Scaling down skyscrapers in order to build a big project

Do tiny skyscrapers make sense? Well, that’s exactly what artist Gem Preiz has built in Second Life: small massive buildings which are not scale models, even if they are just virtual. Those wonders, forming a somewhat futuristic cityscape, can be seen in his installation Skyscrapers, which invites us to think of scales in the virtual […]

There’s still time to check the exhibitions at SL16B (and enjoy some pictures)

One of the most interesting aspects of the Second Life birthday celebrations has been the community exhibitions, and checking the ones prepared for SL16B may become a fun time for visitors at the event. It’s particularly important, I’d say, because it reminds us of how the use of SL can be a creative one. After […]

Eupalinos, architect of an eccentric world

When I made a list of six curious ways to die in Second Life, artist Eupalinos Ugajin suggested I could try an additional means of killing my avatar: by throwing the virtual me from a giant catapult in Avaloir, Eupalinos’s sim. So I did – and that was not the end of the road for […]

Music made visual mobilizes even those who can’t hear it

I’ve been recently invited to contribute with some pictures to Mix Tape, an exhibition at LEA 11 that opens today, Sept. 30, in Second Life, with a party at 12 pm SLT featuring DJ Kaj Juutilainen. The somewhat chaotic installation built by Souix for LEA translates music into a visual representation that sends visitors into […]

A little bit of kindness could do us some good

A few days ago, I received an email by a moderator of a Flickr group related to Art Box, a place in Second Life that I have already written about on this blog. The message was to let me know that a number of pictures I had added to their photo pool had been removed, […]

ArtSpace and TejanoTech: against the tide, a university that still flourishes in SL

The new ArtSpace gallery has opened recently in Second Life and I took some time to visit its first exhibition and the surrounding sim where it is located: TejanoTech, kept by the University of Texas at San Antonio. Both the gallery and the sim actually fit each other and feel like a coherent environment, because […]

Will we meet far away? (or sims as art works)

ATTENTION: UPDATE on the party at the end of the text. The invitation, open to the whole Second Life community, to a celebration called Radio Days, on Saturday, November 21, at The Far Away, brings a good opportunity for me to share some thoughts on sims (or parts of sims) as art works. The event […]

When (second) life imitates art

A new visit that I’ve recently paid to Da Boom in Second Life led me to think of a certain way in which we, SL residents, commonly experience some traditional forms of art: by recreating them in a 3D environment and interacting with the pieces that we build. As I said, this particular journey started […]

At SL’s very first region, Escher and Seifert Surface

For the second year in a row, Second Life’s community is organizing Second Life’s anniversary celebration – and this time, the occasion is even more special, because we are talking about SL’s 10th anniversary. The celebration will be held in June, but the recruiting phase for those who would like to take part in the organization of […]

At Van Gogh’s virtual Arles

NEW UPDATE: The virtual Arles was rebuilt at a new sim: Torell Nederland. UPDATE: It seems that the virtual Arles is gone (I’m having a busy time IRL right now, so I couldn’t check it myself in SL). The sim is still there, but it seems it’s someone’s private home now. Anyway, I’ll leave this […]

Pictures for our ears, melody for the eyes

This post was written to the sound of “Sign 0”, by Chouchou – and, while you read the following lines, you can hear it in the embedded player I placed here: Whenever I feel sad, I go to Chouchou and find peace there. When I want to be completely taken by beauty, I go to […]

A surreal dream

For decades since the 1920s, Surrealism has shaped, at least to a great extent, the representation of dreams in art. No matter if its popularity led to accusations of commercialism, Surrealism became a relatively widespread cultural movement and, especially, its images became icons. Decalcomania, grattage and other techniques were supposed to give painting the psychic […]