Watch out! YOU are REC!

Posted by Alpha Auer, with special thanks to Aenea Nori, for having reminded us of REC!

Having a proven and vested interest in crime scenes, it would appear that I really am the woman for the job here, as can be readily witnessed on this link on my Real Life website.

And yet, even with all of my prior preoccupations in the matter, dai Lageos' REC turned out to be my match and much more. This is an immersive experience, which you can indulge in only through the aid of a head mounted camera. This will put you in the position of wandering inside a darkened apartment building's stairwell; whilst looking for the clues of a truly gory crime that has been committed on the premises, through a visor. And compounding your agony is that, as the blinker on the top relentlessly reminds you, you are forced to not only record everything that you encounter but the camera also offers unexpected flashbacks of images of the very moments of the actual crime itself.





And it is indeed these flashbacks, over in split seconds, occurring at rare and random intervals, that take REC from the mere mundane recreation of a CSI episode stageset on to a whole different level: A terrifying experience.





While the building is rendered in an almost cartoonish, anime-like fashion, complete with contours that surround the beautifully textured individual surfaces; the flashbacks are cruelly photographic, frozen moments of visual noise ridden horror. And it is this juxtaposition of the very real with the cartoon-like that makes for the extraordinary visual and immersive experience that is REC. Furthermore these flashbacks are placed at sufficiently rare intervals (not more than 5 altogether during the half hour or so that I spent at REC) and are over so fast that they stay shy of becoming gimmicky but achieve the effect that they are meant to convey: Abject horror and helplessness!

At REC you are meant to aid the investigation by gaining access into the dwelling units behind the closed doors through finding the clues that are meant to open those very doors. But as said, REC proved to be my match when it came to my amateurish investigative skills: I was utterly unable to do so. May you have better luck! But regardless of whether you do or not - REC is a must see of Second Life®, to which you can teleport to directly from here.

Second Life® shrugged

Years from now we'll look upon this period in the history of virtual worlds as a time of splintering. Like the English settlers who fled the corruption of the Anglican church and struck out to establish colonies, several thousands of Second Lifers, disappointed and disillusioned with Linden Lab's mismanagement and lack of support, are seeking new territories and a fresh start.

Statistically, and against the half million+ residents that actually use Second Life, a few thousand people wouldn't normally be missed. But these aren't just any Second Lifers. They are Second Life's backbone.

Most of the people I'm meeting on other grids have been loyal to Second Life for years. I recognize their names from the forums, prosperous stores, and the JIRA. They are the people who know Second Life backwards and forwards and they are also the people who contributed heavily to whatever success it may claim. Second Life was built on their shoulders and now they are collectively shrugging it off and vowing to diversify and support alternative worlds.

They tell me they don't want to contribute their business leadership, their innovations, their art and their ideas to a world that exploits them and won't protect their creations or their investments. Many of these explorers pay their mortgages and car payments from their virtual incomes, too. While most have no choice but to remain in Second Life for the time being, they are also now busily working on building their own grids and planting their flags in fledgling new worlds and rolling up their sleeves to help those new grids gain their footing.

They do so with a heavy heart, but with hopes for a brighter future.

Here in the United States, we'll be celebrating Thanksgiving - our annual harvest festival - on November 27th. On this day we commemorate the pilgrims' early progress and colonization, and give thanks. Perhaps there will be a similar holiday in pixelated form in the future... If this happens, it will be because early settlers made it possible.

AM Radio's tree, reloaded

Years ago, Second Life® artist AM Radio created a digital illustration of a dead tree suspended in mid-air that he later realized in 3D for Burning Life, working within the confines imposed by the virtual Playa.


AM's Burning Life contribution, the first "Beneath the Tree that Died"

Now and through January 1, 2009, the University of Kentucky and its curator - an artist and contributor to this blog - Tezcatlipoca Bisiani, have provided him with a 256 square meter canvas on the virtual campus to recreate Beneath the Tree that Died .


The original illustration can be found on one end of a country road, surrounded by a grouping of open umbrellas which are set to "physical" and can therefore be tumbled around like sagebrush by visitors to the installation. Click to see large

AM appreciates a vast expanse that invites solitude; this much I know from visiting each of his virtual art works. The immersive environments he creates are intimate despite the apparent immensity of the space they occupy: panoramic and seemingly endless pastures or meadows surrounded by lines of trees that are far, far away. Nature is the perennial headliner and often one can sense the cycles of life, for while a field of wheat may be waiting to be harvested, the rusty carcass of an old train engine sits exhausted in its midst.

