating 3D art for UWA Challenges are what I enjoy most. Usually my creations tend to be less serious interpretations of the challenge themes. Real life is the place for serious issues! ~ Dusty Canning d UWA Founders Special Award c d Curatorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Choice Honorable Mention Award c Dusty is an artist I met while in Perth and who has become a good friend. Always working with humor and passion, I just wanted to acknowledge Dusty for being a part of the UWA art presence here from the very beginnings and also for being a curious and generous human being. ~ FreeWee Ling, Curator

Thank you JayJay for the Special Award that seems to be applauding me for my longevity and dedication to UWA and the art challenges. The truth is that it is you JayJay and all the artists who are involved with the UWA challenges that have keep me enthused and active with UWA and art in SL since 2009. Thank you for all that you have done. I would also like to thank FreeWee Ling for her kind words - she has been an inspiration to me in both SL and in RL. ~ Dusty Canning

Elle Thorkveld: Visionary Reach

People who have a vision beyond the possible and reach for it, can often achieve their goals. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Everything is theoretically impossible, until it is done. One could write a history of science in reverse by assembling the solemn pronouncements of highest authority about what could not be done and could never happen.â&#x20AC;? - Robert A. Heinlein, science fiction writer.

My work focuses on the use of color, novel combinations, movement, randomness and unpredictability. ~ Elle Thorkveld

Frankx Lefavre (Sydney , Australia) ~ Child of Light

Is true enlightenment an impossible pursuit? Would a child born of light perhaps stand a better chance of this if freed from the shackles of the material world? Everything is ephemeral. ~ Frankx Lefavre

Ginger Lorakeet (Phoenix, Arizona, USA) ~ Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s always greener

No matter your situation in life , you're continuously pursuing the impossible. Once you think you have arrived, you see some other grass that looks much greener and off you go pursuing again. The idea behind this build is inspired by my RL. Wishing for sunny days, then after too many in a row, wishing for rain. Too much rain and wanting sun again. ~ Ginger Lorakeet

Giovanna Cerise (Naples, Italy) ~ Memories

"Memories" was inspired by the poem "Do Not Chop Away, Shears, That Face" from the work "Le Occasioni (1939)," by Italian Nobel Prize winning poet Eugenio Montale. Do not chop away, shears, that face, alone in the mind that is dispersing, do not turn her big, listening face into my fog of always. A chill comes down... The hard blow snaps and the wounded acacia shakes off the cicada's husk in the first slime of November.

~ Giovanna Cerise

Haveit Neox (Los Angeles, California, USA) ~ The Shadow of Quicksand

Darkness tugs at us, and can easily own us. It is thick and gooey as tar, which binds us to deep shame and fear. If one undergoes the frigid voyage to meet it head on, the voyage may seem an impossible distance to travel, yet it is as close as our own shadow. ~ Haveit Neox d Eighth Place Award Winner c “The UWA has been extending its hand, on a large scale, to the art community for years now, in a way that gives artists, new and old, opportunity and encouragement. This is done in a most generous and sincere gesture. It is with great appreciation for the support that this morning brings a mixture of excitement and sadness, as this was the last event in this series. Again we so loved the theme of the challenge and again it was most inspiring and we would have continued working on more exhibits and machinima hadn’t there been that deadline. Thank you so much for getting us to go, run, race with such joy...! Our deep thanks to you all.” ~ Lilia and Haveit.”

HOLALA Alter (Marid, Spain) ~ Only Prince: Purple Rain

Only in the metaverse my guitar sounds and purple rain. ~ HOLALA Alter

Ionsilver Whitman (Mรกlaga, Spain) ~ Parallel Universes

Original Mesh creation and fractal textures. The reality we perceive is itself a part of a whole that in most cases we do not achieve or understand. In our imagination, mature responses are reflected as progress makes us peek to see beyond the limits. ~ Ionsilver Whitman

Isaa Gelber (Sao Paolo, Brazil) ~ RE LIQUIA (relic)

To be born, die, again be REborn, and so progress unceasingly, such is the law. ~Allan Kardec

Life is Change. Growth is optional. Choose wisely. We must always change, REnew, REjuvenate ourselves; otherwise we harden. So long as a person is capable of selfREnewal they are a living being. ~ Isaa Gelber

Isadoradean Rossini (Moreno Valley, California, USA) ~ My Impossible: Rising Above the Pain It is an autobiographical story which is reflected in the posters surrounding the artwork. The artwork is very simple — a stump and a tree. The two are merged together and will remain together unless some other outside force interferes (e.g., someone comes in to remove the stump carefully from the tree). The tree, having merged into the stump, somehow survived. This is not unlike real life. Something occurs; for example, a person may experience the death of a loved one and/or some other significant loss takes place. The person may succumb to that loss and may even lose the will to live. On the other hand, the person may eventually grow and perhaps even thrive despite the loss. This is what the artwork represents. The survival process. Certainly, none of us are immune to experiencing painful events in our lives. The question is not whether or not this will happen . . . the question is whether or not we can overcome these events. My “impossible” was growing up with parents who were damaged in many respects. My father suffered at least two head traumas in the military. I believe this damaged him severely psychologically, and he struggled to cope with his psychological demons by self-medicating with alcohol. My mother struggled throughout her life with posttraumatic stress disorder and then was struck with Alzheimer's disease not too long after my father committed suicide. Early in life, I understood their strengths despite their different, yet similar struggles. I loved them dearly. Yet, I knew they had little left over to give my sister and me. My personal impossible was finally finding purpose and meaning in life — rising above the pain so to speak. In a sense, without my parents ever knowing it, they gave me much in life. I just wish I could have done the same. ~ Isadoradean Rossini

