UWA Artists’ Choice ChallengesAn exhibition series of original digital art in a virtual world

FreeWee Ling, curator

UWA Studies in Virtual Arts | November 2012 | Volume 1, Number 7

ISSN: 2200-7865 (Print) ISSN: 2200-7873 (Online)

UWA Studies in Virtual ArtsNovember 2012Volume 1, Number 7

ISSN 2200-7865 (Print) ISSN: 2200-7873 (Online) http://uwainsl.blogspot.com/p/uwa-studies-in-virtual-arts.html

Jay Jay Jegathesan (SL pseudonym: JayJay Zifanwe), Project Director, Co-curatorD. A. Newton (SL pseudonym: FreeWee Ling), UWA Honorary Research Fellow, Lead Curator, and General Editor

Copyright © 2012 by D.A. Newton. All rights to the original works depicted are owned by their respective creators, and images thereof are used by their permission. All text and images by D.A. Newton/FreeWee Ling unless otherwise noted.

Contact:Jay Jay JegathesanSchool of PhysicsThe University of Western Australia (M013)35 Stirling HighwayCrawley WA 6009AustraliaEmail: jay.jay@uwa.edu.au

UWA Studies in Virtual Arts comprise exhibition catalogues, special editions, and monographs on the arts in virtual worlds. Focus is especially upon the 3D art competi-tions held at UWA’s virtual campus in Second Life.

CitationContributors retain intellectual property rights to their material and may re-publish it provided that UWA SiVA is acknowledged as the original place of publication. Material in UWA SiVA may be reproduced in whole or in part for non-profit use for the purposes of education research, library reference, or stored and/or distributed as a public service by any networked computer. Any commercial use of this journal in whole or in part by any means is strictly prohibited without written permission. Any use of this journal in whole or in part should include customary bibliographic citation.

“Second Life®”and “Linden Lab®” are trademarks of Linden Research, Inc. The univer-sity of Western Australia and UWA SiVA are not affiliated with or sponsored by Linden Research.

ContentsIntroduction

The Work

2012 is the third year of 3D virtual art challenges at the Uni-versity of Western Australia’s virtual gallery in Second Life® (SL™). Through these competitions, UWA in SL is recog-nized worldwide as one of the preeminent venues for the pre-sentation of virtual arts.

This year we featured two separate and non-concurrent art challenges: the UWA 3D Artists’ Choice Challenges, and the UWA Centenary 3D Art Challenge. From January through March and August through December, we will feature monthly sponsored theme challenges, featuring these themes:

• January ~ 3D Self Portraits• February ~ Perfume• March ~ Music• August ~ Air• September ~ Water• October ~ Fire• November ~ Earth• December ~ Triptych

From April through July we held a single major open com-petition in celebration of the Centenary of UWA, with L$550,000 Lindens (about $2200 USD) in art prizes and L$775,000 ($3,400 USD) for “MachinimUWA V,” a related animated film competition.

For the UWA Artists’ Choice challenges, a different theme is announced each month, but the core theme is personal ex-pression. We want the artist to use this as an opportunity to explore some aspect of their personality, not only as a creative artist, but also as a critical observer.

An essential difference in these shows is the judging. When artists submit an entry they agree to serve also as a judge for the prize awards. Thus the awards are determined by the recipients’ colleagues, making this a unique process of con-sensus among peers rather than a critical adjudication by an outside panel.

As with most UWA challenges, participation is open to anyone and no qualification is required. There are technical limits to the number of parts contained in an object and to server load. There is no size limit except to the extent that it impedes our ability to show other work or impacts other activities of the university. We accomodate video and audio media streaming, sound and light emitters, motion scripting, etc. Often we are confronted with work that presents special difficulties in presenting it properly. But we do whatever we can within reason to work with artsts to support their visions.

