Lichtbringer's 16 Fields and the LEA Photo Contest

By Klaus Bereznyak

The tripartite collective of Lichtbringer (Light-bringer) have been bringing light to the grid through their collaborations since they first got together in 2015. Their latest installation on LEA26 is called 16 Fields, a sim divided four by four into squares, each square hosting a unique offering of original 3D work.

​There's still time to to enter the Linden Endowment for the Arts (LEA) Photo Contest, open for entries until 17 August, and submit your best snap of this breathtaking show. I'm a sucker for a photographic challenge, so I loaded a roll, grabbed some lenses and set my coordinates to LEA26.

The landing point is in a cafe area (one of the 16 fields) with a well-stocked bar and equally well-stocked information points where one can find out about Lichtbringer and some of their other diverse work. Each member of the group, an artist in their own right, contributes unique skills to the collective. They work with handmade meshes, sculpts, prims, particles, lighting and scripts, endlessly experimenting with light. Beyond the cafe area is a surreal plane with tantalising cubic aurorae snaking overhead, snow falling upwards, shapes morphing and changing color. Whether you are a mouselooker or an ALT-zoomer, you need to get out and in among the lights.

​Immersing here is like being in a continuous firework display that you can get up close to without being burned. I was a little overwhelmed at first, but there are only 15 more fields to see after you have had a drink at the bar, or a late breakfast. Three other AVs were lounging near the landing point and, no doubt, camming. I wandered off in the direction of what first aroused my curiosity, a seemingly dark and static piece, beyond all the swirling light, on a corner of the sim. 

A protester stands under a towering sculpture of the word "APOCALYPSE" with arms lifted in an open gesture. Surrounded by death and dryness, the figure seemed hopeless, but I wasn't sure what the message was here. Some of the fields contain sculpted words or recognisable symbols that hint at meanings but leave it open to interpretation. For all the light in play, the dark shapes in some of the fields are fascinating too.

​
Across the fields, the light, colors and shapes that are visible are constantly changing, so that no two moments will be the same, offering endless opportunities for a unique photo capture. The scale of the works ranges from a quirky assortment of colorful polygons in a sort of 'playground' on the NW corner to epic structures that dwarf any AV and can be flown through. For the best flying experience, I recommend the high, cubic lattice of point lights, filled with a morphing funnel of particles in the middle of the southern edge of the sim.

​
To participate in the photo competition for a 1000L$ cash prize and a unique, handmade "namehopper", one must submit a picture taken within the installation. Post-processing is allowed but not essential and there's no entry fee, so it seems open and not too fussy. However, make sure you read all the rules on the competition web-page, especially the detail on perms and how to submit. 

Nobody seems to know what a "namehopper" is, answers on a postcard? I was hoping I'd find the answer somewhere on the sim, and I know what I think it might be, but we shall see. 

​
Lea26 is at: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/LEA26/158/160/32
Details of the photo competiton: http://lindenarts.blogspot.co.uk/2017/07/lea26-holds-photo-contest-starting.html

Castle and Home and Garden Contest Opens

By Gemma Cleanslate

Sunday at 3:00 pm slt the Castle and Home and Garden contest had its grand opening.Be there! It is a bit late this year but well worth the wait!!!  I have been roaming the regions and am amazed at the gorgeous creations that are filling the sims. I will let you come see them for yourself! Everyone has been working so hard to make the regions look enchanting to the eye. 


Evo ‘KhrysT Neox let me take a picture of his tiny castles , surrounded by larger ones.
 The merchants are setting up their wares in the shops , and, Gotchas, raffles , auctions all set up for you . It is a wonderful event to visit. It will be here all week until the 31st of July. There is music and live entertainment going on every day. http://chgrfl.org/schedule/

 “The builds are displayed over a set of days, wherein both a set of impartial judges and the public at large can vote for their favorite castles. All proceeds from the Castle, Home and Garden Contest go towards Relay for Life of Second Life, a charity organization supporting the American Cancer Society.” So make sure you visit all the castles and look for the voting kiosk. 

