Whitetrash plays Whitenoise, Opera 1 Automatica of the Trivial Mechanisms

Posted by Alpha Auer

Once upon a time there was a greenhorn newbie avatar named Alpha Auer, who through a series of bizarre coincidences found herself in Second Life®, with an inkling but no tangible leads as to what this place might be good for - until she encountered a clan of avatars...

Throughout my life I have had extraordinary luck when it came to my instructors, but in few more so than MosMax Hax. So, try as I might, I am going to find it very difficult to write on "Whitetrash plays Whitenoise, Opera 1 Automatica of the Trivial Mechanisms" without touching upon the personal: MosMax Hax and his cohorts have re-educated me in what has probably been the most fundamental lack in my creative makeup until quite recently: Play.


Max Wysznowitzer, one of the members of the entourage of MosMax Hax
...

The artist Max Moswitzer/MosMax Hax has been active in Second Life since early 2007, achieving the distinction of being one of the recipients of the award at the Ars Electronica 1st Annual Architecture & Design Competition in Second Life in 2007 with the first incarnation of "Whitenoise", a 2 storeyed construct which he then defined as "an experiment for non-human architecture in second life. This construct uses Freebee objects which are all set to white. The interesting views are when these objects affiliate with others. With a tool we use this build has just around 25 prims, normaly it would have 1000 prims. It is a ongoing project and will go into more "high res" detail. We call it "WHITE-NOISE". White Noise, a reference to a random pattern and "Bildrauschen", which we as builders see working on it for hours and you think you get snowblind."


Whitenoise Church. Teleport from here

Whitenoise evolved from this early construct, to what I consider to be one of the noteworthiest landmarks of virtual architecture both in and out of Second Life: The Whitenoise Church. Heaven knows, I have made enough references to this text, but I simply have to do so yet again, since what I wrote there goes straight to the heart of the matter of what I want to express here:

"The narrative space of Karnak. It reminded me of Second Life. Or rather of a structure that I am very familiar with in Second Life: The Whitenoise Church, by MosMax Hax. I am not sure what the pantheon that generated this circular cathedral is all about. A church for avatars. Is there a myth of creation already in place for Second Life? If so, is Ruth the mother goddess? Like Karnak, the church tells a story with its bottomless rowing boats, its chained in place cars, its columns constructed out of trucks and its teddy bear steeple. These are not about Ruth, or any kind of Second Life pantheon for that matter. Instead they are the projections of the psyche of a man who used to be a boy who played with trucks and cars and teddy bears and who has now managed to find his way back to that boyhood - and who has the guts to express it. And somehow, through an almost magical act of transformation, this conglomeration of boyhood objects winds up becoming more than the sum total of its parts, in fact winds up becoming the manifestation of a myth of creation for a yet to be named deity, for a yet to be defined ritual. The deity of Second Life would have to be childhood, and the ritual would have to be play. And its book of prayers would then be endowed with narrative".

(These days, floating over the ocean, the church is still there and it is amazing to me that it is not teeming with avatars, making the pilgrimage out there to see it - so little is it known in Second Life...)
...


Theater for Automatica of the Trivial Mechanisms at Ouvroir

But MosMax Hax has moved on from the church to the skies over Ouvroir, where he has created the theater for the "Automatic Trivial Mechanisms" - an undertaking still very closely related to the concept underlying the church. A concept the roots of which reside in an Avatar Religion, founded by Hardwarehacker Hoch. Thus the manifesto of the 3rd Life Church reads as follows:

"Excuse Me, But Are You Human?
We are "intellectual" avatars, to arrogate the same rights of privacy that flesh-and-blood humans have.
We don't believe in AI (Artificial Intelligence) because, - WE ARE! - Ready!
Our human operator is a spiritual machine which should be set on sedatives to derive more freedom in our schizophrenic relationship.
Antagonism and bondage to the dictatorship of our users!"
We are "Prosumers".
...



