Digging around in Second Life

Hello again, Dear Reader, and welcome back,
This week I was fortunate enough to meet Canadensis Yellowjacket,
a RL archaeologist who also teaches the subject in Second Life. He has
found a home at Robert Welch University-

Robert Welch University, Teaching 6 (42, 61, 22)

Let's go visit....


















Canadensis Yellowjacket (let's just call him CY, shall we?)
has set up a classroom for one on one tutorials- looks comfy!



















As well as a vitual archaeological dig site to teach his students
about how to dig, how to uncover the past correctly- as he says
"Excavation =destruction" so one must do it carefully.



















OK, first things first- set up a methodology for your site,
How, where and in what timeline will you dig?

On the site, is a screen which links the students into
Nabonidus.org, a worldwide registry for archaeologists to share
the info from their digs.



















Set up your page, make your arguments to CY about your methodology,
and once approved, you are good to go...recording in Nabonidus as you go..
BTW, Nabonidis was the last king of Babylonia...;-)



















At CY's site, you lift the layers by touching them revealing, the ages
and artifacts past- a bit easier than in RL, but it teaches the same thing.

CY told me that we have about 10 meters of depth average
between our time in RL and the time of Augustus Ceasar, so
that's a lot of digging for the RL archaeologists- whew!



















And as you work your way down through the site, artifacts are
uncovered, and when they are touched, you are linked to
various web pages that feature these items, explaining
their historical frame and meaning.
So now, I am beginning to get it- this is what the words
layers, contex, deposition and events, mean to an archaeologist-
Very clear, CY!


















So, what does an Archaeologist think about SL?
CY has some interesting things to say about that-
and if you touch the rotating sculpture in his site, you will
get a list of places he considers a worthwhile visit. Places that
educate by using "situational learning" or just have the
whole archaeological thing going on...

Think on this for a minute- Dear Reader- How do the
rules of SL reveal themselves in the objects that get built
and thrown away? CY asks that to us.

Did you know we have a dump? yupper!- the SL Dumpster
(an archaeologists paradise, btw)

SL Dumpster, Fearzom (209, 43, 67)




















Drop your unwanted stuff in the SL dumpster, attach a decay script to
it, and watch what happens- and besides from being a fascinating art project
it will clean out your overstuffed inventory-

CY has plans for the future too- A larger, elaborate site such as the one
at Okapi, all linked in and referenced of course...

Okapi Island (archaeology resear, Okapi (90, 116, 36)




And of course the Greeks, who have lots of ancestry to be proud of
have built a reconstruction of the Parthenon and the theater-
visit it here-
Greece Official in SL, GreeceOfficial (53, 53, 24)























And of course, Roma--RP! Citizen!
ROMA (SPQR) - The Ancient Roman , ROMA (214, 25, 22)

Other schools have gotten into the act as well-
Here is the Applied Media and Simulation Games Center
on Crimson Island- the "Classroom in the Clouds".

IUP - Crimson Island, Crimson Island (97, 60, 21)

UC Davis- this lab explores Schizophrenia and it's manifestations...

Virtual Hallucinations, Sedig (26, 45, 22)




















And last, but not least- Vassar has made a virtual Sistine chapel-
for those of us who cannot make it to Rome this year-

Vassar Island, Vassar (170, 87, 24)





















Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire. William Butler Yeats

Until next post, Dear Reader, be safe, have fun-
Best,
Annabelle

Close to the Edge/ Près du bord

Greetings Dear Reader,
How lucky I am to once again have a truly gifted individual to introduce to you-

Meet Khades Zenovka, founder and leader of the Khades Group.

There are few avs that you meet in Second Life who have put together
such a talented following- her group is 300 strong and growing...

Who are they? That question has an answer as varied as SL itself, so fasten your
seat belts, it's going to be a bumpy ride...0.0

Bonjour cher lecteur, Comment je suis chanceuse d'avoir une fois de plus un véritable talent individuel de vous présenter - Rencontrez Khades Zenovka, fondateur et chef du Groupe Khades. Il ya quelques avs que vous rencontrez dans Second Life qui ont mis en place un tel talent-suivant son groupe est de 300 et de plus en plus forte ... Qui sont-ils? Cette question a une réponse aussi variés que la SL lui-même, de sorte attachez vos la ceinture de sécurité, ça va être une course chaotique 0,0 ...



Khades herself has put it this way- think of the group as a big shared disk- a common inventory that all can access, and a common place to meet, help one another, find friends and have fun.
Everything that they make is given away, or sold for very little in her store, and the Lindens that she gets from that are put back into the group as funds to pay for uploads and other services that they need. With that system, she believes that the lindens will come back to Linden Labs, in a way to cover the costs of their free accounts.