Remember this event takes place on TWO levels. There is a ground level and an upper level!! Please don’t miss those entries up on the top level. There are prizes but even these go to the Relay for Life. I will be taking pictures during the week but walking in and looking for hidden room is much more fun so come over and do it!  

The Otter .. Rowena Dubrov is the founder and  small but mighty lead of this awesome event!

The sims were open at 2PM SL time. The main ceremonies took place at 3PM at CHG Main.  

See you there

Gemma Cleanslate

Editor's Note: This article was meant to go up Sunday morning, but thanks to Murphy's Law, it ended up in the spam folder. So here it is now. Better late than never. 

One can find a transcript of the opening speech here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/16f5wSO7ESHHpnGlh1hrt2TcUTiSxZ4PI5qbYt-qsruE/edit

Castle, Home and Garden Contest

By Gemma Cleanslate

“Come explore the 12 sims- journey across the land of the Smurfs, join Aslan in the Chronicles of Narnia, enjoy some merry shopping in Holiday World, believe in magic on Once Upon a Time, take a tale far far away in Brothers Grimm, join Snow White Anna and Rapunzel on Princesses, go to the land of the Mother of Dragons on Meereen, join the dragons on Dragonriders of Pern, go back into the world of Sherlock Holmes on Victorian London, join the hobbits in the Shire, find Harry Ron and Hermione on Godric's Hollow, and go down, down, down with Alice from May 23 to June 4th!”,  is the invitation from all those who have worked so hard  to make this experience a special one. Every builder has had contact with cancer.

I roamed some of the sims and am glad it is open until June 4 because there is so much to see! There are 29 builds of all different styles from small to large but all lovely. 79 merchants of fashion, furniture, breedables and more have set out their wares for you to shop with proceeds going to the Relay for Life. Check out the hunt going on during the event where you can find 50 gifts!!

There will be a judging of all the submissions with money prizes to the winners. You can also cast a vote for your favorites with a donation to the kiosks in front of each. The winner of that popular contest will get a money prize also.

The opening was very touching  to all and brought tears to many eyes when Rowena Dubrovna announced “ We lost one of our own builders this season. Zaphara Cazalet was one of the most loyal, dedicated and passionate builders we had. She was here with us two years ago, and again last year. She spent the entire year both last year and this year up until she passed away working on her build. She was a member of our team, of our family. We lost her and we mourn for her. However, her passion lives on at this event, and we will never forget. We have decided to set up an honor for Zaphara and start a tribute to Zaphara by way of honoring someone who has put in a lot of dedication, commitment and loyalty to the Castle, Home and Garden Contest.”

The dedication of all who worked on the project which has grown to a major event for the Relay over three years is to be commended. It is an amazing event . I wish the judges well because it is not going to be easy! I stopped in at every delightful region just to see the overview. Don’t miss it!! As Rowena put it, “We were once a seedling, now we are a full grown rose bush. Let’s see how we do becoming a tree”.

Speed building contests will be taking place during the week also and you can find the schedules of entertainment at the website  http://www.chgrfl.com/

You can enter here.   http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/CHG%20Brothers%20Grimm/79/179/24

Gemma Cleanslate

The Girls Who Can’t Do Math – Relay Wizards for Spunky Speed Build

By DrFran Babcock

The excellent residents at Builders Brewery have been generous in offering their sim so that the Relay Wizards for Spunky could hold a week of events to raise money for the American Cancer Society. We have a silent auction, a few dances, and the week will culminate in a huge dance that really going to be a pajama party.

Anhayla Lycia is our master builder and a veteran of numerous Speed Builds. She and I set out to create a Speed Build for our week of events. The event was held on Wednesday, June 24, 2015.

What Is Speed Build?

