The underwater sculptures of Jason de Caires Taylor

Posted by our guest blogger, Amalthea Blanc

As a group, NPIRL continues to trail-blaze into new avenues of self-expression, regardless of whether these avenues are in the metaverse or in the digital world at large. However, it's worth to keep up with fresh, amazing talent that keep pushing the limits of what “real life” can do. If that edge is something that defines our common interests, we have to be aware that it's not a static barrier. Case in point: the art of Jason de Caires Taylor.

Take a look for yourself at the video below or at the photography of his underwater sculptures.




Vicissitudes

The art of Jason de Caires Taylor transcends sculpture through its placement in the water medium. It's a fascinating approach to art. The corals, fish, and nurturing quality of water continue to modify and alter the initial sculpture, embracing it and allowing it to become a true part of the environment. In other words, the medium and the message blend together, in harmony.


The Lost Correspondent

Another notable aspect is the fascinating effect these works have on the viewer – they hypnotize through their silence and through the beautiful play of light among the water waves. Some have said that this particular type of art is eerie, probably because it taps into this feeling of “other world” that all of us have ingrained in our senses.


Visages


Nature Morte

More images and information about the artist can be found here.

The first of the "BEST of Second Life" lists: NPIRLer Amalthea Blanc's faves

Imagine asking a much admired and advanced content creator - or a hardcore adventurer - to share the very best of Second Life® with you, and then being handed a list of favorite haunts, lesser known destinations, preferred builds and best loved sites... what they consider to be The Classics. Now imagine that treasured list multiplied several times over, and that's what you will experience on this blog over the next few days and weeks.

I'm asking members of the Not Possible IRL group - and these are among the people who know and love the grid best and have a profound understanding of what was involved to deliver the quality seen at the installations - to recommend and share both well-known and undiscovered places with you. Their favorites... their Top Ten... or fewer.

Lists like these cannot be comprehensive. They are highly personal and deeply reflect the preferences of a generous, expert, and opinionated taste-maker.

Today we begin with Amalthea Blanc, a content creator and writer who has reviewed the arts in Second Life for years. Thea also helps manage Brigadoon, a support community for people who are learning to deal with the abilities and disabilities of Asperger's Syndrome.


~ Amalthea Blanc's NPIRL Best of Second Life List ~

* Loco Pocos - An amazing immersive adventure that elevates the experience of Second Life - a compelling world inside a world, (teleport directly from here).


This photo of Damien Fate, creator of Loco Pocos by Amalthea Blanc

* Any art installation by Strawberry Holiday - I've seen Strawberry really flourish as an artist and make the most of this medium to create brilliant & empowering experiences centered around the journey of life. Currently no shows available, but her fantastic trees can be purchased here.


This photo of Strawberry Holiday at her "On Their Journeys" interactive art installation, by Amalthea Blanc

* Syncretia - A personal favorite of mine, it excels in its abstract and novel interpretation/treatment of virtual space; (teleport directly from here).

* REC - The interactive experience - innovative concept of experiencing an interactive set. And fun! (Teleport directly from here).

* La Reve - I love the atmosphere and the waking-dream surroundings. My first impression of Second Life as a whole was as a dream that you could finally share with others. La Reve brings that into the first plane of experiencing the virtual space at another, more personal, more direct level. (Teleport directly from here).

* Happy Mood - Yes, bunnies and dogs exist in Real Life, but what makes this place different is that you feel like you live inside the head of someone who truly believes that the world is a beautiful and magical place. And who can't use that? :) (Teleport directly from here).

* Dynafleur: Have you ever repeatedly said a word until it almost changed meaning? Douglas Story's macro photography operates by the same principle-- seeing plants and flowers this close opens up the perception to new depths. The interactive trip through a giant flower is an interactive exploration meant to bring you to this surreal mindset. (Teleport directly from here).