It is a twofold experience, this theater of MosMax's: The first is the actual space that you will find yourself in, as it slides around you and underneath your very feet as you move along. The illusion of infinity on both the vertical as well as the horizontal axes, created through a layering of black and white textures. Concealing and yet revealing. Never still and yet not moving? Am I moving or is "it" moving? Very likely not at all a scripted wonder, but simply the expertise of a skilled builder, who transports us into this illusory state of being immersed in a fluid space, which continually reconfigures and reshapes itself as we fly and walk inside it. Illusion accomplished through perfect craftsmanship. I would urge the visitor to don on his flight feather (obtainable here if you haven't got one already that is) and to fly fly fly, walk walk walk in this extraordinary space.


Fly to the peripheries where things are dark and quiet...


All the way outside where you will see the entire construct embedded into it's gigantic megaprim...


And back into the center where the whole thing is a-flutter with ripples...
...

And this center is where you will find the "actors": And no, these are not "bots" but avatars. Avatars who walk the gird. Have their own tales to tell. Fly helis. Make acquisitions, rez things, all of them creative entities in their own right. With opinions and relationships. After all, do I myself not live in constant dread of the anticipation of yet another visit from that sour faced old gentleman, Hegemon Maximus, chiding me as to the highly objectionable superficiality of my ways?


I have a little eye-to-eye with Falsche Hoffnung. Visible in the background is Erdbeermund Schnute...


Adolf Svoboda

So, why does MosMax Hax call his entourage "Trivial Mechanisms" then? If anything it would be to elevate them from their simulative "humanity" to a state of purity implied within a mechanical system, following sociologist/systems theorist Niklas Luhmann, who proclaims "Human Likenesses... What objects of horror. If I may be so heartless in expressing this, "man" really does not interest me at all".

Adolf Svoboda, the valiant pilot of the Search & Rescue Organization of Second Life, half brother of Hardwarehacker Hoch. A quiet country lad, a clean innocent face - however, dressed today in Whitenoise. Trust me, in his everyday existence he is not scary at all... Cinzia Zanzibar, the dark exotic beauty in her dance silks and her nemesis Erdbeermund Schnute, also clad in the very same apparel - and oh what a difference... Falsche Hoffnung, very much the girl next door with her cute little freckled nose. Somehow it seems to me that the dance silks do not look quite right on her... Schwanzlurch Salamander, in all of his Whitenose regalia... Hegemon Maximus, an elderly sage whose passion and mission are one and the same: Cardboard... Inworld Zapatero, who has spent an entire autumn hanging out outside his little hut in the sun, on his tiny island... His brother (?) Inworld Placebo, on whom I cannot say much, having only become aware of his existence quite recently. The same of which would also apply to Hirnhaut Suppenkraut, although Cosima Snook I do know. I even took her shopping once a long time ago...


Cinzia Zanzibar


Schwanzlurch Salamander

Avatar art: I do believe I want to coin a phrase here. This is avatar art. The virtual instantiation of the splitting of the human self into many many selves. The acknowledgment of the many facets residing within our labyrinthine psyche. And giving them all their day in the sun. How did Hardwarehacker phrase it again? "Our human operator is a spiritual machine which should be set on sedatives to derive more freedom in our schizophrenic relationship". Playing ourselves against ourselves. MosMax Hax is an undoubted master of the craft.


They all love to fly helis. Every last man, woman, child and furry...

This fluid space is not just there to amaze you in its intricacy. It is a complex theater building housing a complex drama - the one of the "many selves". And if there is a riddle here, for me it is not one of technology. I am not concerned with how this was built. And you know what? I am not even so wrapped up in how beautiful it is. And yes! It is, in fact, very beautiful this space. The sense of depth and breadth alone... But ultimately, when the chips are down, there are oh so many breathtakingly beautiful constructs to be seen in our virtual world here. So, the riddle for me is the transmission of a psychological state into actuality: The creation of identities out of the one identity. Creating a fluid, wide, deep, transparent and yet opaque stage whereon these identities can find a suitable platform of expression. One which is capable of doing the entire convoluted drama justice. And then the acknowledgment of the male and the female; the beautiful and the trashy; the timid and the adventurous and the elderly and the lazy - all present and accounted for in this entourage of persona conglomerating around the one central figure of MosMax Hax.

