The Bay

As Mz Marville took me on a tour of the new adult sim The Bay, she would good-naturedly say things like, "This is the sex bath tub with the LGBTQ wall rack." If that's not your kink, you're still likely to find something that is — but don't delay a visit, because much of the sim is open to visitors only until November 21, when a fee-based group membership will be required. The Bay's landing point will deliver you to the insides of a beached pirate ship (middle image), and upon exiting you'll find yourself in a lush rainforest environment, with broad rivers and towering rocky outcrops that host waterfalls, all beautifully landscaped.

Suggesting that it offers a "new mischievous and adventure filled sim experience," The Bay is peppered with locations for couples, and many of the rocks, logs and other objects (even lily pads) offer built-in animations. You'll discover a mud wrestling pit, ziplines, and, beyond a pair of closed doors, the main dungeon. Eventually the sim will include several skybox dungeons as well ("all have privacy enabled," I'm informed), and construction on those and some other sky venues is already underway. The sim will host regular music events — to stay abreast of happenings, and to see the sim rules and design credits, visit The Bay's website. If you'd like to leave a contribution, use the treasure chest near the landing point.

Chaos, Kosmos

Now open at LEA21 is a new installation by Giovanna Cerise entitled Chaos, Kosmos (in fact as I write this the opening reception is underway). Typical of Giovanna's work, is makes use of an extensive number of semi-transparent prims that are mathematically arranged in various structures, and they are certainly spaces that come alive much more in person than in a two-dimensional image. It's a beautiful, complex artwork that will probably require multiple visits to fully appreciate.

In explaining her work, Giovanna describes the relationship between Chaos and Kosmos: the former being everywhere, unstructured, but the foundation for the latter, the "good and rational order of the world." As she explained to me, "The algorithm can be seen as a way to link the disorder to order," and the flow diagram of algorithms she used in the work can be spotted on the water (second image, as seen from above). In the area shown below, neumes make reference to music, and you'll find many discrete sections of the build that, as Giovanna puts it, show the "creative act of the artist who derives a sense, an aesthetic and meaningful order from formless matter."

To get around from the landing point, you can click on the compass you'll discover there, and then on the compass again at each location you visit. (There are many transparent prims around, so you might need to get quite close to each compass to click.) Even then, you'll need to fly around to really experience the entire build, which is substantial. And while Giovanna suggests sunset or midnight windlight settings, others can produce remarkable results, so I would suggest some experimentation. Chaos, Kosmos will be on display through the end of December.

The Sea of Cubic Dreams (Revisited)

When I first wrote about The Sea of Cubic Dreams back in August (see here), it was a dreamy deep blue and teal, but now (possibly in conjunction with the Halloween season) it's more of a nightmarish blood red. (This is all dependent on your accepting the region's windlight settings.)

The installation has also acquired a temple-like build that I don't recall having seen there before (upper image). The interactive opportunity remains the same: get close to a cube, sit on it, and then give it a shove to get it sailing across the space — I recommend trying it in mouselook. No word yet on the previously announced larger expansion, Theater Night's Dream, which was to have been built overhead.

Black Kite

It's been a couple years since I last wrote about Black Kite, the fabulous water region designed by theblackcloud Oh, and it remains one of the grid's most striking places, with its deep teal skies and waters, lush green trees and grasses, and champagne-colored boardwalks that traverse the region, connecting destinations. It embodies serenity, offering a multitude of places to sit, relax, or cuddle with a friend, both inside (a number of small buildings offer distinctive settings — one, you'll discover, is private) and outside.

From almost any vantage point, Black Kite is a photogenic location, attesting to the design skills of theblackcloud — there's a uniformity to the sim, but it presents distinct areas at the same time. Be on the lookout for interactive poses, such as the blue bottles in the southwest corner of the sim and the rainbow-colored bubbles. If you're in the mood to shop, the intimate 8f8 store is now located near the center of the sim, offering curios and fun items. (Not surprisingly, Black Kite recently had a copy-cat, which disturbed theblackcloud enough that she temporarily closed the sim, and fortunately the other location in question has modified its design.) If you'd like to have rez rights (30) or even set Black Kite as your home, simply join the land group.

