Welcome to 2009

I'm going to try to do better. Really!

I am planning on creating a short series of tutorials to give insight into the lighting tools in SL, that will help you make better pictures. I will publish them here.

Here is a picture I took, using only Second Life lighting. This is a raw picture with no post-processing at all.

Over the next week or two, I will publish tutorials to introduce you to various lighting techniques using light sources, the SL sun, and the environment editor. Hopefully, it will help you create the best possible pictures.

Open Letter to Linden Lab

To whom it may concern at Linden Lab,

In the interest of transparency and good will, I would like to inform you of a new Resident-run initiative. A Second Life fringe festival.

For several years, Linden Lab has graciously provided space for the Residents of Second Life to showcase their talents. For their part, the Residents receive recognition from their peers. (Due to my participation in SL3B, I was interviewed for Le Monde on-line magazine and asked to participate in the University of Texas at Dallas' first display of Resident art. Later, I was asked to be the art director for SL4B and SL5B. My continued presence has given me additional exposure to be asked to be curator and board member for several galleries.)

I understand the need to provide a squeaky-clean image to the "outside" world. Honestly, I want Second Life to continue and succeed as much as you do. However, many artists and exhibitors find the "squeaky clean" image that you wish to portray as being too restrictive. In truth, there are MANY aspects of Second Life, and the G rated version is only part of it.

In the image of the International Arts Festival at Edinburgh with its associated Fringe Festival, several of us from within the community wish to have our own fringe festival. The intent is that Linden Lab's Birthday event is to the Resident event as the Edinburgh International Arts Festival is to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival: the official, major event, and the supplementary smaller event. We would welcome your cooperation in coordinating these two separate events so that they can support each other and create a stronger whole.

We have yet to actually name our event, but I am rather fond of calling it the 'fringe festival' following a concept commonly used in Great Britain. (There are actually concurrent fringe festivals in many cities throughout northern England and Scotland.) The festival organizers will be meeting in the upcoming weeks and months to iron out these details, and we welcome input from all sources on how we can construct a truly wonderful festival to celebrate all the things we love about Second Life.


For 2009, we will be asking individuals and corporations, rather than Linden Lab, to donate the use of their sims to host a festival concurrent with Second Life's 6th birthday. In subsequent years, if this is successful, we may include other non-birthday events, especially if we can arrange long term donor support.


The intention of this event is not to take attention away from your primary event(s). It is to allow additional participation by people who love this place and see it as "home".

In thanks for your continued support,

Pyrii Akula
Shoshana Epsilon
SignpostMarv Martin
Will Webb

Dear Cannery Artists

Earlier this week, I wrote a letter to all the artists of the Cannery show "A Different Light". The show was a success in terms of the quality of the art there, and if the art is still up, you should take a look at it. It was a failure in my efforts to get events happening there, get people more involved, etc.

There is currently an event planned for mid-month ... a party, an award ceremony. My friend Vint Falken is planning it. I will attend and help to give out awards, if there are any.

However, my association as curator has ended with Rezzable. My resignation was effective March 31st. I hope to participate in future shows as an artist, but not in a position of responsibility there.

My attentions are now with Avatrait, where I am a member of the Board. I did not have the attention to deal with both. Avatrait is actively seeking talented SL artists. I'll post more about this later.

Best regards to all of you, my friends. I am very glad I had the opportunity to help some of you get your work shown.

A Different Light - Opened!

Jaid at the opening of "A Different Light"

Wow, what an adrenalin rush. I love show openings.

Yesterday, at the Cannery Gallery, Vint Falken and I opened a new show called "A Different Light". What you will see there is but a fraction of the awesome art that was submitted. We wanted to show you a different view of Second Life.

Imagine that the world is a rabbit. A Great Magician pulls the rabbit out of a hat now and then, and the rabbit sees the world. Now, imagine you are a flea on the rabbit. You live in the deepest part of the hairs of the rabbit, close to the skin where it is warm. You don't need to see the universe that is beyond the rabbit, that you can never reach and have no interest in. It is comfortable where you are.

Now, imagine that you are an adventurous flea. You want to see the universe on those rare occasions when the Magician pulls the rabbit out of the hat. You climb up the rabbit hairs and wait there, poised, waiting for a bit of the universe to be revealed to you. *

The concept behind the show is this: There are many different types of people in Second Life. Some people are into being "furry" or mechs; some are into re-experiencing their childhood; some are into slavery; some are into making new friends. Do I want to do some of those things, experience what it is like to be adored or spurned because of my appearance? No. I have a lovely avatar for a reason. However, imagine what it would be like to be a child again .... you see a firefly for the 10th time and you are filled with wonder. It is at that moment that you see the universe that the Great Magician is presenting for us.

So, take off your comfortable skin and come wander down the paths. Come see the universe through someone else's eyes.

-----
* Note: Special thanks to Jostein Gaarder for his outstanding book of juvenile fiction: Sophie's World, originally published in Norwegian in 1991.

My First Blog Post

Many friends have suggested that I start a blog. Why, I ask? Who cares what I think? I don't know ... perhaps someone wants to know what I'm thinking. If no one reads it, no one will be harmed by it.

I am heavily involved in Second Life. If you haven't been there, you should check it out: This is NOT a game. If you want to "win" something, you will be sadly disappointed. (Games *do* exist there, but the world itself if not a game.) Second Life is an awesome world where you can be creative and see things you never could have seen in Real Life (abbreviated RL by afficiandos).

In Second Life (SL), I have many activities. Primarily, I am a Mentor, a photographer, and a curator. As time goes on, I'll discuss these activities in more detail. Suffice it to say that I am happily occupied all the time there.

That's all I'll write for now. Thank you!

-- Shoshana