[art, virtual worlds]

Winter Lights, an art and photography exhibit, has just opened in the Gallerie Octaviana. The show features work from Mad Swiss Cow, Marcel Moré, Sume, Marjie Kennedy, Pirate Johnny, Smiling da Vinci, and Nancy Waldman on the first floor of the expansive gallery space. Upstairs are two new installations of a Circleworks box and a hued light environment.

The owner and artistic curator of the gallery is Annie Octavia.

What you may now be realizing is that Annie and her gallery are located in the magical space of a virtual world called Second Life. Annie is the online avatar of Beth Felice. I interviewed Beth about Second Life, her gallery, the show, and some of the special kinds of creative works that are all the rage in this Other (S)P(l)ace.

Here’s the interview along with shots and videos from the gallery, the installation.

1. For those people who have never even heard of Second Life… can you give us a brief overview of what it is and how it works?

Second life is an example of a MUVE, multi-user virtual environment, a fancified way of saying 3D web browsing. Does it look like a video game, yes. Is there any “game” objective, not really. Who is there? Currently a vibrant world community of about 7 million, including over 350 colleges and universities, NASA, CDC, libraries, museums, both with counterparts in the physical world and those that exist only in second life (sl).

For a presentation I gave in November at the Federation of State Humanities Councils I created a wiki at http://virtualplace.missourihumanities.org/secondlife. You’ll find a nice assortment of articles, factoids and links there.

2. How long have you been involved in SL? How long have you had the Gallerie Octaviana?

I stumbled into SL Labor day weekend 2006. At that time there were about 400,000 users. There was a release of virtual land (512 square feet is included with each paid account) in December of 06 and I staked a claim then, and built the first gallery.

3. Have you had other exhibits?

Yes, I’ve quite enjoyed bringing flickr friends into SL, and hopefully vice versa.

4. Is exhibiting art in SL a good way to get publicity for one’s work?

I’m not sure if you are talking about a subjective or a metric here. In a way, there is a large community of eyeballs, a very organized art community, and the ability to have things on display 24/7. That being said, the most traffic is generated by real time events, openings, artist discussions, etc. I am most interested in this idea of immersion, of being able to walk the representation of self through the art. I am very interested in this intersection of photorealism and illustrative style, and using some of the fantastical qualities, the “magic” not possible in the physical world.

As an aside, I have read that up to 10% (and many believe this number might be higher) of the Sl community is physically challenged in some way. There are some pretty amazing stories about the communities of stroke survivors, wheelchair bound, autistic, and people living with chronic diseases like cystic fibrosis rejoicing in the ability to be “just another” person…or just another person that can fly.

I’m still stuck on the concept of publicity for one’s work. I’m not sure. I think the most interesting work might be that which combines sound, movement, scripting, graphic, and interpretation. And it might exist specifically in a place like SL. Am not sure that work ports straight across from a gallery wall around the corner, into the virtual gallery.

5. I think it’s fairly easy to conceptualize how you put images onto the “walls” of your gallery, but you also have moving 3-d sculptures. Those are a little tougher for me to imagine creating. Tell us about those.

I made a little video, creating an object, and assigning properties and “textures” (graphics). SL Prim-er for Practically Creative Quarter folks

[readers: be sure to check out this primer on prims.
it’s well done and totally intriguing.
also you’ll see the pcq home page on the gallery wall!]

6. Tell us about your alter ego, Annie Octavia. How is she like you? How is she different? Did you have an idea of who you would be on SL or did it evolve out of the experience of being there?

There seems to be an ongoing discussion between immersionists and augmentationists in virtual worlds. Some people want to explore parts of their personality they might not commit to IRL (in real life) and some people see the avatar as an extension of self, trying to make it as close to reality as possible. I remember one of the first librarian meetings I went to, one fellow had made himself into a two story tall dust ball.

There is actually a good deal of scholarly interest in these topics
virtualworldsconnect.com/
edition.cnn.com/2007/TECH/06/07/virtual_identity
ibiblio.org/nmediac/winter2004/matusitz.html
gwynethllewelyn.net

Annie began as a representation of self. I’m not much of an actor. Recently a great friend started to explore the visual and creative aspects of costume. Remember, as everything in SL is user created, this includes hair, clothes, etc. A current favorite designer mixes traditional Japanese costuming with a distopian future and goth.