He succeeds where most others fail when it comes to enabling us to suspend belief, for while we never quite forget that we are logged into a virtual environment, the sensation is as close as I've experienced to "inhabiting" a work of art, largely because everything is executed with technical skill, taking the medium as far as it can apparently go; not quite a copy world and yet...

Hyperreal scenes then give way to the surreal as he introduces unexpected elements: violins floating in an icy pond, dozens of hammers suspended in mid-air, animations that make it possible for the visitor to hover gently over - but always near - the mise en scène.

AM has also created the hat and umbrella for the Mary Poppins avatar. This isn't surprising given that his own avatar is somewhat of a male version of the same: seemingly conventional and yet quite extraordinary, as dragonflies cling to him and he is often carrying a load of sticks on his back.

And then there is always a radio. It's the first thing you hear when you arrive at the University of Kentucky's island.

Beneath the Tree that Died

The elements of Beneath the Tree that Died are few, but not spartan. There is the original illustration surrounded by umbrellas on one end of a New England parkway. Further along, a large dead tree with its roots intact is suspended above that same country road, and a 1948 Plymouth is nearly beneath it, not quite aligned with the roadway. In fact it is crossing the line. Something may be amiss.


Turn your media on and you will note that the texture on the ground megaprim is code-generated. An algorithm will begin running in Javascript on your computer. Each person sees a different pattern and the design evolves. Hit Stop and Play and you will see a different design

Just beneath the tree and also on the road, a telegram...


This photograph by AM Radio. Click to see large

When asked what his art meant during a preview of the new show, he replied: "I think it means what you bring to it. Here I have my story. Things that are precious to me. Moments in my life, a tree, a car, the weather station my grandfather always listened to. This is simply me, my most inner thoughts and dreams and feelings. What it means, I suppose is what you bring to it, your own story. Here is a narrative that can only be complete when you view the work and react to it."

Second Life has a one-year old client-side feature called Windlight - a lighting and rendering system - that enables its residents to set atmospheric conditions such as the times of day or night. Several users have created "presets," which make it possible to share specific sky and water palettes with others. Soon after Windlight was introduced, AM created a mustardy preset called Nostalgia that is utilized today by many photographers within virtual worlds. In the past, all of AM's installations have not only invited the use of Windlight, but often benefited from it. Beneath the Tree that Died thrives exceptionally in the default atmospheric setting, or as AM puts it, "It likes the time of day."


This photograph by AM Radio. Visitors can change the color of the car by touching it.

"Beneath the Tree that Died," can be accessed by teleporting here, and touching a red door.



See also:

* At the root of the matter
* AM Radio and Miki Gymnast collaborate - Two distinct art languages converse
* Become practically perfect in every way
* The safety of spaces
* Photo restoration via Second Life
* Second Lifers' love of wheat
* Pixelated wheat buys real cows for families struggling against poverty and hunger
* The wheat field... has a secret

Ballet and Colour and Soundscape

A total windsculpture by Glyph Graves

I will leave you with the notes of the artist himself to explain to you this wonderfully delicate work, in which he has mapped sound and visuality onto the vagaries and randomness of one of the components of a virtual climate - wind...

"This installation takes the Second Life® wind and maps it to movement, colour and a set of notes represented in the forms of creatures moving in the air. Each individual creature in the main installation is independent, correlated by the wind...



... You will see the windmap that maps the SL wind to colour....



... You will hear the windflutes that map the wind vector to two sets of notes....



... This is a continuation of my play with mapping the SL wind.. synthesia for all :) Previously I had mapped the wind to the colour vector and used it to display the wind in part of the sim from <0,0,0> to <90,90,0> . This can be seen on the ground at Brooklyn is Watching along with the tubular windflute..."

Technical Notes
The x and y movement of the jellyfish/ windworms is a mapping from the SL wind vector.
The colours are the wind vector mapped to the Red Green Blue Vector, with strength as the blue component.

Sound
In the main installation the X component of the wind is mapped to the DreamPad notes and the Y axis to the flute. Wind strength modulates the volume on both, and the tempo of the flute (rather perversely I made the tempo inversely proportional to the wind strength, ie stronger = slower). The result is surprisingly pleasing.. there is some dissonance, but then I like that. Mostly it is melodic but of course the result depends on the strength and direction of the SL wind.

