Only through art can we get outside of ourselves and know another’s view of the universe which is not the same as ours, and see landscapes which would otherwise have remained unknown to us.
Marcel Proust
It's a tough job but someone has to do it, and it turns out Phil Strang is far from cornering the 'Your Virtual Boobs Here' market. I ran into another version of the same game, this time with a classical twist. Pazzo Pestana has an atelier on Gabi Riel's sim New Toulouse where, for a fee, he will immortalize you in one of a number of poses and backgrounds borrowed from famous pictures, anything from Rubens to Botticelli.
Pazzo Pestana: When one exposes one's creations to the public, one must expect all sorts of reactions...
Seems to me all the exposing was on the other side, but I took his point. He has so many here, I didn't think he'd miss one.
Off to Tanalois next, and down to serious business. To celebrate two years of exhibitions and installs, Tani Thor and the others have been working incredibly hard to put together an outstanding show, distributed on five different levels of the new sim, with art by 40 different artists, mostly of the European cohort; a socio-artistic stroll down memory lane; anyone who's hung out here, or at PiRats, the MdM or Arte Libera is going to see familiar names everywhere. The party, which will be on this evening Italian time, will be in the underwater theater - have a look around and you'll find photos by Newbab Zigismond, Merlina Rokococo and sculptures by Giovanna Cerise and Solkide Auer.
La Baroque: I'm very fond of Tanalois, they gave me my first showing; now I have my own gallery, and I've come to realize it's a job you do for the love of art, not for the money.
La finds making pictures, and trying out new textures, from the metallic to the organic, a relaxing pastime and the results are both soothing and engaging. This one is part of a photo stream she's putting together for an upcoming show.
At the top of the exhibition in the area called Sky, Maryva Mayo was taking a look at the contributions by, among others, Yaia Nishi and Josina Burgess. Mary's own offering is among the forty, and it's interesting to go around again and look at the art not simply as discrete objects set out by Aloisio Congrejo and Tani Thor, but as the history of a community; you can read the history of Italian Second Life through them all. Definitely worth visiting the new sim to see so many old favourites, and even if you're on the outside, look in on this show, you'll be glad you did.
Tani Thor: It's been amazing to spend time on this project with artists who've become good friends over the years. It was quite a task getting hold of everyone, and there are some gaps in the exhibition we would have loved to fill with people who we weren't able to contact. Each participant handpicked an item to display, and chose in which environment it would be exibited. We're thrilled with how it's come out, and want to thank not only the artists, but all the other friends who've participated in the inauguration.
Next stop poetry, at the chapel on Galaxy Isle. On the walls, next to the hilarious posters, are watercolours by Littleone Aires, in whose profile I found the Proust quote you read at the start.
1 comment:
Karima Hoisan’s poetry, read to music, is indeed a buffet of soul food – food for your soul. When I first heard Karima read her work, I was in tears. Her words enter like lightning and open your eyes, to see ‘what others do not see.’ I felt seen into, as Rilke has it. In one of her poems in this recent reading, “Waiting to be Seen,” Karima writes: “We have lost the power to see the perfect leaf/because we are blinded by the beauty of a rose/We have little time to stop and contemplate, so we pass over the subtler works the Artist shows.”
All around us there is meaning, mystery and magic. Poets like Karima serve as guides to the invisible, making it tangible, vivid and alive. Antonio Machado writes that “What the Poet seeks is the deep You,” and it is that deep You which Karima’s words touch:”This subtle revelation.”
The second time I heard Karima read, I was astonished by her perfect juxtapositions of music and words, and the rich images which are at once exotic and familiar, sacred and earthy, profound and playful, global and personal. Karima seems to say to her listeners “Here is a magic carpet! Come and fly with me to new lands of the imagination,” and off we go!
This recent reading, which you have described so well, was another journey, another immersion in a breathtaking range of moods and memories, Karima’s words floating like silk veils over the music. When I listen to Karima’s readings, I remember that our first poetry, long before writing was invented, was in song and the story and the song were one. Karima evokes this pre-literate consciousness of unity and grace. Words and music dance together. And for a second, if we have ears to hear, we may grasp “a truth, the kind that may never come again.” ( From Karima’s poem “Waiting to be Seen.”)
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