What to do on Easter Saturday afternoon? Why not create a quick “Cyborg questioning existance, looking for something and some meaning in her life” machinima. This idea came about from playing with one of the default characters in CT5 (Crazy Talk 5) and using various imported songs. I quickly made a spaceship so the ‘cyborg’ can be seen in full body, and in which I (the Golem Robot character on the right seat) can sit and drive around various sims. The lip sync character is a CT5 ‘auto lip-sync’ take against one of my long time ago ex students (now a fully fledged pop diva) Imogen Heap’s wonderful track “Hide and Seek” (I wanted something vocoderised, slightly robotic) although this goes a lot deeper thanks to Immi’s great words. Also the subtle head movements and eye positions were recorded in separate live takes withing CT5.

I needed three appropriate sims for the three phases of the song. Ones that had a sense of dawning, evolving and evolved – also that were off the ground, so the spaceship could move around, inside, under, over etc: Three sprang immediately to mind. Planet Mongo a space city (evolved – spelt wrong on video, not Mondo! sorry rush job ;-(), Svarga (dawning) and Deakin (that I built – evolving). The main process was a quick 5 hours but editing took about an hour longer than normal because of rendering, all those green screen shots (the head shots against the reversed Space Navigator backgrounds).

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A medium rez, stereo MP4 52MB version can be downloaded here
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Anyways hope you like this quick ‘sketch’ – the following info is mostly duped from the YouTube description.

A machinima by Gary Hazlitt completed on easter Saturday afternoon 2008. The song ‘Hide and Seek’ is by Imogen Heap from the album ‘Speak for Yourself’.

Special thanks to the creators of Second Life sims Planet Mongo built by Lumiere Noir (spelt wrong on video sorry, rushed, not Mondo!) and Svarga built by Svarog Laukosargas. Deakin sim and spaceship for this video built/designed by Gary Hayes.

Lip sync animation created using Crazy Talk 5, green screened in Final Cut. The spaceship shots were filmed live in Second Life.

Avatanimation, machinimatography and editing (in the usual 5 hours total!) by Gary Hazlitt

A JustVirtual Production
© Gary Hazlitt 2008

A two world machinima I did this week exploring the themes of a cross-world quest for love, mixed-reality and online game relationships. The song ‘The Soul of Icarus” was composed and sung by Gary Hayes © Cubrisound 2004 and a special thanks to my co-star, SilkCharm for her patience and WoW’ness. There are some nice Flickr film stills here too! and I am really spoiling you now a selection of video sites with the film on here – YouTube, Metacafe, Google and Blip.tv

“Come to the edge. We can’t. We’re afraid. Come to the edge. We can’t. We will fall! Come to the edge. And they came. And he pushed them. And they flew”. – Guillaume Appollinaire

Credits:

• Filmed in World of Warcraft and Second Life sims:
• CityScape from NBC and Marni created by Gary Hazlitt.
• Medium rez download (85MB MP4) available here.
• Machinimatography and editing by Gary Hazlitt © JustVirtual 2008

“And once you have tasted flight, you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been and there you long to return…” – Leonardo Da Vinci

As a belated follow on from the previous article you may recall Polly and Steve about to get married. Well a couple of weeks ago I had the privilege of committing the event to video and subsequently editing it and adding some of my music. The YouTube embed I think captures the key moments of the three hour event as two people give their vows of love and commitment in front of friends and family. I copy below some textual elements from the video (which deliberately scrolls past or is on screen for too short a time – you are encouraged to hit pause on the first three busy text screens). This opening statement is from Annie Barnard who ran the proceedings

Greetings to all of you that have gathered here today to acknowledge and celebrate the love and joining of the hearts of Scubasteve and Pollyanneke. They have invited all of you, friends and family, to witness their declaration of love and commitment. They have asked me to pass you a message today … They would like you to know that their friends are a big part of second life. They know that you are all here for them and helped keeping them together in the hard times. Second Life is never easy for relationships but with good friends like you they know they will make it. I am sure that you, dear family and friends know far better than I do just how strong their love for one other is.

Often people feel that when they meet it is by chance. However, I do not feel this way and for Scubasteve and Pollyanneke meeting was not by chance. They met each other in a pond building area in April 2007. together they like to laugh, explore second life, find places to ride their horses and making a nice home at Vero Beach. Alone Scuba likes to come up with surprises for Polly and Polly like to find cozy spots for them to come back together to visit. Polly likes to call scuba ghost and subca like to call Polly Muse. Their persistence and determination to not be over come the forces from within and outside SL that would otherwise stop them from seeing each other had made the relationship resilient and magical in every sense of the word. One day they will even find the answer to the ultimate question in every avies mind can sluv conquer lag? Only time will tell.

This text is the actual statements and vows during the actual ceremony, again captured in the video, but may be too fast for some to read as it crawls across the screen in the romantic middle section.