We wish to acknowledge the generosity of our patrons and sponsors for this year’s projects:

• Jay Jay Jegathesan (JayJay Zifanwe), Prof. Ted Snell, and the University of Western Australia

• Flora Nordenskiold for Nordan om Jorden• Armany Thursday and Dyce Underwood for DNA Art

and Music Fusion• Eliza Wierwight and Patron• Cherry Manga and Anley Piers for Mysterious Wave• Ginger Alsop and Phi Designs• Zachh Cale and projectZ• Nexuno Thespian and La Baroque for Colore Art Gallery• and special donations by anonymous donors

AWARDS FOR THE UWA ARTISTS’ CHOICE CHALLENGE: EARTH

As chosen by consensus of the participating artists:

First Place Award (L$7000): CHERISH AND RENEW by Carmsie Melodie

Second Place Award (L$5000): EARTH PASSION by Nexuno Thespian

Third Place Award (L$3000): WHAT A WONDERFUL WORLD by Krystali Rabeni

Non-Scripted Award (L$3000): This was a three-way tie with the award being

split among the winners.

GOODBYE GALILEO, WE ARE REDESIGNING THE EARTH TO BE FLAT!

by Sir Real

EARTH CHILD by Secret Rage

CONCEPTUAL EARTH by Silene Christen

As chosen by public voting: People’s Choice Award (L$2000):

CHERISH AND RENEW by Carmsie Melodie

Introduction

For the seventh round of the 2012 UWA Artists’ Choice Challenge we had the theme, EARTH, which concludes the elemental sub-series that began with AIR in August, followed by WATER and FIRE. These theme challenges were hosted and curated by FreeWee Ling, Honorary Research Fellow, University of Western Australia. Jay Jay Jegathesan (SL: JayJay Zifanwe) is the founder and project director of the UWA pres-ence in Second Life.

As with all the Artists’ Choice series, a unique gallery space was created specially for this exhibition. It was dominated by a giant gnarly tree in the center, with smaller versions scat-tered about. The was dark with stormy clouds, but the ambient lighting was close to natural full daylight. We placed streams and paths around to help direct the flow of movement through the space.

As usual, the artists chose a wide variety of expression to inter-pret the EARTH theme, from the political, to the spiritual, to the abstract.

There were 27 entries by 24 artists. The overall winner, Carmsie Melodie, created a multi-tier set of holodeck-style rooms, each addressing issues of environmental degradation and preserva-tion. This message of global ecological awareness was present in many of the entries, but each from a unique perspective. There is Herbie Haven’s steampunk machine that squeezes the oil from a model of the planet with an ever tightening belt. Barbara Wardell and Jeneve Felwitch give us a more spiritual view. Secret Rage depicts the Earth as an infant in the nurturing cosmos. Other entries are more scenically representative. Overall this was a more intimate exhibition than some of the others, but was no less creative.

The Work

Aquaglo, MellyDee Macfanatic, Dinny Voom ~ Earth, without her?... We would NOT exist!

Barbara Wardell ~ Protect Our Planet Earth

Brunequildalalinda Birdsong ~ Madre Tierra

FIRST PLACE and PEOPLE’S CHOICE AWARDS: Carmsie Melodie ~ Cherish and Renew

Corcosman Voom ~ Harvest Dance

Dragon Lord ~ Pachamama

Dragon Lord ~ Please Recycle

Finn Lanzius ~ The Formation of the Earth

FreeWee Ling ~ Persistent effects

FreeWee Ling ~ It’s the End of the World As We Know It

GeeJAnn Blackadder ~ Microcosm

Haveit Neox ~ Road Kill

Herbie Haven ~ Earth (The Big Squeeze)

Jeneve Felwitch ~ Earth Priestess

Johnas Merlin ~ The desert in bloom

Kandinsky Beaumont ~ Eat Dirt Or Be Dirt

THIRD PLACE AWARD: Krystali Rabeni ~ What a Wonderful World

Lilia Artis ~ Earthen Patterns

Lucignolo (coddax) ~ Universe Tao Ming

Misprint Thursday ~ Earth Signal

SECOND PLACE AWARD: Nexuno Thespian ~ Earth Passion

NON-SCRIPTED AWARD: Secret Rage ~ Earth Child

Secret Rage ~ Earth to Earth

NON-SCRIPTED AWARD: Silene Christen ~ Conceptual Earth

NON-SCRIPTED AWARD: Sir Real ~ Goodbye Galileo, We are Redesigning the Earth to be Flat!

