Saturday, November 14, 2009

Azul folks

Hakuna Matata!
What a wonderful phrase
Hakuna Matata!
Ain't no passing craze
It means no worries
For the rest of your days
It's our problem-free philosophy
Hakuna Matata!
Hakuna Matata, The Lion King,
Music by Sir Elton John, Lyrics by Sir Tim Rice.

(I am sure the Queen is very proud.)
Everybody and his grandmother's monkey has a picture of self at The Far Away at this point so, mooching around, I wanted to find something less derivative to snap at, and hey, what says 'less derivative' than Disney? Wait! before you surf away, let me point out this is virtual, non-affiliated Disney. Granted, the litigious meganational may (*or may not!!!*) call to mind vats of steaming plastic poised in aftermarket preChristmas readiness, the Lion King sim is a perfect place to put all the venality of the world behind you, even if you're not of the furry persuasion. Based on textures from the film, this is home to TP Fizzle and Primal Snowpaw and the IYC furr community, who were not present when I dropped by - wait is the dog in the logo wearing headphones? - so I ranged free, from the giant tree house to the tai chi balls on top of the stone pillar which you can see down in the Italian bit. Afficionados of Simba, Mufasa, Timon and Pumbaa and all the others in the Circle of Life will feel at home here in the peace and quiet and among myriad colours that remind one that mal d'Afrique is a real condition of the heart. Don't miss the photogenic big dinosaur remains top prize L100 to the best 'big bones' pun sent on a notecard before midnight tonight...
Enough unstructured play, it only leads to trouble... Gwen Bieler's got a thing on tonight, an Art Walk starting at 6pm SLT. We met to talk about it at Coffee house deck on her sim, Hallelujah Azul. Nosey old me, I wanted to know how the sim got its unusual name.
Gwendolyn Bieler: Actually, it was named by the founders, the previous owners; the original sim was named Hallelujah Blue after the Leonard Cohen song Hallelujah, then, they opened a "sister sim" and named it Hallelujah Azul. Eventually the first sim closed, but when I took over here, I wanted to retain the original name, and the mood. I think of it as a small town, there is a group of about 20 or so regulars here, usually at the coffee house, very open and friendly, the original builder and myself, are both from the Pacific Northwest and I think that influenced it a lot. I think of it as a very "easy" place to come and relax. Here at the coffee house, people tend to congregate on the patio or like us on the back deck. The first owner, Owly Indigo, loves birds, so that is a motif.
In fact the cast iron railing to the deck has a beautiful crane on it.
Gwendolyn Bieler: I came into SL about 18 months ago. A RL friend told me about it, and showed me around once I got here. I was skeptical at first, but right away I started making friends and finding beautiful builds and installations. I started out working in interior design, then gradually, as my own style developed, I thought I would start my own line of furniture. Actually it was this sim that encouraged me to do it -- At first it was all social for me, but when a shop opened, I thought - I have to snatch that up, and the furniture came after the shop! lol. I hope this is going to be the first of many art shows on Hallelujah. We have 3 galleries here on the sim and I wanted to support those residents, and the artists whose work they show, as well as many of my own friends. I have really enjoyed curating the show as well; I'd like to repeat this experience, maybe once a season? Art is my passion, really. I am not an artist myself, but am an amateur collector and an art historian. I decided that having great art on the sim will attract the type of people I want to visit.
16 artists who will be on display, with music by Squidfisher McMillan et al. Take a moment to read Squid's picks, there's a graphic novel between the lines.Up in her skybox, Gwen gave me a preview of the things you'll see on the streets of Azul.
Gwendolyn Bieler: Music is a big part of my sim. It is a second passion of mine -- it goes so far in creating a mood and experience, and at our event Rara Destiny, Raspberry Rearwin and Squidfisher McMillan play either acoustic guitar or piano, and are vocalists. I don't play favorites, but let me show you a few pieces to give you an idea of what we have on show. This piece here with the sailboats is a collage by Nevar Whitfield, a Dutch artist. Personally, I specialized in American art but I have a fairly wide base. I love the moderns and the turn-of-the century pieces leading up to modernism. Another stand-out is this piece here, in the black frame. It is a sketch of a coffee house in Tokyo by Skarat Lefebvre. I love the way he captures the feeling of the busy-ness of the place, it is a rough sketch, but it appeals to me, it's like a still moment in a crowd. I also love all of this collection over here, by Clementine Whitt, this is some of the best SL based photography I've ever seen. Thirza Ember: Beautiful, this one called China Lamp... did you come inworld thinking this would be your goal, then, or did it evolve through your experience of SL?
