NPIRL fashion sometimes obeys the laws of geometry and thrift

Posted by Bettina Tizzy

While both the Spring and Summer catwalks for 2009 featured fashion with a geometric - even architectural – construction, Alpha Auer (aka Elif Ayiter) kicked that up a notch under her label Alpha Tribe. What’s more, whether she is aware of it or not, she’s in tune with the global economic mood. During the great Depression, a popular maxim was "Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without:" To create her latest outfit, Deagu, Alpha Auer recycled a poster she had designed for an invitational exhibition at the Daegu Culture and Arts Center in Daegu, Korea in 2006.

On her blog Strange Pixels, Grady Echegaray seemed to be invoking the Gods when she composed her post about Daegu: "I can feel them. They are coming again. Sweeping in over the shoulder of Orion."


Daegu, as modded, modeled and photographed by Grady Echegaray


The Deagu headdress, as modded, modeled and photographed by Grady Echegaray

To obtain your own Daegu outfit teleport directly from here.

Anatomia - Alpha Auer's 3D anatomical drawings of a different sort

Posted by Bettina Tizzy

For – like forever – when I thought of the human body, it was always in the context of Gray’s Anatomy, the classic textbook developed by British anatomist and illustrator Henry Gray, or Leonardo’s studies of the human skeleton. The yucky factor was zero and none of it, from my POV, was related to me or my body. Like a flood taking place in some remote village in China, it was something that was happening somewhere else.




This photo of the Anatomia installation by Alpha Auer

Now Alpha Auer (aka Elif Ayiter), my co-blogger here and creator of the ground-breaking Syncretia sim in Second Life® (see here and here and here), and also Body Parts, has come up with another way to look at our bodies. In essence, she’s turned us inside out and fanned out our musculature and appendages in a way that barely resembles the real human bodies that are on display in the world-touring exhibit Bodies, inviting many new questions about our self-schema.





Teleport to Anatomia from here and "buy" the outfit that is offered there. Put it on and become a part of the installation. Then you might understand that Alpha doesn't want the visitor to "have illusions of grandeur regarding her elevated status as a human, or indeed even an animal or mammal. I want her to be vulnerable, perishable, impure. I want her to gaze upon something other than her - in its cleanliness, its shiny surfaces, its clean bright lines, its mechanical perfection." In fact, Alpha has added the horns of a demon, as well as botanical growths.



On her blog, Alpha explains,"I have tried to deliberately make the dweller of the exhibit un-clean… Not the pristine, sharp black and white image assembly, with the odd spot of clean bright color here and there, but something mussed up with organic textures, layered and superimposed with elements that seem confusing and out of sync. The avatar of Anatomia is quite fragile: This is not a perfect, unbreakable machine, a thing rendered to help us gain insight into the workings of a superlative system. But rather a black and yellow mass - the colors of when things go bad in our bodies. Not the red of living blood but the low saturation of decay."

"body parts" : Virtual lovers are star-crossed islands

Posted by Bettina Tizzy

“body parts,” Alpha Auer’s fittingly poetic contribution to the new Poetik sim, is an installation that consists of several monochromatic and nude human bodies heaped upon each other, and an offering of unusual skin outfits (both male and female) to be worn by its visitors. Poseballs scattered around the bodies invite visitors to become a part of the sculpture. In the accompanying notecard and on her blog, Alpha bemoans the lack of corporal love in our virtual environment and asserts that avatars are ultimately alone.

While Alpha’s work in Second Life® is often playful, this is no puff piece, and it opens up the conversation about the compromises virtual world residents make when we dedicate so much of our time tethered to our computers, manipulating our human simulations, but never actually making contact.



Virtual lovers are star-crossed islands but… are we not beautiful to look at? Like hothouse petals, translucent “body parts” emanate from the wearer, pining for, reaching out for, but never touching. Romantic? Yes... but also quite sad.

One might argue that physicality is not essential to love or to friendship, and most assuredly, it is not. But it is the deepening of that exchange between two people that gets hobbled and can go no further in pixilated form, no matter how ardent or tender the feelings. Intimacy is the casualty, and any participant in “body parts” is sure to face his or her demons.





Alpha was intentional in creating a colorless piece, but “body parts” plays well with Windlight. The installation can also be found on her own gorgeous sim, Syncretia, where it resides behind a cinematic wall of creamy nudity.