7. What else would you like people who haven’t experienced it to know about Second Life?

In a way it is a next iteration of the internet, and reminiscent of how you might describe what one could find “online” in the early ’90s. It is a communication tool, a collaboration application. It takes the more singular activity of person browsing web via computer to a social activity.

8. Anything else you’d like to say that I neglected to ask about?

Winter Lights is up through April. Anyone wanting a little help learning the SL environment, please feel free to email. The next project is a more intensive scripting project, coordinating events of sound and image with avatar movement through space, or interaction with other avatars. I also seem to be composing a lot these days, and that happens in a very NON networked world!

A Visit to Gallerie Octaviana

When Beth asked me to be in her show this time, I decided to go visit Gallerie Octaviana. I had never been on Second Life but had heard about it, so I was curious. It takes a little time—but not money—to get set up there. I would estimate that it took me between one and two hours to begin. This included time to register and decide on the basic parameters of my avatar (my name is *Aplomb Pomilio*—you can freely choose your first name but the last name must be taken from an extensive list). Then I went to the orientation island where I figured out how to navigate, use the map, chat and appearance interfaces and so on.

I then set out in the world to find the gallery. Even though I thought I had the parameters, I was not able to find it on my own. Second Life is big! I landed in some pretty amazing places though. Finally, I had to email Beth and ask her to contact me in SL. She pinpointed her spot and I was able to teleport there.

Walking through the gallery with Annie (dressed fabulously!) as my guide, is like being a character in a video game, I suppose, except better because you know no one’s going to shoot at you! I have to say it’s pretty amazing to see my photos and the PCQ home page up on a gallery wall in this other worldly place. Thanks Beth for a fascinating introduction to Second Life.

Here I am in some person’s clothing shop (sorry I am too disoriented in this foreign land to know where exactly I am):

I’m sorry I didn’t turn around to face the camera. I couldn’t figure out how to make that happen. The bird on my shoulder was given to me when I showed up on orientation island. It’s probably a sign of a real n%b*. Anyway, it was a stay-at-home adventure for sure. Cheers!

*Note from Beth:

The bird on your shoulder is not the sign of the n00b, just a gift from someone, who also was once new. In virtual and real world communities, people care about one another, and this just makes every day a complete wonder.

You can find all of Beth’s projects and websites at bfelice.jaiku.com :: Beth is also a member of our social network: Being Practically Creative Come on over and check it out.

February 08: Some of my thoughts and photos on further exploration of Second Life. And on the pleasures of playing dress-up!

[-warm-up, drawing-]

Here’s a creative warm-up exercise that uses categories.

Choose a category each day to draw in your journal. Divide your paper into 8 - 12 small sections. Decide on the length of time you want to devote to this. My suggestion is to start with no more than ten minutes. Quicker sketches will loosen you up. Later on, you may want to devote more time to the sketches.

Draw a version of your chosen category in each of the sections.

The idea is to warm-up your creative brain by doing quick, non-threatening, simple drawings. Doing a lot of drawings of one thing helps you explore your visual knowledge of that category. You will find that you’re going to learn a lot about yourself, your visual memory, your ability to express a simple thing quickly and you’ll find yourself being more observant of that category once you’ve done the exercise.

Here’s my “Fruit” category page:
As you see, this isn’t great art. They are quick simple, even iconic sketches. And yet, I found out a lot from doing them.

I found out quickly that to distinguish between a drawing of an apple, a peach, a plum and even a lemon is tricky, but can be done. I found out that though I have removed plenty of them, I couldn’t, when I started, remember what the stem of a pineapple looks like. I found out that in order to make a peach look like a peach, you have to turn your pencil on its side to get a softer edge. I remembered that the skin of a lemon is pitted and that’s a bit of a different pencil mark that the tiny seeds of a strawberry. I found out that in order to sketch a bunch of grapes, it’s easier (and more fun) to sketch the dark, negative spaces that just draw the overlapping grapes. I found that sometimes a fruit is best depicted by the drippy, wetness that ends up on the surface below it. I found out that it was hard for me to come up with twelve fruits and that I didn’t seem to have a clue what shape a fig is.

Try it. It’s fun and you’ll be amazed how much it will stretch you.

Here’s a list to get you going:

I threw in the last three to remind you that these don’t have to be solid objects. But stick with the simpler ones at first. See what happens. After doing these for a while, revisit a category so you can see how the first sketches compare with ones you do after sensitizing yourself to this process and to thinking visually.