Steve: Pol.. from the moment we met my sluv for u has grown and grown and together we have overcome so many hurdles together and now that we have a beautiful son together, my life is truly fulfilled, u are and always will be my sl babe we are synergy and u are truly wat sluv is all about. Everytime i see u it takes my breath away and leaving u each day is so so hard ur my angel, my ladyhawke and i’ll be ur Navarre together forever… eternally aprt. I so sluv u Pol

Polly: Oh Scuba i so sluv and adore you. You are so patient and kind especially when i am trying to build You make me laugh all the time… more than anyone I have ever met sl or rl. I adore every single second i have with u and i want to be with u forever. I so so sluv u

Annie: Scubastive and Pollyanneke, as you slip on your rings, notice that they are a never-ending circle, as your love is for each other. The rings have no beginning and no end. They come together as a symbol of your love for each other. Polly, please repeat after me…

Polly: I, Polly. take you Scuba, to be my husband. I promise to love and support you, to honour and respect you, to make you laugh, and to explore with you not only the beauty of this world around us but the beauty that lies within your heart as well

Steve: I, Scuba, take you, Polly, to be my wife. I promise to love you and support you, to honor and respect you, to make you laugh, and to explore with you not only the beauty of this world around us, but also the beauty that lies within your heart as well.

and the final decree from Annie telling the SL world that these two are now a couple…

Annie: Scubasteve and Pollyanneke, you have declared your love and commitment in front of your friends and family today. If you agree with this union of your hearts please respond by saying I do.

Polly: I do

Steve: i do babe

Polly:

Annie: Scubastive and Pollyanneke, as you have declared your love and promises today, and by the powers vested in me, I pronounce you husband and wife. Fill each day with love, laughter and light. Dear friends and family, I am honored and pleased to introduce for the first time as Husband and Wife, Scubastive and Pollyanneke.

It was a great celebratory event for all concerned and since then Steve and Polly have been contacting me with more information on their plans to use Second Life as a force for change in many worlds. The text below is from both of them detailing how one area, namely SL couples adopting Real Life children will work and some scripting help they will need. Good luck to them and this initiative.

As a couple in SL, Pollyanneke Pera and Scubasteve Canning decided to have an SL baby.
what we deicided to do though was to make a real life difference in the third world
by sponsoring a child through World Vision. In this was, we share the joy of having
a virtual baby together, but also are making a real life difference to a boy in India.

We want to share that experience with other couples in SL who are thinking about having
a SL baby together. That way, thousands of needy children will benefit as a direct
result of couples in SL. Here’s what we are proposing; Couples in SL who want to have a baby (and there are thousands of them) currently can do so through a couple of options….

1. they can get a scripted object that comes with an hud to interact with the mother the object will whisper phrases such as need changing or feeding etc.
2. they can ‘adopt’ a child which is an adult who role plays as a child for a couple which a monthly fee is paid to the ‘adopted child’.

The concept of an SL child is a means for a couple to share their ‘sluv’ for each other
on a higher level. However, our thoughts are that this could be better served by
making a difference in the real world. Hence we felt that a donation to a children’s charity
would go that step further in making a difference. In that same vain we wanted to give
something back to the couple in return for their donation. The best way is a symbolic
gesture such as a scripted object not unlike the scripted SL babies that currently exist.

Specifically, it would work like this.

1. Couple goes to a SL ‘maternity hospital’ and chooses a baby. the amount would be the equivalant of $40 US. when the couple touches the object to pay, the money is transferred to the charity via a URL link. The charity can then convert the Lindons into US currency or if possible the money is automatically converted via a Lindon exchange and the US dollars deposited directly to the charity. The URL for the donation is http://www.christianchildrensfund.org/donate/donate.aspx more specifically, we have chosen the Child Alert Emergency Fund from Christian Childrens Fund.
2. When the donation is made, the couple recieve a scripted baby object as a symbol of their genoristy and sluv.
3. The couple can choose to go back to the ‘hospital’ in a few months for a ‘check up’ this would give the couple more options for their child such as being a bit older, the ability to walk etc. this would require another donation to the charity to occur.

Therefore, we need some scripting help with this project. firstly to provide a scripted baby object, then the URL link to convert the payment into US dollars which would automatically go direct to the Christian Childrens fund. Finally to provide additional scripts for the growth and walking etc.

This is the organisation that we would like the money to go to.

• Christian Childrens Fund. More about this charity at http://www.christianchildrensfund.org/content.aspx?id=104 The specific fund within the organisation would be;
• Child Alert Emergency Fund. Wars and natural disasters create emergency situations that put already vulnerable children in grave danger. The ChildAlert Emergency Fund helps CCF act quickly to provide for the immediate needs and long-term recovery of children in emergency situations, whether natural or manmade. Recently, our Child Alert Emergency Fund has provided resources to help thousands of children affected by the Asian tsunami, the India earthquake, Sudanese refugees living in Chad, and other emergencies in Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Afghanistan.

This is purely non-profit but a way in which thousand of children can be saved through scripting in SL. IM Pollyanneke Pera or Scubasteve Canning if u can help us to help thousands of needy children.

