Kondor’s Art Café

 

By Netera Landar

Hermes Kondor arrived early to greet guests before the art café opened.

A Facebook invitation announced the grand opening of a new space for Kondor’s Art Cafe on Sunday, Jan. 11. Hermes Kondor’s artwork was featured in the Dickens Project Art Show last month, and I learned that he has an art center. Arriving early to the event would allow me to take pictures of Hermes’ collection without disrupting the event. To my surprise, Hermes was at the center. 

Hermes explained that the art café is a transformation of an old concept called “The Terrace,” which had functioned more like a club. His notecard explained the concept and intention of the art café.  It would serve a small but meaningful purpose as a Sunday cultural and elegant salon. The terrace would motivate people to meet in an art and cultural environment, to socialize, listen to good music, and to dance. Thursdays would feature exhibitions, and Sundays would focus on connection and atmosphere. 

As Hermes started greeting other early guests, I clicked on the sim’s music stream and began walking through the realistic art center. Sydney Couerblanc was greeted by Hermes. She explained that she couldn’t attend the 1 p.m. opening but was interested in seeing his new materials. She told him she liked the tight color palette and the highlights and shadows in one of the photographs, then continued her self-guided tour.

From the stairway, interior view.

My own tour was one of observation, appreciation, and a desire to speak with each photographer and artist about their composition. What were they trying to capture and express? Art is like poetry; you can try to interpret it, but it’s more than a personal point of view. The poet feels compelled to select the right words, while the photographer waits for the perfect angle and lighting to capture the image he/she desires. 

Before I knew it, artists, photographers, and art supporters began arriving. Thirty-three at my last count. They gathered on the terrace and listened to DJ Pris and then DJ Medea. The majority were dressed casually. All commented positively on the collection and said they couldn’t wait to see future exhibits.

Artists represented in the art center/museum.

Here are a few pieces from the collection.

 

“Waves Roll in My Thoughts” by Paola Mills.

 

“Fighting the Dark” by Duraya.

“Tangled” by ilyra Chardin

“Shoot Speed Kill Light” by Traci.

“Distortion 24” by Angelika Corral 2023

“Failure” by Margherita Hax.

“WOS Away” by eta Mae

 

“Relativeco” by Selen Love.

Slurl: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Royal%20Tea/159/82/30

Netera Landar
 

The Shui Mo Gallery

 

By Gemma Cleanslate

 

Last week Andee Cooper’s  VAI tour group visited two galleries lead by Isa (Isalia Michalak) who is an aficionado of art. Our first visit was to the Shui Mo Gallery which is the installation of Fionafei. I am familiar with Fionafei’s art from Burn2 and various exhibits in Second Life. Her art is, “ Chinese ink brush painting, depicting a common theme or landscape seen in many traditional Chinese paintings.” At first glance on arrival it looks like a simple gallery of brush art on the wall. Take a close look. In almost every piece there is movement. At the end of the gallery is a red door and here is the real beginning .Enter and behold! Become part of the art.

Now you are facing a huge hall filled with black and white moving or still. This is the Dreams Garden Plot where one can float or pose on the umbrellas scattered around or dance while you admire the stunning garden and reflection under the floor . Koi swim gracefully around under the floor. There are four doors above on the bridge, two to the left and two to the right. One however shows an under construction sign.

Fionafei graciously stopped by to thank us for visiting her gallery and presented us all with a personal Koi like the ones swimming in the Garden Plot. She informed us she is creating a new exhibit that will fill the room behind the construction sign and invited us all to return to see it and I certainly will. I want to spend more time in the rooms examining all the stunning figures in each.We entered the first door. What a surprise. It is a full village of homes. Walk among them to see how they are “built”. This is where Fionafei is such an expert in her distinctive style. She is a Chinese American and loves to be in touch through her art with her ancestors and celebrate the “old masters who painted in this beautiful art style” she says. Fionafei told us she was inspired to create the village from her visits to Shanghai.

The third room holds Dragons intertwining and moving . Walk around so you can experience the dragons from different angles so you are viewing the art in 3d. Try another door. Inside the you will find a huge room full of windows from all over the world just hanging in the air and below the floor. This is a visit not to be missed. 

Here is the entrance to Shui Mo.  http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Dreams/149/34/2554

Some background on the region appears on the notecard available at the gallery.

“About the Dreams Sim

************************

Shui Mo hovers over Dreams, a sim dedicated to helping and supporting stroke survivors and people with autism by means of regular group meetings, classes, games, and creative building contests. The goal of the Shui Mo Gallery is to give the visitors and the Dreams community the feel of being fully immersed inside a 2D drawing as well as an escape from even 'virtual' reality, where the 3D space melts away into the mind of the artist. Initially designed as a stand-alone art installation is now also used to house many of my other Second Life sculptures and installations. “


I will tell you about the other fantastic gallery another day. 

Gemma Cleanslate

 

Design

Scraps: Collages at Montara Bridge Works Gallery

By Klaus Bereznyak

Scraps, by Veyot (Resident) is the current collection of art on display at Montara Bridge Works Gallery in Second Life.

The gallery is located in the sky above a tiny beach idyll where visitors are welcome to relax and enjoy the waterside setting, take off for further exploration in a passing Yavascript Pod, select a destination from the posters on display or check out the landmarks from a notecard in the news vendor.

