Wall to Wall

Teacher: Get on with your work.

Pink Floyd, The Wall.

About an hour north of Beijing, draped along the the dry mountain ridges of Luanping county, is the Jinshanling section of the Great Wall of China. In the 1500's, under the watchful eye of the great General Qi Jiguang, tireless militarist, writer and poet, the wall was reinforced and manned by soldiers from Zanjiang by the South China Sea, where the winters are mild and the summers are long and languorous. So far from home, guarding the Northern Frontier from the Mongol hordes, the soldiers renamed the towers in memory of their home, and retold the legends of this most ancient borderland, legends rich with the threads of history, spread out across all the space and time of real history and into the virtual world of myth. There is nothing new under the sun.

Second Life's Great Wall is part of the Hosoi group of sims, and as you would expect, is beautifully crafted. The Welcome area is heavy on ads for modular and light on interpretive material, which is a shame, and if you're tall like Thirza you may have trouble getting through the doorway (I ended up flying over the wall, very Crouching Tiger). Not unreasonably, there's lots of non-realworld ocean around - I like to call it the Metarranean - but that just makes the photos pretty in windlight. Despite the proximity to the always busy sims of Hosoi Ichiba and the Edo period village on Japan Kansai, sim Mao has captured limnal loneliness one associates with the Great Wall, or even Hadrian's little version: it is easy to imagine a melancholy watcher up here, waiting for the action to start: speaking of that, at another wall...

This time at Diabolus, where Josina Burgess, Velasquez Bonetto and the rest of the C.A.R.P. gang are into their third incarnation of The Wall, the original soundtrack, with, and I quote, " an extravaganza of sound, light, dance, giant animated puppets, effects and many other surprises". The Wall is the rather miserable story of the descent into madness of a failing pop star, whose childhood, wracked with troubles - open vowel syndrome has always been, to my mind, at the heart of his problems- is brought to the brink through a series of flashbacks and fantastical set pieces... first an album, then a film with the Great Unwashed Bob Geldof, now in gorgeous virtual splendour and judging by the texture-rich set you see here, one can hope for much more than a Saaf-of-the-River accent, and smashed up Hampton Suites.

This pic is borrowed from Josina, for I fell off the sim before the show got underway, underlining once again the huge problem of lag. I know LL want to go in lots of new exciting directions, like getting behind the newish social networking site for avies of all worlds, AU, but really, solving a boring problem like lag would be much more valuable use of time and effort. Anyway, The Wall will be repeated every Friday at 2.00pm SLT for a few weeks, so hopefully we can go and see it in the near future... TP me if you get a good seat!!

Speaking of carp, once kicked from Diabolus, I ended up at another smashing show, by graphics tablet artist Alizarin Goldflake over on one of the Pirats sims. Isn't that a brand of tropical fish food? ...may be where she got her inspiration for these wonderful piscine specimens. You can admire her scales and fins, even swim among them: there are games of proportion and perspective to be played on both sides of the perspex. Visit Alizarin's studio to get the full picture, or if you're in the mood, take the Youtube complete novice tour, it's always fun to hear someone explain prims to the uninitiated. Her "Real identity" site is www.marthavista.com. OK now I suppose I put this all in again in the Other Language...

A circa un'ora da Pechino, disposta come una boa gigante sulle aspre montagne del Luanping, è la parte della Grande Muraglia denominata Jinshanling. Dalle belle torri di guardia oggi sono i turisti a sorvegliare la panorama ma nel '500 erano i leali soldati del Generale Qi Jiguang a tenere alta la guardia contro le incursioni mongole. Erano ragazzi nati nel lontano Zanjiang, una terra lambita dal Mar Cinese, non lontano dal VietNam. Queste secche rocce devono aver provocato una forte nostalgia nei cuori du uomini destinati a lavorare con grande disciplina e progetto per il loro Generale, poeta, docente di storia militare e arti martiali. 

C'è poesia tra queste mura: e se ti fermi e ascolti bene, forse sentirai le leggende del Imperatore di Giada, e del Maestro Ubriaco. Qui alla versione SL della Grande Muraglia si sente quella nostalgia, e il vuoto nello stesso tempo sprigionato e confinato che può esistere solo in un luogo liminale, come qui sulla frontiera... o nel cuore d'un uomo. Qui a pochi passi degli altri sim di  Hosoi Ichiba (da non perdere anche il paesino di epoca Edo!) è possibile trovare la serenità d'un mondo passato ma sempre presente,  dove in un certo senso il muro siamo noi...

...e da un muro ad un altro, la nuova produzione CARP Diabolus Josina Burgess, Velasquez Bonetto

e i loro collaboratori hanno perfezionato la loro versione del musical The Wall, di Pink Floyd, la storia della tragica esistenza d'un rock star Pink, drogato e sull'orlo della follia. Prima un album poi un film, ora rinato in SL con pupazzi giganti come vedi in questa foto. Tantissmi presenti per lo show di venerdi, non sono riuscita a rimanere al mio posto, ma spero di tornarci presto - la notice promette una replica ogni venerdi alle ore 14.00 SLT.
Fa meditare su una nuova versione del ritornello fanciullesco di The Wall, 'We don't need no education', forse se cantiamo ai Linden, con quello stesso accento orribile, 'We don't need no lag' si arrenderanno e risolveranno il problema, invece di perdere tempo promuovendo iniziative carine ma inutili come Avatars United.