In addition to creating art of staggering beauty (or hilarity), Alpha Auer (aka Elif Ayiter) also blogs here on Not Possible IRL.

You can visit "body parts" at Poetik by teleporting directly from here, or at Syncretia, by teleporting directly from here and looking for a creamy globe some meters above ground. While the lighting at Syncretia is set to "sunset," Alpha has also created a Windlight preset for "body parts," which is available here.

Many thanks to Naxos Loon for posing for these photographs. Because Alpha is a mix-master when it comes to avatars and clothing, I knew she wouldn’t mind if I adorned my avatar’s body with Hern Worsley’s hair.

Catch up: The New York Times on virtual architecture, AM Radio's voice on Arthole Radio, and more

Posted by Bettina Tizzy

It feels like an eternity since I last sat down to blog about the many enchantments and the occasional disappointments that my virtual life affords me. I’ve been caught up for weeks with the physical world of Real Life and moving to Austin from Santa Monica. Last night I unpacked the last box, and may I say… I simply love Austin. It’s good to be home.

Meanwhile, my new co-blogger Alpha Auer has been a miracle of productivity and triumphs. I congratulate myself on my association with her. The metaverse is too eventful so I couldn't very well expect things to stand still during an absence of three weeks, and I’ve especially enjoyed seeing it through her eyes.

Actually, I did do a blogpost about Eshi Otawara’s new Collection, which she unveiled yesterday to instant acclaim. Its immediate success surprised absolutely no one, least of all me. She informs me that all six of the Limited Edition outfits have been snatched up, and sales of everything are so brisk that she has decided to put all of her older styles on sale, 50% off (teleport directly from here).


You simply MUST see the arm pieces on Eshi's Limited Edition Kabuki dress up close, but you will have to know one of the six people who now own it to do so

Anyhow, here's a very quick summary of some of the news items that must be shared asap:


The New York Times eyes virtual architecture

Last Sunday, the New York Times style magazine, known as T, ran one of the most balanced yet favorable articles I've read about content creation in virtual worlds. Original Sim by Sam Lubell delves into architecture in Second Life® - not sex, adultery and MacMansions, for a refreshing change - and several NPIRLers and their works were featured, including Scope Cleaver, Keystone Bouchard and DB Bailey. I was flattered to see the NPIRL blog mentioned as a key source, and took pleasure in seeing Designer Dingson and photographer Lem Skall get their due, as well. Random House has published two beautiful and inspiring books that Sam Lubell authored about architecture in the fair European capitals of London 2000+ and Paris 2000+, and he is the Los Angeles correspondent for Architect's Newspaper.


AM Radio speaks on Arthole Radio

Arthole Radio has launched a one hour weekly program hosted by artist and art history/critical studies professor at the School of Visual Arts in New York, Amy Freelunch (aka Amy Wilson). For one of her inaugural shows, Amy conducted the first-ever voice interview with none other than fine artist AM Radio. I cannot encourage you enough to listen in, and you can do so here. It takes time to load, so be patient.

AM describes how artworks are capable of social interaction in virtual environments, hence the effort he put into creating his singular avatar; why he believes that he needs to be the best and most influential user of his work; and his views on how he is often compared to Andrew Wyeth.


What to do with a paper moon, by AM Radio

During the interview, Amy said something that has stuck with me: that virtual artists are pushing the medium as far as it can go. I agree. This is certainly one of the most compelling arguments I've heard for why Linden Lab needs to throw much more support behind artists.


Alternatives to Second Life

There are two new virtual worlds that I have yet to visit, one of them being Rezzable Productions’ Opensim foray with a test grid featuring a Greenies build. You too can sign up to be a part of the alpha testing.

Truth be known, so far, I’m less than wowed by the alternatives I’ve discovered to Second Life, and my dissatisfaction isn’t just over physics. Marianne McCann has shared with me that Legend City Online has banned kid avatars, and this after its owner, LaLa Legend, responded to me in writing – yep, I’ve got it in black and white - when I asked her if LCO would be welcoming all communities (child avatars, Gor, BDSM) with these words “We welcome people from all walks of life. Of course, we expect everyone that comes to our community to be respectful of each other’s choices. As well as expect that all activities are legal.” Bah! I have heard from a couple of people that LaLa bans folks if they so much as disagree with her on any small thing, too. Is this true? Has this happened to you?