Posted by Gary Hazlitt inside Second Life © 2007

The Pond Bong Overload 07, originally uploaded by Gary Hayes.

When I built the Pond islands over 6 months ago I intended this area to be the most organic of all the spaces on the then three Pond islands. This area was also designed to provide a gateway to the outback and Uluru and the juxtaposition of busy bar, social space and real open space (a whole sim for the outback) was planned. That zen like combination is important, psychologically we like to be on the edge of wilderness – facing open sea, deserts and mountains. The call of the wild. Some other parts of the islands were not rich, social and detailed (due to other forces) and that is reflected in how popular they are. Anyway.

The bar itself was roughly designed on my own memories of Queenslander and Western Australia shacks and bars in the outback. I had to use some Western USA textures on the walls etc: due to time contraints and the whole thing took about a day to do – plus a few extra hours later on the internal details like the beer pumps and original seating.

I noticed after a couple of weeks that people were also gathering outside the bar in front of the Pond so I quickly added a fire, bbq and seating plus extra flooring. This has now become one of the busiest 4000sqm areas in SL. The area at launch was supposed to have live bands, singers, streamed music and so on. These are still being planned but it is slow to materialise on a commercial sim, as it costs real money plus a bunch of legals – yet I am amazed that avies still gather and meet here in such large numbers. Less to be entertained but more to socialise, get away from the less aesthetically designed sims and gather before heading off elsewhere.

The other night we had over 60 avies all gathered in this small area after a TV programme in Australia. The top picture is a shot I took of that. Below are other images that give a feel for what takes place here including floods, small battles and endless winged flirting. Quite a few folk are already creating deep stories and role playing in this space which is great and there are many secret places for the initiated, the pash room for one

Posted by Gary Hazlitt from inside Second Life

It’s been over a month now since myself, Jjason Jedburgh, Adam Ramona and Mashup Islander bought a sim together. It is called Marni and is attached to the south of Esperance and is now growing to be a great hive of artistic, business and social activity. I terraformed the island to give the four of us a great environment and some privacy for our various expoilts.

I have talked before about Jjason and his splendid architectural visions so now I wanted to interview Adam and Mashup (whose quarter sim plots are visible above) about their work and passion, real-time spatialised sound sculptures. I have been watching with glee as both of them get used to the possibilities in this world being relatively new to Second Life and create what I regard already as major, innovative pieces. Firstly a little about the Metamatic Collective piece.

Cantata Park 1 by Metamatic is an interactive, spatialised sound sculpture built in Second Life. The sculpture is made from 256 individual nodes in a 16 x 16 grid. Each node is embedded with a single word, triggered by a participant’s movement through the work. Each participant creates a random narrative, assembled on-the-fly, and in real-time. The work explores the possibilities of metaverse art, limitations of Second Life’s construction tools and scripting language, and the ability to appreciate conceptual art by proxy of an avatar. Cantata Park was produced in December 2006 Copyright 2006, Metamatic Collective

Adam and Mashup collaborated on this piece which is the first part of the interview below and then I met with Adam seperately to discuss five of his other works. We were also joined by Lisa Dapto, who is a close colleague of both of them. We met firstly at the site and then inside Adam’s self made garden retreat.

You: Who is the collective and what brought them together

Mashup Islander: The collective is Adam and myself for the moment. Adam was doing some funky 3D art on his land and I was inspired by this. I guess we found (Adam and I) a similar liking for abstract real-time art and decided to work on a project together

You: You mentioned that there are limitations to achieve what you want to in this world could you explain what these are in more detail for the readers

Adam Ramona: The technical limitations of Second Life are significant but this makes it a challenge, and often the best work is done in restrictive environments

Mashup Islander: It helps define boundaries for the work too

Adam Ramona: Relatively speaking the scripting language is an impressive achievement

You: And what are the benefits of this world for contemporary expressive 3D art?

Adam Ramona: Given the environment, collaboration is also a major plus of this space

Mashup Islander: Also the audience is large and open to new forms of expression

You: Yes I was going to ask about the methodology of collaboration how did it work for you both on the Cantata Park piece for example

Mashup Islander: It was really easy actually. Adam and I seem to think the same thing at the same time.

Adam Ramona: There are the usual teething problems getting used to the process but its a joy to be able to work collaboratively *within* the environment that the work will be consumed in.

Adam (left) and Mashup pose inside Cantata Park 1.

The work is now permanently installed on Mashup’s land and there are already many word-of-mouth visitors coming along to try the piece. I list some direct SLURLs at the end of both interviews for you to pop along yourself. I asked more about the background to the work.

You: What actually inspired the creation?
Mashup Islander: I was fooling around with basic prim sculptures and getting off on the whole ordered nature of basic 3D design. After a visit to an early version of Adam’s Bell Park, I saw a possibility to incorporate spoken words into the architecture. The randomness of each participant’s experience excited me and we explored some possible narrative structures before settling on a Burroughs piece, which was appropriate given the subject matter.

You: The 256 spoken fragments triggered by motion through them? What is the intention behind that and what experience is it meant to invoke?

