The Burn2-project is well under way

Not much time left until the Burn2-Festival opens. October 16 is the big day. For all the artists and builders involved this is a extremely busy, but also fun and rewarding time. Aeonia Artist Group has - as I previously said - 5 plots and 1 theme camp to fill. And our project is well under way. All plots are coming to live - one of them even is close to completion.

Unfortunately I cannot show you any of the work we have done so far, due to burn2-regulations. But what I can show you is: Burners (as the people involved with the Burning Man are called) don't only work hard. They party hard, too. A big chunk of them took time off last night to come together to film the trailer-machinima for the Burn2-festival. And they were burning for sure! It's just an amazing bunch of hugely creative people coming together to create what has been - and hopefully will remain to be - one of Second Life's benchmark events. Expect to be amazed, when the doors of the two week long - open 24 hours a day - festival are opened. See robots, ants, crawlers, dancers, crazy vehicles, architechture, stories and lots and lots and lots of fire. And above all: be at some of the events running 24/7 at the four Burn-sims.

Burn 2 is coming! YAY!

Haven't posted anything here in a long while. Well, too many happenings inworld have kept me busy. But the ones following my art have probably seen my latest exhibitions.
For instance at my Main Gallery or maybe at the all new location of SLACC or Tiatopia  (which are both on the SL-Destination Guide now) or my small shows at Park Galleries or Gualdo.

New RL-Pictures

I have decided to also show a couple of my rl-picture sets. I will talk about these later on. Just this much: A small selection of pictures from the Hawaiian Islands of Kauai and Molokai can presently (Sept./Oct.) be seen at the A.R.T. Gallery at New Boston. Please pay the show a little visit as with Autopilotpaddy Poopy and Mary Rosebud two other great artistshave their work on display.

And now off to BURN2

Now...not trying to be overly excited...but then I am. The new Burn 2 Festival is approaching and the Aeonia Arts Group is part of it!
As regulations go, I cannot and will not tell you much about it. Just this little bit: Aeonia Arts Group has won a Theme Camp and aditionally has 5 plots under it's control. So we are going big. All six plots will be running within the same theme which we have developed over the past weeks. On the left side you can see a picture of Ally Aeon and me exploring the (still empty) plots that we got.
BURN 2 is going to be a great experience for all of us, as we have never pulled off something this big as a group - not even with our haiti-fundraiser at the start of the year.
So definitely mark October 16 through 25 in your calendars and go to http://www.burn2.org/ for more information.
In the mean time visit us at Aeonia where there is always plenty of great art to be seen.
BTW: Aeonia Artist Group besides me and Ally is: Penelope Parx, Pete Jiminy, Nik Gandt, Miki Bizet, lala Lightfoot, Visceral Dreamscape plus a growing number of Guest Artists that pay us a visit and work with us.

Preparing my Exhibition

If I look at the date of my last entry, I can see how time flies again. I consider this a good thing, though. It shows, that I have been busy creating new art pieces. Bringing a few exiting new ideas to life. My last project turned out nicely, in my opinion at least. So I decided to dress up my gallery to present them to a wider audience. I am now quite close to opening this new exhibit. A few notecards are to be written, a few little things adjusted and tweaked. I hope my new stages called "Weathered Gods" will make the same strong impression on my visitors as they did on me.

Pink Floyd's The Wall @ CARP

http://www.flickr.com/photos/moeuhane_sandalwood/4409310637/
Originally uploaded by Moe Sandalwood
I have already talked about CARP in an earlier entry here. And it was pretty clear that it wouldn't be my last visit to this fantastic place.
The group has staged many great performances already, as I have heard. There's been alot of talk about the reenactment of the Fritz Lang movie 'Metropolis'. And lately the buzz was on their version of Pink Floyd's infamous flick 'The Wall'. This friday i finally made it to their sim (after a few tries where it always said, the sim was already full!). And boy was I in for a show! It's a perfect mix of avatar-acting, prim-loading, particle-spreading and music. Everything just perfectly timed to the millisecond. There was even a whole airplane crashing into the sim. If anyone is stretching the possibilities of Second Life to its utmost limits, it's the people at CARP. Even if you are not a fan of Pink Floyd (which I can hardly believe) - 'The Wall V3' is a definite must-see.
If you haven't seen this mindblowing show at CARP, definitely save a friday for it. Usually runs at 2pm slt. But check in early, cause the sim is always full!
slurl.com/secondlife/Benvolio/152/110/2512