And, let us know what you learned by doing this exercise!

[-essay-]

by Nancy S.M. Waldman

I have a close friend who has compared herself unfavorably to me in terms of creativity ever since we were girls. According to her, I’m creative and she isn’t.

But I never bought it.

She’s a elementary school teacher and I’ve seen the way she tackles a challenging situation in her classroom. She goes at that challenge with a buoyancy, inspiration and mental ingenuity that can only be described as creative.

Human beings are, by nature, creative. But there’s an odd dichotomy in evidence that people who are inclined toward the arts are labelled “creative” and those who aren’t are said—often by themselves—to be “non-creative.” This harmful labelling ignores other kinds of creativity.

My friend’s is a practical kind of creativity.

On the other hand, there are throngs of people who are clearly creative in the realm of the arts who have trouble getting started, staying on track, producing, finishing, keeping their confidence up. And, having been one of these people from time-to-time in my life, I can tell you that it’s not a situation that can easily be ignored. This kind of non-productive creativity is frustrating and painful.

I think of it as being impractically creative.

The Practically Creative Quarter is a zine for both ends of this extreme, as well as for those who are in the middle. Here, we explore ways in which the practical and the creative within each of us can learn to co-exist in peace and flourish in whichever direction we need to go.

If you are a compulsive type who can be creative but is overly focussed on the end product, delve into our process articles and see if you can’t experience the mind-healing, freeing flow of simply being involved in a creative experience that has no intended product.

If you are one of those people who starts many things but finishes nothing, take in some of our more practical tips and graphic reminders to discipline yourself to focus a little more on the outcome.

If you are like my friend (used to be) but you desperately want more hands-on kinds of creativity in your life, try some of our tutorials. Being creative is about taking the steps to learn how, to allow yourself to be a beginner, and not to get discouraged if one kind of creativity doesn’t turn out to be ‘your thing.’

And everyone needs an occasional dose of inspiration, creative cross-pollination or a light-hearted reminder about not expecting perfection.

Being Practically Creative isn’t about what you create. It’s about harnessing a creativity that works for you. Whether your kind of creativity needs more focus on practical discipline -or- on having a freer flow of creativity, you are capable of unifying these two aspects of yourself. The more fully we can integrate the practical and the creative parts within us, the less likely we are to be that other kind of practically (meaning: all but, nearly, almost) creative!

Make peace between the practical and the creative within yourself and enjoy the experience as well as the results.

[-photography, digital images, photo essay-]

words and images by Maureen Shaughnessy

“cloud ice earth dancers”

Life is filled with mundane happenings and objects we take for granted.

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[-metaphorism, inspiration-]

metAphorism is a word I coined to mean a simple, everyday thing, concept or event that points us in the direction of a deeper lesson. metaphor - figure of speech giving an implicit comparison: this is that. aphorism - concise statement of a truth or opinion.

The metAphorism:
The Costume Box
The Lesson:
unplanned, unsorted accumulations are important sources of creative productivity

by Nancy S.M. Waldman

When I was a little girl, we had a big cardboard box in the closet that held anything that could be thought of as “costume.” Never sorted through, never planned, it looked only like an unholy mess. Feathers and ribbons. Fabric to drape and pin. Hand-me-downs and hand-offs from relatives that could never be used in real life. A rabbit-fur muff. A fox stole. A “gypsy” skirt made from horizontal rows of brightly contrasting fabric. There was an evening bag that would bring hundreds on E-bay today. Clip-on earrings without mates. Belts. Beads. Broken things. Unlikely bits of felt and plastic and leather and cotton and wire and pipe cleaners.

The specifics are less prominent in my mind all these years later than the enticing assortment and variety of things.

It was used, of course, at Halloween to devise costumes which were never store-bought. While we sometimes had help from our creative parents, we often came up with our own creations right out of the Costume Box. The other major use was for the garage musicals that my sister, Suze and I put on regularly for fame and profit. Suze was the creative genius behind “Dance through the Centuries” and many others. One was carried out entirely on roller skates (must have been where Sir Andrew Lloyd Weber got the idea). The Costume Box provided the raw materials for transforming us into stage-ready performers.