Mashup Islander: Its a fractured narrative inspired by the Beat poets of old the actual passage is a Burroughs piece appropriate given the context

You: Each person has a different route through the piece of course – do you think there will be any shared experience?

Mashup Islander: Yes, the participant makes their own narrative and it was interesting just then with four users simultaneously that a layered narrative with many intersections can result. In specific answer to your question, I can’t put feelings into other people’s experience. Its up to each person to explore and take away their own assumptions

Above Lisa Dapto flys above Cantata Park 1 while Adam and Mashup introduce Pix (a visitor) to the piece. We talk more about the narrative, semantic elements of the work.

Adam Ramona: people make their own narrative always, and probably people who have similar outlooks will create similar experiences?

You: But presumably given that it is Burroughs excerpts there must be a common narrative that everyone can take away? Not completely random fragments

Mashup Islander: Burroughs believed all narrative had hidden meaning, each iteration of disassembly can provoke further insight and messages

Lisa Dapto: He and tristan Tzara before him were the lightning rods for the cut-up technique

Adam Ramona: Tzara was definitely about disassembling the dominant narrative

Mashup Islander: From paper, to tape recorder and now real-time 3D

You: I wonder if you see a kind of art renaissance developing in this world?

Adam Ramona: The art itself is thoroughly contemporary for me, it is a matter of using the medium for its strengths, and not trying to have it imitate some other medium. A new technology is always used first to do something that can already be done. Going with the native strengths of the medium as the basis for the formal decisions which makes it very simple to process. It’s the same thing with Hyperformalism if i understand DanCoyote Antonelli’s work correctly, it is using the ‘native’ qualities of the medium to make the formal decisions

Lisa Dapto: the involvement of the “audience” as co-authors of the work makes Adam’s and Mashup’s work fascinating and challenging, it reflects the ultimate potential for users in this world to generate their own scenarios

Adam Ramona: One of these “native qualities” of which i spoke is indeed the interactive nature of the audience/residents and this art is ‘for’ those people

You: Are you going to allow people to come and explore the work/s at this stage? If so can we publish the SLURLs?

Mashup Islander: Absolutely. The work is open for public viewing, with more on the way. Metamatic as an experimental playground for our artworks and we’ll be cycling new installations across both Adam’s and my land as they unfold.

So just for readers of JustVirtual a world exclusive a direct link to Cantata Park 1. Marni 205,53,25

Adam’s Place

I went back the next day to Adam’s quarter sim (which is actual adjoining mine), to talk to him in more depth about some of his latest pieces. I am particularly fascinated by the strong primary colours developing ‘over the hedge’ and the strange, exotic sounds floating on the wind across to my place. Adam has a rather unique appearance that I will save until another post, but below you can see him posed by his latest and greatest creation Anahat, The Mute Swan. You actually enter all these pieces by either teleporting in or just walking through and The Mute Swan is interesting in that it morphs from being attactive sculpture into a full surround sound and phantom prim experience. But I will let Adam explain.

Adam Ramona: The four pieces completed here are: The Bell Garden, Pure Absence, Anahata the Mute Swan, and the Blue one. (there is also a white one recently finished)

You: What would you say are the common elements between them all?

Adam Ramona: As we talked about yesterday, I would say their commonality is that they use the ‘native’ qualities of the medium to suggest the formal considerations of each piece.

You: As these are more sound and music orientated than Cantata Park 1, are there any common elements in the way you use sound in the pieces

Adam Ramona: Generally, I try to approach the work as an ‘audiovisual’ piece, and wherever possible apply the same formal rules to the sounds as to the visuals. It is not always possible, so sometimes the sonic formalities are decided through real life (ed: bio world for regular readers) considerations of a ‘music’ or ‘sound’ basis. For example, the Bell Garden is in the key of E flat Major, just because I think that is an excellent key for a bell sound Once I’d decided that, then the manipulation of the sounds was the same as the visuals – no textures, just the geometry so to speak, which in sonic terms means a very dry synthesised, unadorned sound. I think it works well in the Bell Garden (ed: night pic below)

You: One of the remarkable things about all the pieces is the synergy between the visual and the sound – in that they are inextricably linked and reinforce each other. Could you talk a little about that process?

Adam Ramona: Yes, well I have always (since 1996 when I was first introduced to real-time 3D art) thought of this medium as a “composition” medium – in that previously when I was “writing” “music” I would have a very similar sort of thing happening inside my mind as a real-time 3D scene. I would have particular shapes with particular colours making particular sounds which were animating around in the space and when I saw VRML, i thought “yay, this is the medium for me!”

You: I notice that the five pieces here are all based around subtle variations of the same colour or tone – based on primaries like blue, red, white. Because you have graduations of that one tone is this because you don’t want the visual to overpower the sound?

Adam Ramona: Yes, this is the way I work. I think of each piece as a “song” if you like and just as you don’t put every note or chord into a song, similarly, the sounds suggest the colours (and vice versa) and they always end up being like this – graduations.