A fair proposal, I would say.

This group is a young one in SL and as she puts it- just a test. She hopes that more creators would like to contribute things and add to the group pool.

Khades elle-même a mis de cette façon de penser du groupe comme un grand disque partagé-un inventaire commun que tous peuvent accéder, et un lieu pour se rencontrer, s'aider les uns les autres, trouver des amis et avoir du plaisir. Tout ce qu'ils font est distribué ou vendu pour très peu dans son magasin, et la Lindens qu'elle reçoit de qui sont remis dans le groupe que les fonds pour payer les téléchargements et d'autres services dont ils ont besoin. Avec ce système, elle estime que les tilleuls y reviendrons Linden Labs, de manière à couvrir les coûts de leurs comptes gratuits. Une proposition juste, je dirais. Ce groupe est un jeune dans un SL et comme elle le met-il juste un test. Elle espère qu'un plus grand nombre de créateurs voudrais contribuer choses et d'ajouter au groupe piscine.



Here is her shop- called Littlestore- in Marketin ! France. The coordinates are 176,82,21.

Voici sa boutique-disant Littlestore en marketing! France. Les coordonnées sont 176,82,21.



For our first meeting, she created this conference room for our comfort, with the
space alien, of course.

Pour notre première rencontre, c'était juste un peu de salle de conférence elle a créé pour notre confort, avec l'espace étranger en présence, bien sûr.



As you can see, the little space alien is available in the shop
along with some caged teddy bears, and many accessories.

Comme vous pouvez le voir, ce petit étranger est disponible dans le shop,
de même que certains cage ours en peluche et de nombreux accessoires!

Billy wears them well, don't you think?

Billy porte bien, ne croyez-vous pas?

And for the Neko- some very interesting tails...

Et pour les Neko-certains très intéressant queues ...



Honeymoon popped in to say hello, during our meeting.
Lune de miel spontanément pour dire bonjour, au cours de notre réunion.



Interesting- real looking hair is one of their specialties...
and you know how hard it is to find good hair!
Intéressant la recherche-réel cheveux est une de leurs spécialités ...
et vous savez combien il est de trouver de bons cheveux!


Speaking of the Neko- here is kiezako...
Parlant de la Neko-kiezako est ici ...



I picked up a pair of those sneakers myself! Thank you, Khades!
Je pris une paire de ces chaussures de sport moi-même! Je vous remercie, Khades!



Khades also does special commissions- such as this massive cake- ;-)

Ne Khades également des commissions spéciales, comme ce gâteau massif-;-)

If you really want to see things through Khades eyes- try Ctrl+Shift+R-
Aha! the truth revealed...

Si vous voulez vraiment voir les choses à travers les yeux Khades-essayer Ctrl + Maj + R
Aha! la vérité révélée ...

In her words, "I think that every person who joins this group looks for an atmosphere.
They look for certain humor and of the friendship in this individualistic world.
I also looked for it by creating the group. For some time I have to admit that people
seem to me nicer and much less individualistic. I hope that the future of this group will go in a good direction."

Dans ses paroles, «Je pense que chaque personne qui se joint à ce groupe cherche une atmosphère. Ils regardent pour certains et l'humour de l'amitié dans ce monde individualiste. J'ai aussi cherché en créant le groupe. Depuis quelque temps, je dois admettre que les gens me semble plus agréable et encore moins individualiste. J'espère que l'avenir de ce groupe vont dans une bonne direction. "


Bon jour, Dear Reader, until next time-
Annabelle

It's Elementary- this is Exceptional.

Hello Dear Reader,

This week I have something a little better than special for you.



















Meet Red Randt- Artist, Designer, Builder and Bon Vivant ;-)

Not often seen in human av, here are some samples

of his av designs for Planet Mongo

(Mongo World Domination Outpost 9, Planet Mongo (31,128,353)

And another for one of our many festivals- pumpkin pants-

never should have gone out of style...

Now, Red has made some amazing avs, but it doesn't just

stop there. Like many of us, it was an instant attraction

to the world of SL, that brought him here. Rez day 8/11/2007.

And the exploration and progression began-

First build, a hat! straw skimmer- very jaunty...

And then not finding what he liked in terms of furniture

he began to build his own.

Now he has a new shop in Mongo-
















Just look for the big sign, can't miss it!
















And come by to check out Red's collection.

Just up the stairs, and
















Past the cookie jar...















His shop has lots of Victorian Furniture, and

a special section devoted to 21 Baker Street-

the abode of Mr. Sherlock Holmes...















And for all of you Victorian Science fans...

Some very lovely microscopes.















Screens, and chaises abound-

Bookcases too..














And make sure to ask him about his art, sculptures and

bas reliefs..