MosMax Hax is not a man of many words. I have written this text based solely upon what I have learned about him through my close association with him, with its many ups and downs, in its good days and not so good ones over the past (almost) two years. So, whatever errors of judgment there may be, they are all flights of my imaginative fancy and in no way attributable to him.
...

So, is this a "finished" work? Signed, sealed and delivered to it's audience in its neat little box with a neat little label? I's dotted and T's crossed? All explanations in place? No, most definitely not. Instead it is v.01 of an evolving, emergent artistic process wherein MosMax Hax explores and then projects the workings of the many facets that make up his (non)holistic "human" self. A lifetime's occupation it would seem to me.

I would urge you to visit the skies of Ouvroir by teleporting directly from here to see this "work in progress". There you will find the "stage" all set for the performance of the opera of the "Trivial Mechanisms". And, you will be more than likely to encounter some of the actors of this drama while you are there as well. If they are not all out and about wandering the grid that is...

If however, you make a point of going to Ouvroir at the hours below, over the next 3 days, you will be able to encounter the cast in full bloom, all together, performing for you:

6.feb 2009 1pm SLTime (Opening)
7.feb 2009 1pm SLTime
8.feb 2009 1pm SLTime
...

You can also view more and larger sized images on Flickr here.
...

Update on ARENA, Uqbar: OK folks, here is the story: Although MosMax was added to the Arena Artists group, in order to be able to rez the theater at Uqbar, when he attempted to do so yesterday morning, he found that he did not have the necessary permissions. His designated location did not give his group status rez rights, in other words.

He has been trying to contact the administrators at Uqbar, to fix the problem since yesterday morning however to this hour has been unable to do so, either in-world or through email.

Thankfully the original location at Ouvroir is up and running and thus the opening will be held there today at 1PM SLT, instead of at Uqbar. When the rez problem at Uqbar eventually gets addressed, you will be updated on whether the theater will in fact also get rezed there in the days to come or not.

;-)

Nautilus

Nautilus is a region very recently added to the world of Second Life®, rezzed slightly to the north of the Japanese Continent, covering a total of 22 sims, a sizable portion of which are submerged under the ocean. I found out about Nautilus pretty much during the first hours that it was rezzed since the event happened almost literally on our doorstep at Klein, the whacko sim that is one of my two Second Life homes, housing my beloved alpha.land.

These sims are far from being mere empty pieces of land; indeed they are built quite extensively based upon a theme, which seems to me to evolve around the Minoan or early Greek civilizations. This work has been undertaken by the Linden Department of Public Works and the Mole Family. There are many things that I liked about Nautilus and a few things that left me dubious. So, I will reverse the usual practice of leaving critique to the end and air out my misgivings first and then proceed onto all the good things that I saw.

My first problem is the conspicuous absence of any kind of terraforming above sea level. Indeed, for the largest part the land is as flat as can be, whereas in the parts that have been raised the elevations are abrupt and geometric, causing sudden harsh breaks and shadows. This would maybe have worked had the theme of the building activity been of a kind that would have complemented a geometrically structured terrain. As it is, the rezed material looks lost and out of place placed upon the huge flat expanses of virtual grass since the building work undertaken sustains a detailed realism which does not get followed through on the ground that it has been erected.



My second issue is with the city planning, which has been implemented on a grid system. Again, in my view, very problematic; taking away a great deal from the thematic credibility of the region given that the urban evolution of the period in question was emergent rather than planned, houses growing in an organic manner, following the curvatures of land, water, access routes and safety zones. Indeed gridded city planning is something which to the best of my knowledge came into existence only after the Enlightenment on any kind of a big scale. So, even if temples or public areas would be built upon geometric principles, the town itself would huddle around these pivots in a more or less higgledy piggledy fashion, creating the peculiar charm which we see in the centers of most old world cities even today. An excellent example of a historic town implemented in Second Life was the, sadly no longer existent, Romenna by Nick Lassard and I really would have loved to see something more along those lines materialize at Nautilus as well.