* Sabine Stonebender's Zero Point, etc. - A mind-blowing experience for those who like psychedelic colors in the night. Sabine's work speaks of another, more vivid world, full of contrasts and colors. Experience it listening to trance/techno and you'll get the full gist. (Editor's note: Zero Point is being rebuilt after a disaster that destroyed many years of work. Still, Sabine has made great progress - Teleport directly from here).

* DanCoyote Antonelli (DC)- His installations are often associated with live virtual performances that, much like Cirque du Soleil, are best experienced first hand. No amount of description or video can give you the feeling of being there, and being part of the show. DC often exhibits at Brooklyn is Watching; (teleport directly from here).

CodeBastard Redgrave splashes the grid - and NPIRLers - with RED

We are avatars in our virtual world, yes... little dollies we dress up, when you get right down to it. But personalities are often more distinct and discernable - larger than life, really - in this format.

Such is the case of a passionate, charming, and funny woman who rezzed the same month I did, some 14 months ago. Add to this that she is 7'6" tall, wears bright red from her locks to her toes, and is sporting the name CodeBastard Redgrave... Well, you just know there isn't going to be a bland pixel about her.



Turns out that her powers of persuasion are over the top, too. She's talked the knickers off of some of the most interesting ladies in Second Life... including a few of our own! In the tradition of the fabled Vargas pin-up girls, she stripped them down, splashed them with red, and then captured the moment for all eternity.


Jurin Juran

Amalthea Blanc

Lainy Voom

Today at 11am SLT, she is unveiling Boudoir Rouge - a collection of those photographs - at her gallery: Code Red. Dress code? C'mon... Hazard a guess! Teleport directly from here.

Creators of 99rooms: Virtual worlds await you

A little over two weeks ago, the Not Possible in Real Life (NPIRL) group in Second Life began an initiative to identify and extend invitations to people whom we believe would derive pleasure in discovering the creation tools available to them in this environment. There is certainly a very appreciative - and growing - audience waiting for them here. It is our hope that they will take us up on our shout out and make the pilgrimage to check it out. Today, I welcome this introduction to the creators of 99rooms.com by guest blogger and NPIRLer Amalthea Blanc. Amalthea has often reviewed the arts in Second Life, and it was through her that I discovered such notables as Keystone Bouchard and DanCoyote Antonelli.


By Amalthea Blanc

Back in 2004, a handful of very talented artists got together and created 99rooms.com, an On-line interactive experience that is still considered innovative and groundbreaking four years after its launch. 99Rooms.com is a type of new age, Renaissance project that blends together visual art with brilliant sound design and on top of all that, adds a third dimension of interactivity through meaningful flash animation. The result is an emotionally compelling world that keeps you at the edge of your seat and may occasionally give you goosebumps.



The 99 rooms are individual experiences, through which you may pass only after clicking various elements until you "unlock" the puzzle and proceed to another location. The element of game play engages what would otherwise be a typical passer-by into becoming involved in the sequence of rooms. With every page you explore, you head deeper into the strange environment and are curious to learn more.



Words can only go so far in explaining the kind of immersion one can achieve, especially since our vision is now affected by all the 3D possibilites of Second Life. Still, 99rooms is one of the projects that demonstrate how a powerful mix of pixels and technology can prompt people to perceive a new and exciting universe.

Per their website: 99rooms stemmed from the mystical, often apolocalyptically charming pictures created by Berlin artist Kim Köster within the countless vacated premises of East Berlin‘s industrial sector. Photos of these paintings were initially produced in digital form and then animated through a cooperative effort between Richard Schumann & Stephan Schulz and then subsequently complemented through a personal sound design from Johannes Buenemann. The final product of this year long effort is a scintillating intermediary world which invites the observer into an journey through its morbidly-beautiful rooms.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

Amalthea Blanc dropped me an LM for this unusual take on the season, created by Krius Misfit.



Teleport directly from here.

Top 10 Art Installations of Second Life, and more

Make no mistake. We are on the prowl for all the greatest Not Possible IRL builds, and if someone beats us to the punch on something truly splendid, then we will hand them to you on a silver platter, as we must today.