Gwendolyn Bieler: It really evolved...I had no idea that art was such a prevalent part of SL, and that there were so many possibilities. That's what I love about this show. There is RL based work, SL based work, and a combination of the two. This Art Walk is coming on the heels of Burning Life, I think that's appropriate. Burning Life is about immersive experience, but I think this is about bringing art into the individual's life. Burning Life can be overwhelming. This is about recognizing how great art occurs in so many forms.
Thirza Ember: Over a glass of good white wine, I hope.
Gwendolyn Bieler: Exactly!!!
Alongside from the artists mentioned above, you'll find the works of Daire Aon, Sasha Bazilinski, Bayley Boucher, Amarynth Eammons, Bobbi Laval, Lingual Markus, nessuno Myoo, Lubnasti Papp, Juliete3d Quinzet, Sistagriro Wei, Therese Carfagno and Dorothy Urvilan. Be there tonight Saturday Nov 14 to see all this art and much more, including the sculptures, the songs and the shops, or drop by soon. The show will be up for two weeks, until Nov. 30. The concert will be held at Kasbah but don't neglect the rest of the sim which is best reached via this TP.
Davanti a me c'è un'altra vita...
...e nuove notti e nuovi giorni
Non si vive di solo The Far Away. Avventuriamoci un po' oltre il pick di spicco tra la gente trita, andiamo in Africa... un'Africa angloamericanizzata, magari, ma decisamente fotogenica: un salto al sim Lion King aiuta a trovare il sole dentro di te... o nel caso di questa foto, il sole dietro di me...
Puoi riposarti tra i resti di un dinosauro, sognare tra i rami dell'albero gigante sulla riva del mare oppure praticare un po di tai chi in cima alla colonna di pietra al centro del parco. Altro che un campo di grano.
Ma io sono qui per lavorare, non dimentichiamolo.
Ho ricevuto da Gwendolyn Bieler un invito e ci siamo incontrati sul molo del Coffee house a Hallelujah Azul, sim stile Contemporary American Waterside, per parlare di Art Walk, un percorso artistico che si inaugererà con una festa dalle 18.00 SLT stasera.
Il nome di questo ridente sulla riva del mar Metaverso l'ho trovato molto inusuale, e ho chiesto a Gwen cosa l'ha ispirato.
Gwendolyn Bieler: E' tratto dalla canzone Hallelujah di Leonard Cohen, l'hanno scelto i creatori, a me piace moltissimo, come tutti i palazzi e la terraforming; sono arrivata qui perché mi piacevano le persone che frequentano il sim e lo stile, molto simile al paesaggio e l'architettura, e lo stile di vita molto rilassato e privo di dramma, di northern California/Oregon/Washington, la zona di cui provengo io. All'inizio mi trovavo qui per socializzare, poi ho preso un negozio, imparato come fare mobili, e poi infine ho comprato il sim. Ma lo stile è sempre quello di Owly Indigo.
Espongono sedici artisti tra i quali alcuni nomi a te non nuovi, nessuno Myoo,Daire Aon, Sasha Bazilinski, Bayley Boucher, Amarynth Eammons, Bobbi Laval, Lingual Markus, Lubnasti Papp, Juliete3d Quinzet, Sistagriro Wei, Therese Carfagno and Dorothy Urvilan. Gwen mi ha portato nel sky dove stava preparando i quadri alcuni e mi ha mostrato quelli che reputa particolarmente significativi.
Gwendolyn Bieler: Mi piace moltissimo le collages di Nevar Whitfield, artista olandese, le barche a vela sono stupende! i colori, il senso di aria e di pace - invece nello schizzo di Skarat Lefebvre si vede un bar al centro di Tokyo, e qui il senso della confusione, del rumore e della gente che corre, penso sia quasi palpabile. Sono di formazione storica dell'arte, specializzata nella pittura americana, ma sono appassionata d'arte e collezionista, amo l'arte moderna e i pezzi del novecento che rappresentano il punto di partenza per il movimento modernista. Sono in SL da un anno e mezzo, all'inizio la vedevo come un modo di socializzare, non sognavo di trovare tanta arte, e mi entusiasma l'idea di mettere in confronto e unire opere fatte in SL con quelle create in RL. Mi piacciono in particolare le foto di Clementine Whitt, come queste qui. Stasera suoneranno per noi Rara Destiny, Raspberry Rearwin eSquidfisher McMillan - per me la musica è fondamentale - la definirei la mia seconda passione, fa vivere il sim e arricchisce anche l'aspetto visuale. Allestire questo evento è il primo grande progetto della mia seconda vita, ho un piccolo negozio di mobili, ma sul sim ci sono varie gallerie e ho voluto fare publicità per loro e i loro artisti, ma attirare al nostro piccolo villaggio persone che amano cose belle e fatte bene. Devo dire che, tra le nuove amicizie e il lavoro con i quadri e le sculture, l'esperienza è stata molto positiva e penso che ne faremo molte altre. Dopo Burning Life, sento che è ora di far vedere un'arte un po' più a misura dell'avatar - l'esperienza immersiva, come il gioco, è bella quana quando dura poco. Ci vuole anche un po' di calma e eleganza.
Thirza Ember: E magari un bel bicchiere di Cabernet di Napa al posto dell'angoscia dei big builds.
Una serata all'insegna del buon gusto, la buona musica; sei ancora sveglio alle 3 di mattina, ci vediamo sul lungomare oppure al Kasbah dove si ballerà tutta la notte. E se non ce la fai, la mostra rimane in situ fino alla fine del mese, quindi ci puoi passare con calma.

1 comment:

Lone Wolf said...

Cheers for the great write up about The Lion King, TP put a lot of work into it so it's great to see people enjoying ^^
Regards,

~Primal aka The Dog wearin' headphones :p