On Artists and their Patrons

Nurturing Support for the Arts in Second Life
(A Guest Column by Larry Johnson, aka Larry Pixel)

I had an interesting conversation with Bettina Tizzy the other day when we met in real life for the first time. Over dinner she relayed to me her concern that there are fewer and fewer patrons willing to give artists a place to do their work in Second Life®. Knowing that the New Media Consortium (NMC) has been arguably the largest patron of the arts to the general SL arts community over the years, sponsoring show after show on Ars Simulacra, as well as NMC Campus West, the home of the Aho Museum, she asked if I had any insights.

I do, in fact. At one point the NMC dedicated 7 full sims and 9 voids regularly to art projects, generally passing full control to the artists. Over the last year, however, NMC has reduced its hosting of artists from dozens to a very small number — and none of those we currently host have control over a full sim. That is a big departure from past practice.

The reasons are largely *not* economic.

There is an odd dynamic in SL between artists and landowners. For the landowner, beyond perhaps some bragging rights of limited value, there is really almost no payoff for hosting artists. Most of them generally ignore you, and barely conceal the fact they'd be happiest if you just left them alone to do their thing.

For artists, on the other hand, access to land and lots of it is a huge status indicator. The most successful artists — be they conceptual or "pure" artists, or designers who just love to build — are the ones who have regular access to new land that they can do art on.

The need for new sources of land is important, for what drives the artist is the need to create. To continue to make new stuff, artists either need new land, or they have to pick up past creations, which means their work can't be seen.

There is a large class of good artists who have not sorted out how to manage getting new land, and are stuck building in borrowed spaces or sandboxes, and look to galleries to show their stuff. Galleries, of course, are businesses, so the goals are not very well aligned between the average artist and the average gallery owner. It is hard for these artists to grow, and without sponsors willing to give prims and space, much good art will simply never have the resources to be realized or seen.

Established artists are rare in Second Life, and to my knowledge less than a handful have sorted out how to regularly get free land for projects, which is the ultimate currency in SL for an artist.

Few of the thousands of other artists have been able to find that level of support. Indeed, after listing 3 or maybe 4 well-known artists, all of whom have regular access to land for new ideas, the list seems to fade away. Among that group, challenges are getting more common. One of the most popular has lost many of his early and most significant builds. Another ground-breaking sculpture that once occupied the full volume of a sim lives on only in video and blog posts. A major sponsor of several highly regarded artists is increasingly demanding a revenue flow from the works hosted there, and content is folded up regularly to make room for new projects. That is a very different story than just a year ago when almost anyone with a concept could get land for projects.

I agree with Bettina that big art in Second Life is in serious trouble, and the future looks less and less bright for artists who need to find that patron who will give them a place to work and create.

I'd love to sit down for coffee with some of the other large landowners who support the arts in SL. I bet we'd all share similar experiences, primarily that historically there has been little benefit that accrues to a sponsor from hosting an artist.

I'd bet $1000 that no one whose work is displayed in the Aho Museum, Ars Simulacra, or NMC Campus West really understands or appreciates what we do at the NMC, beyond hosting them, or for that matter, even cares. I'd venture to say even the artists we have given a home to for years would have a hard time explaining what it is we do at the NMC, or how our SL projects line up with our far more subtantial work in RL. The work we do to create a place to host the art is just not part of the story for them. I doubt that anyone who has been featured in our many full-sim exhibitions has had any sense of where they were, that they were taking part in a grand project with international reknown, or that many many other events happen there. They just know we host artists; the rest is a mystery of their own making.

That is a not an issue unique to NMC.

Generally artists in SL just don't pay attention to these things. Certainly there is no mention at all of the hosts on a typical artists' invitation to a show or a performance beyond a sim name. Indeed, I cannot name but one or two examples from all the artists I know that illustrate good practice in nurturing support for the arts.

How many artists list their patrons work in their picks for example? That would be a very very simple thing to do. I did a quick check of the the top artists we support, and not one mentioned our project anywhere in their picks, yet we've put out tens of thousands of actual real dollars in support for the arts over the last three years.

This does not mean artists have to shill.