Oh nooooes! Svarga is up for sale

It also broke my heart to learn via Hamlet Au and his New World Notes that Laukosargas Svarog has put Svarga up for sale. The fact that this blog has never covered one of the most NPIRL and extraordinary regions in Second Life is a huge oversight on my part that must be amended.


Yay! Tooter is back



On a happier note, that wicked-good and fun avatar creator Tooter Claxton is back! He’d gone missing since May, save an occasional email, but weeks had gone by since I’d heard from him, so I was overjoyed to see the little blue box pop up, notifying me that my friend was back in-world.


Photographs I take in Second Life still suck



Waaaaa! I'm a blogger, for cripes sake, and photographs are my instruments. Even though I attended Bridie Linden's office hour, blogged about that disappointment here, reopened JIRA #VWR-1641, downloaded the lasted drivers, and tested several clients - both production and RCs, nothing seems to fix this bug that ails all photographs I take in Second Life. Importantly, the same is not true of photographs I take in Legend City Online or Openlife, so I know the problem isn't with my system.

Hard to believe but... I seem to have made it into the Hall of Fame of Data Visualization!

Posted by Alpha Auer

Blowing one's own horn is really not such a terribly cool thing to do but this occasion does seem to justify the act:

I wear many different hats, which sometimes converge and at other times do not. While, here in Second Life® I am incorrigible Alpha, heavily into tails, ears and all manner of nonsensical playful activity, in a parallel universe I am actually a design researcher in the field of data visualization; collaborating with a computer scientist and an architect in work that has even brought us an IBM award last year; not to mention that I also supervise some long suffering PhD students who exert good brain power on little conundrums such as how best to visualize heterogeneous data sets of one million plus nodes. (One of the cute little critters even had the audacity to leave a comment at the very location of my current glory, totally taking the piss... grrrr ;-)

So, how do the hats converge? Well, if there were such a thing as paw boots in Real Life, I would most definitely be the first in line to get a pair, and moreover I have been known to trample on many a tender academic toe with my lovely Doc Maartens during somber occasions such as faculty board meetings and the like (alas)...

The web portal Visual Complexity is the one indisputable Mecca of data visualization, the place where everyone connected to the data visualization field dreams of having their output posted at. And mine seems to have gotten in! I did not apply, they must have found me, which makes the whole thing even better!







The Bridge Project is not part of my collaborative research in data vis but a solo venture, undertaken as part of PhD work at the Planetary Collegium (as I said, I like to wear many hats ;-). Indeed, I am not really sure that the Bridge Project can even be termed as proper data visualization since it only contains some hundred nodes, which is a laughably small number in terms of a data vis study worth its salt. Instead the Bridge is a free fall artistic project which I created with VRML. I presented it both as creative work and as a theoretical study at numerous conferences, including the Siggraph Sketches Program in 2005 and the EuroGraphics Computational Aesthetics Conference of the same year. Both very nice, both very prestigious - but this Visual Complexity add-in is most certainly the cherry on the icing and I want to share with all the world.

You can download and view the project from here. Oh and, it is absolutely NPIRL of course: You have to fly in VRML to be able to look at it... ;-).

The four Yip Fashion Blender à la Alpha Auer...

Posted by Alpha Auer ;-)

I totally love dress up games!

Here I have taken it upon myself to play around with four Yip's clothes (with her gracious consent of course). I have added things from my own ridiculously voluminous virtual wardrobe, and left out other items from some of the original outfits - with a particular eye on making these ensembles thoroughly NPIRL.

four's clothes are funny, in fact some of them are absolutely hilarious. And then, they are romantic, whimsical, elusive. In short, they are a treasure for any female to possess. So, my objective here was really not to improve upon what was already there but simply to take a personal look, make an interpretation...
...



The shoulder rats and head bats come from four's latest piece lune-acy. I combined them with the hybrid skin by Vry Offcourse (available here), a clock belt by Phantom Kabuki (available here) and boots by LuizHernandez Slade (available here). The skirt actually belongs to four's Happy Hour ensemble, I simply increased the transparency a tad.
...



