Second Life on the Loos

I made my way up the ramp between the giant potties, toward the sound of music and the glow of bright lights. There was a toilet doing Dream Dance, every now and again little white legs would appear and disappear. "Very Marcel Duchamp!" someone said. Josina Burgess, the First Lady of CARP, handed me a particle ring.

"Welcome:))" she said.

Well at least I hadn't wandered into the Gents by mistake. Which wouldn't be the first time, not even the first time this week, and again, I am sorry about that, it was a genuine mistake.

The pot-ography is Camera Obscura, a new installation by the CARP Diabolus group, well known for their mega-productions of Metropolis and The Wall - but the creatives here are a kind, hospitable group who don't take themselves too seriously; as this fun exhibition shows, they have their quirky side, too. The gallery housing the pictures is by Velasquez Bonetto, I love it, a giant paper holder, the lines are fresh and user friendly, a triumph of elegant simplicity.

Thirza Ember: What made you think of taking these pictures? I confess, when I saw a golden throne at a friend's house, I couldn't resist taking a snap myself, for reasons of absurdity, but I would not have thought of looking for any more.
Tim Deschanel: I took my first photo toilet because there was a fun panel by it, and after, I found it funny to see so many toilets, because they are so useless here. I'm going to write a book on the toilet in SL ... maybe someday! But I take pictures of many other things, at least 15 a day that I can post on my Flickr photostream.
Tim, who is French, photographed himself enjoying the hospitality in a number of facilities, from the tasteful to the disgraceful, all over the metaverse. Check out the two dozen photos, some betray the ennui of the virtual, some are design gems I wouldn't mind buying for my RL house.

Tim's tag read very Happy man and I couldn't resist asking why.
Tim Deschanel: ha ha, I am happy because multi things! .... I dream in this world, in this second life, really nice music, build, people, I explore extraordinary Sims and the most important, since 2 years, I love my wife here Jacqueline. I am French, near Paris, Jacqueline live in Colorado, usa ! but I am really in love with her ;-). As for SL, I am amazed by all the artists who are here, for the boundless imagination that allows SL to grow and get more fascinating.

The charms of Benvolio are far too many to list here, and I'm sure I'll be back, but let me give a quick mention to anyone in this festive season looking for a good gown - Josina's wearable art shop is on the ground floor of this remarkable sim, along with the soundtracks store.

Go visit Camera Obscura - hold on a sec, here's the... tp ...

Si sentiva la musica , e vedevo luci, un gruppo di ballerini, delle foto molto belle, due sanitari giganti, e un ...water animato... ballava il Dream Dance. Lo trovavo stranamente attraente... "Evviva Duchamp!" gridava e, in effetti, era una scena degna del grande artista francese - oh se ti interessa e conosci l'inglese, da non perdere questo bellissimo sito Marcel Duchamp ...
La simpatica Josina Burgess, co-fondatrice del gruppo CARP Diabolus e stilista di noto (bello il suo negozio di wearable art si trova sul piano terra del sim) mi ha salutato molto gentilmente e mi ha dato un anello di particles da portare.
Festa per inaugurare la nuova istallazione Camera Obscura di Tim Deschanel, che sarà aperto al pubblico per le prossime due settimane in una nuova galleria realizzato dal bravissimo Velazquez Bonetto. Una struttura ad alta quota, quasi un distributore di salviettini, permette una perfetta - direi netta - visione dei momenti intimi, rappresentate nelle fotografie di Tim, disposte su rotoli di carta igenica giganti. Tim si è fotografato in pose ...delicate in bagni eleganti, cubicoli fantasiosi, altri proprio cessi, tutti opere d'arte che esprimono l'indole camaleontico del metaverso. Ho chiesto - ma perché???
Tim Deschanel: la prima foto l'ho scattata perché accanto c'era un cartello molto spiritoso, e dopo, mi sembrava così bizzarro vedere tanti gabinetti, perché sono completamente inutili qui. Mi piacerebbe scrivere un giorno un libro sul WC in SL. Ma per ora mi limito a fotografarli - ma fotografo anche tante altre belle cose. Ci metto almeno 15 al giorno sulla mia pagina Flickr .