Indeed, no one would like that. But I do think artists need to acknowledge, especially in here, that their patrons are not stupid rich people with no talent of their own. In fact, of the major patrons I know, all of them have a fantastic and massive vision for virtual worlds that is almost completely unacknowledged by the artists they support -- and all of them work their tails off to make it happen.

Our own project, for example, is the largest educational effort in Second Life by any measure -- a vibrant community of more than 150 universities doing all sorts of cool stuff. The project has been completely self-supporting for 2 years, and was built with no seed money. It now supports dozens of artists, hundreds of faculty, and thousands of students, from more than 50 countries -- and makes tier on nearly 100 islands every month! The average visitor spends an astonishing 98 minutes per visit -- and there are about 15,000 unique visitors to the NMC Campus each month. It is such a substantial project that Linden Lab spent six months documenting it for a case study on their site.

Yet not one artist we support, and there are a great many, would likely have any mention of NMC Campus in their picks. A few note the Aho Museum as a place to find their art, but none the larger project.

Does that seem as out of balance to you as it does to me?

Bettina is right. One day, we patrons are going to realize that the value equation here is way out of balance. Free land for artists is not an entitlement -- no matter how good they are, it should be a partnership, centered on the love of art, but grounded in mutual self-interests. At the end of the day, they need prims to create, and prims are not free.

There is a huge need in SL for artists to acknowledge the symbiotic nature of their relationships with landowners, and they need to take the time to learn and appreciate the work patrons are doing. And they need to help those people succeed. I can't point to a single example in SL that meets that standard.

It is more than showing up with art. If that is all it is, then this train is already grinding to a stop all across the grid. Large sponsorships are already down significantly, and I can see them drying up altogether.

I think learning how to nurture support for the virtual arts is a self-education project that SL artists need to undertake for their own good. In doing so, they need to acknowledge the role of entrepreneurs in making their art possible, and they need to see the artistry in their patrons' work as clearly as patrons see it in the artists.

It is an investment in the sustainability of virtual art.

I'd hate to see patronship erode further. Bettina thinks it is in crisis. As one who has worked for years to support virtual art and artists and musicians of all genres, I have to agree.

To my way of thinking, it is just devastating to see patrons disappearing across the grid as fast as they are, even as Second Life land ownership sets new records monthly. My hope is that artists in Second Life will work together to make clear what the value in supporting virtual arts is for patrons, and help each other learn how to nurture and sustain support for the arts in Second Life, just as artists do in the real world.

Virtual art is fragile enough as it is. The time to do something is now.

Not Possible IRL + Koinup = Not Possible IRL Safaris: First stop... the world of Tayzia Abattoir

The Not Possible IRL and Impossible IRL groups are partnering with Koinup - an inclusive social networking site for all Virtual Worlds that permits storage and sharing of imagery: photography, Machinima, and "storyboards" - to host a new kind of joint monthly event called the Not Possible IRL Safaris.



Among the Virtual Worlds you'll find images of on Koinup: Second Life®, World of Warcraft, Lively, The Sims, IMVU, vSide, Kaneva, There, and more.

Koinup's CEO Pierluigi Casolari and I agree that the convergence of media from all these worlds will expose Koinup's members to new ideas and stimulate an appreciation for new lands, as well as heavy crossover. Speaking for myself, I hope that crossover will funnel thousands of new members to Second Life, where user content creation and creativity are not only possible, but the future of the 3D web. I also see it as a way to promote and showcase top-notch creators and their quality content.

To that end, the first Not Possible IRL Safari will be hosted by the ultimate aggregator of art in Second Life, Tayzia Abattoir, on Saturday, September 13th at 6pm SLT, starting at the Crescent Moon (teleport directly from here).

The first Safari: The World of Tayzia Abattoir
Tayzia founded the Crescent Moon Museum - the longest continously-running art house in Second Life - back in February 2005 and her inventory (over 70k items and practically all of it art!) is probably the richest in-world repository of one-of-a-kind sculptures, art installations, paintings and photography in all of Second Life. In addition to running the Crescent Moon, Tayzia also curates the New Media Consortium's (NMC) Kirsti Aho Museum , and Ars Simulacra, the NMC's Second Life artist showcase island.