And now onto the good stuff, and here I think I will do less talking and let the many images that we took in Nautilus speak for themselves.



The building work executed by the Mole Family is impeccable in detail as well as in overall structure. The many temples and public areas are beautifully proportioned, conveying a satisfying sense of space as well as vista. The perspectives generated by the columned walkways and pergolas that traverse the countryside of Nautilus are a joy to walk in and to gaze upon. Particularly charming is the huge public bath...





... as are the civic areas around some of the smaller harbors.







And of course special mention needs to be made of the big temple, situated in the Central Citadel. The interior of this building is nothing short of a virtual feast of spatial light and harmony, complemented by a huge version of one of the glowing pink quartz crystal central altars, which are a recurring theme across the entire region.





The texturing of the public spaces of Nautilus is amongst some of the best that I have seen in Second Life, again hugely to the credit of the Mole Family. Sadly the dwellings that make up the bulk of the prim work leave something to be desired in terms of texture, particularly when placed in proximity to the gorgeous public builds.

The underwater domain of Nautilus was of particular interest to me since as a builder I have used it quite extensively myself, immersing considerable portions of Syncretia under the ocean. Indeed I have plans to submerge the entire island in its next incarnation, which I will be undertaking before long. Here at Nautilus a certain effort has indeed been made. However, all in all, the underwater is not nearly as well built and textured as what is to be seen above sea level. It would have been great to see portions of the city above sunk under the sea, maybe in the shape of ruins, in addition to the odd ship and plane wrecks and wall remnants encountered here and there.








Underwater photographs courtesy of Hardwarehacker Hoch

One of the biggest aesthetic problems in Second Life for me is the foliage. Not to put too fine a point on it, I do not like Second Life plants. Amongst other issues this also lies in the way in which the plants of Second Life sink into the virtual soil. Thus, unless some effort is made to integrate these two design elements (i.e., the plant and the soil), for me no plant ever manages to take root in Second Life convincingly. There are cases where the extraordinary skill of the landscaper will overcome the inherent shortcomings and perform miracles in this regard, as would be the case in Chakryn Forest where Andrek Lowell has performed just such a miracle. Under the ocean in Nautilus, where rezzing has ended up relying largely on underwater flora this shortcoming to me became glaringly obvious. The good thing about the ocean depths is that some excellent terraforming, indeed almost good enough to make up for the shortcomings of the foliage has been undertaken.

We are told by Linden Labs that "there look to be several hundred parcels available, all of them 1024 square meters in size". Thus Nautilus will be an area available for Residency and "auctions for the new area will go live on the 24th October with all auctions starting at L$2000".

You can teleport to the Nautilus Central Citadel directly from here and once there continue to investigate this huge region spreading before your eyes in all compass directions. You can also see many large sized images of Nautilus here and here.

Tegatti...

"A brand you can trust!" says my avatar brother wolfie (and it should be known here that only I have the cheek to call the awe inspiring director of Search and Rescue of Second Life®, wolfgeng Hienrichs "wolfie" by the way ;-). Not to put too fine a point on it, when it comes to vehicles I trust wolfie with my life!

Tegen Barzane's air, sea and land craft go the distance where most others fail, indeed metamorphosing from one state of being into the other quite seamlessly along the way. A boat will continue its journey on land, the aircraft will swim underwater and cars and trucks will take to the skies like swallows. And what is more, a Tegatti will fly/swim/go over sim borders as smoothly as silk, reminiscent of the legendary vehicles of Cubey Terra. A minimalistic approach to the design of the vehicle itself as well as superb scripting see to it that these sturdy vehicles accomplish most of the tasks that an environment possessed of inherent difficulties for riders will present:


