Oyster Bay Sculpture Garden to shutter its doors

Sad news for Second Life's art world...

As art venues go, Oyster Bay, which celebrated its first year in existence this past January 11th - a major milestone in itself, considering that the average length of time people own a specific property in Second Life is two months - has been simply first rate. It was here that I discovered many artists, including Starax Statosky, Cheen Pitney, and elros Tuominen.

Its founder and owner, Morris Vig, has maintained a lively environment in celebration of the arts, including the much acclaimed "ArtTalks," vibrant gallery concerts, and a Balloon Festival, as well as dedicated shows of pivotal importance, such as "Hidden Starax!,” “14 Days, 14 Sculptures,” and the “Black Tie and Blues” Machinima premiere.

Morris made the announcement on his Second Arts blog just now, stating that "It is with no small degree of sadness that I am announcing the forthcoming closing of Oyster Bay Sculpture Garden and Aquarium." He went on to explain that "I haven't been able to give it the attention it deserves," given the time he has had to allocate to his Real Life position which he assumed in August of last year.

Morris will continue to blog and is considering a number of ideas for what to do with the half-sim estate he owns and that the Gallery now sits on. While we are breathing a sigh of relief to learn that Morris will continue finding and sharing the best of the arts in our metaverse with us, we cannot but join the many artists who will surely morn this important loss to our community.

The fertile mind of artist and writer elros Tuominen

I've spoken before about prolific artists in Second Life, but none that I know of produces a steadier stream of new creations than the Basque sculptor and writer elros Tuominen (aka Antonio Alza).

Every morning when I log in, there is a notecard waiting for me from elros containing a brief and beautiful piece of prose, always written in first person to a woman he unquestionably adores (not me, mind you :). Here is one example:

Good morning, new morning day, such a beautiful and almost perfect day. Time's stopped, time's over, time's far far far, time's a painting, an invention to organize our little walking through life, time belongs to the old days, time's a beast, it keeps on eating human minds, but time's days are falling down, it's turning into a hurt black bird, still looking for meat, fresh and bloody meat.... but time is hurt, it won't last too much..... time, just like a dying star, it will just eat itself, faster and faster and faster, they will be hard days I know, but time will leave us alone, at least, alone; of course, we will walk like lost children through the ruins of time, with no direction, it won't last, we won't remember what it was, and time will be just dust floating on the sky, pieces of dark feathers going up and down, little and dirty feathers, time... who will remember then... Good morning, new morning day, good morning heart, are you feeling alright? the world is going round and round, good morning heart, isn't it sweet, isn't it amazing, life's making sense, life's giving us jewels... no more black birds...

Good morning
elros Tuominen

elros also creates a new piece of interactive art or jewelry about every two days. 2D photography does not do justice to 3D interactive art, but I hope the following snaps will entice you enough to go and have a peek at his work. Two good places are Tayzia Abattoir's Crescent Moon Museum (teleport directly from here) and Morris Vig's Oyster Bay Gallery (teleport directly from here). You can actually purchase his work at elros' store, the Tubular Gallery (teleport directly from here), or online.


"Multiple planar perspectives" switches from blue to pink to aqua to purple.

Just before the holidays, elros generously offered two of his gorgeous kinetic sculptures to NPIRLers as gifts. I asked him if he wanted to issue a notecard as well, and he replied, "yes, but first I need some Floyd." After further inquiries, I came to understand that he was going to listen to some Pink Floyd for inspiration. I wish music had such a powerful effect on me!


This swirly thing is called "Dancers," and spins very gently on its axis.

Yesterday, elros sent me an unannounced landmark. I don't usually receive landmarks from him, so I immediately popped in for a look (see below).


His newest, very large piece is called "inside road to ovetum" and is made up of megaprims. It is rezzed in the sky. There's another large piece just above it. Simply fly directly up.

Most of elros' sculptures are low prim, and every single one of them is in constant, fluid motion. One can only imagine what elros' reaction was when he first realized that he could add movement scripts to his art work.


This piece is quite large and a good example of a running theme that elros has been exploring that I am simply wild about. Stop by his shop (teleport directly from here) to see his "teardrops in the rain" in-world. I can almost guarantee that you will be wowed.

Several of his sculptures gracefully "fade in/fade out," such as this fan-like piece called "Playing Harp."



Finally, I discovered this Machinima interview of elros by Magellan Egoyan, which makes it much easier for those who are not in-world to grasp what we are talking about when we refer to elros' interactive art.

The King is dead. Long live the King! Starax Statosky is gone, but Light Waves carries on

Someone needs to say it, so I might as well be the first, and I do so after careful consideration and with great admiration for the man in question. Like the Phoenix - that mythical bird that dies in flames and is reborn from the ashes - Starax may be gone, but in his place stands the extraordinary Light Waves.

I spoke at length today with the British man behind these two avatars, and found him to be warm, approachable, and unpretentious... not at all like the sardonic fellow I'd read about.