You: You have your pieces on show in a wonderful zen like garden and the works are indeed very powerful but meditative and tranquil to a great extent. Would you say you are about the balance between visual and sound so they are both, equally important.

Adam Ramona: Yes indeed, I would go further and say that I don’t really recognise any distinction between sound and vision

You: Ah very interesting and that would include I suppose the amount of authorship you give the participant in your pieces so they travel the sound and visual journey on their own path?

Adam Ramona: Yes, that is definitely part of the rationale of the work – these things exist almost independently of their consumption, a little like theoretical physics or something, and therefore, any mode of consumption, temporal visual sonic is valid.

You: We talked earlier also about many of these pieces being 4 or 5 art forms in one piece – sculpture, surround installation, performance piece, interactive and even architectural. Is this intended or a by-product or the medium?

Adam Ramona: That is this medium (RT3D) – these distinctions are valid in the real physical (bio) world, but not so in RT3D, so in that sense, I guess it is a by-product, but it is also an anticipated, welcomed, part of this medium in fact. That is one of the very main reasons why I like to work in this medium.

You: To discuss a level of detail. What is the difference in your mind between a piece that is triggered by the audience or one that they just move through picking up variations in sound level and direction, without triggering the various components within?

Adam Ramona: Not really any difference, other than a pedantic one in fact, you could say that a piece that is constantly sounding is actually only sounding when an avatar moves near it and in that way it’s always triggered by an avatar, but that is true of this entire medium.

You: If a tree falls in the woods and no one is around, does it make a sound?

Adam Ramona: You are right when you call it LOD, it’s the ultimate practical existentialism, because it literally doesn’t exist (for you) when you are not looking at it, unless the LOD has been coded badly

You: Very true! I always ask this next question and it is difficult to answer but are there any specific emotional responses that a viewer may get from some of these works. I noticed for example in the Mute Swan I felt much more relaxed and quite passive after a while whereas Pure Absence with it’s strong reds and high pitched sounds quite confrontational.

Adam Ramona: Good, interesting, difficult question. I definitely aim for an emotional response because I am emotionally engaged with all of my works and that is what leads me to create them. But as for audience response, I think it is tricky to second guess, but there are probably certain things you can aim for. For example, I am glad that you felt that about Anahata, the Mute Swan, because that is what I was aiming for, emotionally, an attempt to invite the audience to reflect on the nature of silence. In fact that piece specifically asks the question “If there is a sound playing when you are born and after you die, would you hear it?”

You: I was particularly struck by the combination of words and sound in that piece and it had more impact perhaps than the Cantata in the Park work because the words were more subtle, enigmatic and mysterious?

Adam Ramona: I’m very happy to hear that. I always try to keep them impressionistic, or as you say “equal to sound”, so that they represent more the signifier of meaning rather than meaning itself, and then the listener will more than likely provide their own meaning

You: One thing that you haven’t yet incorporated into your pieces and in this world it is a significant layer of course is our beloved ‘chat/IM text’ – is there a reason for that?

Adam Ramona: Yes, I did that in a bio piece, Scorched Happiness (2004), which was a multi-user VRML piece, where the chat text was typed live by the performers based on excerpts from the work by Julia Kristeva that formed the basis of the work. So, I am definitely interested in it, since it is a part of the medium but I would rather work out a way to make it similar to the way I use words that we discussed before, IE, without actual meaning, which is harder to do in text of course. But, now you’ve mentioned it I’ll get onto it straight away

You: Finally Do you think it easy to explain or recreate these works outside our environment or is that the basic point of formalism, that they are rooted here and here only.

Adam Ramona: Absolutely the latter in, of and for this medium. However, it doesn’t mean SL specifically, it means multi-user real-time 3D, of which SL is a very, very good example and one that is very popular and therefore provides and audience.

You: Finally, finally. If you had 3 ‘sound feature’ wishes from Linden Lab (our creator!) what would they be?

Adam Ramona: Ah, yes, the first one is easy and obvious: generative sound synthesis in the SL engine should be simple to do, since they’ve already using Havok for physics. Second would be 5.1 out (as we mentioned before). Third would be increase the sample time limit to *at least* 60 seconds.

You: Totally agree with all of those and maybe much more control over sound spread. Adam, for now thank you, and as we are neighbours I don’t really need to say goodbye, rather look forward to hearing from you again very soon.

