Opening of "House of Memories" - Friday, August 16, 2pm SLT

Maaaaaaaaaaan. I have not used this blog in ages. I was to busy inworld with my installations and shows to blog about them.
It is high time then to talk about my newest venture: "House of Memories" on Artwood Ground (Space 4 Art Sim). Which opens on Friday, August 16, at 2pm SLT. Here's the Landmark: Space 4 Art, Artwood Grounds
The opening will be preceded by the winner announcement of the 'Black'n'White'-art contest and the opening of the next rooftop exhibit of artist Andy Burroughs at Asmita Duranjaya's Gallery.

"My" is a big word in this. This show is for one thing a collaborative effort of Lilia Artis, Almut Brunswick, Haveit Neox and yours truly. And it is part of the sim basis installation series that the owners of Space 4 Art (Lilia Artis, Asmita Duranjaya, ChapTer Kronfeld and I) organize, build and sponsor.

Asmita and ChapTer were fast this time around and already opened their half of the sim last month. With the two spectacular and extremely noteworthy installations "Shipwrecked - DirectionHome" (Asmita) and "Purgatory" (ChapTer). If you haven't seen them - you must! 

Now it is the turn of Lilia and I. We invited Almut Brunswick, a new artist on the grid, and the well-known and appreciated Haveit Neox to join forces with us.What came out of it is the immersive and partly interactive installation "House of Memories.

The story: "The only way back in life is paved by memories", writes Almut Brunswick. Together with Lilia Artis, Haveit Neox and Moeuhane Sandalwood she went on this backtrack, to revive memories of a distant or recent past. The challenge the four artists set themselves was to dig deep into their individual experiences and come up with their very own section of "The House of Memories".

Although the installation is much more a stretched landscape than a building, the "House" is the common theme taken up and transformed by each artist in his or her section of Artwood Grounds. Be it colorful, in retro-style, somber or in screeching blackboard-chalk, the four artists created intriguing installations along the tracks of the memory-train.

In "Tracks of Life" Almut Brunswick takes us on a journey through our past - with "crossings and detours, easy cruising and burdensome passages". Lilia Artis depicts the constant flow of memories that build up through a lifetime in "The Past is not Past is not Past...". Haveit Neox has made the mud domes of his childhood playground accessible for spectators in "the backyard". And Moeuhane Sandalwood lets us relive the chills of "The Shadow of a Nightmare past". (see individual notecards at the end).

The exhibits are immersive and some are interactive - so make sure to walk instead of fly - and to enter and touch instead of just cam. The setting is provided by Lilia Artis (groundtextures, terraforming) and me (terraforming). Almut Brunswick connected the four individual installations with a memory-train - which she built (including all stations) and scripted. Please set Windlight to "ShadowSet".

 As I already said, "House of Memories" is part of a fullsim project by "Space 4 Art" resident artists Asmita Duranjaya, ChapTer Kronfeld, Lilia Artis and I. Every three months one of the residents gets to choose the four ground textures of the sim (this time it was Lilia's turn to create them). The others take them as a base and inspiration for a special exhibition. 
Again: Please visit also our neighbors' installations "Shipwrecking - DirectionHome" by Asmita Duranjaya and "Purgatory - Laeuterungsberg" by ChapTer Kronfeld which can also be accessed from the central landigpoint.

BTW: Sunset Quinell has written a very nice blogpost about our Show at her Brazilian blog. You can read it here (also in English, if you scroll down).

"Dreams & Nightmares" @ Kelly Yap's

The last weeks I have been busy setting up different exhibitions and I participated in a few contests. But at the center of my attention was the new Aeonia Artist Group exhibition at Kelly Yap's Art walk.

Togehter with Ally Aeon, lala Lightfoot, Harter Fall, Nik Gandt and Sea Mizin I set pout on a journey that should at some point lead us to the next big thing after the "AntVegas"-Trilogy.

This group exhibition should serve as a brainstorming for an exhibition that might end up as a full sim installation on the theme "Dreams & Nughtmares".

The notecard I wrote for the exhibition starts with a poem-like introduction:

"After a long day of hassle, we sink into our bed. Our head finally rests on that soft warm pillow. A fuzzy feeling spreads in our head as our muscles soften. Darkness falls heavily on our eyes. Our bedroom grows lager and larger and spreads out into our world of dreams….and nightmares…"

Kelly Yap allowed us to fill her whole gallery at Healy. All of us created new pieces and mixed them with older stuff we had on the theme. 

I created four big boards with scary faces, all featuring different aspects of yours truly. I also made a big string figure or marionette. I added one of my old weathered gods as well as the minimalistic art-piece "upright dream in black and white(almost)" I recently made for Asmita Duranjaya's contest.