Pandora Moon

Pandora Moon
Originally uploaded by Moe Sandalwood
I admit, I still haven't seen the movie 'Avatar'. And I know that I really have to go see it. Especially after I have visited my good friend Bella Orsini's unbelievably beautiful sim called Pandora Moon. She bulit it together with some talented builders to be a safehaven for the Nav'i - a place where the blue people wouldn't be hunted down and their magnificent flora and fauna wouldn't be exploited. It's just an amazing example of what builders in Second Life can do. It's not only colorful and diverse, it has it's little fun aspects, too. Like those seeds following you around - or the plants that hide in the ground onve touched. It's peaceful, it's meditative, not only for blue avatars. Check it out and show the hostess some linden love to help her keep up this wonderful place: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Pandora%20Moon/195/94/35

Fashion in Movement

Alba Fashion Show 20
Originally uploaded by Moe Sandalwood

Capture movement in Second Life photography - not the easiest thing with the basic camera-tools provided in Second Life. If one is in a place packed with people, fighting lag and always afraid that the viewer would crash any second now.
Still one has to work quite fast, pitching and twisting the camera angle around, reloading the snaps by the second - always in the haste of capturing that one flying prim that will make the difference between a flat out dull pose-shot and the natural wave within the finest cloth. Good thing avatar-sweat doesn't get that camera all slippery. ;)
Luckily at the Alba Fashion Show @ Trendy it went quite well. See the results at my Flickr page.

Peter Pan's London

Peter Pan's London
Originally uploaded by Moe Sandalwood

I stepped on the windowsil at the nursery, just thinking happy thoughts. And jumped. Miracolously the wind took hold of my body, carried me through the old London's skies and into space. After a rollercoaster ride through the starry night i landed safely in boy's heaven: Peter Pan's Neverneverland Island. I relived the adventure that had already taken up days of my boy's life many years ago. The indians, Captain Hook, the crocodile. Wney, Tinkerbell...everything is there and not there. To be discovered. Thanks to BambiTwice Nitely, who has already given us her Great Marine Adventure, we can now relive the Peter Pan story all by ourselfs. A must experience - not just for older boys. http://slurl.com/secondlife/Enchantment%20Island/157/134/25

Evaluna's Emotions

Evaluna's Emotions
Originally uploaded by Moe Sandalwood
Unreal. This doesn't describe it. But at least it's a word that says something about what was presented to the viewers a few days ago at CARP/diabolous. In an explosion of sound and colour Evaluna Sperber showed her performance "EMOTICON 5". It's always amazing what the most talented artists in Second Life bring to the group. There's so much to learn from there and grow on watching them do their art. Wish I would ever become that good. It's been a fantastic blend of sound, lights and movement - circling through every part of my body, mind and soul. If you get the chance to go and watch one of the awesome works showed at CARP, it's more than worth taking the time.

Help for Haiti

Stage: Condamnation 2
Originally uploaded by Moe Sandalwood
In January Haiti, one of the poorest countries in the western hemisphere, was hit by a disastrous earthquake. it has left towns in ruins and people suffering and struggling for survival. Milions of Dollars will be needed to rebuild what has been destroyed.
Many people have been touched by this disastrous event. A great number of artists in Second Life have donated some of their pieces to raise money. I have decided to join them - via the "Second Life Artists for Haiti"-Fundraiser - organized by Serenity Questi and Martine Lorefiled.
I have made a series of "stages" and pictures on the aftermath of the earthquake in Haiti. The pieces are based on pictures taken by rescue- and aid-staff, all set to creative commons by their respective owners.
I am showing them at my gallery and my art studio at Aeonia Arts. All proceeds will go to disaster relief organizations via the "second life artists for haiti"-fundraiser.
See them at: Aeonia Arts (use the door behind the stages to go to the gallery).