You have missed out on one of the best uses of Second Life if you have never attended or competed in a Speed Build. Contestant arrange themselves on prim platforms and as the event starts they are given a theme. The build begins, and goes on for a specified time after which the builds are judged (usually by the audience), and prizes are awarded based on the votes. Different contests have different rules, but the format is generally the same.

For our Speed Build we decided that all prims had to be original and that sadly no mesh could be used because it could not be created on the spot. We did allow sculpts provided they were created by the person competing.

Our Math

Anhayla and I are creatives, which often, but not always, implies less skill with numbers. We decided on very generous prizes for the winners of the contest: 2000L for the winner, 1000L for second place, and 500L for third place, for a total of 3500L in prizes. We each contributed that money.

Our plan was to have contestants “buy” a build platform from a Relay for Life vendor in order to participate in the Speed Build. By this time you are starting to see the potential for problems, which is that we would have to have a lot of entries to break even. To make a profit, even more entries would be required.

The Event

On the evening of the event we had already spammed Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, Google+, the Builders Brewery, Relay for Life Volunteers, and Thinkerer Melvilles entertainment groups.  At the start of the contest we had six very enthusiastic builders, and a large audience of residents in the seats usually used by the Show and Tell event (Sundays at 1PM SL).

In my opinion, building events such as classes and contests, showcase on the best features of Second Life—you can build and build and create here, and your results are immediately visible and usable. Prims may be old technology, but they are still a wonder.

The theme for the builders was: The Future is Now. You may know that this is the same as the theme of the 2015 Relay for Life in Second Life. Anhayla told the builders they had 50 minutes to build, and we began the competition.

The audience seemed to be delighted with the activity and cheered on their favorite builders. When time was up the audience walked around the builds and noted their favorites. They instant messaged their choices to Anhayla who tallied them up, and the winners were announced:

First Prize: Trixie Seomun for her steampunk gears turning the globe

Second Prize: Toxic Darkmatter for her computer with a hand coming out of it.
Third Prize: Anthony (ADudeNamed Anthony)

The other contestants in the contest were cuddly waffle (Barry’s Coffee Shop), A Rose by another name (bellarosamaria) for her sky balloon, and Thickbrick Sleaford (Futuristic skyscraper).  

The Results

Thanks to ADudeNamed Anthony for donating his winnings back to the Relay For Life team kiosk. Aside from that, we lost money on this event. However, it was the most fun I have had in SL in a long time, and Blue Myanamoto (another Relay Wizards for Spunky team member) and I are considering asking Builders Brewery if we can turn this into a regular event. Speed Builds are fun.

Please see the photos for the work of these accomplished builders. Bellarosamaria showed up almost an hour early, and although a newer builder, she gave it her all.

Thanks to Builders Brewery for allowing us to use their land.


Thanks, Doc

DrFran Babcock

VMA Spring Build-Off Winners Announced

By Grey Lupindo

The Virtual Museum of Architecture held its Spring Build-Off at the Builders Brewery Sandbox at Builders Resource (127, 131, 22).    The theme was Homes of Feudal Japan.   Colorful cherry blossoms and flying kites added a festive note to the competition.    The first picture, taken by SL photographer Sanfroggy, shows an overview of the competition area.
 

       This Build-Off was very different from past competitions.   Djinn Dasmijn, Co-Director of the VMA, said, “This has been one of the Virtual Museum of Architecture's most unique build-offs yet. ... Builders had asked for something off the wall, different, non-Western. Well, how better to be non-Western than to go East.”    

       There were a total of 10 entries, five in the Pro category and five in the Novice.   The number of entries was intentionally kept smaller for this event so that the builders could have more room and prims to use for the houses.   Many of the homes featured traditional Japanese gardens, rice paper walls, bamboo, and beautiful murals.   The photographs taken by Sansfroggy show the exterior of the First Place winning entries in each category.  The winners Pro Category were 1^st - Celestine Ghiardie   (House 4);  2^nd - Terra Tepper  (House 2); and 3^rd -  Granelda Oh (House 1).   The People's Choice Award also went to Granelda Oh.    Also building in the Pro Division was Rottin Dean and Sandi Glas.    