Adam is also happy for visitors to come and explore and discuss his works. This SLURL drops you in the middle of the Zen sculpture interactive garden and next to some teleport points to take you to the skybox creations. Adam’s place can be found at Marni 220,199,23

Posted by Gary Hazlitt from inside Second Life

ZeroG SkyDancers – ZeroG VIII. Wednesday, November 29th, 2006. Created, Produced and Directed by DanCoyote Antonelli

I was lucky to be one of the select few that were invited to DanCoyote Antonelli’s SkyDancer performance on Weds evening this week- seating is limited to 30 seats per show, SkyDancer shows are always sold-out, reservation-only events. Also very privileged to have my photo taken (above) with the taltented troupe of dancers, musician and creator. DC has become synonymous in this world with large scale live performance works that combine sublime evocative music, acrobatic aerial dance and incredible organic art. I have been in contact with Dan ever since I asked him to temporarily install a large piece on Esperance several months ago for some design students to investigate (and to whom he gave an impromptu lecture). Also I did a visitor report immediately after his first set of performances in August and about his installation works at New West Exhibit and the Sixth finger installations close to Esperance. It is great to see his work going from strength to strength and his vision become more refined. I attended the middle of three performances a couple of eves ago and although the piece only lasted around thirty or so minutes I managed to take some stills and capture (in one take and without any rehearsal of course) a short six minute film that hopefully gives you a feel of what it was like to be there.

[youtube]k3tLwkBNTE4[/youtube]

Four (sometimes five) talented avies, Anhinga Chaika, Deborah Strangelove, Callipygian Christensen, Tatiana Kurri, Queue Marlowe, sky danced in a massive 400 meter cubic volume performance space, 600 meters above the Learning Sim part of the NMC campus! The musical score by ZeroOne Paz was a perfect accompaniment to the spectacle in that it was ethereal, minimalist yet had just enough variation and rhythm to move the performance forward. I particularly loved the harp-like sounds employed, being an avid harpist (naturally – just like all black angels) and the long sustained string sounds and pulsing rhythm that melded perfectly with the swooping flying loops by the dancers.

Visually the event was stupendous. To be sat inside a living, moving piece of gigantic art (that at times felt generative or self evolving) we felt like we were the first and last ones to see these combinations of organic shapes and colours, spontaneous and unique – of course with DC at the controls. It was difficult to decide which way to look at times, especially as many of the ‘organisms’ actually passed through us, the audience at times and the dancers were always drawing our attention too. (Of course I was also busy taking pictures and filming!). The wonder of these pieces is the sense of awe that you get seeing the avie embodiment dwarfed by miraculous, before unseen forms and the shared experience with thirty or so friends all who understand and appreciate the emotional statement being made. It is very experiential, poignant and escapist without being ‘space cadet’, meaning it never feels like gratuitous eye candy, for eye candy sake, DC strikes a fine balance.

The audience awaits with bated breath as the intro music reaches a crescendo.

Switching our time to midnight enhances the experience.

As regards context here is some hyperformalist background info from DC (which are partly echoes from my earlier posts) that provide some background to the images and video embedded in this page.

“Hyperformalism is derived from the combination of the words Hyper and Formalism and is being used here to describe aesthetic self expression without anthropomorphic, or representative context. Hyperformalism is an aesthetic philosphical construct that may be employed by to describe a late 20th century, early 21st century mass art phenomena consisting of scores of users generating abstract, often spacially unique artworks. Hyperformalist are creates a unique continuum of reference; a rearrangement of photons to illuminate alternate worlds of form, shape, color and space. At times hyperformal art may resemble natural formations or even employ naturalistic algorithms.”

I had a brief chat with Dancoyote a few days after the performance. He was already secretly preparing another performance for December 15th of which I had a sneak mini preview, but I tried to keep the interview brief…

Gary Hazlitt: What are you learning from the performances you put on the other day and could you tell us a little about the production process?
Dancoyote Antonelli: It is the second season so naturally it includes the research from observing the first show. We flew about two dozen shows for the 2006 season. I learned many things such as the tendencies for this world, Second Life, to under load. For starters I try to find the edge of the technical capabilities and work the edge and not to be too radical.
Gary Hazlitt: Which of course means limiting guest numbers?
Dancoyote Antonelli: Not really. At this sim there is no other load so it is ideal. But even an ideal situation can only have about 40 guests since my crew is nearly a dozen
Gary Hazlitt: How did you respond or adapt these new performances in regard to audiences reaction to the first ones? In particular ‘how do you want them to feel’ or react to your work. At an emotional level or is it more about your own self expression?
Dancoyote Antonelli: Not directly but I didn’t change certain mood intentions. There is an intent to set a mood of affirmation of wonder and immersion. It is the job of the contemporary artist
Gary Hazlitt: In terms of hyperformalism are you evolving it at the rate you would like to in here?
Dancoyote Antonelli: I would like to lose the limitations of audience. Three hundred people would be nicer. The audience at the moment is too small
Gary Hazlitt: Is sharding is an option? Having a parallel, duplicate mirrored performance such as the NBC XMas event a few days ago across 18 sims reaching say 500 avies at once?
Dancoyote Antonelli: But SkyDancers are not mass marketed yet
Gary Hazlitt: They should be! I have read that hyperformalism is rooted in organic paradigms. But organic surely refers to the biological world? How do you deal with that paradox being in a digital world?
Dancoyote Antonelli: The organic is rooted in the inorganic and at base everything is elements. I don’t worry about organic or inorganic.
Gary Hazlitt: OK to put it another way, are your creations a representation of the biological world? Or is the goal to be completely removed from the bio world?
Dancoyote Antonelli: It is not a representation of anything in real life and no the true goal is discovery and wonder for me and for the viewer. It is to push forward into new territory of reactive environments. I wish this world had a null gravity sim for example!
Gary Hazlitt: Do you think that your very experiential works can be enjoyed as linear pieces on two dimensional video?
Dancoyote Antonelli: Only to a certain extent. I am having problems transmitting the idea to curators for instance who simply scratch their head when I show them video
Gary Hazlitt: So can it leave this world and be experienced elsewhere?
Dancoyote Antonelli: I think it can with the proper context until people become aware of this continuum
Gary Hazlitt: Regarding that do you feel you lose control if too much spills out of this world via the social web?
Dancoyote Antonelli: I want it to spill and populate and I always appreciate any help to help me contextualize it.
Gary Hazlitt: Will do my best. Well look forward to new show if I get invited. Many thanks for you time DC I will leave you to prepare