iSkye Silverweb (Green Bay, Wisconsin, USA) ~ A Touch of Birdsong

All my life I have been deaf. At one time I could enjoy music with a hearing aid, if I sat near the source of sound and it was loud enough. Today I have no hearing at all. I thought about it could be possible to hear. There are some medical options. But even with these interventions, I can never expect or hope to experience what is normal hearing. Mechanical and digital devices, while they may be useful, they do not bring true sound. I often remember when I could hear. To me some exceptionally beautiful music and sounds that are so ephemeral, gone in a moment, like the laughter of a little child or the song of a bird, are priceless to me. Many times I have wondered... if I thought they sounded beautiful then, how truly amazing it would be to hear the full depth and breadth of such sounds. That brings us to this sculpture, which illustrates an impossible dream. If I can't hear with my own ears, I dream to be able to hear by touching another person. Somehow through touch, perhaps I may experience how things really sound. ~ iSkye Silverweb

Janine Portal (Seattle, Washington, USA) ~ Leonardo Da Vinci

If there was ever a human being who spent his life continually engaged in the pursuit of the impossible, it was Leonardo Da Vinci. The original "Renaissance Man," for five hundred years he's been an enduring and inspirational touchstone, a symbol of human potential for geeks and artists, technicians, mathematicians, inventors, architects, biologists....and anyone else who has dared to dream, or ask, "what if?" Something about his sketches of the fetus in the womb has always stirred me. Metaphorically, it can be thought of in many ways: a symbol of fertility and raw, embryonic potential; the seed of an idea, an as-of-yet-unborn concept; a literal representation of one man's burning need to know and understand what it is we're made of. So, the bottom sphere in this piece contains the fetus, while the top sphere holds his blueprints for flight. Because once we know what we're made of, we're free to imagine ourselves as more, and free from definition. Free to pursue the impossible. Within the "petri dish" at the bottom are many of his drawings, illustrations, and ideas, presented as overlapping slides or lenses. In order to accomplish all he accomplished within one, short, human lifespan, Da Vinci apparently juggled many disparate, overlapping thoughts. In fact, his notebooks, from which all of these images originate, can be seen as a cerebral petri dish. A place for the unformed, seeking germination. Da Vinci's enduring legacy is so far-reaching that we might even wonder if, without him, this magical virtual world would exist at all. ~ Janine Portal

Jesse Keyes (Dawsonville, Georgia, USA) ~ Mars

The difficult we do now, the impossible takes a little longer . Exploration of Mars is in that class. Mars has sparked books, plays and movies and now robot surveys of the surface.... not like what it was thought to be. ~ Jesse Keyes d UWA Founders Special Award c â&#x20AC;&#x153;I wandered in to first event in 2009, the launch of the Celestial Visions Starlight exhibition. And into the orbit of JayJay Zifanwe and his merry crew at UWA. I entered the first event and fell in love with the idea of the of a new build each month. Jayjay put up with me sliding in sideways at the last minute on builds and i love him for it. I feel PROUD and humble that i was there at the first and the last Challenge. And a feeling of surprise that 6 years or so have gone by. Jayjay says that there will more art events...so once again more chances to enter and slide in sideways at the last minute with something....(fair warning FreeWee Ling). With love from the bottom of my heart to all at UWA.â&#x20AC;? ~ Jesse Keyes

JesseJames Rossini (Moreno Valley, California, USA) ~ The Future is in Our Hands Mankind appears to be on the precipice of destruction. The population continues to grow, and we continue to use up the earth's precious resources at a frightening pace. We live our lives as if the reality of what we know now will continue on throughout our lifetimes. However, this is not an absolute if history has taught us anything throughout the centuries. As human beings we are generally not accustomed to confronting crises that lie ahead, just crises that exist in the moment. This art work is a representation of one crucial choice that lies in front of us right now. The metal cans represent oil--a commodity that we are unwilling to let go of completely. Certainly oil companies, are just as dependent upon oil remaining in our lives as we are. However in the art work, behind the oil drums and pump, is water . . . clean water . . . something we all desperately need to survive. The pump in front of the waterfall and "hands" is pumping oil into the water. The water is blue for now, but in time that will change if the pollution of the earth continues. The hands represent a question as to what we will do with this particular issue. Note also that the hands are dried and cracked perhaps foreshadowing the future. Sadly, the answers are not yet fully visible. However, the "flow" (our contentment with our situation as it stands) seems to be moving society down a selfdestructive path unless a "will" to do otherwise occurs. For our children and their children, it is my hope that we generate an undeviating will to do otherwise. ~ JesseJames Rossini

Jipe Loon (Haute-Savoie, France) ~ Impossible Quest

The world of words: A man dressed in black One day, sent me an "IM" He carried along the grief of departures Burning flesh, black sky Impossible quest... An angel came to the altar Blowing in my ear Smoke of scents Eternal words The impossible became possible. ~ Jipe Loon d Fourth Place Award Winner c I thank the organizers and the jury of this edition of the Challenge for the opportunity offered to speak for a large audience. I also want to thank my friends for supporting me. ~ Jipe Loon

K3W (Pacific Northwest, USA) ~ Will I Dream?

