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.

Black and White and Fascinating All Over

The fascination of Second Life is usually its three-dimensional quality. The ability to pass through a 3-D environment and interact with objects that are textured and shaded to enhance that quality, to make it as life-like as possible, is perhaps the defining feature of the experience of being in SL. What, then, do we make of a sim constructed to the polar opposite of those factors?

This is *C i c a*, the latest Linden Endowment for the Arts installation. It is (apparently) a two-dimensional environment, void of color or significant texture, and peopled by stick figures.

The simple black-line environment is utterly charming. Trees and flowers sway in the breeze, the stick figures interact with each other and their surroundings, and surprising emotion is evoked through the simplicity of the design.

I joined a stick-fisherman on a bridge for a while, looking out over the landscape. It was an odd experience to feel so fully human in SL; the obviously hand-drawn nature of the surroundings made my virtual representative feel less like pixels, having more in common with the line drawings around him than with his operator, and more like flesh and blood.

* C i c a * is an enchanting installation and artist Cica Ghost has created a wonderful venue to either pass through or linger in contemplation.

Almost Flat Land

I admit that I'm the first to reduce my particle count to zero. For the most part, I'm annoyed by particles and accuse them of causing any bit of lag I may have. However, the minute I hear the name Tyrehl Byk, my particle slider is maxed. Why? Because the man is an artist and particles are his paintbrush. Mr. Byk's latest canvas, "Almost Flat Land," opening today, features stunning builds and gorgeous particle artwork designed to explore self-discovery, personal bias and consideration of the expansiveness of the world. He and sound designer, Ultraviolet Alter, have created a visual and auditory experience that you don't want to miss.