Light Waves has already been in touch with several of the most dedicated collectors of Starax sculptures, as well as many, if not most of the owners of his legendary magic wand. These people have kept quiet... have been walking on eggshells, out of respect for their monarch of builders, and possibly a fear that he might disappear again. I think that is a safe assumption. I hope I'm wrong, but I propose that we enjoy him and celebrate him while we still have him within our sights.

At any rate, it is all true. The man who was Starax and is Light Waves today told me that he closed Starax for many reasons and that, despite rumors to the contrary, the wand had been just one of them and not even the most important one.

What is all this fuss about, you might be asking yourself? A little history for those who, like me, were born in Second Life after his abrupt departure...

Many people have come and gone from Second Life and more than a few have been missed by the friends they left behind, but when Starax Statosky vanished mysteriously in June of 2006, hundreds of people grieved. In fact, his departure cast a pall over the art and builders community of Second Life that is felt to this day.

As of this writing, when you Google Starax, you get back 25,200 hits, and there is only one Starax that comes up. The Friends of Starax group in Second Life pays tribute to him even now - 15 months later - and their charter reads "because Starax was so beloved, we form this group in remembrance and appreciation of his unique gifts and talents."

Note that this shrine to Starax sits on Governor Linden's land.

Starax Statosky was born in Second Life on December 23, 2003. His profile reads: "Nice weather out!" The only group Starax is still a member of is the Magic Wand Society.

In October of 2006, the NMC held a retrospective of art by Starax, which can be seen in this Machinima produced by RacerX Gullwing.

Then, on July 25 of this year, Morris Vig's Oyster Bay gallery and NPIRL'er Tayzia Abattoir's Crescent Moon, the oldest museum in Second Life, launched Hidden Starax!, "a spectacular rotating exhibit that celebrates the Second Life of the master of SL sculpture, Starax Statosky." The show presented 20+ rare Starax pieces over the course of 6 weeks and free, copiable editions of some of his works were also rotated, encouraging visitors to take copies for their private art collections. I've made a point of dropping in frequently, and now own four sculptures by Starax.

Fact is, Starax made prims do unnatural things. He took the unwieldy cubes and spheres and molded them as if they were putty in his bare hands to create sculptures that take our breath away.

And then there was his wand... Aenea Nori did a great job of documenting both its capabilities and the things it rezzed on this slide show.

Speaking for myself, I was introduced to Starax's wand in April when a pair of young boys showed up at Hobo Village on the Calleta sim and put on a show that I shall never forget. As I told Light, it was a transformative moment. As far as I am concerned, a person's Second Life can easily be split by the BW (before-wand) days and the PW (post-wand) days... or that moment when you realize what SL can be like when taken to the maximum of its potential.

Most everything Starax created was not transferable, including the wand. Even Light Waves' wand by Starax is no transfer, or so he says.:P In fact, Light Waves was quick to point out that he doesn't own anything by Starax.

So there you have it. I think we can all now conclude that Starax's creations are the true artifacts of Second Life.

"Any chance you will make another wand?" I asked hopefully, to which Light Waves replied, "I doubt I will make another wand. It was just too expensive. I felt uncomfortable selling it to people who didn't really feel it was worth it, or to people who couldn't really afford it."

So how did I find out? I won't tell all, but really, if you look hard enough, the bread crumbs leading to Light Waves are all over the place. I will say this... getting to this point, this conclusion to my quest, has been more fun and intriguing than any Myst game could ever be!

Aenea Nori was on to something when she blogged about some of the things found at Greenies Home Rezzable, saying they were built "by an av named Light Waves (whose profile appears to be that of an alt, and may or may not have been Starax — hence the discussion of whether he-who-has-disappeared has returned."

While our very own Pavig Lok is the lead creator of Greenies Home Rezzable, working together with NPIRL'er LittleToe Bartlett, it was Light who made the graceful ballerina, the fanciful canary escaping from its cage, and it was he who begat the very droll and adorable Greenies.





So what is Light up to today? NPIRL'ers had a preview yesterday of a whole new sim which he began less than a week ago. Dearest readers... the beauty of it brought tears to my eyes! It is everything you would expect of a builder of Starax's stature and more. I won't give out the landmark nor publish photographs of it until it is complete, except for these two pics. For those who knew his work, the whale and the bird here are testaments to the fact that Starax and Light Waves are one and the same.


And what does Starax look like now? Well... the day I met him he looked sorta like this - a greenie! - though obviously this isn't him:

Finally, I had to get his opinion of sculpties. "They're umm... okay, I guess :) A bit wobbly and a lot of hard work to make. But then everything is hard work to make these days. People expect so much more. I miss the days when I could just make something from raw prims and people would like it," was his reply.

Light shared that he is using Mudbox, Cinema 4D and Maya and then he added, "but I've just seen Modo 301. That looks rather nice, so maybe it's time for a change :)"

I would have to agree with you, Light. I'd say it's definitely time for a change. And Light? Welcome home! Want a cookie? A glass of milk?