The French Souvenir chambermaid is a lusty wench who is most certainly no better than she should be. Here she is frolicking around, broom in hand, hefting a shiny black scarab jetpack complete with wings (available here) by Ryan Snook. She also sports what I think is one the funniest hairdos I ever saw in Second Life®, a strange breadloaflike appendage created by Sunnivah Jiutai (available here). The roller skates are actually Bett's input, telling me of an old mate of hers who apparently roamed the streets of Real Life, dressed as a chambermaid on roller blades.

And while we are on the subject of roller skates or roller blades, I feel that paying homage to that so totally not possible in Real Life personage, Rollerina is also in order here on this post... NPIRL? It is all in a state of mind methinks...
...



No, I have not decided to become a Furry. A close friend of mine has graciously helped me with these photos. She would also prefer to maintain her anonymity, so I will respect her wishes and not disclose her name...

The outfit is largely made out of four Yip's Roly Poly ensemble, from which I used both the skirts, the flower belt and the bird bow, the roly polies on the chest and the flying birdies. The top garment is by June Dion and is part of a Victorian dress called Vanessa, (available here). The furry avatar (of which my friend is only using the head) is created by Miaka Amat and can be obtained here. This is truly one of the most beautiful furry faces that I have seen to date. Instead of obliterating all expressiveness in the usual jumble of prims Amat has utilized the top part of the human shape and added prims only to the cheeks and chin. Finally, the boots are by LuizHernandez Slade and can be found at the Freebie Dungeon (here).
...



I have combined four's wallflower skin with a Cherry Tree Hair by Ameshin Yossarian of Curious Kitties (teleport from here), a ladies jetpack by Vincente Shepherd of the Gaslights Emporium (teleport from here) and Steampunk leather boots by Thomus Keen of Steam Powered Nuts (teleport from here). The skirt is something I cobbled together.
...



The Happy Hour outfit is I think one of the funniest that four ever put together. I have merely underscored the highly obvious here of course: Mademoiselle Demure whips off the gray two piece suit, only to emerge from under the table as Madame Voracious! Everything else used here comes from four's "four is a bird" package - except for the hair by Lola Marquez of Armidi (teleport from here) and the high heeled shoes by Lost Thereian of Naughty Enterprizes (teleport from here). The Feline skin was created by my newly found furry friend, who has asked for her identity to remain undisclosed so sadly, I am not allowed to share the information regarding that with you.
...



And alas even the best of good times must come to an end at some point... So, For a grand finale: I am anxiously hoping that four agrees with me that nobody can possibly be as good as her virtuous white bird. So, for a bit light relief, I am toting that angelic headdress of white feathers, headband and the cuffs from her white birdy wings package - coupled with an ominous piece of lingerie called Innamorata, designed by Devyn Grimm, of Chaospire (teleport from here), Tekelili Tantalus' very aptly named Fleurs Du Mal boots (teleport to Tekelili's shop from here), and just in case I need to do some unexpected heavy duty construction work, a pair of steel paws designed by June Dion of the Bare Rose (teleport from here).

You can obtain all of four's wonderful outfits at one of her two little shops here. You can see larger sizes and alternative shots of the photos that I took for this post here.

Nekos and furries are the VIPs at the always new Syncretia - There's a spa and a burial chamber, too

"Love the skin you're in," goes the saying. I've worn many skins and avatars in my Second Life®, including dozens and dozens of human variations (both female and male), Yoa Ogee and Tooter Claxton's art object avatars, assorted fairies, witches, all sorts of wild and prehistoric animals and fishes - many of them from Grendel's Children - and the odd skeleton-doing-odd-things by the inimitable Madcow Cosmos. I've even given neko and furry avatars a shot, but of the lot, these last two are the ones I am the least comfortable in.

It was, therefore, with much admiration but also dismay, that I recently discovered one of Alpha Auer's newest additions to her elegant but always playful Syncretia: a glorious Spa for furries and nekos...


I'm such an impostor!

To gain access to the Spa, review the northern end of the convenient map that Alpha has made available at the sim entry point (teleport directly from here), and then look for this pool area. Hop in!



In a welcoming notecard she writes:

"Welcome to ears, tail and furrr... the penultimate experience in neko and furry health, beauty and fitness..."

I am obviously late to virtual worlds. Would someone please clue me in as to why many people don't capitalize their first name, or many other names, for that matter?

Alpha's notecard continues: "While these facilities have been designed primarily with nekos and furries in mind, avatars of all species, persuasions and proclivities are more than welcome... (Obviously, but thought I'd make it clear anyway... hhh)"

When you see Alpha write "hhh" she means it as the sound that you make when you giggle. But I digress. At least we non-furry/nekos are not officially excluded! I suppose we simply aren't on the VIP list... sigh.