The use of royalty free models, music, combined with animated textures and a love for eclectically eccentric imagination, creates this unique piece of flowing color and emotion. ~ K3W d Curator’s Choice Honorary Mention Award c K3W is an artist I’ve met only once when setting up his piece for this show. I know nothing about him beyond what he says in his notecard. But his entry appeals to me as a powerful gesture — a dramatic moment. The piece is dark and a bit difficult to see, but it’s well worth spending time with it. ~ FreeWee Ling, Curator Thank you for the afforded opportunity to show my first piece and the HM. To be sure art is as subjective as the meaning of life and to be assured I will return with a subjectively diverse as possible entry. ~ K3W

Kazuhiro Aridian (Ray, MI, USA) ~ Rise Above the Mundane

The Seadryke, flowing and gliding, swirling, its tail undulating delicately through Dreamspace. Its presence demands your respect. Rays of warmth filter through the thin webbing spanning the space between its slender fingers. The glow from above flickers like fire about the cool grey rocks below. The debris clutters your view of the creature. Bits of rock, steel, finite shapes and forms and muddy colors, heavy and broken and boring. Why do you have so much on your mind? You feel its eyes inside your chest as it judges your guts. No, there is much more here than all of this. Do not be afraid to embrace your Dreams of the fantastical and allow your imagination to flourish. Rise above the mundane of everyday life and you, too, shall flourish. The Seadryke is an old creature of mine, part of my inner world that I've been developing for about 10 years now. I created an avatar in Second Life based on some of my drawings during University in 2008 I think. Quite awhile ago! Recently I've decided to revisit the creature with all my new Zbrush/Maya/Topogun/xNormal/Photoshop skills, and I'm quite pleased with how this new rigged mesh version is turning out. The rocks were a test for a future project, and the sci-fi assets were from my SL12B stage build. Everything was made within the last 3 months, and I'm pretty proud of that. ~ Kazuhiro Aridian d Fifth Place Award Winner c

Kiesta Aljon (Toronto, Ontario, Canada) ~ Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m Possible

It is very true that oftentimes you need to see something from a different angle or perspective to make the impossible ... possible. Building on the quote from Audrey Hepburn, I have created this piece to represent that small bit of brilliance :) "Nothing is impossible. The word itself says I'm Possible"

~ Kiesta Aljon

Krystali Rabeni (Blackpool, UK) ~ Dream Within A Dream

Having a dream within a dream is an interesting way for your subconscious or unconscious mind to relay certain information to you, or represent something to you the dreamer. If you go to sleep in your dream and have a dream it might be a way for your subconscious to change the time-frame or context of the original dream. It may harken back to a previous situation or a glimpse of a later situation within the original dream. Another explanation could be to bring added detail to a certain aspect of the original dream, that your subconscious mind wants attention to be brought too. It should be noted what you dream about within your dream, since it could be your inner mind trying to show you something important. Besides that, a dream within a dream could be a way for your mind to show you different scenarios or ‘what if ’ situations that you would not otherwise think of. It is a way to expand on ideas that the dreamer would normally consider outside of rational thought. The dream within a dream might also be an actual diversion from what was happening in the original dream, this may relate directly with the dreamer’s real life, as representing a real life diversion tactic. We all have and need dreams without these we will fail to pursue our own impossibles. ~ Krystali Rabeni d UWA Special Prize c

Selected by the UWA members of the judging panel, going to the artwork that best encapsulated the UWA essence of ‘Pursue Impossible.’

“I am truly honoured to be awarded the UWA Special Prize. The piece I created was close to my heart and I hope it touched or inspired at least one other person.Thank you to the UWA for bringing fresh hope to a lot of people and challenging and supporting artists. And a Thank you to everyone involved without whom we would just be rezzing plain old boxes.” ~ Krystali Rabeni

Lemonodo Oh: North Farallon Island North Farallon Island is an unreachable granite island within sight of San Francisco. Although it's within the city limits, it's actually 30 miles (48 km) beyond the Golden Gate as part of the few landfalls in the Farallon National Wildlife Refuge off the California Coast in the Pacific Ocean, which is owned by the public and administered by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. All of the Farallons except Southeast Farallon Island are considered to be wilderness. It is shown as "closed" on a commercial map, which is the texture source. Note the resolution seems to be adequate when viewed as a map or poster or from an approximate 200 meter distance in-world. However, the underlying satellite image resolution is only one pixel per half meter, which results (in-world) in one pixel having to account for hundreds in the field of view, hence the blur at close range. North Farallon Island substantially fits a 256 by 256 meter region and is worth virtual exploration in-world since it's impossible to visit without considerable special arrangement, such as participation in advanced scientific research. Terrestrial inhabitants are mainly a Common Murre colony of about 100,000 birds spread throughout the North Farallon Islands, and there are considerable intertidal and marine flora and fauna. The larger Farallon islands were hunting grounds for fur seals and provided San Francisco with eggs during the 1849 California Gold Rush and for over half a century afterward. There is a small human presence and even a lighthouse on Southeast Farallon Island, as the Farallons are very close to the intersection of shipping lanes in and out of San Francisco Bay and up and down the coast. From shore, the ships are easier to see than the islands, but occasionally the largest islands are easily visible in extraordinarily clear, dry weather as a collection of very striking jagged teeth on the horizon. This particular island is the northernmost island of all the Farallons, and has several rocks offshore. One is present to the northwest and one outlying rock at northeast is clipped from the selected region. The largest rock at Southeast is present, but its mesh has been largely omitted from the detail build. ~ Lemonodo Oh

