UWA Artists’ Choice Challenges An exhibition series of original digital art in a virtual world FreeWee Ling, curator
UWA Studies in Virtual Arts | October 2012 | Volume 1, Number 6 ISSN: 2200-7865 (Print)
ISSN: 2200-7873 (Online)
UWA Studies in Virtual Arts Octorber 2012 Volume 1, Number 6 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 © 2012 by D.A. Newton. All rights to the original works depicted are owned by their respective creators, and images thereof are used by their permission. All text and images by D.A. Newton/FreeWee Ling unless otherwise noted. 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.
Contents Introduction The Work
Introduction 2012 is the third year of 3D virtual art challenges at the University of Western Australia’s virtual gallery in Second Life® (SL™). Through these competitions, UWA in SL is recognized worldwide as one of the preeminent venues for the presentation of virtual arts.
video and audio media streaming, sound and light emitters, motion scripting, etc. Often we are confronted with work that presents special difficulties in presenting it properly. But we do whatever we can within reason to work with artists to support their visions.
This year we feature two separate and non-concurrent art challenges: the UWA 3D Artists’ Choice Challenges, and the UWA Centenary 3D Art Challenge. From January through March and August through December, we feature monthly sponsored theme challenges, featuring these themes:
We gratefully acknowledge the generosity of our patrons and sponsors for this year’s projects:
• January ~ 3D Self Portraits • February ~ Perfume • March ~ Music • August ~ Air • September ~ Water • October ~ Fire • November ~ Earth • December ~ Triptych From April through July we held a single major open competition in celebration of the Centenary of UWA, with L$550,000 Lindens (about $2200 USD) in art prizes and L$775,000 ($3,400 USD) for “MachinimUWA V,” a related animated film competition. For the UWA Artists’ Choice challenges, a different theme was announced each month, but the core theme was personal expression. We wanted the artist to use this as an opportunity to explore some aspect of their personality, not only as a creative artist, but also as a critical observer. An essential difference in these shows is the judging. When artists submit an entry they agree to serve also as a judge for the prize awards. Thus the awards are determined by the recipients’ colleagues, making this a unique process of consensus among peers rather than a critical adjudication by an outside panel. (By consensus, curator FreeWee Ling was permitted to exhibit in the Artists’ Choice exhibitions, but was eligible for prize consideration.) As with most UWA challenges, participation is open to anyone and no qualification is required. Artists are allowed to submit up to two entries. Collaborations are encouraged. There are technical limits to the number of parts contained in an object and to server load. There is no size limit except to the extent that it impedes our ability to show other work or impacts other activities of the university. We accommodate
• Jay Jay Jegathesan (JayJay Zifanwe), Prof. Ted Snell, and the University of Western Australia • Flora Nordenskiold for Nordan om Jorden • Armany Thursday and Dyce Underwood for DNA Art and Music Fusion • Eliza Wierwight and Patron • Cherry Manga and Anley Piers for Mysterious Wave • Ginger Alsop and Phi Designs • Zachh Cale and projectZ • and special donations by anonymous donors
Fire purifies and destroys. Fire is about heat, desire, renewal, destruction. Here are some keywords for inspiration: • heat • hell • Halloween • volcano • ashes • burning • phoenix • hot • sexy • stars/sun • sweat • desert • ovens • cooking • burning • desire • fever • conflagration • love • combustion
FIRE
THE WINNERS
For the sixth round of the UWA Artists’ Choice Challenge we chose the theme, “FIRE.” With 26 pieces by 20 artists, the fullsim exhibition was one of the most engaging in the series so far. FIRE was the third of a sub-set of four “elemental” themes, including the previous “Air” and “Water” and upcoming “Earth” shows. The Artists’ Choice challenges were hosted and curated by FreeWee Ling, Honorary Research Fellow, University of Western Australia. The Project Director for the UWA virtual campus is Jay Jay Jegathesan (SL pseudonym: JayJay Zifanwe).
By an overwhelming consensus among the participating artists, Nexuno Thespian won the First Place award for the October challenge. Nexuno’s entry titled “Fireflower” seemed to have everything one could want -- exquisite use of form, color, figures, animation, and music to express a surreal vision of passion and heat and beauty.