About a year ago, Tayzia took me under her incredible wings and gave me a crash course on art and artists in Second Life, leaving my own life and virtual dreams forever changed. Tayzia rezzes art that no one else possesses, and knows more about how each artist got started, who's work they were influenced by, and what they are up to, than anyone else on the grid. It's simply the best way to kick off the Not Possible IRL Safaris with our new partner, Koinup.

Later and once a month, NPIRL and Koinup will offer Safaris and tours with many of Second Life's best content creators, exposing the participants to new sims, new content, and new ideas that are leaving the old world behind and breaching the future. See you there!

The Not Possible IRL (NPIRL) and Impossible IRL (ImpIRL) groups are dedicated to identifying and sharing well conceived and realized content creation in Virtual Worlds which would not be possible in Real Life: architecture, landscaping, art, animations, fashion, particle effects, building tools and scripts... show me, I'll show you.

Unexpected objects

"Recent works," which will open this Sunday, is a bit of a meditative walkabout with surprises around each bend in your path. Created by Mencius Watts and Taggert Alsop, and curated by Tayzia Abattoir, this kinetic light and sound and space installation invites quiet exploration, and while much of it - if not all - would be possible in Real Life (PIRL), the cost of mounting such a show would be prohibitive unless you happen to be one of the ten or so names in the art world with the proven ability to pull in some very serious money and support.

It works well in a virtual environment, and realism is achieved with these unexpected objects in unexpected places by breathing life into them through the use of video, light, movement, and live feeds.

One exhibit works interactively with Flickr. You type in any word, and it pulls and displays approximately thirty photographs that are tagged with that word. For this video, I typed "NMC," which stands for New Media Consortium, the organization that is hosting the show. Another installation displays RSS news feeds. The works are proximity triggered, so you must get close enough to set them off, or alternatively, turn your media on.


Filmed and edited by Bettina Tizzy
Sound files produced by Taggert Alsop

Mencius Watts is the "artist" account for an American with a Master of Fine Arts degree in Intermedia and Video Art. Using another account for his "day job," he heads up a research group that works exclusively in virtual environments, including Second Life®. His professional focus resides with interface design, social engagement, virtuality and simulation.

Mencius Watts: We work a lot in Second Life these days... art mostly. We do museum kiosks... gesture-based, touch screens, etc.

Does that carry over in the art that Mencius does?
Mencius Watts: Yes. I reinvent a lot of my Real Life works. I am a video artist... do installations. I collaborate with scripters, composers, etc.

Who are your collaborators?
Mencius Watts: A group of Real Life artists and programmers. The main avatar is Taggert Alsop.

Ah, not in world...
Mencius Watts: Well, we are in Second Life, too. All blurry. Taggert does most of the scripting and most composing for the works. I do the 3D and media concepts. For me and our group, (this show) is a wonderful opportunity to explore virtual art and showcase the intersections of art and technology. (There is) a lot of content in the works, but some pretty hefty back end know-how driving it (and) making it work. For the user, a direct experience with the work... not clunky. The aesthetic experience is the most important. The technology behind it should disappear.

The collection of works will open to the public beginning Sunday and will be up for a month at Ars Simulacra, the New Media Consortium's (NMC) Second Life artist showcase island. Teleport directly from here.

The safety of spaces

He has challenged our idea of place since the beginning with the Far Away... a field of wheat, grey skies, a rusty old train, a table... but in our pixelated reality it is a comforting riddle that has gripped the imagination of tens of thousands of its visitors. Now, AM Radio, degreed in Fine Arts and living in the Chicago area, has unveiled two new installations: Husk, on a sim sponsored by the New Media Consortium, and The Quiet, sponsored by Princeton University. It gives me great pleasure to introduce you to his new Machinima featuring - and weaving together - all three places, with music by Torley Linden.



I learned today that AM seeks to inspire viewers to create and define their own narratives of experience as evidenced within the Flickr groups (see below) that are dedicated to each of the installations.

He shared the following quote with me from John A. Jalke's "The Visual Elements of Landscape":

A view, as a complex set of objects (a kind of place itself), can be categorized to basic components. These components include: (1) extent of view or the distance over which sight is effective; (2) foreground-middleground-background discontinuities or the existence of multiple horizons; (3) enframement by which the sight is bounded; (4) focal points that serve as attention getters; and (5) sense of security implicit in focal points that imply refuge. Effective views contain prospects that enable viewers to survey considerable distances over several successive horizons.

