An exhibition fit for a king

Life was a preparation for death, and when you reached your stopping point you were surrounded by spells, incantations, your servants and family. You would be buried under rushes and dehydrated for 70 days, your organs carefully transplanted into alabaster jars, your brain, which had no value, was pulled out your nose. After your body was embalmed and wrapped in linen, your spirit and body would meet Osiris and 40 other deities in a ceremony called the “Negative Confession”. You’d deny any wrong doings in your life and have your heart weighed by the scales of justice, a baboon regarding you through squinted eyes. Once you were considered “true of voice”, all would be confirmed in writing by Thoth, the royal scribe and you’d make your way to your blissful eternal home in the Netherworld. Read more here: Egyptian Book of the Dead.

I’m working on a slexhibition about a real life Victorian who recorded her travels to Egypt in 1875. I’ve never been there, never smelled the dry air or seen scattered mummy parts in the sand...Instead I visited King Tut Virtual, organized by Rezzable. Wow!

This exhibition is clearly put together by experts in design and museology. It’s one of the most layered, content rich exhibitions I’ve been to; informative without being overwhelming, chock full of detail but no lag. In front of the orientation station/teleport hub lies the Valley of the Kings...the Eye of Horus symbol transports you to archaeologist Howard Carter’s camp and finally down into the dark recesses of the tomb of Tutankhamen . Audio clips describe everything around you in wonderful detail, including a radio clip of Carter describing his discovery. My favorite technological trick was being able to enlarge artifacts from their original size. After learning so much, I skipped through the sand in my sandals, boarded an ancient barque (boat), threw water on the local hippos and, like all museum visits, there are shops to buy trinkets. This is truly a must-see exhibition. King Tut Virtual, Kings Rezzable (17, 85, 2336).

Long...Now...

Clocks slay time... time is dead as long as it is being clicked off by little wheels; only when the clock stops does time come to life. ~William Faulkner

In Sploland this morning, I stood in the middle of Moucault’s Pendulum, threw out the idea of all being ephemeral and thought about slowing things down. I remembered one of the first exhibitions I attended in SL in 2007 – Brian Eno’s 77 Million Paintings (which also took place in the actual world at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts). The work is made up of three hundred hand-drawn images which are cut up using self-generating software to form an infinite number of variations that will take years to witness. The exhibition was sponsored by the Long Now Foundation (Eno is a founding member), which is best known for its invention of a 10,000 year working clock which will stand as a monument and “provide a counterpoint to today's ‘faster/cheaper’ mind set and promote ‘slower/better’ thinking." I’d love to see a model of this clock in SL.

The visual artists aren’t the only ones slowing things down. John Cage adapted his work ASLSP (“as slow as possible”) for solo piano into Organ²/ASLSP. Some have taken the composer's edict quite plainly. A performance of the work, in Halberstadt, Germany, which began in 2001, is scheduled to end in the year 2640. One sound, or pause, will stretch two or three years - the first chord was struck in 2003 and ended in 2005.

I ended my morning musing floating...slooooowly.....around an ancient ruined clock tower that had been smashed to bits by a steely robotic arm.

Reaching for the Ephemeral

Beech leaf, covered in black mud, Bentham, Yorkshire, June 1979. By A. Gormley

I lost my flickr account the other day. About a year’s worth of comments, correspondence, contacts, favorite images - memories erased within minutes. I clenched my fists and shouted; stamped my feet like a little kid. And then I remembered. Most of what we create here, in this digital life, is ephemeral, and I’d better pony up and accept it.

One doesn’t think much of nature at all, when working in the digital, but I thought of the environmental artist Anthony Gormley who writes “Process and decay are implicit. Transience in my work reflects what I find in nature.” So where we work, in this digital realm, is also transient. We must learn to be present, appreciate the moment, and let go.