As with previous themed shows, FIRE was installed in a specially created full-sim space, with volcanoes, sound effects, custom Windlight atmosphere, and a first-time-ever hunt for prizes called “Quest for Fire.” There were 10 hunt objects hidden throughout the space each containing fun fire-related prizes. The FIRE theme proved to be very popular among artists and visitors alike.
In Second Place was Krystali Rabeni’s “Tragedy”, a poignant diorama showing a puppet theater on fire, the collapsed marionette resigning to his fate of impending doom as the result of an unrequited love. In third place was Secret Rage’s cryptic, surrealistic vision titled “When Lightning Strikes.” While we had no unscripted entries in the previous month’s “Water” theme show, this month we had five to choose from. There was a separate balloting for this award, and the participating artists chose Corcosman Voom’s “Fire Birds.” The FIRE show was featured on the SL login screen for the last few days of the show, resulting in a flurry of voting for the People’s Choice award. With over 700 votes cast overall, the decisive favorite was Barry Richez’s “Douce Colombe” (“Sweet Dove”).
The “Quest fot Fire” hunt object
The Work Aquaglo and MellyDee Macfanatic - Fiery Flames of Passion PEOPLE’S CHOICE AWARD: Barry Richez - Douce Colombe Chic Aeon - Global Warming Corcosman Voom - Firebirds BEST UNSCRIPTED AWARD: Corcosman Voom - Prometheus Brings Fire Dividni Shostakovich - Fire Is a Verb Dragon Lord - Man On Fire An Eternal Flame Dragon Lord - Sanctuary of the heart; A soul on fire Finn Lanzius - A Match Made In Heaven FreeWee Ling - Fractal Fireworks FreeWee Ling - Afterglow Friday Siamendes - Pearl of Wisdom Herbie Haven - Rust Man - Clean Coal Sculpture Hypatia Pickens - Fire Elemental - Salamander Krystali Rabeni - BOOM! SECOND PLACE AWARD: Krystali Rabeni - Tragedy Nexuno Thespian - Fireflower FIRST PLACE AWARD: Nexuno Thespian - Leaves Don’t Fall Down Again Secret Rage - Down To My Last 6 Tears (Words Left Unspoken) THIRD PLACE AWARD: Secret Rage - When Lightning Strikes Silene Christen - Friendly Fire Silene Christen - The Phoenix Rising From Its Ashes Sir Real - The Enigma of Oppenheimer Talia Sunsong - Ignite Passion Talia Sunsong - Woman on Fire with Water Woman Teal Freenote - Growing Pains
Aquaglo and MellyDee Macfanatic ~ Fiery Flames Of Passion "Fiery Passion of Love" is a sleek fiery silhouette of a pair of lovers in an embrace of romance, love, lust as they turn to fire and rotate in a circle of pure ecstasy of touch as their very souls touch and turn to fire as well... twisting and filling their bodies ‘til afire... ~ Aquaglo
Barry Richez ~ Douce Colombe (“Sweet Dove”)
Un oiseau blanc… Un ciel bleu… Un bon vent… C’est le champ et le pépiement des oiseaux, C’est le respect des pouvoirs ancestraux. C’est la sagesse et la tranquilité, C’est le calme et la solidarité. C’est la richesse de la culture, C’est la beauté de la nature. Un oiseau blanc… Un ciel bleu… Un bon vent… Mais pour des hommes qui aiment le narcisse, Pour des hommes dont le cerveau tourne comme une hélice, Pour des hommes ayant en main un opuscule De l’aurore jusqu’au crépuscule, Pour des hommes soumis à une balance non truquée Et voulant que l’azur de leur organisme soit conservé.
A white bird ... A blue sky ... A good wind ... This is the field and the chirping of birds, It is respect ancient powers. It is the wisdom and tranquility, This is the calm and solidarity. It is the wealth of culture, That’s the beauty of nature. A white bird ... A blue sky ... A good wind ... But for men who like narcissus, For men whose brain spinning like a propeller, For men with a booklet in hand From dawn to dusk, For men undergoing non faked balance And wishing that the blue of their body is preserved.