Notes — Bryn Oh, Kylie Jaxxon, Jo Ellsmere, Iono Allen

If you haven't fully explored Bryn Oh's The Singuarity of Kumiko (upper image, head here for further reading) your time is now running short, as Bryn has announced that the installation will close within the span of a few weeks to make way for something new at Immersiva. Head here to teleport directly.

And Kylie Jaxxon has announced that, because of unfortunate health issues, her sim The Trace (middle image, read here about the current build) will close its doors this week on Wednesday, November 5. Head here to teleport directly. I wish Kylie all the best and hope she returns in great health to create something new in the future.

Lastly, I've blogged a couple times about Jo Ellsmere's breathtaking work Biomechanics (most recently here). Machinima artist extraordinaire Iono Allen just posted a lovely video on Vimeo documenting the work, and I've embedded it below. (Click here to visit Iono's stream.)

Taxy! to the Zircus

Now open at MetaLES, curated by Ux Hax, Romy Nayer and Lanjran Choche, is Taxy! to the Zircus, an interactive installation by Eupalinos Ugajin. I adjectify "installation" with "interactive" because the work fundamentally requires our corporeal interaction (or virtually so, at least) to see what it is: as we approach its various parts and piece, we're usually given an opportunity to "sit" on it, placing ourselves in a pose or animation that completes the artwork. That isn't to say the interaction makes the artwork more understandable — Eupalinos's work strikes me as delightfully absurd, with references to surrealism, Duchamp, Dada, Fluxus and a small dash of what Cage may have playfully called "purposeful purposelessness" — and indeed its meaning remains on certain levels impenetrable, which to me makes it all the most interesting — but without our direct participation we're not really viewing the completed piece of artwork. (It all reminded me of Merleau-Ponty saying, "We know not through our intellect but through our experience.")

If all that's sounding overly abstruse (and I'll mercifully leave it at that), just head over to Taxy! and enjoy it — it's an installation that's guaranteed to make you smile, with its jumble of associations and juxtapositions (is that cow holding a target for you as you're shot from a cannon?). You'll find as you arrive that you're invited to click on things, and they're either going to cause actions, or, more likely, through you into a pose or animation. Sometimes it's best to jump into mouselook as you're moved about, changing your perspective. The installation will be on display through the end of December, and, knowing Eupalinos, he might well add something new now and then. (If you fall to the ground you'll find, in a far corner of the sim, a place to leave a contribution to help support MetaLES.)

Artist Shops at Remood United Portugal

Nestled on a little avenue in the sim Remood United Portugal is a delightful new row of shops featuring works by some of Second Life's most interesting artists: Meiló Minotaur, Eupalinos Ugajin, Maya Paris, Kikas & Marmaduke (Kikas Babenco and Marmaduke Arado), Cica Ghost, Whiskey Monday, Ole Etzel, and Alpha Auer. The owner of the sim, KhrysT Lords (Khryst Neox), has gracefully provided this space for free, working with Meiló, while Eupa has been instrumental in organizing the larger group.

Many of the items are offered for free, among them some delightfully silly poses by Kikas & Marmaduke, avatars by Meiló, and avatars and related objects by Alpha Auer, while other artworks and objects are offered for low prices. Rather than create a shop with items for sale, Maya opted to create a space with some delightful interactive animations. Stop back again after your first visit, because there's some possibility that more artists may join this initiative over time. (Several other unrelated shops are also located on the row.)

Little Town

Opening tomorrow, Thursday, October 30 at 12 noon slt, is a new sim by Cica Ghost, Little Town. The inhabitants of this quaint spot seem to have all disappeared for the day — or maybe they're just hiding — giving you a chance to explore their quirky, curious, humorous and delightful island. Crazy Dr. Seuss-like buildings populate the winding streets, parts of some of them in motion — whirling, pulsing, twisting and even apparently digesting — and many structures that aren't residential would seem to have some special, yet unknown, purpose. And there's a festive, playful quality in the air, with balloons adrift and general absurdity all around. Be sure as you arrive to pick up a copy of your own Flying Ventilator, which you can use to float in the breeze, and to try the silly "fishy cars" that can be guided along the rolling boulevards.