Please come by and visit this fun exploration: "Dreams & Nightmares"

Burn2'11 opens on Saturday, October 1

It was just a few weeks ago that I packed my trailer and drove up the dusty road to the playa. Not much more than a few clouds of sand and some dried out plants waited there for me. I drove past the lonely ranger station and to the far end of the desert. At a suitable corner I layed down my first prim and claimed our plot for this year's "Burn".

Gradually prim by prim was hauled in over the coming days by many gifted residents. And the plots around me exploded in colors and movement. And also our plot slowly came to live.

Just a few hours before the opening of "Burn2'11", the Second Life version of the Burning Man Festival, the plot looks as finished as it could ever look after the short weeks of preparation. And I am excited to present it to you.

Together with my friends from the Aeonia Artists Group we created an installation called "In-Decisions" - in accordance to this year's Burn theme "Rites of Passage". Our approach is to present the path of live with its many waypoints and intersections. The viewer will have to take decisions at every step of the way - decisions that will affect their course of life.

The installation is dark - and colorful, earnest - and funny, sad - and happy. Just as life might be.
We are very excited about it! And I hope, you will like it too :)

So come visit us between October 1 and 9! See you at the playa and burn on!
Aeonia-Plot "In-Decisions" at Burn2'11

Fire Ants move to Western Australia

"Ant Vegas: Migr-Ants": The Red Fire Ants had to leave their world once again, after having wrecked it for the second time. The ant people migrated to a land called Western AUstralia and rebuilt their famed but sinful "Fabulous Ant Vegas".


The Aeonia Artist Group was invited to do the July-Show at UWA Virtlantis, a full sim presentation sponsored by the University of Western Australia in Second Life. This is already the third installment of "Ant Vegas" - an installation first created for Burn2 in October of last year. Since then new members joined Aeonia Artist Group bringing fresh ideas and knowledge to our community. Hence it was more than feasible to try and explore our famous theme once more - and even go deeper. 


After "Welcome to Fabulous Ant Vegas" and "Ant Vegas - the ant-ology" I proposed the as a title for the  3rd sequel "Ant Vegas: Migr-ants" and wrote the story for it (see below). 
It just so happens that Australia has a big problem with an invasive species called Red Fire Ants (Solenposis invicta). This was the best basis for our Ants - who had faced their second apocalypse - to migrate to this part of the earth. 

Within two weeks our group rebuilt Ant Vegas, using parts of the first two installments, but also adding alot of new themes to it, like a mining facility (by yours truly), a poppy field, a teen-vegimate-club, or a crocodile swamp. New creatures are introduced, like the mentioned crocodiles, wallabies and antaboriginals. And loads of new fun and story.


Read more: http://www.aeoniaarts.com/news/


Visit Redrock Mining Facility @ UWA Virtlantis: 
http://slurl.com/secondlife/UWA%20VIRTLANTIS/115/135/22


The story of  "Ant Vegas: Migr-ants":

“They were merely settled in their new desert home, when all hell broke loose.  Fire broke out at every corner of their hive. And as if – from one moment to the other – the laws of gravity wouldn’t exist anymore, parts of their hive were floating through the air.
The queen gathered her flock in the temple and asked them to pack whatever they can carry and meet at the entrance of the desert metropolis.
The prophet had told them long before, that they were a travelling people, not meant to settle down and enjoy the fruits of their land forever…”

So it was written in the ant-ology, the mystical book preserved by the priests .  And so the story is still told by the elders to remind the young of the disastarous fate of their forefathers.

Yet, little they had learned over the course of the years. And it came upon them just the way the prophecy foretold. The city their great-great-mothers had built after the exodus from the desert many moons ago, was once again in peril.

The new queen saw what was fortold by the priests who had fished at the moon pond. The promised land they had called “Aeonia” was turned once again into a sinful metropolis – exploited and soiled, and no more a welcoming place for future generations to live in.

The queen – along with the priests – knew that their dream of rebuilding the perfect ant-society, as it was described in the scriptures, had once again failed.

As her great-great grandmother and the great-great-grandmother before had done, she gathered her flock and once again started a journey with an fate yet unknown.

The Messengers – their beloved gods – once again had mercy on the failing souls and led the people to a great new land. Thankful to their creators and in honor of them, the and-folk called their new home “Australia Occidens”.

The queen was disillusioned, but yet eager to show her gratitude to the Messengers. So she rebuilt the great temple in their honor with her bare hands. She had a last bit of hope, that her people would be grateful for therenewed promise their gods had made to them.

The ants on the other hand, went about their ways as their fathers and grandfathers had done. In their strive to pursue the path towards individuality, they fiercely started to rebuild all the tempting ventures their forefathers had discovered in the desert.

Despite the eager warnings of the priests, that their world may – once again – face an Apocalypse, the ants recreated  their beloved yet sinful “Fabulous AntVegas”.