I should point out that Alpha doesn't hesitate to integrate and mod the work of others and weave it - sometimes literally - with her own throughout her Syncretia sim. She also writes some of the best notecards on the grid to accompany her creations.

Alpha's notecard: "We provide an extensive gym (we are still working on the personal trainer, but hey - Rome was not built in a day either you know!)..."


Few gym's could out-do this club's offerings in the way of equipment

Notecard: "...a luxurious pool/Jacuzzi as well as ear, tail and paw polishers designed for huge, tall, medium, short and tiny avatars. Copies of the ever popular Syncretia Rejuvenation Sphere (SRS) have been situated here as well, directly below the ceiling, for your convenience..."


She's also added a magnificent tree by Seph DaSilva and then interlaced its branches with "tree crawlers" by Max Hatfield

Notecard: "Beyond these, a laboratory has been set up on the premises themselves to produce the finest in facial care products. Please remember to take with you your complimentary bottle of "Fade-a-Wart" serum, placed at the outside corner of the laboratory table..."


There are dozens of items that would suit even the most demanding alchemist, including vials and beakers by Storm Thunders and Macklin Deckard

Notecard: "This gym is powered by the healing waters of the Citrinitas/Cappadocia alchemical power plant, which purifies water gathered from the natural springs of the Syncretia Black Mountains."



Notecard: Please do not hesitate to take advantage of our Jacuzzi pool by thinking that the water therein is in any way unsanitary due to its somewhat unseemly resemblance to pee. The yellow color is due entirely to the gold derived from the alchemical process that the water has undergone above ground and in no way contains avatar refuse."



The notecard continues: The fish inside the pool should also not irk you in that they will cure your skin of all blemishes by eating them up. And this last bit is the only piece of truth divulged here, btw. They really do have these kinds of fish in a lake in Eastern Turkey. (And before you ask; yes, I did use to be in advertising! --- hhhhhhhhhhhhh)

Did I mention that Alpha (aka Elif Ayiter) lives in Istanbul? It's no secret that I think the world of her, her creations and especially of the way she thinks. Since Monday of this week, it has been my distinct pleasure to add her to the masthead of this blog, as my co-blogger.

I just have to share one more new area at Syncretia with you, a burial chamber just beyond the Spa that is worthy of the tomb of Tutankhamun. She wrote about it on her blog, and I cannot possibly encourage you enough to go there and read what she had to say.



Alpha modified dead whale bones and scarabs by Grendel's Children's Ryan Snook and then assembled them with her signature veiled, alpha style in this incredible chamber.

Please allow me to introduce myself...

Yes! When Bettina asked me a month or so ago whether I would want to join her as co-blogger on the NPIRL blog, it took me less than a second to say yes! Yes, yes and yes!

As Bett has already mentioned I am indeed the builder of Syncretia, which some of you may already have visited, thanks to Bett's wonderful previous posts on the place. To those that haven't yet, please do come at some point or other ;-). So, I am first and foremost a designer/artist in Real Life and a dedicated, if not downright obsessive, builder in Second Life®.



Writing is something that I have stumbled onto in recent years: Reading an amazing book called the Telematic Embrace, written by a wonderful man, Roy Ascott, led me to study for a PhD at the Planetary Collegium. Although initially embarked upon with much trepidation, once involved, I found to my utter surprise that I actually rather enjoyed research and writing. It has certainly not become my primary mode of expression, I am very much what I have always been - a visual artist. However, it has certainly become a close second. I should probably also add here that my research and writing activity has very recently given me the opportunity of becoming the editor of an academic journal on Metaverse creativity, to be published by Intellect Journals, starting in the fall of 2009 - a feat of which I am quite proud of, I have to say.

And as for the the blogging: A somewhat bleak period in my Second Life last spring led me to start my own blog. And then this summer I created an alt, Xiamara Ugajin, who now has her own blog as well. These two blogs will continue their existence alongside this, the NPIRL blog - which quite needless to say will get my primary attention from now on, where all blogging activity is concerned. The Alpha blog is for personal thoughts and naughtiness (and yes! I am very naughty!), the Xia blog is for helpful tips (Xia is very well behaved!), particularly for apparel and the like.