Lilia Artis (Bern, Switzerland) ~ Again

I knew I had to explore no matter the consequences, the dangers. How does it feel to pursue impossible? ~ Lilia Artis d Curatorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Choice Honorary Mention Award c Lilia Artis has consistently been one of my favorites in our art challenges. Her work is always unique and engaging. Always worth examining closely. ~ FreeWee Ling, Curator Thank you so much for the Curatorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Prize! I am incredibly happy about it and above all so touched and overwhelmed by what you said about my work. It means a lot to me! ~ Lilia Artis

Louly Loon (Toulouse, France) ~ Pursue Impossible

Hello, First, thanks for interest in my art work! I'm Louly resident in sl since 8 years. I'm French, love art and music. In sl I build, create most part of my time. I made many exhibits, and participate to different art Challenge, and won some. In real life too, I build a lot. Photos is in my life since I was 16. I draw and paint. And I made objects with recycled things that I found during my rambles. Always interested by meeting others residents of sl... ~ Louly Loon

Mistero Hifeng (Italy) ~ Dream

"Soltanto una cosa rende impossibile un sogno: la paura di fallire." (There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure.) ~ Paulo Coelho

d Tenth Place Award Winner c

Nino Vichan (New York City, USA) ~ Pursue the End of Homelessness

Ending homelessness may seem an impossible task, but I believe we all have the obligation to try. ~ Nino Vichan d Third Place Award Winner c

Othella ~ MAGE Magazine #7

MAGE Magazine is a fantasy and science fiction genre magazine featuring stories presented in comic book form. Issue #1 was released in April 2015. Since then, the MAGE Magazine creative team has produced several machinima videos in addition to releasing a monthly Magazine. ~ Othella

Pale Illusion (Berlin, Germany) ~ The Void

"The Void" stands for the big challenge we face after death. In many cultures and religions death is not the end. It is more a step into something different. Many people who had near death experiences talk about a warm feeling and a bright light attracting them to stay. Already passed away relatives welcoming them. Though there are a lot of sayings about reincarnation. So what if we face our biggest challenge not while being alive, but in "heaven"? Could it be, that our greatest impossible pursue awaits us after we die? Have this adventure and find your way through the artwork. Leave your physical body behind, so only your soul is left. Pass the fire of purgatory in which you see all you did in your lifetime trough the eyes of others. Go into the tunnel of light, leave the awaiting and welcoming souls behind and find the intense event, the creation of life. See you in your second life ;) ~ Pale Illusion

Pearl Grey (Rocky Mountains, USA) ~ Impossible Leaps

My pursuits of the impossible have been most successful by in-the-moment choices and persistent leaps of faith with whatever clarity, strength, vision and resources available to me at the time. ~ Pearl Grey

Peli Dieterle (Cologne, Germany) ~ Impossible Geometry

Two composites based upon a well known graphic of 'impossible geometry.' The owner can adjust the Op-Art of the elements. These can be set to rotate and recolor by means of a special heads-up-display (HUD). ~ Peli Dieterle d Seventh Place Award Winner c

Pixels Sideways (Southern California, USA) ~ Perspectives d Tenth Place Award Winner c

For Pursue Impossible for the UWA challenge, I created Perspectives -- which features two perspectives -- one is called World Peace and the other World of Possibilities. As the visitor ascends the stairs toward the words "WORLD PEACE" the words move further away from the visitor -- out of their reach but not out of their sight. The sculpture below features three layers - on the outer layer are pristine animated clouds as seen from space. Beneath the clouds is a rotating sphere with the typical view of our world as seen on globes and maps and as one zooms closer inside the earth a final darker layer emerges of our continents /countries animated in turmoil. While the concept of World Peace is darkly humorous and a bit cynical, there is always a different perspective which can be found in A World Of Possibilities across the bridge from World Peace. This rotating abstract sculpture with a burning white light inside creates a strange geometry due to conflicts in the alpha texturing which is one of those happy accidents that I have intentionally run with. Below the sculpture shadows continually change patterns as the sculpture rotates indicating there may be more possibilities to the sculpture than meets the eye. ~ Pixels Sideways

quadrapop Lane (Perth, Western Australia, Australia) ~ Pursuing the Impossible SL is about being able to do things I cant in real life. This build is about the tricks and effects that are easily achieved in SL but not so easily in RL. You can walk inside the work, look out through the prims, watch colours and textures move over the surfaces. Most of my work in virtual worlds is about contemplation, introspection and concepts relating to the projects they are created to illustrate, but often not in the most obvious ways. Pursuing the Impossible in for UWA is about pursuing a dream in SL, pursuing something that is unattainable, but having a go (as the Aussies say) and doing something anyway. Surfaces, textures and lighting intermingle in a complex mesh held together by the rigid formality of the grid. Take time to look and contemplate the work. Art is what you make it - both for the artist and for the viewer. ~ quadrapop Lane d Tenth Place Award Winner c d Curator’s Choice Award Winner c “FreeWee honouring me with the curator’s prize is an unexpected surprise and I send another BIG “Thanks, mate!” for the recognition. Being part of the beginning of the UWA Art Challenges gave me greater access to both the artists and possibilities of the SL build process as a medium for artistic expression, and developed the skills I use to this day, both artistically and when organising events for virtual world art. Thank Jayjay for your ongoing support and encouragement, even when I had to turn down some of your offers over the years. Here’s to many more years of UWA involvement in the Arts in virtual worldz! Cheers, mate!” ~ quadrapop Lane