The talented troupe again.

A final reminder in the cold light of day of the scale of this piece.

Posted by Gary Hazlitt from inside Second Life (pictures and film by Gary Hazlitt with kind permission of DanCoyote Antonelli)

Been away from SL for over a week and thought I would bring you all up to date with the bay area I live in.  The changes, the new residents and so on. (Here is a bio flickr set with on-going tracking of this Second Life neighbourhood evolving from nothing to very crowded). Firstly, and sadly, Heather and Max have moved to new pastures as the escort agency (see below) that moved in nearby was too much. She kept getting asked about her rates! But I am staying in touch with them as they have found a great new patch in Hokkaido. Anyway, so what is new in my patch – as if your really interested. But I did promise to keep you in the loop as the area developed from nothing a few weeks ago, remember, good. Well lots of new folk are moving in. Attracting a good wide selection. Sadly a club. No malls yet though. I did a quick Sunday morning one hour fly around (snoop) to see whats around and said brief hellos to those who were in-world – many are happy to do longer interviews later. Keep watching.

Close to me. Yes thats my place top left, is Koko and Ice. They weren’t around but in this world one can find much about the people via their profiles attached to the land. So a big traditional house of Ice Franchini and Koko Blackhawk. They met in SL and got married on the 19 Sep – will catch up with them later. For now

“Koko you gave me the most precious gift there is to give a person, your love and your heart and i will treasure them both till the end of time. You showed me I can love again and i do baby i love you so very much. My love for you will far out last this game in my heart you will forever be mine.”

awww. So a good traditional couple – at first glance. Anything is imaginable here. More later perhaps. At the other end of the spectrum we have a traditional escort agency. Xposed Escorts and their slogan “When you want only the best”. Ummm. Here is a pic of their boat and ground build. Wish some folk would finish the ground before they do the sky! The ubiquitous sky club pic follows.

Something more interesting is a very secretive build going on right in the bay below me. Under the water and a strange blue boxey thing growing on top, lots of furious build activity. Home to Inaria and the Avariel Winged Lords. Their mission and convenant.

Fun and Flight. Love and peace. To roam the skies. Rarest of the elven races, the avariel, the winged elves, live a reclusive existence, seldom seen by outsiders. Such is their scarcity and seclusion, that their status is almost that of legend. Despite an aloofness that can astound even other elves, avariel rarely exhibit the haughtiness and arrogance many have come to associate with elvenkind, though they pity all races lacking the ability to fly. They have little to do with other races.

As I write, Inaria Oranos (the Speaker of Winds) and builder friend KiVanyel Adria are busy designing a turret or two sticking out of the water. Like the furries (Kitsu’s) who built their underground burrow these Winged Lords are after a quiet underwater existance and I didn’t venture into their underwater lair just yet as they seem a private group. More about Inaria

“Daughter of mermaid and Avariel Lord. Raised on cliffs over-looking the seas. Apart of two worlds and made the most fun of it. Resides on the winds and in the water. Willing to help any soul who asks.”

To add diversity to this little patch we also have the lesbian (escort?) world of Olivia Marquette (sky platform above). She has built a tasteful, ancient garden with elements of Trompe L’oeil to add space. I said hello she is happy to do a long interview later. They also have a strange black sky platform, antithesis to the open gardens below. Now what secrets in there I wonder? For now here is Olivia’s profile to give some insight and a picture of the garden afterwards.

“I am a passionate, loving and caring Mistress. My heart is full of love and tenderness and I give this to my girls who deserve all the love I possess. Sometimes a switch, I can be delightfully submissive in the right hands. I have collared the beautiful and sexy Amelia Hainsworth (first girl), the lovely and adorable (beloved pet) Stacy Fuller, cute and sexy Kitti Meek and poetic Satsuyo Kinsei. They are my girls and I protected them and love them. Any problems with any of my girls IM me.”

Most of the above is very close to me, within 500m and on adjacent blocks of land. I have been lucky so far that my block of land (what some call a sim) has been quiet. Well there have been some additions on the far edges. First some furries I actually recommended this area too when they were looking around (have some pictures somewhere), Kitsu’s Korner, the furries on hill. They spent ages building a burrow so from the air you couldn’t work out there was actually a large space underground, see photo to the right. Then they built a castle. Still havent had chance to catch up with them, they are behind me over the hill, but perhaps some furry/vamp thing happening here?