The FIRE show was featured on the SL login screen for the last few days of the show, resulting in a flurry of voting for the People's Choice award. With over 700 votes cast overall, the decisive favorite was Barry Richez's "Douce Colombe" ("Sweet Dove") inspired by poem of Mlle. NGEUFEU KENNE Alvine of Cameroon.
Chic Aeon ~ Global Warming
Walk softly on the earth ~ ~ Chic
Corcosman Voom ~ Firebirds While we had no unscripted entries in last month's "Water" theme show, this month we had five to choose from. There was a separate balloting for this award, and the participating artists chose Corcosman Voom's "Fire Birds."
an original prim sculpture. The prim count is 42. A favorite number for scifi aficionados. ~ Corcosman
Corcosman Voom ~ Prometheus Brings Fire
A prim sculpture inspired by the sculptures of Ju Ming. ~ Corcosman
Dividni Shostakovich ~ Fire Is A Verb
In the early 20th century in the US, employees were sometimes given a notice of termination on a pink form included in their pay envelopes. To be “given the pink slip” became common slang for losing a job. The other common term for this condition is to be “fired.” Thus Dividni has given us a visual pun by submitting a pink slip in the “Fire” theme.
“I'm not an artist, I just like twisting ideas. I'm better with boxes than I am with GIMP, which is not saying much.� ~ Dividni
Dragon Lord ~ Sanctuary Of The Heart: A Soul On Fire A soulfire is a soul of a heart that burns on passion, love, fire that runs in the veins of lovers and creative minds. Notes: Don't forget to click on the floor inside the sanctuary, near the fountain of blood! ~ Dragon Lord
Dragon Lord ~ Man On Fire An Eternal Flame
“Each of us is born with a box of matches inside us but we can't strike them all by ourselves; we need oxygen and a candle to help. In this case, the oxygen for example, would come from the breath of the person you love; the candle would be any kind of food, music, caress, word, or sound that engenders the explosion that lights one of the matches. For a moment we are dazzled by an intense emotion. A pleasant warmth grows within us, fading
slowly as time goes by, until a new explosion comes along to revive it. Each person has to discover what will set off those explosions in order to live, since the combustion that occurs when one of them is ignited is what nourishes the soul. That fire, in short, is its food. If one doesn't find out in time what will set off these explosions, the box of matches dampens, and not a single match will ever be lighted.� ~ Laura Esquivel, Like Water for Chocolate
Finn Lanzius ~ A Match Made In Heaven
FreeWee Ling ~ Afterglow
I wanted to make something for the FIRE show the was sensuous. It's an intentional contrast with the darkness and overt heat of the gallery space. Afterglow's cool whiteness is the remembrance of passion. The cooling embers following a recent fire. ~ FreeWee
FreeWee Ling ~ Fractal Fireworks
This piece uses an old fractal generator scripted by Seifert Surface (2005) with some adjustments. It takes 3 coordinates and uses various parameters to generate a fractal pattern of prims. Instead of using static prims I made spinning objects that emit streams of particles. They remain in place for 30 seconds and then turn physical with a random amount of buoyancy applied. Some of the objects spin off into the exhibit space while others may float off into the sky. This makes for a fairly spectacular light show. ~ FreeWee
Friday Siamendes ~ Pearl of Wisdom
This is a variation on the final build in my machinima, "Pearl Of Wisdom," http://youtu.be/Ab93fQcOKdo The build expresses my cheery outlook, plus an unplanned but timely touch of Halloween. All you need to do is enter the garish orange cylinder. If you figure out the meaning of the video or the installation, please explain them to me. ~ Friday
Herbie Haven ~ Rust Man - Clean Coal “It’s a rusty man I’ve been developing and playing with in different ways.” ~ Herbie
Hypatia Pickens ~ Fire Elemental - Salamander
Alchemists and natural philosophers from classical times on up have associated the salamander with fire. It eats it, it extinguishes it, and it represents it as element. Pliny: "This animal is so intensely cold as to extinguish fire by its contact, in the same way that ice does." Shakespeare to Bardolph, Henry V: "I have maintained that salamander of yours [Bardolph's nose] with fire [liquor] any time this two and thirty years" ~ Hypatia
Krystali Rabeni ~ Boom!