When I had children, it was second-nature for me to have a box that I threw things into to form their own Costume Box. One summer we rented a condo on the beach with another family. There were five boys in all and I took the Costume Box along, hoping it would provide some entertainment if it rained the whole week. One evening the adults were sitting outside with other people from the condos and our boys came down dressed as characters from Star Wars. Even though there were no store-bought costumes in the box, we watched in amazement as they trooped down in identifiable personages. “There’s Darth Vader!” a child exclaimed. “Oh look! He’s a Stormtrooper!” said an adult. There they were: BobaFet, R2D2, Chewbacca.

It’s truly stunning what our imaginations can do with almost nothing.

None of us became professional performers or costume designers, but the creations that adorned us out of the Costume Boxes had a lasting effect nonetheless. When you have had the experience of making something new out of old cast-offs you remember it forever. It’s not only fun, it’s creative confidence-building in a box.

So when you think about creativity, remember the Costume Box. Don’t let those clutter-clearing shows on TV make you feel too guilty about your accumulation of stuff. Junk drawers, untidy tool sheds, archivist attics, overflowing garages, toy and costume boxes provide raw materials for creative productivity.

Originally published in the October 2005 issue of The Practically Creative Quarterly, theme: collecting

© 2005 - 2007 all rights reserved

[-survey-]

10. What has collecting taught you about people or life?

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[-survey-]

8. If something bad happened to your collections, what would your reaction be?

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[-survey-]

7. What is the downside to your collections?

Read the rest of this entry »

[-practices, tips-]

a Quick Creative Practice
~simple practices have profound impacts~

Need Inspiration? Learn something new

Choose either a fairly simple skill - for example, how to do stencilling or beginning knitting - or - choose a skill that will take time and effort and one that you have, therefore, been putting off your whole life - like playing an instrument or learning a language. Either way, you’ll reap unforeseen benefits far beyond what you’re learning.

Question: “Do you know how old I’ll be by the time I learn to play the piano?”

Answer: “The same age you’ll be if you don’t learn to play the piano.”

Start now. Your efforts will be rewarded.

Learning something new inspires because:

• * it ignites the mind, firing up sluggish brain cells
• * new skill sets have bearing on what we already know in ways we can’t predict - for example, working with sumptuous wool yarn might provide a new connection to painting or composing
• * it reminds us that we are creative beings capable of continual evolution.

Originally published in the July 2005 issue of The Practically Creative Quarterly, theme: space and spaces

-essay, inspiration-

by guest essayist, Quinn D. Corte

Inspiration follows all of us around like a stray puppy, barking excitedly at the quirkiest times, begging us to come and play. Whether we notice her depends on our willingness to embrace creativity.

That gentle scratching of a familiar paw on my jeans has made me who I am. For me, inspiration is in such diverse treats as redwood trees, old ballet shoes, and Kevin Spacey. Inspiration has been behind most of my major life decisions, but it also makes me dance at inappropriate times and sketch people with interesting noses while riding the bus.

As children, we don’t ignore the dog frolicking in our shadows. Inspiration plays fetch with us, giving us boundless imaginations. It makes us refuse to go to bed at night and rejoice at waking up each morning. Show and tell is fascinating and one visit to the space center turns us into astronauts.

As we grow up, it’s easy to forget about that puppy at our heels. Life bustles around us, responsibilities beckon, and Inspiration lags, discouraged, a few paces behind. Adults may not as readily light up at the discovery of an interesting leaf or a new box of sharpened crayons. How much more fun life would be if we let Inspiration pounce on us and lick our faces more often!

Getting inspired is an active process. We don’t hear Inspiration whimpering unless she’s always in the back of our minds, right on the edge of consciousness. In order to let her work her magic, we must keep our senses on the surface, ready to intercept anything that may change our lives. We must remember that dog may be hiding behind the sofa, snuggling on the end of our bed when we wake up, or sniffing around the backyard.

Embracing the ubiquity of Inspiration is a conscious choice. It shouldn’t be scary or difficult and definitely doesn’t have to inhibit our daily routine. She sits loyally at our feet, ready to wag her tail with first eye contact. She is a creative companion who can use anything from a juicy nectarine to a rain-splattered window to conjure hidden artistic energy inside our spirits. A simple scratch behind the ears of Inspiration is a fulfilling and easy way to add creativity and beauty to our difficult lives.

I feel comfort in knowing Inspiration is chasing butterflies at my side, always in my dreams and within my reach … every day of my life.

© 2005- 2007; Quinn D. Corte, all rights reserved

- Originally published in the April 2005 issue of The Practically Creative Quarterly, theme: Inspiration