Richard de Grataine Suoh (Es Mercadal , Menorca. Balears Islands) ~ Changing gender One of the things that allows Second Life is having other sex different from your RL one. Because of personal circumstances I have known people that this "gender change" is because deep convictions that can not performed in RL. I wanted to capture that inner dichotomy in an elegant and subtle way. ~ Richard de Grataine Suoh

Ronin1 Shippe (New Mexico, USA) ~ Elephant Whimsy

Why do Elephants Always have to be Gray? What if Elephants were Zebras? What if Elephants were made of Straw? ~ Ronin1 Shippe d Curator’s Choice Honorable Mention Award c I noted that a few entries this time consist primarily of 2D images displayed in 3D. In the past we have normally rejected such work as not being truly 3D, which is a condition of entry. But we received one piece that was so compelling I decided to relax that requirement this time. “Elephant Whimsy” by Ronin1 Shippe makes me smile every time I walk past it. Ronin is a tremendously creative (and prolific) 2D digital artist with a fine sense of humor. ~ FreeWee Ling, Curator I just wanted to take the opportunity to say how very grateful I am to the University of Western Australia, Jayjay Zifanwe, and FreeWee Ling - first for the great contest, second for being kind enough to include my “Elephant Whimsy” work along with the more conventional 3D offerings, and last but by no means least, for making these wonderful art sims possible. ~ Ronin1 Shippe

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Secret Rage (Dallas, TX, USA) ~ The Gift

When I read the theme "Pursue Impossible" I knew immediately what I wanted to express... but not how to say it. It took some time to figure out how to say World Peace visually. ~ Secret Rage d Tenth Place Award Winner c “I have so enjoyed being a part of the UWA challenges and will truly miss them. It’s been wonderful being able to display the pieces I have made within such a talented and creative group of individuals and all that they bring from their experiences from their lives and from all over the world... All the people I’ve met and the friends I made through UWA have also been a great plus. As far as this challenge, Pursue Impossible, there were soooo many wonderful pieces there that I feel extremely fortunate to have been chosen as one of the winners. Thanks so much!” ~ Secret Rage

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Sevio (Barcelona, Spain) ~ Pursue the Impossible - World Peace

This art explores the concepts of why humans as a species don't live in peace with each other in a non-aggressive and non-violent state. The graphic one dimensional depictions of humans holding hands represents the origin and design and evolution of the human animal. Humans are then shown in the idealized state of non-violent and cooperative harmony and in a state of conflict and aggression. Were humans designed to live in conflict or are we destined for something else? Can we pursue a society and planet without conflict or does this go against our basic programming? Looking at human history, one may conclude to pursue world peace is impossible. But then, within the collective that is humanity, there are some who create peace within and without. If one human can achieve such a thing, it means it is a unrealized possibility for all. Therefore, I would conclude we all should pursue what is seemingly impossible, world peace and empathy and compassion for all. ~ Sevio

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Sharni Azalee (Perth, Western Australia, Australia) ~ RACE: Human - PLANET: Earth Our precious Earth is dying. Humanity as a whole is still consuming each year what it would take one-and-a-half planets to sustain. Is it too late to Pursue the Impossible, sing one song in unison, imagine peace and come together as RACE: Human - PLANET: Earth? ~ Sharni Azalee d Ninth Place Award Winner c

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Sheba Blitz (Nimbin, NSW, Australia) ~ Shrine to the Impossible

I endeavored to build a Shrine of beauty and light for consecrating the pursuit of the impossible in this virtual world of amazement and wonder. ~ Sheba Blitz

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Slatan Dryke (Milan, Italy) ~ The Flutter

How to seek perfection ? How to find our perfection ? Our life sometimes appears to us like hide and seek, when we have great purposes or projects but as they come they go, vanishing in the steam that masks the word IMPOSSIBLE. For many others the impossible becomes possible, a daily challenge to pursue a better life or to have an unimaginable experience due to a pathological condition. In front of our eyes we have many examples from the past to our time: Buddha left his rich and comfortable life to follow his path. The last Samurai keeping alive an ancient code of honour also when their age was over. Two girls playing in Kabul forgetting for a while the cruel war around them. An Indian mother with her son enjoying the rain in a rice field, happy for the good harvest. The creation of an art masterpiece, the joy and the love to share with a baby in many forms... with a kiss, in joyful play, or simply introducing a pet. A blind woman touches a painting, an amputee surfs, the deep ocean exploration to find "Titanic". So life is a ballet of seeking perfection, but perfection is impossible to reach due the many variables we have to face, just like a random motion that gives us a brief illusion before changing once again its shape. Maybe most of us are not made for big endeavors, we may never change the world for the better, but we never stop chasing the impossible to make it achievable! ~ Slatan Dryke

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Solana Python (Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada) ~ Journey Past Impossible I joined SL to Role Play and sell flowers from a cart. I built the cart the first month I was here but could not figure out flowers. When I discovered SL art I decided not to waste my failed flower attempts and turned them into Garden Art. My sculptures have been sold through out SL as well as my Photography. When I read Pursue Impossible right away I had a vision of stairs leading to many possibilities and places. I used my own photography and works of art on the steps and signs. ~ Solana Python