NPIRL'er and New World Notes' scribe, Amalthea Blanc, blogged the very fine and challenging article Top 10 Art Installations of Second Life yesterday, featuring several of our members and a couple of tremendous people we've missed along the way.

Tayzia Abattoir... (insert hand wringing here) you were so right! DanCoyote Antonelli's new show is... is... Well, I missed the boat and cannot justifiably blame it on absent LMs. Everyone, get thee over there and do as DanCoyote recommends: change ALL your settings with wild abandon and discover this vertical masterpiece.
DanCoyote Antonelli's Arts and Letters show

More than one of the individuals featured in Thea's piece are artists-PLUS. They stand for something even greater than their own art work. Case in point: Keystone Bouchard. His Gallery of Reflexive Architecture is at the apex of of the NPIRL experience and invites the avatar to move through, over and under his undulating, interactive sculptures.
Gallery of Reflexive Architecture



But perhaps even more exciting is his use of Second Life to plumb what he calls the "3D Internet" to virtually and collaboratively design via Open Source Architecture, or Wikitecture 2.0.

And get this... if ever there was an activity that underscores our collective shout that SL "is NOT a game," Keystone's RL architectural firm constructs buildings in-world first, allowing their RL clients to log in and experience the build before brick meets mortar.

This week's notice to you Busy People

This notice was issued to NPIRL members on August 10, 2007, in-world.

* NOMASHA SYAKA'S BLENDER
We are lucky lucky lucky to have Tayzia Abattoir in the group. What a treasure trove. She giggled when she learned that I had not experienced Nomasha Syaka's Blender. Take a friend (and maybe an enemy, too ^.^) and follow the trail of apples to the last one. Touch and "eat it."
Nomasha's Blender
~ Nomasha... welcome to our group! I'm afraid I drooled a little bit over your guitars and sculptures, too.
~~ Nomasha owns the group "I use my nose to type..."

* URASIMA CLOCK ISLAND
Dali-esk, monochromatic, other-wordly, and definitely NPIRL. Numbers dash about and squeal.
Urasima
All the info is in Japanese... so I watched the video at Crazy-Genius . Anyone know these builders?

* JAPANESE STEAM PUNK + fusion
Can steam punk - in its varous SL manifestations - ever be NPIRL? Sound off on the blog. But first check dis place out. Later, you can take the hot air balloon, and lazily work your way down to the diff levels. Teleporter in the cafe, btw, is the cardboard box. This visit will take a bit of time, is well built, and is a pleasant way to unjangle your nerves after a hectic day.
Forbidden Island

~~ time sensitive! ~~
* Juria Yoshikawa's "Blink" is having a closing party tomorrow, Saturday, at 2pm SLT. He's also been fiddling with fire... take a look...
NO SLURL as the event has ended

Here's the video of the closing party - fun! - featuring the music of AldoManutio Abruzzo

~~ fyi ~~
* Some NEW excellent things at the Greenies Home Rezzable, created by NPIRL member Pavig Lok and team.
Greenies Home Rezzable

Welcome to our new members:
- Amalthea Blanc
- AngryBeth Shortbread
- Avi Arrow
- Felix Wakmann - thanks again for the fab SLBrowser freebie, Felix. You guys gotta check it out. Really.
- Finny Yates
- Jurin Juran
- Matthew Kidoman
- Nomasha Syaka
- Scope Cleaver

Fondly,
Bettina Tizzy

It's time to batten down the hatches

Over the past few days, interest in NPIRL has mushroomed and a number of very talented people have joined. I must remark on two of them.

Tonite, the "architect's architect" of SL, Scope Cleaver , became a NPIRL member and Hamlet Au (aka Wagner James Au) appointed a representative from his New World Notes to the group: Amalthea Blanc. Welcome, you two. We are honored.

I propose to all of you now that we restrict all future membership to only the most serious or promising content creators. Period. I see this as a working group, and while you may not know everyone here, I have had an opportunity to speak with each of you. What we have here is pure gold.

Meanwhile, I have some extreme goodies just begging to be shared with you and I can hardly wait till Friday to do so.