Into this context, Veyot has placed her virtualized collection of hands-on, real-life collage work, made initially not with pixel manipulation but with glue, paper, and scissors. The collages are abstract and freeform with thematic echoes of shape, color, and content, leaving it very much to the observer to take what they will from the detail.

Veyot's summary, provided in a notecard at the exhibit, states: "These abstract collages are made from scraps of junk mail, old calendars, magazines and newspapers. I use them for greeting cards or fold them over to make covers for tiny notebooks. I prefer to tear random shapes instead of carefully cutting around an object. In SecondLife, they seem more useful as textures rather than wall hangings, so I put them all in one box. It's upstairs."

Many of the pieces include tantalizing fragments of text and a mixture of formal and informal composition, figures, faces, textures from nature, fabrics, maps and photographs. There are 12 individual pieces on the wall and several décor items textured with collages as well as the box of textures, which are on offer as freebies.

However playful and accidental the works may appear at first, they are marked by a coherent style and overall feel that perhaps comes from the fact that Veyot has been making collages for several years, although this is the first time they have been presented in an inworld collection. Veyot explained to me it was the combination of her commitment to making a "collage a day" while stuck at home during the Covid-19 crisis and an invitation by gallery owner, Pearl Grey, that provided the impetus for the project.

The pictures were chosen from dozens of possible options. Choosing the ones that would work together in the space, Veyot tells me, was a challenge that took "some imagination". It is an accessible exhibit in that we are likely to be familiar with printed material and many of our humans had a crack at sticking things together on paper in our early education. I found myself naturally responding to the colorful, kaleidoscopic compositions as they seemed to celebrate nature and topography, everyday life and exotic locations, inviting fresh associations between visual cues.

It's inspiring to look at these pictures, and I found myself wanting to have a go too. I asked Veyot if she had any tips for wannabe collagers. She said, "Calendar pictures are an especially good source because of the size. Tear the page into random shapes and then glue them down in random order for a simple abstract collage. Take care which way you hold the paper when you tear. You can get a white edge either showing or not, whichever you prefer."

Veyot is one of many creative souls making ingenious use of the opportunities in our virtual world to make art and stories and have adventures. You can read what she's up to on her blog or follow her on Tumblr.

SLURL: https://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Montara/47/187/702
Veyot's View: https://veyot.tumblr.com/
Virtual Veyot: https://veyot368870036.wordpress.com/
Klaus Bereznyak

"Roots" by Cica Ghost

By Becky "Sha" Shamen

Sometimes, we just put all the possible destinations on the wall and put on a blindfold, spin around three times and shoot a dart. This time, I hit on one called, "Roots," by Cica Ghost. It was described as a sim art project. The illustration showed some odd looking buildings that beckoned exploration. An Artist and Architect in our own right, we decided to go see if there was anything cool to report on.

Arriving at the landing tower, as things rezzed, the music is first to make a good impression. Words like Majestic and Peacefull come to mind. We begin our tour with a spring in our step. From the tower, there are two ways to explore the sim. A balloon ride comes by and give a ride around, with a birds eye view, or you can just walk down the path and tour on foot. Flying is also allowed. Viewing the neighborhood gives us a split impression. On the one hand, the scenery looks like a child's urban creation, made in the sand lot behind his house, but long forgoten and left to nature and her seasons to take back. On the other hand, this place is anything but dead. One senses that the sim is one large, living compost pile, preparing the ground for a lush new life. This sim has an air about it....one that should be kept away from open flames and sparks.

Adding to the "look", the sim's largest resident, a giant snail, with a mud hut for a shell, slimes his way past us, probably on his way to the races. We tried thumbing a ride, but the house was small and he smelled like something that shouldn't be stepped on. We move on to higher ground, where the homes aren't mobile.

Several of the structures had animations, allowing one to gaze out an upper window, while contemplating images, stirred up by the beautiful music. We were somewhat shocked to find one house that was occupied by a little girl and a black cat. Fortunately, they were only statues, so no need to make the sign of the cross or throw salt over the shoulder. Moving on, we spot a large tower, that looks like it would give a great view of the sim, if we could get to the top. A long ladder was shy by 6 meters of the top, but a large flat rock travelled up and down, like an elevator. At the top, naturally a little contemplation came into play, imagining ourselves as a tiny mouse that made it's home here.

Before ending the tour, it was imperative that we take the balloon tour of the sim. Returning to the landing tower, we grab the next available flight and keep our seat for several go-arounds. On the second pass, a young lady popped into the adjacent seat. Always pleased to share our adventures with others, we smile and say, "This is a fun place, isn't it?" She agrees, then, red-faced, jumps out and waits for the next flight.

Overall impressions of the sim? My hat's off to Cica Ghost, for taking objects and textures of child-like simplicity and crudeness and melding them into a grand and masterful artwork, the size of a sim. It's like walking around inside a painting and you can almost smell the rich humus, ready to sprout any seed that finds it. Maybe it's just the viewer I'm using. Perhaps our readers should visit and see if their latest, greatest viewer comes with [SMELL] parameters.

I give "Roots", by Cica Ghost, a big thumbs up. I recomend you go see it and if you agree, leave a little tip in her balloon tip jar, by the landing.

Night Atoll (36/185/42)

"Sha"