AM Radio: At once, you can read these ideas to mean that safe havens are, in fact, tactical positions, or more simply, great hiding places. Refuge implies safety. The way in which a place can imply safety is via its tactical position in a landscape. Comfort can be specifically constructed into a new unfamiliar space via it's ability to supply a visual advantage. The visual advantage allows the user to remain in a place while monitoring all entry points, as well as to plan an escape should the refuge fail. The design of the space should also imply the possible exploration of further, unseen spaces.

AM's work seeks to show that ideas of landscape and tourism are as pervasive in 3d virtual spaces as they are in real life. By creating a framework of traditional, and recognizable experiences based in realism, the artist can begin to manipulate the rules our souls would wish to prohibit. Rules such as gravity.

AM Radio: Realism in virtual spaces declares a universal language, upon which abstractions can be created. By transporting the user into a safe place by using rich visuals steeped in nostalgia and familiarity, these spaces calm the user into accepting what would seem to be impossible and dreamlike situations. The viewer is then free to form ideas and to make emotional associations upon the implied meanings of objects and symbols within the sims, rather than wondering if and how they should. The viewer subsequently and confidently shares those ideas and emotions with their fellow virtual travelers via images, dialog and stories.

Flickr groups about these three installations:
The Far Away (teleport directly from here)
The Quiet (teleport directly from here)
Husk (teleport directly from here)

Mr. Pixel goes to Washington

Update: You can view the testimonial here.

Our own Larry Pixel (aka Larry Johnson, PhD), CEO of the New Media Consortium (NMC), testified today, along with Philip Linden (aka Philip Rosedale) - soon to step down as CEO to become Chairman of the Board of Second Life's Linden Lab - before Congress and its Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet. The topic: "Online Virtual Worlds: Applications and Avatars in a User-Generated Medium.” You can read what Larry had to say here.

It's a shame that Philip didn't publish his prepared remarks on the web, as well. For the record, I'd be happy to share my thoughts with the marketing and public relations team of Linden Lab. I think they need to pull up their socks, don't you?

DanCoyote Antonelli's music-driven virtual flight choreography

DanCoyote Antonelli's ZeroG Skydancers "Second Spring," - presented by the NMC - shatters so much new ground, it's a wonder I was able to walk out of the place in a straight line. And the music by ZeroOne Paz! I want that track on my iPod now.

This was the first weekend of the third season, and only my first time there. I admit now that I was worried that all the buzz I'd heard about past events was nothing more than feverish hype... but that theory has been squashed to bits.

ZeroG SkyDancers is virtual flight choreography, to an original sound score. As young as the metaverse is, it is easy to see that DanCoyote Antonelli is having an enduring influence, tearing through the mediums of dance and music and art and recasting everything in his path.

SkyDancers will run through the end of March, and tickets are $3,000L, but you'd better lock yours in soon or you'll be locked out. To keep lag outside, too, DC is hyper-limiting the seating. Contact DC@spensley.com for tickets.

Gary Hazlitt just filmed and edited this sparkling trailer.


You can see a higher resolution version of this here.

Turning the page on 2007 in virtual worlds - What happened and what's next

Virtual worlds are at the heart of what Not Possible IRL is about. Without them, our group and our cause would cease to exist. 2007 was the year I discovered Second Life. I am too new to look back and too new to look forward - with any real sense of perspective - so I turned to three thought leaders and veterans of virtual worlds who are deeply in touch with the ups and downs of the metaverse in very different ways.

Larry Pixel (aka Larry F. Johnson, Ph.D.) is the CEO of the New Media Consortium (NMC), an international consortium of more than 250 world-class universities, colleges, museums, research centers, and technology companies - and the largest educational body in Second Life - dedicated to using new technologies to inspire, energize, stimulate, and support learning and creative expression. He is also the founder and chief instigator of the prestigious Horizon Project , an annual status report on emerging technologies and education.