Acknowledgements
Sample sets were downloaded from open source sound sites.

The Padbell note set and the Dreampad note set is by Jovica, http://freesound.iua.upf.edu/

The flute is by the London Philhamonia (with some minor modification in Audacity) http://www.philharmonia.co.uk/thesoundexchange/sound_samples/sample_libraries/notes/

You can teleport to Glyph Graves's windsculpture directly from here.

On ironforged velvety ocelot paws: Here comes Vry Offcourse...

Posted by Alpha Auer

Basically I bought so many skins from Vry Offcourse that in the end the poor thing had no choice but to befriend me. So, now I am very proud to be able to say that I count Vry, whom I consider to be one of the most inspired of NPIRL designers in Second Life® amongst my personal friends.

Like myself, Vry is a graphic designer who says that her real life profession deeply affects how she proceeds in her virtual design work: "large & long projects have trained my mind to think systematically when managing a project". Like every good designer Vry "start(s) each project with research, and then play(s) around with assets, look(s) at styles". But, subsequently, in a manner somewhat uncharacteristic to hard core Real Life design practices, she proceeds to "just have fun, never really knowing what I will end up with."

When I asked Vry what the impetus behind Starfuker, her stunning skin shop in Harajukobox had been she told me that she started to design skins because she could not find the types of skins that she wanted. Although she admits that she initially turned her output into a business with the objective of making an income she adds that "after reality set in, it just became an artistic outlet for me", the inspiration for which comes from many diverse sources but "as far as SL goes...there is nobody more inspiring then my friend ColeMarie Soleil".


The Zebra Skin

Some of Vry Offcourse's skins are inspired by nature and yet others have their foundations in metal. While skins such as the Ocelot skin, the Zebra skin and the bewilderingly complex Reptile skin are examples of the former, the recently added Hybrid skin and my long time favorite the Ironforge skin fall into the latter category. And then, of course, are the oddballs, as would be the case with the Fragile skin:




Fragile: An almost translucent layer of cracked porcelain glaze...




The Ocelot Skin (steampunk attachments: Lucia Cyr)


The Reptile Skin. (dress: Andie Ramona, hair: Hern Worsley)

The Ocelot skin, along with the Reptile skin, for me, are amongst the most uncanny skins that Vry Offcourse has designed. Unlike most zoologically based skins that are out there, Vry has not superimposed a mere feline/reptilian pattern onto a humanoid base layer but has actually blurred out the area surrounding the "human" eyes in such a way that they blend in with the animal pattern, whilst leaving the lips more or less intact, thus creating a bizarre hybrid, half human half feline/reptilian experience both for the user as well as the beholder.


The Iron Forge Skin. (hair: Elke Banting)


The Hybrid Skin. (apparel: four Yip, Phantom Kabuki)

Indeed the whole Hybrid experience seems to be very much on Vry Offcourse's mind: Her latest creation features yet another such experiment - this one between the mechanoid and the humanoid, following up on one of her earlier designs, the Iron Forge skin, which is almost entirely mechanoid, save for the bizarre pink lips that refuse to blend with the metallic remainder, thus creating a very startling design dichotomy.

You can teleport to STARFUKER, Vry Offcourse's shop directly from here. You can see many more photographs of her skins, which I used as one of the main elements of a somewhat bizarre research experiment of my own called the Uncanny Valley here.

Whatever next? A Furry in Istanbul?

Posted by Alpha Auer (your eyes and ears in Istanbul... ;-)

The Amber Art and Technology Festival is up and running here in Istanbul, going strong until the 16th of November. While more information on the contents and the mission of this 2 year old festival can be obtained at their website http://08.a-m-b-e-r.net/, I would like to write a very fast communication on two installations presented as part of the festival, both of which involve Second Life® and both of which can be participated in online over the next few days.

"Avatarium – A Consumer Paradox" is by Paul Sermon (known as Sylvester Grut in Second Life). "Since the early nineteen-nineties Paul Sermon’s practice-based research in the field of contemporary media arts has centered on the creative use of telecommunication technologies. Through his unique use of video conference techniques in artistic telepresence applications he has developed a series of celebrated telematic art installations that have received international acclaim and have been cited on numerous occasions amongst his peers in this field".