Talia Sunsong ~ Abundant Earth Gaia Statue

Talia Sunsong ~ I Will Shelter You

Aquaglo (Texas, USA), MellyDee Macfanatic (Europe), Dinny Voom (Brazil) ~ Earth, without her?... We would NOT exist!

If we want our grandchildren's grandchildren to have a home, we MUST pull together in unity to protect our home, our Earth... our momma!

MrDee is from Europe, builds mesh items, a 3D particle designer, an Inspire Space Particle Perfomer, and is a traveler in the Universe learning and experiencing all while believing in the oneness of all humanity.

Aquaglo is a simple Texas gal who loves to design, dance, choreograph and film machinima / dance videos with positive prose who also believes in the oneness of all humanity.

Dinny is "Mr Dee's Secretary" and is from Brazil; a new member of our team of 3D dreamers.

Although the earth is damaged by man. Since its existence, she has evolved. This is not a reason to mistreat. Protect our Earth!

This work shows the Earth magnet human....

Barbara Wardell is a self taugh artist. Abstract paintings using mixed technique: acrylic and collage.

My painting is full of life, color and vibration, a creative modern connotation with inspiration from international art culture. I paint to communicate, share emotions and create pleasure for others. I offer, give, and shares a moment with an eye that passes by.

Second Life gives me a world that looks like me.

Just Fun.... Just here to build, create,

I want to do.

The important thing is not to be a great artist, but to share his expressions.

~ Barbara

Barbara Wardell (Midi Pyrénées, France )~ Protect Our Planet Earth

Brunequildalalinda Birdsong (Bogotá Colombia) ~ Madre Tierra

Carmsie Melodie (Melbourne Australia) ~ Cherish and Renew FIRST PLACE and PEOPLE’S CHOICE AWARDS

As I'm passionate about caring for our planet, the topic "Earth" resonated with me immediately . 'Cherish and Renew' has a strong message, designed to make us think about our day-to-day behaviours and their implications for the future. The inspiration for this piece was a Wendell Berry quotation which is featured throughout.

Artist Biography: I've dabbled in various forms of art for years in real life, though none professionally. The discovery of SL and the creativity it affords prompted me to learn Photoshop, Audacity and other programs. Largely self taught, I spend a lot of time experimenting, practicing and growing my SL design skills. I use a 'trial and error' approach and my latest focus is the development of sounds. I'm very active in (addicted to?) SL. As well as creating art I allow online time for my sim, Daydream Island and SL store called Pixel Bits.

~ Carmsie

Corcosman Voom (California, USA) ~ Harvest Dance

An original prim sculpture with Autumn colors celebrating the fruits of the earth.

~ Corcosman

Dragon Lord (Chicago, USA) ~ Pachamama

Mama Pacha or Pachamama is the name of an indigenous goddess in the Andes. Its names in the Andean languages of Aymara and Quechua literally mean, Mother Earth, or Mother Land. In Inca mythology she was adored as a fertility goddess, and mother creator of earthquakes, as well as the mother of the whole cosmos or universe.

I love any type of art in rl and Sl, and building in 3D gives way to express my inner self.

~ Dragon Chicago, USA

Dragon Lord (Chicago, USA) ~ Please Recycle

Every year the world wastes 1.3 billion tons of food

~ Dragon

Finn Lanzius (New York City, USA) ~ The Formation of the Earth

Work most of my life in interior home renovation.