A few of the buildings can be entered, and you'll discover a coffee shop, a cinema café, a dance stage, an outdoor dance platform (click on the flowers to dance) at which there's also a boat with a humorous pose, and a cozy hotel with two rooms. Little Town will immediately bring comparisons to Cica's previous build, Little Village, but the newer location is far more complex: the buildings display significantly greater variety, the movement and activity of small parts and pieces are often unique, and the textures are more refined. (And while Little Village was constructed in the span of a week, Little Town was in development for a month.)

If you're not using a viewer that auto-changes to parcel windlight settings, you're going to miss out on the gorgeous atmospheric skies, which Cica developed just for Little Town. A few items are for sale — you'll spot a little flower shop where you can purchase grasses and dreaming balloons, and just outside its door are two charming little metal gear birds for sale. (And around that location, don't miss the little cage in which you can float, and the dreaming balloon beds on which you can slumber.) Please consider leaving a contribution to support the sim, which you can do near the landing point — this is Cica's own homestead and needs support to be maintained.

Jomsborg

Jomsborg, we learn as we enter the quasi-educational exhibition at LEA27 created by Lor Asynja (Lor Pevensey), Lisa Asynja (Lina Fonda), Maxje Constantine (Maxje Ryada) and perhaps others, was a Viking ring fortress. "Viking ring fortresses were circular forts built by the Vikings in the Viking Age," we're cheerfully informed, and that sentence captures the high-school level (perhaps I'm being generous) writing, replete with typographical and grammatical errors, that populates a museum-like area overhead the replica build on the ground. Or at least we might hope it's something based on research — after all, the creators do admit, "This is our vision of these Viking ring fortresses which might or might not be accurate." (We also learn that the Venus de Milo had Viking-related graffiti on her saying "Lisa was here." Huh?) One hopes also that the creators had permission to use all the various images in their displays.

As you learn about Viking history — such facts as, "Erik killed some people in the 950's in Norway and did what many other killers did. He moved to Iceland. But he got in trouble there and also had to move." being indispensable — you can teleport down to a build on the ground, much of which, despite being mesh, resembles simple builds constructed of prims from around 2007. Perhaps I'm being a little too harsh here, as one does get to see (maybe) what a Viking ring fortress looked like, and no doubt the creators made every effort to do their best. But my suggestion: you'll do better looking elsewhere.

The Alt-View Art Museum

The Alt-View Art Museum, curated by Andrea N (Andy Numanox) ("my small personal museum of contemporary SL art," she says), packs an amazing amount of material into a compact space. Although she states that it's under construction, there's a great deal here already to see, and one might have the impression that the space will constantly evolve. Among the artists represented in the collection (and I'm sure to miss a few, as I'm just looking about) are Bryn Oh, Cherry Manga, Cica Ghost, claudia222 Jewell, DecemberGrey, Dido Haas, Eliza Wierwright, Feathers Boa, Fiona Leitner, Frank Rubino, Genevieve Silvercloud, ieko Catnap, Loonia Loon, luciella Lutrova, Scottius Polke, Sina Souza (Sinalein), Slaaaaa Tenk, Static Schultz, Zeppie Innis, Ziki Questi, TI0TA (7107a), and works by Andrea N herself.

Collections by several of the artists are substantial enough that they have dedicated rooms. Bryn Oh, whose works are among those, also has a room devoted to video. (I wasn't successful in getting the media to play — perhaps this is an area in progress.) After you've enjoyed the interior, it's time to step outside, where a sculpture garden awaits (as well as additional two-dimensional works on building exteriors). Works by Bryn Oh, Scottius Polke and Cica Ghost are especially prominent outdoors. Thanks to Andrea for not only supporting these artists by collecting their creations, but also for sharing these artworks with the community.