 

           The winners  in the Novice Category were 1st - Winter Nightfire; 2^nd -  Rage Quintessa; and 3rd - Vencat Boxen.   The People's Choice Award went to Winter Nightfire.     Bartimaeus Brandenburg and LunaEnigma also built in the Novice Category.     

           An Honored Sponsors Village was designed and built by Garvie Garzo.  In addition to Builder’s Brewery, which donated the use of the sandbox and provided other assistance, the Build-Off was sponsored by  XD – Gadgets, Creations for Parkinsons, Ashira's Aerie,  [zED]ge-NeticS, MeadowWorks,   Lucid Design, MrMultiWriter, Smiling Faces Entertainment, Look REAL w/Starla Farella, Top Jobs,  DRUM, and Affection Island.     

           On Sunday, March 3, the Museum held an awards party, complete with entertainment.   Twostep Spiritweaver, DRUM, Mr.Multi “Mic” Writer, and Ed Lowell performed.    The viewing time was limited at Builders’ Brewery because the event was being held on their sandbox.   However, Djinn Dasmijn hopes to find another location where the Homes of Feudal Japan will be able to stay longer to allow more SL residents to view them.

Grey Lupindo

Jukebox Build-Off Winners

There were six contestants in the Jukebox building contest sponsored by The Virtual Museum of Architecture, located at Purdue University (207, 113, 26).    As you may remember from previous articles, their Spring Build-off theme featured 50’s drive-ins.   The theme proved to be so popular that they decided to hold a mini Jukebox building contest. 

Elaara Wylder-Hansome (elaara.wylder) won first place with her fun design.  Elaara never expected to win.  She said, “I was excited just to take part!”   Her entry features lots of neon in colorful pink, blue, green, yellow and purple that rotates and changes.  Records move and drop down, too, just like the old jukeboxes used to do.   (Or so I’m told.)     

One of the criteria for the contest was that the jukeboxes had to be able to play music.  Originally the requirement was to play a 50s stream, but that was later modified to require that it could play a song that was provided.    Neither Elaara nor I could remember the name, but it’s an upbeat, familiar-sounding rock-n-roll tune.  I couldn’t resist dancing a bit.  

Neural Blankes won Second Place, and Third Place was awarded to Toxic Darkmatter.   Darkforest Dean (rottin.dean) created a jukebox with six selections in it, including Doo Wop and a Rockabilly station.  Jolie Serendipity and Djinn Dasmijn, who coordinates the contest, also competed.

The winners were selected by members of the VMA, who voted for their favorites.  The competition was tough as all of the jukeboxes look great.    They are on display now, along with the drive-in trophy designs, inside the VMA building.

Grey Lupindo

Winners Announced in UWA Open-Art Challenge

Any1 Gynoid, noted lately for her articles on the “Occupy” movement in Second Life, recently attended the University of Western Australia’s 3-D Open Art Challenge as they announced their winners this Sunday December 11th at 6 AM SL time. A total of 59 art exhibits were elgible for a 100,000 Linden prize, with 24 competing in a seperate non-scripted contest. In the “MachinimUWA 4: Art of the Artists” film contest, 83 machinimas were judged as well.

By a single point, the winner of the Open Art Challenge was Misprint Thursday’s “Digital Glove.” Described in Prim Perfect as a “complex and thoughtful work,” one was asked to wear a HUD to get the full bennefit of this exhibit that was a combination of audio, motion pictures, and static objects. Taking a look at it, I personally do not know how to describe it other than I haven’t seen anything like it before. Misprint also tied for 5th Place in “Paranormal Frottage.”

"I am so honored to have two spots in the top 10 of the year...I am amazed at the potential of the medium and look forward to seeing it progress. I am very thankful for the work that Jay Jay, FreeWee and the judges put into this-it is no small task. We have a world of people and possibilities here and it continues to move me. So, thank you."