The NPIRL blog is for my thoughts on Second Life creativity, a subject that also involves my PhD thesis, which is about art education in Second Life. I cannot help but feel very strongly that the metaverse is promising immense implications where the artistic fields are concerned - and this at a time when, in my humble opinion, things are rather seriously challenged in this department in Real Life. I have previously written on this on my own blog and will now take the liberty of adding in the link here , so that I do not need to make this post any longer than it absolutely has to be.

I delight in humor, in the unexpected, indeed the absurd, in that which is fundamentally un-didactic. I also delight in narrative, in the fairy tale, in the not possible in real life, the larger than life, the unimaginable. I cherish the unselfconscious, the playful, the spontaneous. And yes, also the naughty, the irreverent, the tongue-in-cheek... And many of these attributes seem to me to be absent from artistic activity to an alarming extent in Real Life today. Somewhere, something went wrong and we dried up. We became humorless, if not indeed downright preachy. And suddenly, here in Second Life, we seem to be gaining ground in the springing up of imaginative acts. In the creation of utterly absurd objects and situations. This I cherish. This is what makes Second Life creativity beyond valuable to me. This is to me what, at this particular moment in time, makes it quite essentially NPIRL!

And not only do we create objects, we take creativity up one notch altogether: We create new lives and alternative identities. The whole manifestation of avatars and their alts; the vastly complex, autopoietic interaction of the human being behind the keyboard with these emergent selves is what to me lies at the very heart of metaverse creativity. Thus, time permitting, I would like to delve into this subject on this blog as part of content creation which is Not Possible in Real Life, alongside the examination of object oriented artistic/design output, of course.

And now finally enough of the pretty words and onto some practicalities: As I mentioned above, I am a dedicated builder. What I should also mention here is that I have an avatar family who is every bit as dear to me as any Real Life family would be. Thus, my time in-world is divided fully between my building and my family, and then of course also the viewing of creative content generated by others. From this it will inevitably follow that I will be remiss in responding to Instant Messages, notifying me of events and things to see in-world. Not to put too fine a point on it - I will simply not be able to do so. Please do not think this to be insufferably rude: My Second Life has essentially been a very private one to date, and I have come to truly cherish the way in which it has evolved and would thus be extremely hesitant to enter into any kind of a venture that could upset a truly meaningful balance. I will thus be very grateful for emails, to be sent either to the sendtonpirl@gmail.com mailbox or directly to me at alphaauer@gmail.com. These I will try to respond to as fast as I can, within a matter of hours, a day at the very most.

And finally finally finally ... Yes! Bett! Thank you for having entrusted me with this. I feel truly privileged to have become a part of this formidable operation. And thank you above all for being my friend!

Not Possible IRL unveils new structure and leadership

In fifteen months, the Not Possible IRL group has expanded from a good idea to a working group, then a blog that reflects our best findings and analysis, then an in-world news source via the Impossible IRL group (now one year old and 1,000 members, many of them leading artists, builders and scripters), as well as many Flickr groups featuring the best photographers in virtual worlds, a Youtube group, and a following on Koinup.

Since those early days to now, the grid has grown and the sheer volume of things to review and share has more than quadrupled.

New NPIRL structure and leadership

My role, moving foward
NPIRL/ImpIRL has become far too large a task for one person, and the windows for intelligent growth should not be missed. I need breathing room so that I can focus on deeper strategic work for our groups and some of my own, personal goals. I also don't want to lose the excitement and wonder I feel when I see the incredible work you are all doing.

I will continue to manage the ship, serving the groups as the primary catalyst for working issues and opportunities. I will also blog.

It gives me much pleasure to share with you that NPIRL is reorganizing to meet our expanded needs. Effective today, Monday, October 13, two women I very much admire are joining me at the helm of Not Possible IRL/Impossible IRL:


In-world notices to be issued by Miki Gymnast



Last spring and for one month, Miki Gymnast was responsible for in-world notices and she did a fantastic job in her own singular style. Miki knows quality when she sees it. She is perceptive, knowledgeable and has a discerning eye. She is also extremely organized, diplomatic, fair-minded and has the ability to say "no," all essential qualities for the task she is taking on. Beginning today, selections for, and the issuance of all in-world notices to both groups concerning builds, events, and tools will be her responsibility.