On a personal level, I have been an admirer of Paul Sermon's work for a long time, my favorite installations of his being Telematic Dreaming and Telematic Seance. "Telematic Dreaming" especially strikes an emotional chord with me that sadly very few other works in our seemingly unemotional contemporary art milieu manage to achieve. The reaching out of the two lonely figures of artist and viewer/participant, separated by huge distances and dispersed lives, within the intimacy of a bed had me quite choked up when I first saw the images and read about the context of this intensely delicate piece.





Here in Istanbul, Paul Sermon, has struck out on a far more playful tone, by bringing Second Life avatars into Real Life. And into a totally, artificially, absurdly unreal Real Life shopping mall at that: Virtuality superimposed upon virtuality: City's is one of the chi-chier shopping malls of contradictory old Istanbul; all gleaming brass and marble, brandishing a level of polish which simply cannot be perceived as real, placed as it is, smack in the middle of a city some 4000 years old. So right here, amidst the stores of the likes of Jean Paul Gaultier and Prada, my furry reporter friend (who has been such an invaluable help to me in recent weeks) made her altogether bizarre appearance earlier on today!





The whole experience gets fed back into Second Life in real time displayed on numerous video screens inworld. So, you can in fact, admire yourself prancing around City's of Nisantasi here in Istanbul if you teleport to Sylgrut, Paul Sermon's Second Life location, between the hours of 1.00 AM and 5.00 AM SLT through Friday November 14th, directly from here.

...

The second installation is entitled Hello World and I will need to give you Taso Telling's artist's statement in full, since I have not yet seen the piece in action myself due to the fact that this work will only have its opening tomorrow, Thursday November the 13th between 8.00 AM and 8.30 AM SLT.

"Hello World! is an art installation which takes place both in SL and RL in Amber Art and Technology Festival in Istanbul. The work brings together the RL and SL audience, through real time video streaming.



The theme of the festival is "interpassivity", and SL audience will meet the Real audience "Caged" in interpassivity as the Real Audience turns into the Virtual Artwork. Thus the work intends to question the relationship between the artwork, the audience and the artist and also the so-called superiority of real life over second life, and promotes open source and open content share culture. Anything in the installation is copyleft!

Metaverse should not be a place to reconstruct but to deconstruct our borders, superiorities, chains and mind cages. So let's give a chance to it!

Taso Telling (aka Umut Tasa)"

Thus if you teleport from here to the Amber Festival location at Cirrus between 8.00 and 8.30 AM SLT tomorrow, Thursday the 13th, you will have your rare opportunity to stare at us, poor new media aficionado Istanbulites, helplessly caged here in Real Life staring back at you! ;-)

Trinity Outlander's double-takes at the NPIRL Halloween parties

Trinity Outlander sent in such a great collection of pics she'd taken at NPIRL's Halloween parties that I had a hard time choosing. In the end, I decided to show you her double-takes on four people and their avatars. Trinity, you rock.



Pandora Wrigglesworth in the new Ghostly Woman avatar of her own creation






Xand Nagy, on fire






Tuna Oddfellow, rockin' da house






Mathematical Wizard Gynoid in a Tunaverse setting with potentially psychotropic effects




For more pics of NPIRL's Halloween parties, see also:
* The setting for NPIRL's Halloween parties: Plasma Co. Mining Colony
* The exotic and fun avatars at NPIRL's Halloween parties
* Just press play: The rocking-est avatars at NPIRL's Halloween parties, as seen by Tezcatlipoca Bisiani
* The incredible avatars at the NPIRL Halloween parties: "Take Two" by Skycat Ranger
* Scene stealin' avatars at NPIRL's Halloween parties, as captured by Cyberloom

Scene stealin' avatars at NPIRL's Halloween parties, as captured by Cyberloom

I'm just lovin' Cyberloom's pics of the party people at NPIRL's Halloween fetes. She is also the author of a thoughtful and well-written blog about her virtual life experiences. Thanks for sending these in, Cyberloom!