~ Finn

FreeWee Ling (Kentucky, USA) ~ Persistent effects

Do you realize the true impact you have on the world? This patch of grass before you is affected by your presence. Anyone who walks through the grass causes it to shrink slightly wherever they step. Probably not enough to see, even after several times. But I hope and expect the patch will show wear patterns by the end of the month. We walk through life without knowing the effects of our presence that remain long after we leave. We leave a trail of heat, we disturb the earth under our feet. We kill countless tiny organisms with every step we take. We are noticed by animals, possibly remembered for a time. I think about these things.

~ FreeWee Ling Kentucky, USA

FreeWee Ling (Kentucky, USA) ~ It’s the End of the World As We Know It

We are often told the world is going to end soon, but such dire warnings rarely come with specific details. Global warming? Global nuclear war? The Hand of God coming from the sky to smite us all? The Mayan calendar runs out next month. If that means the world is coming to an end, do we just have to wait and see what happens? I'm ok with the end of the world happening. If there's nothing left, there's nothing left to miss. I think that's me greatest concern about death. I hate the idea that I'll miss what happens next. I want to be around to see the end of the story.

Since that's unlikely to happen, this little play is about taking matters into my own hands. If I have to go, I want to be that last one out the door. The only logical means of assuring that is to destroy the earth.

In contemplating the idea, I remembered the story of Marvin the Martian (In “Bugs Bunny: Hare Way To The Stars,” Warner Bros. cartoons, 1958). Marvin had been trying for a couple thousand years to destroy the Earth because it blocked his view of Venus. His latest attempt involved the use of an Illudium Q-36 Explosive Space Modulator (which looked suspiciously like a large firecracker). This installation takes inspiration from the story and re-imagines it without the anticlimactic exclamation, "Where's the kaboom? There was supposed to be an earth-shattering kaboom!"

http://youtu.be/NPBc0t3u3iI

GeeJAnn Blackadder (Iowa, USA) ~ Microcosm

Microcosms are artificial, simplified ecosystems that are used to simulate and predict the behavior of natural ecosystems under controlled conditions.

Ecosystem is a functional unit consisting of living things in a given area, non-living chemical and physical factors of their environment, linked together through nutrient cycle and energy flow.

Green: This ecosystem is the home to Green. Green is an organism living in the space. Generally a solitary organism, but reacts to collisions with its neighbors.

White: This is the two celled structure that provides nutrition and energy to Green. White is limited and weakens and dies after being fed upon by Green.

Fire: A predator and natural enemy to Green. When introduced to the environment, Green and Fire will engage in mortal combat. You may implement Fire by clicking the corner Fire pole.

Water: A defender and natural enemy to Fire. Water is an ally to Green since "The enemy of my enemy is my friend".

When introduced to the environment, Water and Fire will engage in mortal combat. You may implement Water by clicking the corner Water pole.

Chaos: This is a state lacking order or predictability. Observe the Interactions among the organisms. The chaos ranges from mild to severe. As the organisms seek space, nutrition, and energy; conflicts occur chaos happens. As Water and Fire are introduced, chaos escalates. Inadvertent collisions between allies results in mortality and chaos. Violent chaos may result in the expulsion of organisms from the environment.

~ GeeJAnn

Haveit Neox (California, USA) ~ Road Kill

Technology and resource acquisition roll faster than we and our planet can keep up. If they leave nothing in our tracks, then we humans will have done a thorough job.

My sketches in charcoal are hastily drawn and hard to decipher the categories of victims... quite frankly, is there time left to do anything right?

~ Haveit

Herbie Haven (Pleasanton, California. USA) ~ Earth (The Big Squeeze)

No deep meaning to my work. Just a statement: “Is the juice really worth the squeeze?”

~ Herbie

A personal vision of an earth priestess in a simple form.

Jeneve Felwitch (Duluth, Minnesota, USA) ~ Earth Priestess

A personal vision of an earth priestess in a simple form.

~ Jeneve

Johnas Merlin (Ballarat, Australia) ~ The desert in bloom

In some cultures humans are thought of as guardians, caretakers of the earth. In this build i tried to create a connection between the visitor and the plant life. Visitors bring the scene to life with their presence. It is a symbolic representation of the idea of human guardianship of the health of the earth. The symbiotic relationship, mutually beneficial.

