Thursday, November 29, 2012

Last Day to Experience Guernica in SL!

I'm late to calling your attention to the stunning interpretation of Picasso's mural Guernica created in SL by the talented Lizzie Gudkov and London Junkers. The exhibit closes tomorrow, November 30, so don't waste any time in getting out to experience it.
Guernica detail
 I say "experience it" purposely, because this is not a piece that is merely "viewed" or "observed." The original artwork is deeply moving, and bringing it into SL in three dimensions heightens that response.

Guernica detail
Early in my SL, I visited the Starry Night sim, where talented builders had brought the works of Van Gogh into SL in three dimensions. As I wandered the fields of the Starry Night and perched on the chairs at the Night Cafe, I experienced the paintings in a new way, an immersive way. When I later enjoyed the privilege of seeing those same paintings at the Van Gogh museum in Amsterdam, it was not the hundreds of flat reproductions of the works I'd seen in my lifetime that came back to me, but rather those moments in SL when I passed through the artworks and participated in them. Such is the power of art in SL, to offer people a new view of an old masterpiece.

Guernica detail 
Experiencing Guernica in SL had a similarly powerful effect on me. I haven't had the opportunity to view the original, and I may never, but the three-dimensionality of this interpretation moved me in a way that no mere print could ever do.

Guernica overview
Guernica offers a powerful message about the impacts of war, something that for many of us is blessedly distant from our day to day lives. All the more reason why we should take the time to recognize its horrors and remember its devastations. Visit Guernica in SL before it's gone; it will be time well spent.

See Guernica in SL at LEA6 before it's gone.

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