Forseti Svarog (aka Giff Constable) is the COO of The Electric Sheep Company, the largest startup dedicated to the creation of 3D content and sticky experiences in virtual worlds Second Life and There.com, including the "I am Legend" survival game on behalf of Warner Brothers, and the "CSI NY: Virtual Experience" - both in Second Life - as well as the OnRez viewer, a User Interface that makes navigating the metaverse more intuitive and accessible.

Seifert Surface is a post-doctoral mathematician who is probably best known in Second Life for creating a tesseract house inspired by Robert A. Heinlein's short story "--And He Built A Crooked House--," as well as his math-inspired sculpture, but I will likely think of him first and foremost as the winner of the Not Possible IRL logo contest.

Bettina Tizzy: Insofar as virtual worlds are concerned, what are you looking forward to?

Larry Pixel: I am pleased to see the work Linden Lab (LL) is doing to address stability and quality issues -- I am seeing real progress, and many signs that indicate that it is a major focus for them. I am also excited by the large number (50+) of players in the larger virtual worlds space, many of them new in the last few months. LL has been especially supportive of the work education is doing in Second Life, and that, along with the clear successes we are seeing in the edu space, makes it easy to be excited.

Forseti Svarog: I think 2008 will be a continued year of interesting experimentation for Second Life. SL will continue to see amazing creative exploration but its overall growth will slow until Linden Lab and the broader SL ecosystem are able to solve some of the things holding SL back such as stability, scripting limitations, limited APIs, usability, and more. I actually do not think that it is the visual capabilities (i.e. Windlight) that are getting in the way of its success right now, and LL needs to be careful not to focus on visual sexiness in such a way that they push the platform out ahead of most people's computer capabilities. SL needs more killer apps, i.e. more reasons for non-creatives to come, but the platform really needs to become more robust to get there. That said, I do expect SL to remain an interesting and active virtual world.

2008 should see a lot of virtual worlds activity around the youth market, more private worlds on a diverse set of platforms, and more "stepping stone" approaches where projects bridge 2D, flash-based worlds, and 3D. There will be continued corporate and educational experimentation in Second Life, Wunderland, and other tools as people try to understand how virtual worlds aid in team and group learning and collaboration. It shall be interesting to see what Google/Sketchup does in 2008, and if that consumes some of the architecture/design energy that has been pouring into SL this past year.

Seifert Surface: Lots of stuff. Better and faster scripts with Mono, and physics with Havok 4 should lead to lots of new ideas becoming possible to realise. Longer term, I think sculpties will be only the beginning in terms of better support for 3D objects.

Bettina Tizzy: What technologies or trends have you particularly intrigued?

Larry Pixel: I am very, very interested in social networking, something that is inherent in Second Life, yet still not implemented very well, especially when you compare it to some of the other major social networking platforms in common use on the flat web. An entrant that can bring the "user-built" philosophy and the openness to IP and ownership of virtual work that LL has pioneered, and mesh it with true ownership (ie backup to disk), easy compatibility with other 3D creation platforms, and rich social networking tools, will take over this space in no time. I have not seen that company emerge yet, but I am watching!

I am soooooo ready for SL on my iPhone. I hope someone is working on that client right now.

Forseti Svarog: There will be a host of private worlds built on emerging 2.5D and 3D virtual world platforms, but I'm guessing that many will not be as accessible to creative exploration as Second Life. Multiverse is quite interesting but my impression is that it is oriented around much bigger game and virtual world projects with larger teams and budgets. I think this audience should keep its eye on Metaplace, which should be a really neat avenue for creative exploration, albeit quite different from SL in that creativity will orient around 2D and 2.5D art and game design.

Seifert Surface: There are many interesting 3D interface ideas happening, particularly the Wii Remote and what people are doing with it. Imagine building in 3D by moving things around in 3D. Also, check out this video on head tracking for desktop VR displays using the Wii Remote:

Bettina Tizzy: What, if anything, has you especially concerned in regards to Second Life and virtual worlds' evolution?

Larry Pixel: Second Life, in particular, is already suffering from the perception of it as a "walled garden." We are seeing a move, among companies especially, to far less capable platforms, which are "open" and which they can "own" (ie, put behind a firewall). This may not be a bad thing for SL, but it is not a good thing for virtual worlds in general, as it will drive dollars to lesser platforms.