Spectacular, isn't it?















And a comment on the surreality of SL, through

the surrealism of RL...

And outside he can rezz up for you some

of his larger works- Monuments to

imaginary titans- as if SL was created in

the Victorian era...Does the city council

of Victoria, Caledon know about these?

And just when you cannot pull your

jaw up any more, Red will calmly

inform you that these are all made

from prims- not a sculptie in sight-

He contends that you can do more with

them than you can possibly imagine...

Keep imagining, Red- We love it!

Wow, what if you had the biggest gallery space in the world?

Hello Dear Reader,
Have you ever heard of "Hyper Formalism?"
Do you like to see amazing environmental art, on
a huge scale?
I've got the place for you to visit!
This exhibit is called "Kiss the Sky" and it is
brought to us by the New Media Consortium
and the Museum of Hyper Formalism.
But don't let that put you off! this one is fun-
but remember your flight pack, because if you are like me,
it's a long way down, and flailing isn't pretty.
















It's a series of ramps, walkways and platforms
that let you get good vantage points on the art.
















Some of them are animated, others just stand
there and look pretty.















Here's another view.















and of course they have interactive pieces too,
the pink tentacles will respond to you.














Especially if you fly through them ;-)
And the textures are wonderful!

And as a contrast, a very interesting ensemble

on the ground under the exhibit-

I'm not sure what it means, but I like it-

Check it out-

NMC Arts Lab, NMC Arts Lab (149, 26, 395)

And for those of you who want to know more- here are excerpts from the Press Release:

New Media Consortium and the Museum of Hyperformalism Presents "Kiss the Sky", an art historical survey of Hyperformalism in the virtual world of Second Life A 21st century art movement, native to the the virtual world -
Curated by DC Spensley (DanCoyote Antonelli in Second Life) May 2, 2008, (Second Life) - Virtual worlds are a place for discovering new territories and exploring meaning outside the context of the material world.

Even in virtual worlds there is an avant garde, a native artform spawned from unique conditions.

"Kiss the Sky" is an exhibition of artists that have been wowing viewers since 2006 with art installations indigenous to the virtual world that artist/curator DC Spensley calls Hyperformalism.

Artists included are the most notable creators in the virtual world of Second Life, chosen specifically for their Hyperformal direction. On display are Chance Abattoir, Vlad Bjornson, nand Nerd, Selavy Oh, Adam Ramona, Nebulosus Severine, AngryBeth Shortbread, Sasun Steinbeck, Sabine Stonebender, Seifert Surface, elros Tuominen, Juria Yoshikawa, and i7o Zhu
Hyperformalism is non-figurative abstraction in hyper-medium and has been known to include abstract objects arranged in simulated space, navigable on a network as well as expressions of reactive and interactive artwork behaviors and geometric or algorithmic pattern play in 2, 3, and 4 dimensions. This list is far from comprehensive. Because Hyperformalism is not representational, viewer relationships are less fettered by pre-existing symbolic weight and artworks encourage fascination with form for its own sake. The virtual world provides the ability to liberate the work from scale constraints and provides a perfect context for this post-conceptualist form.
With a figure in the picture, nobody notices the landscape. Hyperformalism proposes that that by removing the comfortable cliché of anthropocentricism a viewer will be more open to a whole other class of experiences that resonate on a more basic level of awareness and reflect back to the viewer their own humanity. The perception of immersion and variable point of view implicates the viewer into unique relationships with the work destroying all of the usual boundaries between the viewer and the work.
While space in virtual worlds is a simulation, place can be real. In fact art experiences are the only thing that can be real in both the virtual and material worlds at the same time. Abstractions that exist as discoverable objects are somewhere between object and concept. It is the state of half existence between object and concept that differentiates formal abstraction in virtual worlds from preceeding expressions of formalism, minimalism and abstract expressionism. Hyperformalism is not Modernism, it is not Post-modernism because it is native to a continuum where only the human mind can visit and where the body and the ideological weight of the figure are not the default fixed point of view. About DanCoyote Antonelli (DC Spensley)Hyperformalist artist and cultural theorist first invited to exhibit in Second Life by Ars Virtua curator Rubaiyat Shatner. Continued residency in Second Life is supported in part by the New Media Consortium where DanCoyote Antonelli (DC Spensley) has been artist in residence since 2006, private collectors and many other generous patrons of the arts in both the virtual and material worlds. DanCoyote Antonelli (DC Spensley) has exhibited internationally in museums and electronic arts festivals. About the New Media Consortium (NMC)The NMC is an international consortium of more than 250 world-class universities, colleges, museums, research centers, and technology companies - and the largest educational body in Second Life - dedicated to using new technologies to inspire, energize, stimulate, and support learning and creative expression.