Us & Them - The Re-Rebirth of the Demon

The theme for 'Us & Them' has bugged me for quite a while.
Many years of my adult life I had the feeling that the people of the world started to mature. That they would open up - and start to accept eachother more. That gender, race and nationality mattered less in the relationships between people. National borders became more open and the world in many parts started to grow closer.
But in the past years I started to realize that most of this appears to be wishful thinking. Proof for this, if I needed any, were the elections to the European Parliament. Nationalist parties drew alot of votes in their repective countries. And thus formed the paradox, that in a parliament of a multilateral union the voice of seperatism grew stronger.
Europe is not the only continent, where nationalist movements gathered strength. In fact, it seems that the segregation of the world into smaller and smaller parts is on the rise. And conflicts along national, cultural, religious or even clan border lines increase.

For quite some time I wanted to create an installation around that theme. I experimented on 2D-pictures, but I had this distinctive image in my head.
The invitation by SperiMenta and Tanalois Art to show on Solaris Island came at the perfect time.The venue provided me with plenty of space and prims to develop 'Us&Them - The Re-Rebirth of the Demon'.
The installation is essentially a two-way-mirror, which is not apparent at the first glance. Only the explorative nature will be able to see the whole picture.
The installation will be on Solaris Island until the end of July 2014, in case you would like to take a look.
This is the text that accompanys the installation. It is also in the notecard you will find on the landingpoint:

"We lock ourselves into golden cages. Our discussions run in circles. We forget that we are connected. What comes from the outside is evil, they tell us. It wants to take from us, what we paid for with our own blood, sweat and tears.
We have heard those voices before. The false sirens had sung and we had followed. And it gained us nothing. But suffering, death and destruction.
Yet we seem to be ready to listen to them again. Aware that they don’t offer solutions. But their false promises glide down our throats like sweet honey.
It’s not them who will pull the trigger. They might say, thereafter, that they never wanted it to happen that way. But by then, no one will be there to hear.

The Project “Us&Them“, by Moeuhane Sandalwood, is not a work of fiction. It is an image of our time. Taken one of these days in one of those nations. And peculiarly enough: Whoever visits the exhibit, will find him or herself already part of it. Only thing to decide is: Which one in this image is you?"

The opening at Solaris Island on July 2, 2014 was fantastic (Thank you Duna Gant for taking pictures!). Many friends came over - and also many people I hadn't met before. And I think I struck a chord in many of them.

My sincere Thanks go out to Sarabell, Nino Vichan and Alo Congrejo for giving me this opportunity and space. I would also like to express special gratitude to Gem Preiz. He showed me how to perfect the resolution for the 'imaginative curtain' in the center of the piece. Looks magnificent thanks to you, Gem!
More Pictures of the show are on Flickr and Facebook.

"The Machine" @ LEA6 with Lilia Artis

Lilia Artis and I were quite surprised back in spring when Jayjay Zinfanwe and Bryn Oh announced that we would be among the artists chosen to exhibit in the 2013 round of the LEA Full Sim Art Series. And here it is: 'The Machine' @ LEA6 - a collaborative work by Lilia Artis and Moeuhane Sandalwood:

“We have solved all our problems. Thanks to our ingenuity.
    We have cured all illnesses. Thanks to our technical savvy.
    We have cheated death. Thanks to our code.
    We invented the machine.
    The only thing left to do:
    Keep the machine running that keeps us running.”

We had a lot of time to develop our project - but due to real life only a very short to actually build it in the end. And because we didn't have a sim available to build it, we had to do it in parts - level by level. For that it appears to have turned out quite well - and was well recieved among visitors and bloggers.
Time flies, and in just one week the whole thing will disappear again. So if you haven't seen it yet - here is the Slurl!
We do not have much time to document the piece anymore either. Fortunately Lilia's good friend and famed SL-artist Haveit Neox stepped up and made this wonderful machinima-teaser about the Show. I also took a few pictures for my Flickr-page.

 History told backwards

The story of 'The Machine' is quite complex. Our intent was to present the history of a society in a far away future. We decided to tell the story of that society backwards. Which means the visitor takes up the role of an archaeologist or ethnologist. On his or her journey down through the 4 levels he or she discovers more and more of the history of the mysterious society.
Our installation is basically a game of search and discovery. Like if you were an archaeologist discovering the city of Troy. The visitor is basically part of one big historic novel.
The artistic twist in our 'Troy' is the paradox that the 'futuristic' people don't care at all about their past, yet integrated their whole history fully into their 'machine'.
We worked with colors and lights to underline that paradox.

We painted the present and the early past of that society in bright colors. It could depict their view of this fantastic future - or maybe be a lure for the people to give up their lives, bodies and free will to technology.
In the lower levels - the darkness and shadows underline the problematic nature of their 'progress'.
We gave the world this monumental feeling. Every level is grand and vast. It should represent the complexity of this society, the enormous amount of achievement through technology - and also, subsequently the enormous amount of (sociological) failure.
Because in the end the visitor will discover that the 'perfection' of that people was achieved at a very high price. They ruined the environment - and took the free will of the people. Their 'perfect' society - that is depicted on the top level in such delicate and ethereal colors - in fact bases on a fascist regime.

What exactly is 'perfection'?

Here's the original text from our notecard:  The creatures have created a perfectly functioning world. They live in the ever present. As a sound community. With joined minds and spirits. Interconnected. Completely. They run the machine – and are run by the machine. They are the machine. The peak of innovation. The end of evolution. Their creation.
They are a society without memory. Their history a mere shadow. Because there is no need to remember. Why remember what is of no value. They are perfect.
   What if a society sets progress through technology as their top priority? Perfection above everything else?
   In 'The Machine' by Lilia Artis and Moeuhane Sandalwood visitors are greeted by a possible result of that strife for perfection. An ethereal world that comes alive through the extensive power of the joined minds of its inhabitants.
   The visitors are subsequently invited to pull out their inner archeologist and ethnologist. And go on an exploratory trip down through several sublevels of history. To unearth the secret behind that seemingly perfect world.

   Because: What we see on the top floor is just a blink of an eye. It is a depiction of the everyday life of a people in a distant future.
   Even though that population on the top level does not seem to care about their past, it still remains integrated into their 'machine' – hidden in the lower levels. The encumbrance of the past might one day reappear to haunt them. It might just become a burden on their next generation – once it breaks through the floors of time.
   How to visit the installation: On every 'generation’s' level there is a spot where a former generation found its way to the new level. Sometimes it’s a bit hidden, because nobody used it anymore for decades or even centuries. Look for stairs, elevators, holes in the ground, etc.

Blogger's oppinions on 'The Machine'

What others have written about it:
Quan Lavender: Sneak Preview: The Machine
Ziki Questi: The Machine
Inara Pey: Inside the Machine
Asmita Duranjaya: A Dystopia: Lilia Artis' and Moe Sandalwood's LEA Installation 'The Machine'
UWAinSL: THE MACHINE
BukTomBlog: The Machine
Echt Virtuell: LEA Full Sim Art Series für November
Linden Endowment for the Arts: LEA Full Sim Art Series (Nov)

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).