Literally on the opposite end of the land I am on we have Ellies Home. Elly Crispien has set up a rental business for either the tudor mansion, a range of houses or the castle from $800-3000L pm. Good deal and a community spa! Not too laggy too. Lots of trees and no animations to see.

Finally just down the bay and on the peninsula we have a lot of activity. I will explore another time as my alloted hour is up for this but lots of people to speak to and exciting stories to tell. Obviously I need to get a life A third life perhaps…although still uncertain of what a 1st life is? Here is a pic of more to come, all further along the shore front in view of my once peaceful, uncluttered view.

Posted by Gary Hazlitt from inside Second Life

This world has a wide range of architecture. Much of it has been imported, so to speak, from the bio world and replicas of that worlds cities and famous buildings abound. But as I have said many times in previous posts, why not fire the imagination and create never before seen builds that utilise some of the unique features of this world. One of my in-world colleagues and Esperance LAMP office resident Jjason Jedburgh has been involved for quite a few weeks building his dreamhouse here. He took the intelligent step of employing an experienced architect called Elvawin Rainbow who has built over 50 custom homes before and has some words of wisdom for wannabe architects. Both of them showed me around their creation yesterday while I asked questions and took pictures. We talked about the concept, process and inspiration behind this wonderful, very livable and special creation. I joined them on a sunny Sunday evening and began by asking Elvawin a little about her background

“I’ve been building custom homes for a while and they are a unique challenge in that it isn’t so much the architecture thats difficult but understanding what the customer wants. So its a lot of talking ‘tell me what you like, show me some things’ get to know them. So listening is as important a skill as building”

So Jjason talked and Elvawin listened and they went through numerous iterations. Jjason told me about some of the primary goals for his home.

“I wanted something that was breathtaking, yet elegant and sparse, something that would exhilarate with scale and aesthetic resonance. I wanted colours that were golden, yet translucent – full of heavenly light that would entrance and uplift. We experimented with numerous textures.”

He talked privately later about this home being a kind of memorial to a family member he lost in the first world, and how it now has very personal significance but will respect his privacy before going into anymore detail. Jjason also came across like a boy with a new toy when he talked about some of the unique features of his new four and a half floor home.

“We experimented with balconies at first. They were initially a significant part of the design. The sweep of the glass, including transparent horizontals round the outer rim, allow the view to be enjoyed 360 degress. In the main accommodation privacy is afforded by configurable partitions, controls on either side, ocean or rear of building, north or south. The holodeck is available in the centre core section. “

Elvawin talked further about some of these features

“Probably most of the house is scripted for control over privacy and still provide the open vista, the ability to control openess at whim. Each and every panel is scripted so you can open or close at whim as well as all at once. They are controllable by the owner of who he gives access to.”

Jjason got even more enthusiastic when he talked about some of the interior design motifs

“Ultimately we chose this golden ambience, with the star motif in the centre and the aquarium is another feature that is in concert with the environment, but also functional because it allows access to each floor. The furnishings are both modern and sometimes gothic or morroccan. There is an artificial beach and fish as well as a waterfall that spans the distance from house to ocean”

I was surprised when Elvawin told me that it only took one week to complete the actual build (Jjason joked that he only employs architects with whips, perhaps suggesting a slave/master-like work ethic?) and create this work of architectural splendour – but as was explained, the pre-production and conceptual design took many weeks prior. This reminded me somewhat of composers who write music in their heads and admit that getting the notes down on paper for others to play and hear is a final, relatively mundane task.

Some of the buildings surrounding this house are very drab in comparison and I suggested that Elvawin needs to create a complete city, even though she is a self confessed ‘prim hog’.

“My plan is to buy an island or 12 or so someday and you will be able to see what I can really do” Jjason continued “yes, Elva should have done the entire suburb – but I couldn’t afford the land or the prims! The municipality would have thanked me.”

So now it is built what is this masterpiece actually like to live in?

“I love sitting on the edge of the waterfall” said Elvawin.

“I love the roof. Sitting on the edge is heavenly and lying on the hammock at the outer circumference, listening to the wind and ocean below is sublime” said Jjason

So I left Jjason and Elvawin to do some final tweaking to the swimming pool and central entrance hall and made my excuses. It is wonderful to see two people collaborate on producing something together that creates beauty in this world rather than just being a functional living environment.

It should be a lesson to us all as well to plan and make sure our motivations are driven by more than just making money or increasing the value of the land. Architectural creativity, as always, needs to be focused on being innovative and functional leaving a legacy that we can all enjoy and admire. Jjason and Elvawins creation definitely falls in that camp and more importantly enhances the natural environment in the process.

For those in the bio world who want to visit Jjasons house here is the Slurl link. Please respect his privacy while there naturally.

Posted by Gary Hazlitt from inside Second Life