Avatar creator Yoa Ogee switched his look so many times that we could devote a full spread just to him. I'm not even going to hazard a guess about the meaning behind this avatar


Bryn Oh was magnificent in this avatar, topped off with Hern Worsley's glowy headdress


Fire was a big theme at both of our parties, but only Aebleskiver Thibidaud's avatar had flamed wings that I know of


The friendliest and most helpful avatar I know, Jurin Juran merged Rush Gastel's glowy avatar with another, to uber-cute effect


Komuso Tokugawa always reads The Star when he's preparing to do a set, as photographed by Cyberloom

See also:
* The setting for NPIRL's Halloween parties: Plasma Co. Mining Colony
* The exotic and fun avatars at NPIRL's Halloween parties
* Just press play: The rocking-est avatars at NPIRL's Halloween parties, as seen by Tezcatlipoca Bisiani
* The incredible avatars at the NPIRL Halloween parties: "Take Two" by Skycat Ranger
* Trinity Outlander's double-takes at the NPIRL Halloween parties

Just press play: The rocking-est avatars at NPIRL's Halloween parties, as seen by Tezcatlipoca Bisiani

Artist, writer and sometimes guest blogger here, Tezcatlipoca Bisiani, sent in these pics of some of the avatars at the NPIRL Halloween parties that caught his eye.


Tezca didn't suit up for the parties... nope. Instead, he got real casssh as can be seen on the right. But who is the avatar in the Marie Antoinette "do"?


I can never keep a straight face when extreme explorer Naxos Loon is around, and this night was no exception.


Glyph Graves took a break after creating many of the special effects for the incredible roller coaster rides at Plasma Co. Mining Colony


I know that this ringing avatar's first name is Narita, but what is the surname?


Cube Republic has been awfully busy lately. Not only was he on the crew of builders for Plasma Co. Mining Colony - and I am fond of some of his sculptures there ;-) - he also DJed at NPIRL's Halloween party and has been leading the 5,000+ member-strong SOS (Save Our Openspaces) group. Who is the gentleman on the right?


To the left and barely visible, thomtrance O'toole knocked out tune after Goa trance tune at both of the parties. thom is my guru when it comes to exploring Opensims. On the right, award-winning Viennese artist and lecturer, MosMax Hax


That kitteh! Artist Sabine Stonebender just finished the first phase of rebuilding her Zero Point and I love it! That's me drifting in the air to the right, being witchy in Eln Alter's freebie witch avatar

See also:
* The setting for NPIRL's Halloween parties: Plasma Co. Mining Colony
* The exotic and fun avatars at NPIRL's Halloween parties
* The incredible avatars at the NPIRL Halloween parties: "Take Two" by Skycat Ranger
* Scene stealin' avatars at NPIRL's Halloween parties, as captured by Cyberloom
* Trinity Outlander's double-takes at the NPIRL Halloween parties

The incredible avatars at the NPIRL Halloween Parties: "Take Two" provided by Skycat Ranger

Skycat Ranger is one of my fave photographers in Second Life®. Her work with brushes and filters simply rocks. Just look at some of Skycat's captures taken at the NPIRL Halloween parties!


Skycat showed up at the party with a huge mallet and looking like a jester. She got straight to work taking pic after great pic. This one captures a moment at Tuna Oddfellow's hallucinogenic Tunaverse show


Here's another of Skycat's views of Tuna Oddfellow's special NPIRL edition of his Tunaverse show at both of our parties


Madcow Cosmos morphed into many avatars all night and photographs of him poured in. He was one of the ten creators of Plasma Co. Mining Colony, too! I think you'll agree that this shot by Skycat gets 5 stars


Jurin Juran surprised me the day before Halloween by gifting me with this incredible avatar by Rush Gastel which I modified a tad


As with so many of the pics taken at the parties, I had a hard time figuring out who was who. In this shot by Skycat and from left to right, I recognize Scarp Godenot, Jurin Juran and Sidewinder Linden. But who was Alice and who was the faerie?


No one, and I do mean no one, can rock da house better than Komuso Tokugawa and his live boogie blues. From left to right, Skycat's shot includes: Komuso, Sasun Steinbeck, Bryn Oh and Eshi Otawara

See also:
* Trinity Outlander's double-takes at the NPIRL Halloween parties
* Scene stealin' avatars at NPIRL's Halloween parties, as captured by Cyberloom
* Just press play: The rocking-est avatars at NPIRL's Halloween parties, as seen by Tezcatlipca Bisiani
* The exotic and fun avatars at NPIRL's Halloween parties
* The setting for NPIRL's Halloween parties: Plasma Co. Mining Colony