What will happen to art?

Posted by Bettina Tizzy

Linden Lab posted "Upcoming Changes for Adult Content" tonight and not surprisingly, the virtual world they govern is exploding in conversation and worries about it.

The issue is actually not new to Second Life® or to art, even.

In September 2007, artist Cheen Pitney had to move the bathing nude statue he had created to a mature sim within Burning Life, Second Life's answer to Burning Man. The statue had been censored.



What will the new rules mean to art on the grid? How many artists will have to move their works from the mainland? Will Cheen's bathing beauties be okay on a PG sim that houses an art museum, for example, or will they be relegated to Mature sims or... horrors... ADULT?

Where will Linden Lab draw the line about clothing and skins? Xiamara Ugajin's skin "Black Bird" was created first and foremost as a work of art. Where on the grid will this be okay?



What will happen to art?

Crescent Moon Museum showcases Cheen Pitney's privately-held cache

Canadian sculptor Cheen Pitney's new show, The Sin of Commission, at Tayzia Abattoir's Crescent Moon Museum, features only those works that he has created on commission for private clients. This is a rare opportunity to see, in one fell swoop, many sculptures that reside mostly in private settings and in Cheen's inventory.

Cheen works with traditional prims to create these beauties, and has been sculpting since he arrived in Second Life on 7/9/2006.

On Friday, April 25th at 6pm SLT, Cheen will give a talk about this art and his personal evolution and exploration as an artist in Second Life, also at the Crescent.

I especially love what he has done to the entrance of the museum. Teleport directly from here.

"Shattered Sword" by Cheen Pitney

Cheen Pitney captured a frozen moment in time with his monolithic... and shattered white marble sword.



"Back in September of 2006, and while I was going through my Rubber Period, I became intrigued with the possibilities of creating something NPIRL (Not Possible in Real Life), so I made that piece."

"Rubber Period?" I asked.

"Yes, I had just seen some of Starax's shiny rubber work. I like the fact that it usually rezzes first," said Cheen. "At least for my 'puter."

You can see the white marble version of the sword - as well as several of his newer pieces - at Cheen's studio (teleport directly from here). Alternatively, you can view two variations of it at Jurin Juran's Blackwater Gallery (teleport directly from here). The sword is rather large - 18 meters in height - and is 85 prims.

Time Out!

By golly, a new record... my fourth blog post of the day and so much to say!

NEW WINDLIGHT VIEWER WITH FIXES!
Get that baby here now, and like Pastrami Linden says, if you have an ATI card, be sure to download the latest drivers.

SPECIAL REQUEST TO ALL INVITATION MAKERS
If you are seeking wide distribution of your invitation, kindly make the invitation and all its enclosures (notecards, landmarks, etc.) full perm so that they can be distributed via notice.

SPECIAL REQUEST TO ALL ARTISTS:
Whether you sell your art, or give it away, collectors will bless you many times over if you *add your name* to the name of every art piece you ever make. It's a misery trying to find things with obscure names in inventory.


That said, let's talk art...



If you like sculpture - and I do mean really_great_sculpture - I highly recommend that you make your way over to the Time out of Time show curated by Tayzia Abattoir at her Crescent Moon Museum. It has a very short run... opened yesterday, and ends this Sunday.

I've just been and there were three important pieces by Starax that I had never seen before: Rivals, Sore Love and his Clock. The more I learn about his work, the more I understand the depth of his legacy to art in Second Life. The Crescent Moon now sits on a Havok 4 sim, which seems to be disagreeing with the script for the clock, but it was behaving when I was there.

There's one incredible piece by Savi Seyes (look for it on the top of the little mountain just outside the museum). I understand Savi died last year and that some were not aware of her passing. If you are learning it here, I am so sorry.

Look for several sculptures by Bryn Oh. This new artist has me in a tizzy... her clockwork mechanisms and insects! I'm sure we'll be seeing a lot more from her.

I found two works by Cheen Pitney , just outside the museum to one side: his Sax Man - featured here earlier today - and his Bear Dancers.

There are only two copies in-world of Fire 'n Ice by Aiden Seraph, and Tayzia has rezzed one of them.

So many other inventive, special works, many new to me... a gorgeous sculpture - Bold Caution - by Lash Xevious, Stella Costello's Primolution, Sorrow by Androclese Antonelli, and Determination by Neobokrug Elytis... many more. In fact, I think I need to go back and look again!

Again, recommended. Teleport directly from here.

Cheen Pitney's "Sax Man"

Sculptor Cheen Pitney's 160 prim tribute to Charlie "Yardbird" Parker and "all the great bebop sax players," was created in February of last year.



Cheen had originally hoped to add a particle effect for the saxaphone, but opted for a texture in the end.

Cheen Pitney's "Icarus"

This 222 prim sculpture was one of the first commissions Cheen Pitney took on back in December of 2005. It was for a sim by the same name: Icarus (teleport directly from here), owned by Deeeep Witte and TerryAnn Antonelli.

It can also be seen, along with many other works by Cheen, at Jurin Juran's Blackwater Gallery (teleport directly from here.)

Burning Life with Cheen Pitney: Water is Life - Just a peek

SLURL: Event has ended.

Cheen Pitney's bathing nude was censored at its original location in Burning Life. Considering the range of naughty things going on in SL, this came as quite a surprise. Now relocated at Diablo.