Alphaville Herald

Vaneeesa Blaylock Pushes Second Life's Limits

I am a unique individual. And so am I.

by Pixeleen Mistral, National Affairs desk

My graphics card has nearly recovered from attending Vaneeesa Blaylock's "I Rez Therefore I Am" performance art event in early June. The artwork consisted of 25 silent female avatars wearing identical shoes and their own shapes - an invitation for viewers to ponder identity, the speed of rezing, and the whine of your computer's cooling fan as the GPU tries to save itself from death by meltdown and skins slowly materialize on the motionless avatars.

 

The artist's willingness to push the outer limits of what Second Life can handle was part of the performance's charm. While hoping for skins to snap into focus your expectations are reset - I cheered quietly each time a skin rendered and there was plenty of time to ponder how much of our time in SL is spent waiting -- and how much effort is put into constructing an SL persona. 

Aspiring SL designers may want to consider participating in a new piece involving a scarf design contest which will feature 16 performers helping Ms. Blaylock illustrate her tag line: I am a unique individual. And so am I.

Anti-Furry Church Preaches Hate

Roleplay or improv theatre? hate as an artform with sacred daleks and anti-yiff spray

By Kris Dibou

Cross in St. Devros Church

Jacada Ansar had a vision.  Like some who have visions, Jacada started a church; a church that can could previously be found at Woodbury Longcat sim.  While puzzling over many churches built in the name of love, yet inciting hatred over those who do not believe as they do, Jacada decided to create a church based on hate in order to make a statement.  And who better, in Jacada’s opinion, to direct that hatred towards than the furry community.

During my visit to Jacada’s church, I witnessed two attacks and one redemption.  The whole thing ran like preplanned role play and certain comments made by Jacada reinforced this supposition. 

Chouchou -- The New New Wave of SL Art

by lizsolo Mathilde

The New New Wave of SL Art

Work that is more than just being clever

by Aurel Miles

It begins in a Wheatfield. I contemplate the land. A man sits down and says:

“Hello Miss Miles. You are a very meticulous woman, I can see it in your work on your avi”
(Long pause – during which MAN remains seated and I wake up.)

Me: Oh
Me: Hello. Sorry - I was talking to my editor

MAN: she is perfect
Me: my editor?

MAN: no your avi

…and we’re off. Seems to me two-thirds of the population of SL, at any given moment, are looking for love, sex or some form of romantic connection. That’s why I chose to spend the first year of my time here writing about sex. That’s why Stroker is rich, it’s why people can make a real living selling virtual shoes, clothes, nipples, hair, skin and anything else that makes a peacock out of the paper bag avatar we all start out with. It’s why we have houses

I’m not going to pretend to know why forming relationships is so much easier and so much more intense in SL – there are a few theories about meeting someone on equal ground and learning about their heart and soul before you start looking at their limitations and I think those theories are pretty sound. Google it – they’re out there. (And before anyone starts blathering about how fake these relationships are, of the 100 people I know, eight of them are now married to their SL partners in RL. It’s not a huge percentage but when you consider none of them, nobody I know, came here expecting to fall in love much less move halfway across the world to marry their SL partner – it’s significant.)

These days, things have changed. There are plenty of newbies out there buying their first set of genitals and that will go on for as long as SL exists but there are an equal number of us who have moved on. So, what I am interested in these days is what comes next? What happens when you have made that match and have that deep connection? And not what happens to your relationship either, I want to talk about what happens to you.