Linden Lab has said publicly several times that they want to go open, and have with the client. If they can open the backend in 2008, they will grow immensely. If not, we may be seeing them in 2-3 years as an interesting early player -- like CompuServe, or AOL.

Forseti Svarog: I remain very bullish on the entire virtual worlds space, but it is going to fragment in 2008 in more platforms and more private worlds. I think Second Life is going through a transition period where the technology, and our broader culture, has to catch up to the vision. SL's ability to succeed will depend on how well and how quickly Linden Lab is able to execute, and if and when someone puts forth a compelling competitive alternative.

Seifert Surface: Nothing really, I think the seed has been planted now, and no matter if it is Second Life or some other virtual world that becomes the de facto metaverse, it's going to happen. I guess the demise of net neutrality could be something to worry about.

Bettina Tizzy: Is there anything in particular that you wish Linden Lab was doing differently?

Larry Pixel:
1) See above re: open sourcing the back end.
2) Find some way to relax the Byzantine hoops and rules one must go through to do anything with highschoolers.

Forseti Svarog: This is hard to say without a clear window into their priorities and active projects. I know they are aware of all the problems and challenges, and complex software is not written or improved overnight. This stuff takes time.

Seifert Surface: There are occasional issues, I think, that could be handled better than they are, but generally I think they're doing a pretty good job.

Bettina Tizzy: Any personal goals or projects you'd care to share with us?

Larry Pixel: NMC Virtual Worlds plans a big announcement after the first of the year. It will come out first in the NMC Campus Observer, about January 10th.

Also, the NMC's highly influential Horizon Report (75,000+ copies downloaded or purchased in hard copy in 2007) will be released in late January. The contents of the 2008 report will be announced on the wiki next week.

Notably, this will be the first year since 2005 that some form of virtual worlds is not mentioned in the Horizon Report. I am not sure if that means it is now mainstream for edu, or if it is passe, but among my Real Life constituency, there are many many established projects, and many of these are clearly reaching mainstream faculty and other groups. Within the NMC, virtual worlds are still important, but are no longer considered the set of hot emerging technologies they once were.

Forseti Svarog: My own bandwidth for taking on creative projects remains extremely limited. In 2007, my only big creative project was the book of avatar portraits. In 2008, I hope to find time to either dive into a personal Second Life Machinima project, or try something completely new on Metaplace.

Seifert Surface: Well, there's my new sim, "xyz", currently (and likely for the rest of time) under construction.


Finally, I asked if they considered themselves optimists or pessimists. Turns out that all three identify themselves as optimists, but Larry added, "Clearly an optimist, but also a pragmatist. I am quite optimistic that good ideas will be adopted broadly -- it just takes time. Some fall by the wayside, but as someone who has devoted a career to implementing emerging technologies, the ride is always fun, and there is much to be learned by studying ideas that seem to have great promise, even if later it becomes clear they were a side road on the path to another set of ideas."

I can't help wondering if all participants in virtual worlds... really, all early adopters, must be optimists in order to remain sane while embracing and exploring new ideas and opportunities.

Strawberry Holiday' sends us on our journey

It was a pretty invitation... luminous, with sweet particle stars.



"On Their Journeys" by Strawberry Holiday - which opened today - is a girlish, diaphanous installation that encourages daydreaming. Teleport directly from here.

The pathways are interactive... you might be enveloped in a translucent cloud, or see the steps twinkle beneath your feet.



Her "fractal trees" will surely please fiddling Flickrites as much as they did me. I don't have PhotoShop... yet... but this is one place that begs playfulness with the resulting photographs.



Here is the raw pic... Heh, as you can see, I still have a looong way to go before I can call myself a photographer.



The colors, particularly from this perspective, made me think that we need a recreation of Monet's garden at Giverny in Second Life.



In a few weeks, "On Their Journeys" is expected to join other interactive art at the much anticipated opening exhibition for the new NMC Aho Museum, curated by our very own Tayzia Abattoir.

Three Starax wands + Light Waves + a bare sim to play in = surely the most "WOWS" "ooooos" and "ahahahas" ever recorded in Second Life

NOTE: Most everything Starax created was not transferable, including the wand. Even Light Waves' wand by Starax is no transfer, so lamentably, this wand is no longer available for purchase/sale.