Miki's in-world creations are usually generated via intricate scripting work and inspired by mathematics, featuring mostly colorful panes of glass in complex, undulating and soaring structures, including the recent Klein bottle.


Alpha Auer (aka Elif Ayiter) to join the masthead on this blog



A Turkish artist and designer and creator of the sumptuous and singular Syncretia, Alpha Auer is already a blogger in her own right, and has written several imaginative and fascinating reviews for the NPIRL blog. In Real Life, Alpha teaches design and design history, and also conducts research specializing in the development and implementation of hybrid educational methodologies between art & design and computer science. She has presented creative as well as research output at conferences including Siggraph, Consciousness Reframed, Creativity and Cognition, ICALT and Computational Aesthetics (Eurographics) . She is currently studying for a doctoral degree at the Planetary Collegium, CAiiA hub, at the University of Plymouth with Roy Ascott and describes herself as "a totally irreverent, mischievous, politically incorrect, frivolous, fashion victim avatar in Second Life®."

How to communicate with NPIRL for in-world notices and blogging

* All in-world tips, leads, landmarks, notes and objects should be dropped off at the NPIRL mailbox: teleport directly from here.
* All emails - unless responding directly to Bettina Tizzy, Alpha Auer and Miki Gymnast - should be sent to sendtonpirl@gmail.com
* Previews should be arranged via notecard or email.
* Please PLEASE refrain from IMing the team directly regarding builds.

Many thanks to all of you, and very special thanks to Alpha and Miki,
Bettina

Garden freebies to die for... and yes, you have to go to heaven or hell for 'em

UPDATE - June 24, 2008: The Garden of NPIRL Delights has closed. Thanks to everyone who created it and to those who visited it, and special thanks to RightasRain Rimbaud and his team at Rezzable Productions for sponsoring it.

The Garden of NPIRL Delights will end on June 23rd, and several of the very gifted content creators have decided that their work should not disappear. Just look at what they are giving away! Hurry hurry!


DB Bailey's Purgatorio (Take everything home!) - slurl
Photograph by Ka Rasmuson


Eladrienne Laval & Kheph777 Enoch's Tower of Industrial Judgement (Steampunk Bosch Wings) - slurl
Photograph by Alpha Auer


Tezcatlipoca Bisiani's Laberinto de Mictlan (You get the prize - the puzzle box and the postcard!) - slurl


Bryn Oh's Steamgarden (Several items from her build! If you put the structure on your land, send her an IM and she will come and place the beetle and the carousel on it) - slurl


four Yip's Elevator Angels (everything! - touch the panels at the entrance to choose) - slurl
Photograph by Azwaldo Villota


Alpha Auer's The NPIRL Garden of Delights Public Baths- (Her monochromatic and health-inducing jellyfish!) slurl


Madcow Cosmos' Heterotroph (avatars) - slurl


Yoa Ogee's Happy Humans! (avatars) - slurl


Yeti Bing's Perfect Universal Companionship (avatar) - slurl
This video by Crap Mariner


Gore Suntzu's "Tame a Thorn" sculpture : (This beauty could be yours!) - slurl

Elevator Angels

Alpha Auer is becoming a regular and very welcome blogger here, as she continues to explore the Garden of NPIRL Delights and relate what she sees there. Alpha's eye is an educated one. She is both a professor in graphic design and art/computer science, as well as a PhD candidate. She is also the creator of a favorite sim of mine: Syncretia.


by Alpha Auer (aka Elif Ayiter)

Setting out to create an artwork composed almost entirely of floral patterns is a challenge: just one step too far, one petal too many, one color off-sync and you rush past terms such as "pastoral" and "romantic," and end up in that most dreaded of all artistic wastelands... the land of "cute." The word "beautiful" has also become a “no” word, as has the word "soft." True, there are a number of highly acclaimed women's gender art pieces out there that use objects associated with the feminine, such as floral patterns, fabrics and the like, in order to adopt a critical stance vis a vis gender imposed roles and society.



four Yip's installation, Elevator Angels (teleport directly from here), is remarkable in that she has not shied away from what is beautiful, soft, romantic and feminine. And furthermore she has not attached any socially critical implications to these either. They proclaim to be exactly what they are, and are proud to stand in their own right. Lush overlays of flowers encircle a wonderful tree hung with avatar photographs.