~ Johnas

Kandinsky Beaumont (Stockholm, Sweden) ~ Eat Dirt Or Be Dirt

I don´t put words to this build. It is a picture. And your experience is what counts.

~ Kandinsky

Krystali Rabeni (Blackpool, Lancashire, UK) ~ What a Wonderful World THIRD PLACE AWARD

We all have bad days, some worse than others, there is a lot of sorrow in the world, all of it created by man. Mother Earth makes each day a perfect day...if only we'd stop and smell the roses.

~ Krystali

Lilia Artis (Berne, Switzerland) ~ Earthen Patterns

The word 'earth' makes me think of fields, gardens and woods, but also of dry land and deserts. It can be nourishing but also be a hostile environment for human beings. Watching plants grow back year after year, and being able to live off the harvest, it does cause a feeling of reassurance, that life usually moves in circles, things vanish but come back again. In some myths and religions it is told that the first man was made from soil. So do we grow in circles? Will we be born again like some people believe? Even if we knew for sure, could that necessarily ease the pain of death, the loss of everything dear to us and the fact that our body will decay, like it says in the burial ceremony "ashes to ashes and dust to dust"? I walk through my blooming garden and all I can think of are overgrown graves, their stones tumbled, the dead long forgotten ...

~ Lilia

Lucignolo (coddax) ~ Universe Tao Ming

Misprint Thursday (New Hampshire, USA) ~ Earth Signal

Around the world around the world around the world around the world.

~ Misprint

Nexuno Thespian (Caligari, Italy)~ Earth Passion SECOND PLACE AWARD

The link between nature and earth.

~ Nexuno

Secret Rage (Dallas, Texas USA) ~ Earth Child NON-SCRIPTED AWARD

The visualization of how I would like to imagine the Creation of the Earth.

~ Secret

Secret Rage (Dallas, Texas USA) ~ Earth to Earth

Walk up the stairs as you contemplate the question...is there life after death? Open the gates and touch the lid to open the coffin...touch the base to sit ... then as you stand, you will automatically be transported to a place where you will find the answer to the question...

~ Secret

Silene Christen (Menorca, Spain) ~ Conceptual Earth NON-SCRIPTED AWARD

I like the concept, and to think of the earth, my vision of it as a great organization full of life, light, water, fire ... My vision is not needed to represent areas. According to the Greeks the universe around us is composed of four elements and I got the idea of "The Pillars of the Earth." Gradually the image of the land took an elegant structure that is what I represented.

~ Silene

Sir Real (Copenhagen, Denmark)~ Goodbye Galileo, We are Redesigning the Earth to be Flat! NON-SCRIPTED AWARD

A scientist learns about the world around him, by using his senses critically. A creationist learns from accepting what he has been told.

Goodbye Galileo, We are Redesigning the Earth to be Flat! is a primstallation about forgetting everything science has taught us, and going back to a world-view pre-Galileo, where Earth was flat, surrounded by water and Big Bang was the sound of thunder.

Goodbye Galileo, We are Redesigning the Earth to be Flat! is an acknowledgement to all scientists, who carried on exploring our world, even if the world around them condemned them as madmen or heretics, but also to those, who were celebrated by their contemporaries.

Goodbye Galileo, We are Redesigning the Earth to be Flat! is a plea to let all children of Earth do what they do best: use their senses, ask questions and seek knowledge to answer them, instead of simply letting their opinions be coloured by fairytales created to explain, what could not otherwise be explained centuries ago.

~ Sir Real

Talia Sunsong (Berkeley, California USA) ~ Abundant Earth Gaia Statue

Talia Sunsong (Berkeley, California USA) ~ I Will Shelter You

I will protect you from the rain and winds. I will provide you with shade and air to breathe. Rest underneath my outspread arms.

~ Talia

The UWA Artists’ Choice: Earth Gallery

The UWA Artists’ Choice: Earth Gallery