Those wanting to hear more from Misprint can do so at the Christmas Expo in the Silver Bells sim on Friday when she is interviewed.

Second place went to “In Dreams” by Blue Tsuki. This exhibition showed a sleeping area full of beds, but instead of sleepers, the beds had various objects on them. Of coming in second, Blue spoke, "Misprint is very desring, I don’t mind losing to her(smile). But then there were so many deserving that I am so surprised." Blue recieved 75,000 Lindens.

Third place was “The Chasm” by Oberon Onmura. This was a simple exhibit of two wedges back to back to each other with a small gap in between. On each of the peices lay an avatar, humanoid with a monocolor skin, it’s AO causing it to reach out to the other. For those going about the UVA exhibition and see two avatars on your radar next to one another, it might be this exhibit. I say might because avatars can crash. And sometimes they can fail to rezz, such as when I came across it. Oberon recieved 40,000 Lindens. As shown when Second Life Newser looked at his Burn2 exhibit, Oberon’s work sometimes involves the use of avatars as art.

Fourth place went to “Strange Plant: Ugliness and Beauty” by Claudia222 Jewel, whom recieved 30,000 Lindens as her prize. Tying for fifth were “Paranormal Frottage” by winner Misprint Thursday and “Excerpts from Realities” by Glyph Graves. Seventh place went to “Not Everything is Black & White” by Fushia Nightfire. Tying for eighth place were “Fantasia En La Sombra” by Romy Nayar and “It’s Raining in My Heart as It’s Raining in the Town” by Cherry Manga. Five exhibits tied for tenth place, “Harmonies in C Great” by Artistide Despres, “Three Little Turns and It Goes Away” by Josiane Sorciere, “The Dock Spirit” by Scottius Polke (designer of Lunamaruna), “Venustrap” by Claudia222Jewel, and “Shattered” by Ginger Also.

In the Non-Scripted competition, first place went to “Shattered” by Ginger Alsop, whom was awarded a 15,000 Linden prize. Second place was awarded to “You Can’t Touch Heaven” by Paleillusion Resident, who recieved 10,000 Lindens. Third place went to “99%” by Harter Fall, whom took home 5,000 Lindens. Harter spoke, "Receiving this award is such an amazing honor. I never thought I would win this prize, especially with such an political installation. I think even the rich ones of us understand they don´t belong to the 1%."

The Peoples’ Choice Award went to “Small Piece of Hell” by Rebeca Bashly, " I am very surprised and pleased. My goal is to make people happy with my pixels."

In the MachinimUWA 4 competition, the winner was “Welcome to the Other Side” by Tutsy Navarathna, “Many thanks to the organizers. UWA competitions are now setting the benchmarks for the creation of Visual 3D and Audio-Visual media in Virtual Worlds.
I am very proud to be part of this adventure! UWAMachinima IV is a great achievement in terms of the number of entrants and the high quality of the films being produced. In only three years or so, machinima filmmakers have emerged as an undisputed artistic force in Virtual Worlds...And this is just the beginning! Thank you, all.”

Tutsy recieved a 60,000 Linden prize. His machinima can be seen here (Not Safe For Work): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dm4XY49gdzc&feature=player_embedded . Second place went to “Artwashers” by Friday Siamendes, and third went to “Art of the Artists” by Fushia Nightfire. They recieved 40,000 and 30,000 Linden prizes respectively. The Special Award for Emotion went to “Yeah” by Hypatia Pickens, and the Special Award for Breaking the Barriers was awarded to “Transformation Virtual Art on the Brink” by L1aura Loire/ Dr. Lori Landay.

Lori spoke, “My film suggests that virtual art can be seen as a step towards what augmented reality might bring to art experience in the future, but as usual, I explore that idea playfully, with a wink at questions about how imagined, created, and actual realities intertwine, and what it might mean to break the barriers between them. It is a privilege to explore those connections with the artist communities of Second Life, especially as we've been brought together by the UWA.”