A hot chilli pepper on a fork waiting to explode with flavour and heat the moment it is devoured. ~ Krystali
Krystali Rabeni ~ Tragedy
‘Bois’ the French marionette. He is made to perform endlessly in the cruel “Doctor Grimoires’ Travelling Show.” While laying tangled in his box one day, Bois hears the most beautiful voice he had ever heard. He knew at once it must be the voice of an angel. He peeped through the small cracks in the wood of his box and glimpsed a wonderful beauty, her face pale as bone china, her lips as red as a rose. At once Bois fell in love with this beautiful doll-like creature and craved to see her once more. Later that same morning he was dragged from his box by his puppet-master and slung onto his stage as usual and made to perform. As he spun and danced to the music he saw his love. His heart lifted and at once he felt light as air. How he performed, how he danced. He danced for her. As time went by he fell deeper and deeper in love with ‘Colette’ his ‘little doll.’ He dreamt of her, he yearned for her, to be in her arms for ever. They would escape Doctor Grimoires’ show and perform together in the best theatres. He dreamed such dreams of their life together. While deep in his dreams one evening his box lid was lifted and he was taken from the darkness. This time was different. He wasn't yanked viciously and dragged; this time he was lifted gently by warm soft hands. His head tipped back and he saw his love... She held him close and smiled down to him. He saw she was not a doll but human. She was flesh and he was wood. How could they be together? His wooden heart broke there and then. Bois was placed on the stage. He didn't dance. He couldn't go on. His love was out of reach and so, on the stage he had always been on, he mustered all his energy and at once lit one of the matches he had so often been threatened with. Bois looked out to the audience and saw his love blow a kiss to him. He lifted his wooden hand to blow a kiss back, dropping the burning match on himself and setting himself and the stage alight. That night Bois danced his last dance, the flames licked viciously at his broken wooden body. His ashes were swept away the next morning; all that remained in the debris was a broken wooden heart. ~ Krystali
This entry won the Second Place award in voting by the participating artists.
Nexuno Thespian ~ Fireflower
By an overwhelming consensus among the participating artists, Nexuno Thespian won the First Place award for his entry titled "Fireflower." It seemed to have everything one could want — exquisite use of form, color, figures, animation, and music to express a surreal vision of passion and heat and beauty.
Nexuno Thespian ~ Leaves Don’t Fall Down Again
Secret Rage ~ Down To My Last Six Tears
Secret Rage ~ When Lightning Strikes
Secret Rage's cryptic, surrealistic vision won the Third Place award in voting by the participating artists.
Silene Christen ~ Friendly Fire
There are many kinds of fire: the fire of the soul, the fire of the eyes, the hearth fire... Within my ironic and conceptual style, a warning against war seemed to come associated with the term "friendly fire." ~ Silene
Silene Christen ~ The Phoenix Rising From Its Ashes
I wanted to get the effect of the Phoenix using the properties of SL in sculpture and texture movement. I believe this mythological bird reflects the fire spirit. ~ Silene
Sir Real ~ The Enigma Of Oppenheimer This entry is about “The Father of The Nuclear Bomb,� Dr. J. Robert Oppenheimer. Seen through his own statements on what went through his mind when he saw his own creation at work, I try to examine how a person is able to live with something as unbearable as being the creator of something that has the power to kill thousands of people in an instant. ~ Sir Real
Talia Sunsong ~ Ignite Passion
When they see each other, their souls ignite with limitless warmth. ~ Talia
Talia Sunsong ~ Woman On Fire With Water Woman
I feel the fire of inspiration. I want to set the world on fire. But, I need to also bring my cooler thinking head into alignment with my passionate goals, to make a balanced, integrated whole. ~ Talia
Teal Freenote ~ Growing Pains
UWA Virtual Gallery - FIRE October 2012