Reader Submitted: The Ertina Loopen Memorial Foundation

 

By Journey Texan

 

Before Relay weekend becomes too distant in our rear-view mirrors, I wanted to take a moment to thank everyone who reached out to me or to others near me to express how much they were moved by the Ertina Loopen Memorial Foundation at http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/RFL%20Inspire/194/135/24 .  

I'm glad that I could create something that resonated with those who stopped to appreciate it and to learn more about Tina. While every day is an opportunity for me to remember and pay tribute to Tina, few days have as much visual impact as the ones during Relay weekend, so I am grateful for having the opportunity to share something meaningful with you there. 

If you missed the campsite, attached are a few photos to show that it presented the question "What do you do when cancer turns your life upside-down?" Fellow Relayers submitted answers which were displayed around the giant window frame on the ground. 

 

In the sky, a recreation of the actual Ertina Loopen Memorial Home & Garden was built and turned upside-down. You can actually go up there to sit on the inverted furniture. Other areas featured the team tent with its patented giant foot and back massage area, and other areas were further away from the track for quiet reflection. 

If you ever want to visit the actual Ertina Loopen Home & Garden, it is at http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Kangean/62/76/1501 . 

My thanks again to every individual and team that helped the Foundation contribute to the American Cancer Society during the season. It means a lot to me as well as to countless others whom we will never know. 

Journey Texan for the Ertina Loopen Memorial Foundation  

 

 

Design 

Fresh Art Unveiled at Xaraz Gallery for May

 

 by Klaus Bereznyak

On Tuesday, May 6th, a fresh breeze of creativity swept through Clementina as the Xaraz Gallery unveiled a new group exhibition featuring seven diverse artists. Organised by long-time Second Life art advocate Michiel Bechir and hosted by gallery curator Veyot, the opening marked another successful edition of Bechir’s Art Walk series. DJ Niloy Kas provided the soundtrack, and the event brought together artists and visitors in a lively exchange, with many of the participants meeting one another for the first time.

Bechir, active in Second Life for over 18 years, is known for his dedication to promoting in-world photography and visual art. He regularly hosts Art Walks at various galleries, combining his curatorial eye with a gift for community-building. Veyot welcomed the opportunity to co-curate this latest round at Xaraz, which runs through May: “As curator, I am always looking for artists, so it's a pleasure when someone else brings the artists. The organiser, Michiel Bechir, likes to bring people together in this way.”

The exhibition at Xaraz spans both indoor and outdoor spaces, including the distinctive glass-walled structure that has become a signature of the Xaraz Gallery. The show takes visitors on a journey through mood, memory, and medium: from figurative dance to abstraction, photography to AI-enhanced surrealism.

Veyot also commented on the evolving nature of the gallery space itself: “I get new ideas for the gallery from each artist that shows their art here. They arrange things in clever ways, or add walls in unexpected places.” In the same spirit, the current show gives each artist the opportunity to express their own aesthetic and approach.

The show includes "Dance Energy", a six-piece series by Maat celebrating the emotion and beauty of movement. Adjacent to this, Malou Inglewood presents four softly treated Second Life landscapes evoking stillness and reflection. In the outdoor conservatory, Princess Tata, a Russian digital artist, offers a joyful series with a cultural nod to bright Mexican styles worked up by integrating AI and Photoshop with a sunny palette.

Nearby, on one side of a square court, Ourane NuevaVida's treatment of female forms suggests softness and sorrow, exploring fragility and resilience. On another side, Scarlett Auster brings three photographic portraits of solitary figures in the great tradition of Rückenfigur. One particularly touching piece shows a woman and her dog gazing out toward a misty horizon together.

On the third side of the court, Giselle Seeker’s trio of digitally hand-painted pieces plays with varying degrees of abstraction, keeping a similar palette across the swirling colour field of "Sea of Flowers" to a tranquil scene of water and trees.

Inside the main gallery building, Elan’s "Digital Dust in the Winds" asserts a clear vision exploring contradiction, time, and the ephemeral with paintings boldly spare in places and strongly textured in others. Elan is openly critical of AI in art, and his works assert a deeply human, if restless, presence. If you do venture down into the main gallery building, do take a peek in the basement too ...

As a whole, the exhibition brings to light the multiplicity of Second Life art in a representative cross-section of subject matter and technique: from playful and decorative to deeply philosophical. Some artists embrace AI and digital enhancement, others reject it in favour of raw technique and conceptual depth. All of them, however, are contributing to the evolving topology of SL’s creative landscape.

The Xaraz Gallery continues to thrive as a space where ideas flow as well as images. With the exhibition running through the end of May, there’s still time to check it out.

Visit: Xaraz Gallery: https://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Clementina/98/161/31.

 

Klaus

 

Burnal Equinox

 

 By Gemma Cleanslate

 

 

Burn2’s Burnal Equinox opens this Friday at 5:00 pm slt. This annual spring event is so interesting this year since it mixes two seemingly opposing themes into one as you can see in the Poster above. Creators have done a wonderful job of mixing. The whole weekend gives you a chance to experience these builds as well as the parties taking place daily leading up to the 12:00 burning of the effigy on Sunday. Don’t miss it! Fortunately this weekend is also the European change of time and we will all be back together.

In the town of Gerlach, at the edge of the Playa, all is in place. Information about the Principles of Burning Man of which Burn2 is a regional. They are in many languages. There is clothing and help for new residents of SL available there too. Many donated gifts of all sorts are ready for all the visitors so be sure to stop and pick them up. Lots of fire attachments are in some of the boxes. I love the Walk with me Hud so friends can walk together through the streets and roads of the event.

As you walk through the Horseshoe gate a small into a small western town you have the opportunity to rezz a horse to ride through the entire playa or you will also find a variety of art cars designed for the event. They are lots of fun and are created by members of the Burn2 group. Clockwork is evident in the buildings and in the sky. I even found Mesas never seem before on the Playa.

I climbed up onto the Mesa and found SHINY (Shiny Starchild) putting finishing touches on his installation of a steampunk western distillery waiting for customers. Get up there to see it and the others nearby. As I was leaving I found Little Suzi (LittleSuzi98 in her Saloon. She was also getting the drinks and games and stage ready for Friday. Stop by when you come in through the gate.

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Burning%20Man-%20Deep%20Hole/147/29/24

Gemma Cleanslate

 

Dove's Dream

 

 By Gemma Cleanslate

It is time to recall Palomma Casanova the former owner of The Free Dove who passed away a few years ago. She was an old friend and from the first years of Second Life began and never stopped helping new residents , and old , with free avatars, outfits and so much more donated by the creators. It is was her birthday on March 11.

To celebrate, 89 designers have set up booths at Dove’s Dream. The owner of Palomma which is a continuation of The Free Dove, Shelby Monitor, a close friend of Palomma and has continued her vision of assisting SL members by keeping the original store open to all. She was keeping watch and doing announcements when I visited the event.

At one end of the site there is a tribute to Palomma where one can stop and reflect. It is called The Stairway to Heaven.

On Galli the Palomma is open 24/7 with all kinds of wonderful outfits for both men and women. I still stop over there to check out the new donations. On the upper level there are many shops of the designers who are donors and I often shop there also. Thanks to Shelby for being such a constant friend to all , new residents, old residents and shop owners. http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Gallii/180/62/33 original store.

I picked up several outfits as well as lots of gifts available at most of the booths . I could not resist this one made by Vamila Vela, a reminder of the Dove and a cute casual outfit.

To visit the event for great shopping travel here and be prepared to walk on water. 

 

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Gallii/125/182/4061

Gemma Cleanslate