That tree immediately reminded me of a thing called the wish tree that exists in many cultures, including mine... or used to exist anyway... all replaced by Tarot parlors and Reiki outlets residing in suburban Istanbul shopping malls these days, I’m afraid. Essentially, this was a tree upon which you would hang a picture of the thing that was your heart’s desire and then it was believed that your desire would materialize.



When I spoke to four (who incidentally, is every bit as delightful as her work is) I mentioned the “wish tree” to her. Much as she liked the idea it was new to her. She told me that her tree was actually an avatar family tree: you hang your picture there to join an avatar family line. Somehow the “wish tree” and this idea of creating an avatar genealogy have ended up converging in my mind. After all, isn’t our biggest wish in Second Life just that? To become part of an avatar family?

Elevator Angels reminds me of William Morris’ investigations in textile design. His bewilderingly complex formations of flowers upon flowers also found reflection in the paintings of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, particularly those by Morris himself and Dante Gabriel Rosetti. Now, it may not be terribly fashionable to say this but I am increasingly drawn to the Arts and Crafts Movement and the Pre-Raphaelites in recent years. There is something to be said about nature and beauty and I do not think that we have the nerve to say it quite in the same way that Morris and his friends said it back then. They seem to be the last ones who have pulled it off, too... that adulation of beauty, of natural form.

And now along comes Second Life®, ebullient with flowers. A very good sign this, I would say… However, sadly one is also compelled to add that all too often Second Life flowers don't manage to stay on the right side of the fence between what is “artistic” and what is “cute,” unlike four Yip’s installation which stays firmly planted on the side that William Morris seems to have also resided on: she stays there through the grace of elegance; through warm, soft, loving narrative manifest in deep, multi-faceted metaphors, and ultimately through a beauty that rests itself upon strong visual principles such as color harmonies, balance, focus, direction and motion.

Inside the mind of Crap Mariner: At the Garden

Crap Mariner cracks me up. As GoSpeed Racer said recently, "He is a true comic genius with a flare for the bizarre, the weird, and the obscure. Crap can tell a story with as little as one picture."

Crap has his own installation at the Garden of NPIRL Delights, but he has devoted more time to exploring the Garden and seeing what others had done there than anyone else I know. Here are just a few of the many, many videos that Crap has created. I suggest you pull up a chair, and take a tour through his stream for a glimpse into this man's head, and the Garden, too!

Truthseeker Young's "The Singularapture is Near"

by Alpha Auer (aka Elif Ayiter)


I liked this tremendously the first time that I saw it and every time I revisit it seems to grow on me more, takes me further and deeper into a story and what is even more a truly remarkable ambience. I just stand there and watch and listen.



The sound effects of The Singularapture is Near are possibly amongst the subtlest and most accomplished I have yet heard in Second Life®. It is astounding how the random grinds and creaks in conjunction with natural sounds such as those of crickets, add to what to me seems to be the most powerful feature of the piece: its integration with the terrain. I would almost tend to see Truthseeker Young's " installation in the category of land(scape) art, so closely connected is the piece to the land that it has been rezzed upon.

One of the big challenges of building in Second Life is integrating what you create with the earth that it stands upon, mostly because of the absence of shadows but also because of the very structural nature of Second Life’s terrain. In fact, outside of AM Radio’s wheat field, The Far Away, I do not really recall seeing anything else out there (my own abysmal ineptitude in this regard is duly noted) that has managed to accomplish this feat quite so dramatically.



The "organic matter" that makes up the bulk of the piece has been (deliberately) constructed out of highly inorganic content, but nonetheless manages to clutch onto its little hill so fiercely that you not only hear the grinding of its roots but almost see them digging in as you stand there and watch.

And then, of course, comes the central lightning tower/tree that is connected to the peripheral husks through huge metallic worms that really seem to slither atop the virtual soil. And the husks each have their own organic/inorganic story to tell. Each one different. Nothing really moves (sure things sway, but then, so does everything else in Second Life!) but everything seems to be on the move, to be changing location and to grow in front of your very eyes. Yes, you somehow do not look at this piece - you watch it and quite carefully at that...



"The Singularapture is Near" has its own story, no doubt. But like all art that ultimately manages to draws me in, it allows me to make up my own story as well. I love it and I would recommend it to anyone who has not yet seen it or been near it to go go go before it is too late.

Teleport directly to The Singularapture is Near from here.