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Solkide Auer & Sniper Siemens (Italy) ~ Runners on Fibonacciâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Spiral

I and my colleague Sniper reflecting on an impossible thing to pursue we imagined that the Fibonacci sequence is a sequence of positive integers in which each number is the sum of the previous two. The result of this sequence of numbers is impossible to determine because it never stops. Making in a three-dimensional graphics these numbers create a never-ending spiral. Our creativity has led us to imagine the men who walk this spiral in the hope of being able to get to the end that does not exist and as they grow in size run exactly like the numbers that make up the succession. We know they will never reach the end, but they do not know and will run forever. ~ Solkide Auer

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Takni Mistwalker & Misio2 (Barcelona/Melbourne, Spain/Australia) ~ Pursuing order is pursuing impossible Order gives sense of safety and control over events happening around, but it is an illusion. You walk inside this building. Everything looks nicely aligned and ordered. Yet if order seems to be there it is because you brought it with you. Disorder follows you too. Ride green leaves and observe from the top order and anarchy. After walking inside the building, walking on the roof will make you free. People call disorder anarchy. Anarchy means lack of rulers. So people think that there can be no order without a ruler. People have good insights sometimes! Rulers are first and rules come later. You are the ruler here ~ Takni Mistwalker & Misio2 d Fifth Place Award Winner c “Congratulations for organizing Pursue Impossible event as every year for so long now you have brought people together, motivating them to create, express themselves, share, and build artworks. You are really building a ‘virtual community! We bow to all participants, your works are very interesting. The artworks reflect your thought, and often some aspects your lives; they enrich the fabric of virtual reality, yet overlap with all levels of our existence. All of you are winners! Perhaps one day monetary prizes will be awarded at random. It’s the presence that matters!” ~ Misio2

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Tarquin Evermore ~ Believe in myself

I am my own worst enemy. I have self-confidence issues, I feel as if I can't do anything right, or whatever I do will fall flat in some way anyway. My pursuing the impossible will be actually be able to turn all of this around and to one day to be able to believe in myself. ~ Tarquin Evermore

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Tim Timaru (Ploiesti, Romania) ~ Rain

I am your rain your drops of life melted in your hand forever ... ~ Tim Timaru

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UABlue (London, UK and Leipzig, Germany) ~ Find the Ultimate Blue To see “a color” is an imagination as two humans even standing next to each other will never see the same. Blue is the ultimate color and Ua Blue is the ultimate Blue. International Klein Blue (IKB) was a milestone in art. Now Ua Blue in a virtual realm steps in and gives a machine control to find the “only one.” When the MONDRIAN 3D cube generator has detected that a cube made in Ua Blue was rezzed it shows the Avatar the end of our struggle – the end of The Battle of Colors. No Windlight will have an effect on the detector. Click the generator as described by the menu to create a piece of unique art that only you will have. Never two pieces are ever the same. I want to reference as contributors: • Prof. Herbert W. Franke for the creating the first interactive art machine named MONDRIAN on a Texas Instruments Computer TI 99/4 in 1979. This machine creates rectangles in 2D driven by computer steered randomness and influences of the user. • Konrad Kunze for implementing MONDRIAN in Windows in a 3D version based on the design of MONDRIAN 1979. • Qnav What aka Daniel Jung and Art Eames for re-programming MONDRIAN 3D in Linden Scripting Language. • Exy Atreides aka Sean Lennon for building the mesh Elephant as a team project. • Minimal Blue for developing the concepts of Programmed Minimal Art in the late 70s which lead me now to the search for the Ultimate Blue using a 3D walkable environment. The chance to get UABlue are set on 1/40 to avoid that the user gets tired and has to try over hours to see a creation of this color happen. ~ UABlue

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understandingcomplexity (Havelock, NC, USA) ~ My rl avatar

This was about the impossible ... everything that I have wanted to do in real life but can only do in SL. ~ understandingcomplexity

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Yepar Saenz (Paris, France) ~ Labyrinth

When we try to do something that seems impossible, the society is there to remind us that we have to leave our thoughts aside. To achieve our utopian dreams is like a rove in a labyrinth path where sometimes we finish to take directions that are not what we had planned at the beginning. The question is: â&#x20AC;&#x153;How it would be the world without many minds that go against an established society ?â&#x20AC;? Against a mentality who imposes everything that has to enter in the standard comprehension of the world. More than the realization of a dream, the most important thing is to keep going on the road and not forget that everything today, our reality now, was in another time an impossible utopian dream. ~ Yepar Saenz

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8th UWA International Short Film Challenge (MachinimUWA VIII): Pursue Impossible

The Winners

Awards were announced at a special ceremony 13 Decembet 2015 at the BOSL Amphitheater in the UWA sims in Second Life.

First Place Award (L$60,000):

Kobuk Farshore (Alaska, USA) ~ Pursue Impossible

Second Place Award (L$50,000):

Tutsy Navarathna, (French, living in Pondicherry, India) ~ Death of Death

Third Place Award (L$40,000):

Haveit Neox & Lilia Artis (Los Angeles, USA & Berne, Switzerland) ~ Tis An Egg Because of the tie for 2nd, no 3rd Place was given.