Menhirs and Sheep

Today was a foggy gray day. There was the finest kind of mist, off of the sea and lacing the air with a briny smell. One forgets that Boston was a harbor town, buttressed as it is by the giant glass sentries that make up the financial district. Anyway, I was craving the smell of a peat fire and the bleating of sheep and searched all day in sl for some virtual gorse and an Irish view. I have an innate passion for ancient standing stones and have spent some time doing field work, at a sanctuary that may pre-date Stonehenge by about two hundred years. Needless to say, there aren’t too many talayots in New England (though evidently there’s a site in New Hampshire that I’ve been too skeptical to visit).So, to get my prehistoric kicks, like any good archaeologist, I logged on...
I made my way to the Empress and Hierophant sim, currently under construction by Immortalis and Alchemy Cyannis. The tp landing presents a stunning view over rolling hills and rock walls. I wanted to embrace it, feeling like I had been transported to Derrynane, Ireland. Immortalis was busy building, holding a sheep in his arms. The Cyannis’ are planning a bed and breakfast, and from the looks of the site so far, I’d make plans for an extended stay. The stones at Empress and Hierophant are finely crafted, warm and lichen covered. I ran up to one menhir and imagined placing my palms on its surface. Rambling up a hill I got those butterflies in the tum when standing too close to a ledge. The waves below churned bright and blue and I felt compelled to walk and walk along the worn paths winding ‘round the island. Instead I tp’d my fellow intrepid explorer Wyatt and we sat among the blinking sheep, totally absorbing the countryside.

In this kind of place, your mind goes meditative, and we let our minds wander and ramble like our bodies had done, contemplating our environments, both inner and outer. Empress and Hierophant is extraordinary. Read more about it here.

I can’t mention megaliths without mentioning Julian Cope. For you stone lovers, you must purchase a copy of his book The Modern Antiquarian.

Stokame!

my neighbor SarahtheRed's Puppy (above) & working on my show

After a hiatus I’m back at work on another exhibition for the H.G. Wells Library in Caledon...content & title to be announced soon. I have to thank Halfpint Pennell for providing an inspiring work environment at the Stokame Artist's Colony....a big lofty skybox to build in, a shack on the beach to mull in, a shop to show work in. A good patron knows how to keep her artists happy, and Halfpint shows she knows the artist’s mind by providing a bakery, market square, windsurfing, cozy nooks, even a drive-in theatre. I’ve such happy memories going to the drive-in on Cape Cod – was where I was first traumatized by Jaws. There’s a real Provincetown vibe in Stokeham. I’ll keep my eyes peeled for dreamlanders Cookie Mueller (one of my heroines) and John Waters...

Moving House

Moving House

”Once you open your mind to the possibility
you're lost.
At least some part of you is.
You flirt with infidelity,
abandon the perfectly acceptable place
you've lived all these years
for a dingy photograph in the property finder
that promises an easy walk to the beach,
or a level lot with good sun.
Your mind turns...”
-by Mairi

After two years I’ve decided to part with the place that kept me in SL in the first place, Stormhold in Caledon. A few notecard exchanges after I posted my ad on the real estate forums, my house and other possessions were lobbed into my lost and found folder before I could blink...no turning back. Wouldn’t it be brilliant if one could shift as easily in rl? Such good practice it is, learning how to not talk oneself out of making a move.

Anthropomorphy

When I was 16 I went to my first sci-fi convention somewhere (I think Troy, NY). I drove there in a red VW van full of D & D players, including a guy who spent hours in his garage making chain mail armor (when he wasn’t crafting sundaes at Friendly’s). Besides the thrill of getting away from home and staying in hotels with my boyfriend, I was thrilled with the characters we met along the way. One of my first memories of the con was skulking down a hallway, around 3 a.m., and coming across two people in white bunny suits. One was slumped against the other, receiving a shoulder rub. S/he turned to me, with big black eyes and drooping whiskers, and offered me a slug of cherry brandy. They were so striking, and so strange to me (in a good way). The memory is kinda hazy now and reminds me of Aphex Twin’s vid for Donkey Rhubarb.

Furry fandom is a whole scene in SL, and one I’ve hardly explored. For those of you that don’t know, furries are role players, artists, writers, and other appreciators of anthropomorphic animal characters with human traits. The scene is noted for its anime styled artwork, handcrafted customized fursuits, and, some think, kinky sexual practices (I have to read up on plushophilia). Anyway, a friend of mine is writing a paper about furry fandom so I offered to make a reconnaissance mission into Luskwood, the capital of SL furrydom, to see what I might learn. I donned a steampunk tail and ears and landed in the middle of a small dance party. No one greeted me, and, like most anthropologists making first contact, I felt a bit like an intruder. Then I got to thinking, most animals don’t talk....After a few minutes however, there was some chat, mainly about cheeseburgers. I began scrawling in my notebook and snapping pics of a lovely large chested red fox with a serpent’s tongue, a foxy white wolf with swinging hips, and a twee little raccoon with librarian’s glasses and a brownie camera round her neck. I noticed that most of them were from Texas...then I started imagining W having a secret life as a brandy sipping bunny and got distracted...Luskwood definitely warrants more investigation. Stay tuned...