Tegen Barzane and wolfgeng Hienrichs.
Photo courtesy of Hardwarehacker Hoch

"There are many obstacles that discourage vehicle use in Second Life" says Ms. Barzane, "such as ban lines, security devices, failed sim crossings and badly designed continents where roads and waterways often don't even join up. This is a huge shame because exploring Second life in a boat or car can be a wonderful experience. You can discover many unexpected things, meet people you wouldn't otherwise meet and really experience the amazing diversity that SL has to offer. To many people there seems no practical point to using vehicles when you can fly or teleport, but to me it is all about imagination, about making SL a world and not just a virtual chat room. Originally my intention was to focus on boats. But I also became interested in other vehicles and when I couldn't find the vehicles that performed the way I wanted, I made my own. And now I make all kinds of vehicles.


The Terraform Helicopter


Amphiban/airborne Forklift.
Photo courtesy of Hardwarehacker Hoch

I try to make my vehicles as usable as I possibly can. I put a lot of work into ensuring that they are easy to drive and to control. I also try to deal with the technical problems SL creates. For instance, due to a bug most vehicles currently crash when they enter full lots, with the driver often forced to re-log. I have developed a way to avoid this so most Tegatti vehicles can travel over full lots with no problems. Ban lines are a big problem, so I have designed a HUD that can show the user where the ban lines are".

Tegen Barzane originally trained as a land surveyor in Real Life and then continued on to obtain a degree in art and design history. Thus the sturdy, minimalistic appearance of the Tegatti craft has sound design principles founded in a solid knowledge of design principles, particularly those regarding form and function.


The amphibian, off-road truck...
Photo courtesy of Hardwarehacker Hoch

"To me Second Life should not try to emulate real life too closely, it can (and should) be better than real life in so many ways. So I don't try to make my vehicles as exact copies of real vehicles, but more a SL interpretation of them".

Ms. Barzane is a designer that would do the Bauhaus School proud:

It's my art history background at work here too - the Modernist injunction "truth to materials". I see a need for design honesty in the sense that as a car is made from prims we shouldn't try to hide that with panels pasted with photos of real life vehicles. We should be proud of the prims and show them, they are the essence of SL construction. I also feel that too much realism is counter productive in a virtual world, it is important to leave gaps for the imagination to fill in as this can make a much more immersive and satisfying experience than photographic ultra-realism".

And as for the amphibian/airborne multi-functionalism of the Tegatti craft? Tegen Barzane says:

"Flying cars are pretty standard in Second Life, mainly for practical reasons. But the image of the flying roadster does illustrate a point. You will see that in flying mode Tegatti vehicles have jet flames coming from their wheels.



This I do because there is a kind of credibility limit, not just with vehicles but with all SL products, where while you can make things that are not possible in Real Life you can only go so far. The user needs to see some reason why the thing works: a heavy truck that just magically flies would look weird and unconvincing, but one can imagine a truck that flies using jet flames, lasers, plasma clouds or whatever. It always needs to be believable at some basic intuitive level or the virtual illusion is lost."

So, what does the future hold for Tegatti and indeed for Tegen Barzane herself?

"In the last year or more I have become pretty experienced at making different types of vehicles and now I have reached the point where I feel able to combine that knowledge to make new things. So I am now experimenting with novel types of vehicle, but there will always be some kind of visual explanation as to why they are able to work. Mainly I'm planning vehicles that are able to transform their appearance to some extent for different purposes. Second Life gives up a lot of tools to accomplish this, the biggest problem is in being able to think up a new but believable idea.




Second Life Coastguard Plane, taking some serious nosedives...
Photos courtesy of Hardwarehacker Hoch

I have a great belief that Second Life will grow and grow, and that as it does the technical problems will be overcome. So I am very pleased and excited to be a part of that. I will be continuing to improve my scripts and builds and make the best vehicles that I can. At some point I plan to build some sail boats as well as some SL specific vehicles that don't exist at all in real life. That is what I love most about SL - the creative potential is endless, the only limit being what you are able to imagine".

You can teleport to Tegatti Industries at Talakin directly from here (airport) and here (boatyard).