Fourth Place Award (L$30,000):

Vilvi Rae (Jyvaskylla, Finland) ~ Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t Look Back

Fifth Place Award (L$20,000):

JaeSang (Seattle,Washington, USA) ~ Parallel Universes

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Sixth Place Award (L$5,000):

Chic Aeon (Corvallis, Oregon, USA) ~ Folding Time

Seventh Place Award (L$5,000 each):

Livio Korobase (Carravagio, Italy) ~ Pursue Impossible & Sarah Whitney of Stonington, Connecticut, USA) ~ Pursue Impossible

Eighth Place (not given due to 7th place tie) Ninth Place Award (L$2,500):

Panda (La Courneuve, France) ~ Ghost Race

Tenth Place Awards (L$2,500 each):

Artistik Oluja, (Briton living in Kuwait) ~ Magic Mirrors & Haveit Neox & Lilia Artis (Los Angeles, USA & Berne, Switzerland) ~ Touching White

UWA Founders Special Awards for Machinima (L$7,500)

Natascha Randt and Karima Hoisan (Gelsenkirchen, Germany and San Isidro del General, Costa Rica) ~ Chasing A Butterfly

UWA Special Prizes selected by UWA members of the panel (L$17,500 each): Diana AL Martini of Jakarta, Indonesia ~ Pursue Impossible On UWA Today & Haveit Neox & Lilia Artis (Los Angeles, USA & Berne, Switzerland) ~ Tis An Egg

UWA MACHIMIUWA VII AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION EVENT Awards were given to audience members who most closely guessed the final judgesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; results.

1st Place Award (L$12,000): Karima Hoisan

2nd Place Award (L$10,000): Lalie Sorbet 3rd Place Award (L$8,000): Pearl Grey 4th Place Award (L$6,000): Zakali

5th Place Award (L$5,000): Magicfairy Merlin

131

8th UWA International Short Film Challenge (MachinimUWA VIII) Entries Alfonso Garavito Olivar (Colombian in Boston, USA), InĂŠs RodrĂguez (Valencia, Spain) and Juani Ruiz (Cordoba, Spain) - A World Without Borders Artistik Oluja (A Briton in Kuwait City, Kuwait) - Magic Mirrors Billy Carter (Cincinnati, Ohio, USA) / (Elite Littlebird - SL) - Pursue Impossible Braclo Eber (South AFrica) - Path to Redemption Chantal Harvey (Maastricht, Netherlands) - Robi - oh my head Chic Aeon (Corvallis, Oregon, USA) - Folding Time Chich Aeon (Corvallis, Oregon, USA) - Bookends Dae Hayes - Daegirieul (SL) (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia) - Pursue Impossible Diana Al Martini (Jakarta, Indonesia) - Pursue Impossible on UWA Today Eric Takkar (USA) & SurReal Muse (Perth, Australia) - Impossible Fuschia Nightfire (Dorset, England) & Gweeb (Canada) - Right for Me Fuschia Nightfire (Dorset, England) & Gweeb (Canada) - Surfing on Ceres Fuzzy Deezul (Chicago, Illinois, USA) - The Escape Glasz de Cuir (Spain) - Your Love Letter Haveit Neox (Los Angeles, USA) & Lilia Artis (Bern, Switzerland) - Tis an Egg Haveit Neox (Los Angeles, USA) & Lilia Artis (Bern, Switzerland) - Touching White Isabelle Cheren (London, England) - Finding Heart Isabelle Cheren (London, England) - Science and Life Jackson Redstar (Phoenix, Arizona, USA) - Reach JaeSang (Seattle, Washington, USA) - Parallel Universes Joseph Nussbaum (Durham, North Carolina, USA) & Boris Twist (Portland, Oregon, USA) - Quest

132

Kobuk Farshore (Alaska, USA) - Pursue Impossible Livio Korobase (Caravaggio, Italy) - Pursue Impossible? Mary Wickentower (Zimmerman, Minnesota, USA) - Mother’s Warnings Maximillian Merlin (Hann. Muenden, Germany) - Enchanted Dimensions Mexi Lane aka Marina Bellini (Rome, Italy) - Pursue Impossible - Fly High Misio2 (Melbourne, Australia) - Decorations Natascha Randt (Gelsenkirchen, Germany) & Karina Hoisan (San Isidro del General, Costa Rica) - Chasing a Butterfly Panda (La Corneuve, France) - Ghost Race Sarah Whitney (Stonington, Connecticut, USA) - Pursue Impossible Secret Rage (Dallas, Texas, USA) - Pursue I’m Impossible Secret Rage (Dallas, Texas, USA) - The Gift Sevio (Barcelona, Spain) - Virtual Flow Sheba Rayna (Sacramento, California) - Pursue Impossible Soda Air (Monterey, California) - Pursue the Impossible Sophia Hines (Paris, France) - Pursue Impossible Sophia Yates (Lancaster, Massachusetts, USA) - IF Sunset Quinnel (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) - Pursue Impossible for Who Suzie Anderton (Bournemouth, England) - Pursue Impossible Tutsy Navarathna (Frenchman in Pondicherry, India) - Death of Death? Ultraviolet Alter (Toulouse, France) - Thin Places Vilvi Rae (Jyvaskylla, Finland) - Don’t Look Back Yesikita Coppola (The Netherlands) - Infinite 133

