Lit: Robin Moore

Life is a circus: you go in, bow, run around, bow again, and leave."

Robert Storm Petersen

S is R and L is L, a wise man said. That is less of a joke than one might think. As we all get older in here, however much we intended to or imagine we keep the two existences separate, the line between lives blurs, sometimes in ways we're not prepared for, or prepared to admit. Whatever three ring show we may imagine we're putting on, however much we may clown about, our self is always already there, like an accent, undetectable to our inner ear, but perfectly distinguishable to those around us. Artists more than most. 

Danish builder Robin Moore's adventures exploring SL led to house building, and then art. He got a foot in the door at Rezzable, and commercial success in their marketplace gave him the confidence to keep creating and experimenting. Looking around his space in the Urban Arts complex, Robin's unique storytelling voice rings out clear and clean. 

 Robin Moore: When I found I could build here, it was like a new world opened up. I thought God! What a relief, now I can express myself! Before, I had a desire to make "art" but couldn't really do it.
The first piece of Robin's that I loved has the song Chasing Pavements attached to it. The song and the way he incorporated it into the lightbox really sums up his style for me. He is now in residence as an artist on on of the IBM sims, where this map of Europe is currently on show. Selected pieces have been shown in most of the leading SL galleries, but for his full catalogue, your best bet is a trip over his Mirage in my Mind home, also the name of his group, where you'll find the boxes neatly stacked in two trees. Watch out though, one of his neighbours is a sandwich short of a picnic. Meatball sub.

Robin Moore: My RL artwork is similar to my creations in SL - but inworld, you do not need glue! I collect old and rare things, that give you a relation to each other, a feeling, a memory and together with pictures and text I put it all together in a collage. At times it can be in a normal frame like a painting, or like a sculpture. Some of them move. If I could bring into SL someone from real life, I would choose Robert Storm Petersen, we call him Storm P - he lived in Denmark, København, and made drawings, mostly in magazine and newspapers.The thing I like about him most are his drawings of machines, where he uses all kinds of elements.
Perhaps he's more of a magpie than a robin. 'Used' objects in his RL assemblage art have inherent stories and shared references as well as personal significance. To create the same effect in SL requires thoughtful use of textures, and are lit in such a way as to tell poignant, often two-sided tales as you cam or walk around. This one, which was on show at ::Push:: and in the machinima by Solo Mornington, is a case in point.

Robin Moore: I build out from an idea, sometimes, but other times I just build and then get the idea, but I love when my work makes you think. This one is a reaction to the way the government in this country has cut down on serious television, and rather wanted to start something commercial with soaps and game shows. For me, TV has seen its time, because it's one-way communication.
A great deal of experimentation goes into his final product, and pressure of RL work makes building often a slow process. He stood in front of two versions of his current build, 'If walls could speak'.
Robin Moore: I love light, shaping it and using it. Some times I want people to participate in my artwork, as in this case. When it´s finished you will be able to sit in the build, and see what happens on the screen of the tv.
The images are like ghosts, or memories, of previous inhabitants, creating the uneasy sensation that we are far from the first on the scene.  Light sources are often referenced in his builds, often in theatrical form, and the boxes give the feeling of a proscenium or an old fashioned mahogany TV, articulating a series of boxes that ends with the box on the desk, so that we become participants in a layered observation, and are part of the symbolism being generated.

Next door, dominoes are scattered over a giant map of Europe, in a sort of WWII army green. A masonic eye dominates the scene, while in England, ants seem to be drilling for oil somewhere West of Cheshire.

Robin Moore: I want it to be about building bridges, crossing the world. I´m facinated with dominos, and ants. That's me on the raft on my own, carrying the land.
That's a lot of weight on his shoulders. With so many artists and galleristas freaking out about the insecure future of 'Art' in SL *Thanks for that, M'n'P* it occurred to me to ask: If he could only have one piece of rezzed art at a time' rule, which of his compositions would Robin pick?
Robin Moore: Oooh, that´s a tough one, but if I can only choose a finished piece, then it must be the Pictorama 'The Weight of ...'. I feel that it´s well made, and shows the drectin in which my art is going. It is inspired by Stracci di vita sottovuoto by Pranja Seetan. It is a story about the things you do for love and the tone in it is really neat, it is the one I have sold the most of - and it´s small! There's a picture of his love hanging on the wall, she is not his lover now, but he is much in love and he would like that she would love him too, and he by mistake think´s that she work weights , and likes muscles so he tries to gain muscles in the hope that she will finally fall in love with the frog and he runs out to find her. That's the story, "What you do for love ".

The future? More movement, in the real-life versions of his art.
Robin Moore: I have thought of how I could make my Pictoramas in RL, maybe with mechanics, but as you know, it takes time, and I have a family and a demanding, creative job in RL, but may be someday... I take it seriously, and think the Lindens should also, that SL is the only platform where anyone can build inworld. This is SL's great strength, and makes it a good laugh, and we have so much interaction with each other. It's not one-way. It can maybe inspire me to make something. I don't build and make "art" to get $Lindens, I do it because I think it is great fun and it's my hobby, and I can communicate.