SL stays SL...yeah, right...

Surely, Second Life is a world of its own. And to many, it should be, too. There are a great number of profiles where you can read "sl stays sl and rl stays rl. I don't mix the two". For some, SL is a parttime getaway. They log off from Real Life and turn into their fantasy characters. And they are glad that no one there knows who the person behind the avatar is. Fine with me, I respect that.
Although, this decision has to be taken again and again if you stay in SL for some time. You meet people you like and soon you catch yourself wondering as to where they are at in real life and who you are actually talking to. This is human nature, I guess. Even the people who have basically logged off from RL permanently have a hard time denying that there is still a human being in flesh and blood moving around that cartoonesque figure on the grid. So most of us will start to share tiny bits of our Real Life here and there. More so if you engage in close friendships or even relationships.
I don't go around telling everybody who the person behind Moe is, either. I refrain from putting a real picture of the rl-me in my profile. So I guess, I like to be candid to a certain extent myself.
Being true to myself, I had to admit early in my second life, that Moe in a way is just an extension of my real self. I might not be a 6.3 hunk with a fancy wardrobe in real life. I might not like to play dressup as much, running around as a dragon or a wobble in town. Yet, Moe shows most of my basic character traits, shares my values and opinions. He cannot engage in things I detest in real life.
Some people might test their borders to some extent, stretch their beliefs as to see how far they would go if able to hide behind their second self. And that's a good thing, too. For some SL might be a bit of a valve to blow off some steam - or an experimental territory that helps them to expand their personalities. And this might even have a positive effect on their first life. I have heard many people say so.
I am sure, though, that most people will, with time, find more and more of there real selves in their avatars. Even the traits they don't like about their real selves will show.
The good thing about that is, that if you are attentive, this also can be somewhat of a mirror to yourself. It has been to me.
Once one has been in Second Life for sometime, one will notice that also this seemingly endless grid is as tiny as the real world. You will run into the same people over and over again. You will find out that most of the people you meet, know someone you know. And your behavior will have an effect on your second life just as is has on your first one.
And on some occasions you will even run into someone you know from your first life - and chances are, you will give yourself away.
I don't think there is anything wrong about that. You might not know who the person behind Moe really is...and mostly this doesn't really matter either. But if you are friends with Moe, chances are you would be friends with the person behind the avatar also.
There might be an exception if the person behind the avatar is not an adult. Not having found your place in the real world yet will have its effects on your second life as well. But as an adult you will always bring your basic character, your cultural background, your upbringing, your current situation and surroundings into your character.
What I am basically driving at here is: It is fine - and sometimes even needed - not to share everything about the person behind your avatar with everyone on Second Life. But the claim "SL is SL and RL is RL" will never withstand a thorough examination.
My suggestion is, not to spend too much energy on hiding ones real self from the people in the metaverse. The real you will always show. Rather spend this energy on exploring your real self through this gift of a second personality. You might learn a useful thing...or two about yourself.

Staged...Not Staged?

A great thing about photography in Second Life are the priceless moments created by the residents of the grid. There are an infinite number of stories told and untold by people just being in the right spot at the right moment. And often they are even nice enough to stand at the almost perfect angle.
I'm not sure if I would have ever thought up the shot shown here. - Or would ever have staged it so perfectly. I don't even know I could recreate it in the same perfect mood it was taken.
The girl just happened to stand next to the burning grainfield with her boyfriend or friend, probably engaged in a fierce discussion i couldn't hear - nor wanted to. I just wished they would go on talking for some time, because she was moving her hands quite a bit and I had to wait a while until her cigarette was back in the perfect spot. Thankfully they seemed to have a lot to talk about.
Unfortunately (like most times) the lady disappeared before I could thank her for her amazing pose. So...if this is you or you know who's picture I have taken, please drop me a line.
For those who haven't been there yet: The burning grainfield is part of one of AM Radio's utmost sensational creations named "surface": slurl.com/secondlife/IDIA Laboratories/130/101/2058 . Go see it!!!