Alfonso Garavito Olivar (Colombian in Boston, USA), Inés Rodríguez (Valencia, Spain) and Juani Ruiz (Cordoba, Spain) - A World Without Borders

https://youtu.be/jBDJM2-Uwwg

Artistik Oluja (A Briton in Kuwait City, Kuwait) - Magic Mirrors

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6Lv9f5X2Us 134

d Tenth Place Award c

Billy Carter (Cincinnati, Ohio, USA) / (Elite Littlebird - SL) - Pursue Impossible

http://goo.gl/9LkLRR

Braclo Eber (South AFrica) - Path to Redemption

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Ahc3L9YXho 135

Chantal Harvey (Maastricht, Netherlands) - Robi - oh my head

https://vimeo.com/137429820

Chic Aeon (Corvallis, Oregon, USA) - Bookends

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJz4NL-Uz7g 136

Chic Aeon (Corvallis, Oregon, USA) - Folding Time

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLHaq63E2fI

d Sixth Place Award c

Dae Hayes - Daegirieul (SL) (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia) - Pursue Impossible

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kTgos4jiWEM 137

Diana Al Martini (Jakarta, Indonesia) - Pursue Impossible on UWA Today

https://youtu.be/2gt8l1aVq1A

d UWA Special Award c

Eric Takkar (USA) & SurReal Muse (Perth, Australia) - Impossible

https://vimeo.com/144034368 138

Fuschia Nightfire (Dorset, England) & Gweeb (Canada) - Right for Me

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCBCdgwPAGg

Fuschia Nightfire (Dorset, England) & Gweeb (Canada) - Surfing on Ceres

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vw_B787Q3sY 139

Fuzzy Deezul (Chicago, Illinois, USA) - The Escape

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rUt-6F6EsqY

Glasz de Cuir (Spain) - Your Love Letter

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mh24pKt3IUQ 140

Haveit Neox (Los Angeles, USA) & Lilia Artis (Bern, Switzerland) - Tis an Egg

https://vimeo.com/143798263

d Third Place Award c d UWA Special Award c

Haveit Neox (Los Angeles, USA) & Lilia Artis (Bern, Switzerland) - Touching White

https://vimeo.com/144233680

d Tenth Place Award c 141

Isabelle Cheren (London, England) - Finding Heart

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLX7NUeo_vM

Isabelle Cheren (London, England) - Science and Life

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V25L-RiI-FE 142

Jackson Redstar (Phoenix, Arizona, USA) - Reach

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bl10iHEi424

JaeSang (Seattle, Washington, USA) - Parallel Universes

http://goo.gl/vDIR98

d Fifth Place Award c 143

Joseph Nussbaum (Durham, North Carolina, USA) & Boris Twist (Portland, Oregon, USA) - Quest

http://www.slartist.com/quest_5f253964c.html

Kobuk Farshore (Alaska, USA) - Pursue Impossible

https://vimeo.com/144258716 144

d First Place Award c

Livio Korobase (Caravaggio, Italy) - Pursue Impossible?

https://vimeo.com/144201246

d Seventh Place Award c

Mary Wickentower (Zimmerman, Minnesota, USA) - Motherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Warnings

https://youtu.be/dpPOKeDs4U0 145

Maximillian Merlin (Hann. Muenden, Germany) - Enchanted Dimensions

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k6380q8g-A0

Mexi Lane aka Marina Bellini (Rome, Italy) - Pursue Impossible - Fly High

https://vimeo.com/144036986 146

Misio2 (Melbourne, Australia) - Decorations

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oyno7O9UYOI

Natascha Randt (Gelsenkirchen, Germany) & Karina Hoisan (San Isidro del General, Costa Rica) - Chasing a Butterfly

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3dSQ4HZiuw

d UWA Founders Award c 147

Panda (La Corneuve, France) - Ghost Race

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q9g_iUeynZ4

Sarah Whitney (Stonington, Connecticut, USA) - Pursue Impossible

https://vimeo.com/140719857 148

d Seventh Place Award c

Secret Rage (Dallas, Texas, USA) - Pursue I’m Impossible

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IAfkda-pW_c

Secret Rage (Dallas, Texas, USA) - The Gift

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zK2kG_njHkw 149

Sevio (Barcelona, Spain) - Virtual Flow

http://www.slartist.com/virtual-flow_011769a62.html

Sheba Rayna (Sacramento, California) - Pursue Impossible

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q5FSgIt7OIo 150

Soda Air (Monterey, California) - Pursue the Impossible

http://www.slartist.com/sodaair-pursue-the-impossible-second-life-machinima_811223d50.html

Sophia Hines (Paris, France) - Pursue Impossible

https://youtu.be/e9Id2TTD7O0 151

Sophia Yates (Lancaster, Massachusetts, USA) - IF

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_QjcY3I5zU

Sunset Quinnel (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) - Pursue Impossible for Who

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-umHcQvT8I 152

Suzie Anderton (Bournemouth, England) - Pursue Impossible

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1OsvC2nthjw

Tutsy Navarathna (Frenchman in Pondicherry, India) - Death of Death?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VgH3DrUCuBs

d Second Place Award c 153

Ultraviolet Alter (Toulouse, France) - Thin Places

https://vimeo.com/ultrasonne/review/144195857/049b6cfec2

Vilvi Rae (Jyvaskylla, Finland) - Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t Look Back

https://vimeo.com/143433200 154

d Fourth Place Award c

Yesikita Coppola (The Netherlands) - Infinite

https://vimeo.com/144170299

155