Infine, una visita a Pirats dove non manco mai, e alla mostra di Alizarin Goldflake. Bravissima artista digitale, crea con Corel immagini molto delicati, e anche divertenti, ha portato in SL deliziosi pesci e piante acquatiche, grandi e piccoli. Puoi nuotare nel acquaio o semplicemente studiare lo squame da vicino... per conoscere meglio tutte le opere di Alizarin sia su Youtube che al suo studio inworld, basta un clic. Uffa... che voglia di fish and chips.....

        

Quoth Thoth

And again, unto me spoke the Seven, saying:

Child of the LIGHT, O THOTH, art thou,

free to travel the bright path upward

until at last ALL ONES become ONE

The Emerald Tablets of Thoth, The Seven Lords

Open Habitat is a sim and a group of about 700 oriented around science, philosophy, critical thinking, and the arts owned and founded by Maria Blaisdale. She was involved with the original Open Habitat, a project by Oxford's philosophy department to explore how SL could be used for teaching, etc. Maria took over the sim when the "experiment" ended.
Thoth Jantzen is an advisor and instigator to the group, his build "Cosmique III" is part of the 'art' angle. It's a unique place for people to go for some fun, and to help raise funds to defray the cost of the place. Philosophy and science have been the main focus of most of Open Habitat's events - some of them streaming a live debates from London. Philosopher Stephen Law came into SL to discuss a book of his, and they hold weekly discussions on philosophy, psychology, and and science led by professors and working professionals. For art, there's some work there by the likes of Artistide Despres and Glyph Graves. The Cosmique III are consists of various goodies, like the ground-level art gallery, which has Thoth's sculptures and a nice installation on a King Tut theme complete with a Mask of Tut that comes from the lost and lamented Rezzable show. You can TP to the Kaleidoscope, to the media active gallery and other places, from a Stonehenge portal system (it's like falling through the Time Tunnel!) Since names were being dropped, I asked Thoth how he picked his own...
Thoth Jantzen: The metaphor associated with the ancient Egyptian gods Thoth and Anubis tie together in different ways to a lot of interests I have; science, philosophy, linguistics, the arts, and I'm a bit involved on some community projects relating to those topics. About three years ago I started Thothica SL, an SL community focused on science, the arts, and philosophy, which is still going strong under the guidance of some friends,who have done most of the work, I'd say it's my "best" creation in SL.
We went to the nth dimension dance cubes, where "The Carnival Is Over" by Dead Can Dance was playing; all the constructs and sculptures are in sync with whatever is playing in the parcel at the time - can you imagine the chaos if it were otherwise? - but that particular song was so perfect for the visual effects, it was mesmerizing. All this tp-ing and bright lights, half the time I didn't know where I was, but that's how I roll. There was what I took to be Cirque du Soleil and Elton John live... it's very Vegas, ideal for such a big energy rich immersive experience. Staring at dear old Sir Eltie doing his thing all over the globe, I asked the usual question and after some 'Oh, there are so many to choose from' hedging, Thoth came up with two artists he feels worthy of being imported, interpreted and generally feted in Second Life.
Thoth Jantzen: Albert Einstein and Leonhard Euler. The formula's they've given the world embody SO much that's so deep, so important, and so simply and elegantly that in addition to the scientific value, there's a deep beauty that, I feel, certainly qualifies as art. As for how to best represent them in SL, I have zero clue...

Well, that's OK, I have no clue who Leonhard Euler even is.
We went to the media active art gallery and I admired the unique pieces by Feathers Boa, Glyph Graves, and 9-volt Borkotron. I asked Thoth about artistic collaboration in SL.
Thoth Jantzen: It means that some really good artists who'd otherwise not have much exposure get a chance to have their work seen by a lot of people. I've been involved in some groups and collaborations, including Diabolus and Caerleon. Collaboration in larger groups is sorta like herding cats when you talk about artists, and while the results can be great, the process can be...difficult, shall we say! Anyway, I see myself more as a builder. In a sense, all I really do is create a canvas on which the real art paints itself - in my case, music videos. When I came into SL, i had no idea I'd do much in the way of actual building, let alone anything resembling art. I was more interested in learning and community building. I sort of fell into the kaleidoscopic, 'media-active' stuff fooling around with some video screens one day. I felt that the normal flat screens were boring, and that was the start of what you see here now. The V-Max is possibly my favorite piece in SL, but the "Octoscope" on ReactionGrid is the newest and, I think, the nicest thing I've built so far. Working with the Caerleon Art Collection on the Reaction Grid - is great - sort of like 'pioneering', as Georg Janick likes to put it. The folks who run RG are great, very responsive, and despite a lot of unexpected "learning moments", it's been really good so far there. Places based on the OpenSim software, like ReactionGrid, SpotOn3D, and OpenSim, are growing in numbers and in size, and offer options to everyone, from artists and educators to businesses and institutions, and the casual user. I've recently begun to spread my 'virtual wings' to other places, and from what I've seen, it'd be a great idea for others to do it, too. Being 'virtually mobile' doesn't mean you have to abandon SL, but it does give you more options to explore things (waves hand) 'out there'...

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 .