When awarded fifth place in the Non-Scripted competition for “Marionette,” Haveit Neox commented, "The UWA Art Challenge 2011 comes to an end, but it's left its imprint grid wide for the artists of SL. Jayjay conceived of the challenge, and against all odds in an otherwise scattered Second Life, he managed to nurture an expansive and stimulating place for artists to congregate, share their work, discover each other, and further their visibility in SL. An impossible task, unless you happen to be Jayjay. I am grateful for this award. My thanks to Jayjay, FreeWee, and all those who made the UWA Art Challenge a reality."

The exhibit can still be seen at UWA Winthrop (208, 128, 248)

Contributor: Any1 Gynoid

Sources: Prim Perfect, UWA Blog

Bixyl Shuftan

Virtual Museum of Architecture - Fall Build-Off

The Virtual Museum of Architecture (VMA) held its annual Fall Build-off on Builder’s Brewery, located at Builders Resource (111, 30, 22). Djinn Dasmijn was the Build-Off Coordinator. The theme was Art Deco, a style developed in the 1920’s and 30’s. During a whirlwind 48 hours, competitors designed, built, textured, and tweaked their creations. The aim of the competition was to see who could create the most functional and appealing Art Deco commercial building. There were two categories: Novice and Pro, for residents who had previously sold builds. When the building ended on Sunday, SL residents voted for their favorites.

Djinn Dasmijn stated, “I am impressed with the quality of builds our competitors come up with at each build-off.” There are two large competitions held each year, with a different theme each time. This was the first time the Art Deco theme had been used. Dasmijn said a small contest was held to select the best Art Deco trophy. Because the Build-Offs are so popular, Dasmijn may be adding smaller events throughout the year.

There were 21 competitors this year, 10 in the Pro category and 11 in the Novice. The variety and quality were amazing. Among the builds were restaurants, department stores, a theater, and even a dolphin sanctuary. Some of the builders created notecards about their inspiration or method of creating the piece, which I found very interesting. Camden McAndrews, for example, first built a 1:32 scale model of his structure.

One competitor, Darkforest Dean, took time out to talk about his build and allowed me to photograph him. He placed a radio that he had made inside his structure, and the radio served as the inspiration for his build. Another builder, Levi Ewing, built a tall, luxurious “Flag Ship” store to symbolize the richness of the 1920s and capture the mood of the carefree lifestyle people were experiencing then.

Morgan India created “The Hindenburg Club”, a sky harbor/bus station redesigned into a “high-class speakeasy”. India’s entertaining notecard explained the problems faced by executives of Dirigible-Omnibus Harbor, Inc. that resulted in this structure. India’s real inspiration for the build was a hangar at Lambert Field and by Art Deco icons, such as the Paramount Theater in Oakland, CA [1931], the Musical Hall in Kansas City [1932], and the Gold Ballroom of the Overlook Hotel.

A very unique design was the Mariposa Dolphin Sanctuary, built by Enoch Kips. This two-story structure had a second floor observation walk where you could watch the two rescued dolphins swim. Movies were well-represented in the competition, too. A great corner theater was built by Deo, while Simi Firehawk’s stucco, glass and gold structure included Casablanca posters and pictures of movie stars inside.

The end of the competition was celebrated by a dance DJ’d by Etoile in the exhibitor’s area. The Winners were announced at an Awards Gala on Monday, October 24th, from 7:00–9:00 PM SLT, on the competition sim.

The winners of VMA's Fall Build-off 2011 are:

Novice Category:

1st place: Jolie Serendipity, 2nd place: Arteer Oliva, 3rd place: 2Rottin Dean

Pro Category:

Tied for 1st place: Terra Tepper and Marcan Aridian , 2nd place: Hideo Inaka, 3rd place: Granelda Oh

People's Choice Awards:

Novice: Camden McAndrews, Professional: Granelda Oh

Grey Lupindo