A Little Piece of Art

At the far north of Sansara, in Maryport near the old Linden Village, is A Little Piece of Art. This small, friendly cafe (second picture, below) is located along the side of the road, and contains cats, coffee, and freebies for passing travelers. An informational notecard at the entrance provides a list of blogs (including, to my delight, this one!) and landmarks for further mainland explorations. Artistik Oluja (Art Oluja), owner of the cafe and curator of the gallery onsite, states that "'A Little Piece of Art' started as a space to appreciate mainland exploration and settled at Maryport on Sansara in August of this year. The cafe is a hangout for friendly, positive users, old and new, who enjoy exploring mainland, especially those who enjoy a little wordplay and corny snacks!"

The parcel is situated between the road and the sea, and overlooking the ocean is the brightly colored Pixel Gallery, pictured above. There are five levels to the gallery, which contains a mixture of the curator's private collections and some of her own pieces for sale. The third level of the gallery contains some free pieces by Art, a couple art-related gachas, and a bench with a wonderful view of the waterfall. The fourth level down includes seating and a viewing room of Art's machinimas, which she rotates periodically. The lowest level leads outside, where between the waterfall and the sea one can find places for quiet meditation or yoga.

"The pixel gallery was inspired by my love for the good old blocky prim," commented Art. "But more importantly, I enjoy displaying the works of creative people who not only have unique ideas but also happen to be supportive and encouraging towards other user's creative experiments. I hope SL folks exploring mainland are comfortably curious here, and find it is a positive space where they can be inspired and encouraged by other artists, just like I have been!"

"Hallelujah, I'm A Bum"

On the Western shore of the inner delta of Heterocera is a unique and whimsical place called Lollygagger Lane. Created and administered by Firery Broome, Raskolnikow Roffo, and paramparamm Papp, the Lane is a jumble of different things that work well together: a Hobo Safe Camp, the home of the Hot Stilt Bitches of Burning Life, and a newcomer friendly slum hangout with a lively arts and music scene. I asked Raskolnikow what gave them the idea to start the community, and he replied, "We had a friend with land and we were just playing around. Before we knew it, we had rezzed a couch to be lazy on. The rest is all just stuff that ended up here over time. We always make plans to clean and sweep the street, but we never actually do, so it stays dirty and sandy here."

But I know you are wondering, as I was, what exactly is a Lollygagger? Rask passed me the Lollygagger Manifesto, which states, "According to the dictionary, a lollygagger is a lazy person, one who lollygags; a slacker, ne'er-do-well. We prefer to see ourselves as those who take their time to smell the daisies. And the best way to enjoy life is to smell them together. The word lollygagger was meant to label people, but we wear the name in pride. As we lost our haste, we now see what this world really looks like. And how it might be better. Like a flower growing from the concrete, the Lollygaggers want to show you and everybody in the Metaverse the aspects of humanity that we tend to forget about in the rush of our daily lives."

In the photo above, you can see me wearing a Hot Stilt Bitch costume on the shores of Lollygagger Lane. The Hot Stilt Bitches of Burning Life group was formed by Kilara Balnarring in 2009 for Burn2, the Second Life version of Burning Man. According to Kilara, the group’s goal, besides having lots of fun, is to support the Second Life art scene by spontaneously appearing at events. In addition, the Lane in general is certainly a place that supports the arts in Second Life. Currently, they are hosting a large-scale art show which also happens to include the work of my partner, Ziki Questi (pictured below). Stop by and see the art, which is spread out over several locations, and make sure to grab the free gift from Ziki while you are there. The show ends on July 23rd, so hurry!

In addition to the regular art exhibits, Lollygagger Lane has shops, small shacks for rent, and one large annual music event. "Every year we organise an event called Slumrock," remarked Rask, "and we give all Slumrock tips to a good cause. We have donated to A Liter of Light and to homeless shelters, and more! We also have a camp at Relay for Life called 'Walking Tall For a Cure'. Getting together and working together for a good cause is one of the coolest things in Second Life, we believe. To keep informed it is handy to become a member of the Lollygagger group, since we indeed use notices to inform and invite everyone."

From the Lollygagger Manifesto, an invitation: "Do you want to meet interesting people and hang out in a honest place where you are respected and the people are friendly? Want to build, and learn from other builders? Want to organise an event, a party, and you can't find a location or a stream? Want to sell your creations at Lollyggager Lane? Do you want something but you don't know what exactly? If you do, you must be a lollygagger!" Rask commented with a grin, "Sometimes there are also members of Hobo Junction at the Lane, since we Lollygaggers kind of are hobos too." In that spirit, enjoy this Utah Philips version of  "Hallelujah, I'm A Bum." In Utah's inimitable style, he takes the sarcastic tone of the original hobo song and makes it his own, interspersing stories between the verses about the joys of "going on the bum." A perfect soundtrack for bumming around Lollygagger Lane!

Get Inside The Art

Last weekend in first life I had the opportunity to catch an amazing show in Philadelphia, "La Verita", a Salvador Dali-inspired cirque production. From the Kimmel Center's website, "Inspired by the unbridled imagination of artistic genius, Salvador Dalí, La Verità features a cast of virtuosic performers — juxtaposing circus, dance, music, and vaudeville." If this comes to your town, GO SEE IT. It is by far one of the strangest, loveliest, funniest, and most jaw-dropping displays of talent I've seen in years.

"That's great, Kinn," I can hear you thinking, "but what does that have to do with SL Mainland??" Well, it reminded me of a cool little Mainland parcel I'd visited once, so I went to investigate if it still existed. And...it does!

Located in the sim Da Boom, "The Persistence of Memory" (pictured above) is an av-sized shadowbox setting based on Dali's painting of the same name. You can place yourself into the scene, as I have, and "melt" over the branch. Da Boom was the very first sim on the Grid, so once you are done melting to the ticking sound of the Dali timepieces, take a look around and see where Second Life began. The nearby Linden playground is a great place for some vintage fun.

Then, if you'd like some more immersive art experiences, let's head down to the very southern tip of the Sansara snowlands to Art Box in the sim Klaw. Created by Frankie Rockett and Violet Sweetwater, Art Box is a three-level building containing dozens of famous artworks, recreated with backdrops and poseballs so that you can put yourself into the art. In the photo below, I try out some Warhol-inspired pop art, and in the final photo, I place myself in Rene Magritte's "Son of Man".

Second Life is full of some really wonderful immersive art experiences, but Art Box is the one place where you can become a part of some of your favorite, classic paintings. According to Frankie and Violet, "Art Box is a fully immersive Second Life art installation. It takes the form of a virtual gallery that provides a series of detailed three dimensional sets, each recreating scenes in homage to famous works of art, in a virtual world setting. This enables you to place your avatar into the scene, stage center, and compose your own version of the referenced artwork. You become both the artist, and the art. With this facility it's easy to reinterpret famous art in your own style, and create your own SL photographic art. Using the pictures you can take at Art Box you have perfect material for your profile, for your Flickr account, for Koinup, for your blog, for framing in-world — in fact for any application you can think of. It's fully immersive, highly creative, fun, and totally free." Stop on over and see what YOU can create!