Considering the circumstances, the events of this afternoon were without precedent… a Not Possible IRL extravaganza... simply the wildest and most electrifying hour of entertainment yours truly can recall.

There stood Light Waves – the man who was once known as Starax - on a brand new barren island - holding what is widely considered the most celebrated object ever created in Second Life, the Starax wand.

Nearby... two of the original members of the Magic Wand Society, Ravenelle Zugzwang and Dirk Talamasca, their own wands at the ready. The rest of us: one blissful bunch of NPIRL'ers, there for the unimaginable romp that ensued.

A handful of extraordinary people hopped on the same wavelength to pull everything together in a couple of days for the merrymaking:
* Our warmest gratitude to you, Light Waves, for playing with us today even though you had a cold! Thank you for your wizardry and for creating the happy and heartbreakingly-beautiful things we so enjoy. *Hugs*
* We missed you, Larry Pixel! Wish we could have tp'ed you away from that RL plane and right onto the simulator you and the NMC so generously lent us for this special occasion.
* Ravenelle Zugzwang, also of the NMC… you didn't leave one thing to chance. Thanks to your skillful coordination, it all went off without a hitch. I don't envy you your wand. I'm so glad to know that someone as nice as you has one.
* Tayzia Abattoir, is there no end to all the joy you bring us? Thank you for helping us to find all the right people to make this happen.
* Bebop Vox, can't wait to see what you caught on video!
* Dirk Talamasca, you know that wand like the back of your hand. Loved the way you played with it.
* Finally, Wellington Bahram, thank you so much for taking the time to capture these super photographs in spite of the mayhem!

And without warning, things began to happen! Here a huge greenhouse appears... suddenly the glass is shattered; shards of glass falling all around you. Also rezzed here: a rhino, a crying baby, a revolver, and Homer!

There was the flying pig...

The wand makes things appear whenever they are mentioned, even in casual conversation! If you say "hello," giant letters forming the word fall from the sky. Then there's this giant green Cthulhu! Look behind him to see a flying pegasus with lovely flapping wings.

Dirk hopped on board the pegasus and flew away!

This girl's bubble grows and grows and grows... until finally it topples her over!

We were too busy having fun to photograph everything that materialized before our eyes... a sim-wide buffalo stampede, trains, Lear jets taking off, buses running over us... I especially loved the giant eagle, and the animations! Wow!

Mention Kong, and woalla! The giant ape appears, complete with his beloved Ann Darrow.

This rocket took off so high and so fast, I was unable to follow it with the camera after it ascended several hundred feet.

Beyond the brilliant scripting and the major-league sense of humor behind his work, Starax/Light Waves' staggeringly beautiful sculptures take center stage.



Uh oh! Santa overloaded his sled this year?

Not shown here... but when giant electric fans appear, their generated wind blows you away! Also, some things will set the avatars in their path on fire... here is one way to put it out!

This one is actually scary... O.o Wicked souls afire... rush screaming out of the devil's door.

Here Light Waves is caught in the eagle's talons and taken away! Riding that eagle is one of our newest NPIRL'ers, Kid Kuhn.
Ever so *many* things are not pictured here. We were too busy having fun! :P

This was one NPIRL exclusive that will be talked about for months and years to come.

"Dancing with Angels" - DanCoyote Antonelli's ZeroG Sky Dancers

While this took place on June 29, 2007 at the NMC Art Showcase to celebrate Second Life's 4th birthday - before the Not Possible IRL group was even established - we thought we'd share it with you here. Not only is every aspect of the video and the event it portrays impecable, it is - end to end - sumptuous eye candy.

Created by DC Spensley
Produced and directed by NPIRL's DanCoyote Antonelli
Machinamatography and editing by NPIRL's newest member:
Welcome Gary Hazlitt!
Original score ZeroOne Paz (ZeroOne, tip of the hat to you. Great score!)

SkyDancers:
Assistant director Anhinga Chaika
Assistant producers Callypian Christianson Deborah Stranglove
Prima - Tatiana Kurri, Angelique Menoptra, Lina Lageos, Kensai Uriza

House manager Onyx Bijoux
Technical director ZenMondo Wormser
Costume designer Sabine Stonebender