An Unexpected Alliance at LEA Opening.

The LEA event opening the Machinima Event went off with a little drama, SL style.

SaveMe Oh, probably the most controversial artist in SL, who I interviewed properly for my blog post on Koinup (not something I do much) entertained the troops with an impromptu performance as she often does when given (or not given) the chance.

She rightly states in her blog that really you don't need a fancy building to view something that looks better on YouTube, where there is no lag or crashing.

"Machinima has to rescue secondlife and Linden Labs. Now as a frequent user I am happy with every attempt to keep SL online but what did they invent?? A stupid event about machinima (NO NUDETY,NO VIOLENCE) (Oliver Stone, Al Pacino, Angelina Jolie and Kate Winslet must be banned in advance), An horrible building (who needs to be covered watching movies in sl?), 1000 seats were you are glued in according to the CARP concept where you can sit and shut up to see machinima that you can view 1000 times better on YouTube, Vimeo or AviewTV."

SaveMe got banned, art is only art if the Organisers say it is Art, I guess.... and let's face it SaveMe can push the envelope better than a herd of elephants.... so I think neither she nor anyone else was very surprised. She is the most banned artist in SL, I would guess.

So... all quite traditional so far.

Ole Etzel, a longterm creator in SL, could not of course show his stuff, especially Part Three of The Disease... (see below)...

Ole, along with Mrs Bones (who has a chainsaw, and knows how to use it) has been amusing me for years with his personal view of life, and death.....but.... similar to Nipple Gate, the incident with Rose being banned because of Susa... (and consequent comment by me)... Ole likes blood in his art....and that is not allowed. Like megas, there are rules.





Now, anyone who thinks they can promote the Arts and yet make sure no one breaks the rules is a bit daft. Art and Rules don't mix, they never have, and never will. Period.....as I wrote before in these pages..."The creative anarchy of the human condition is revolutionary and irrepressible."

...But... it was not for reasons of Artistic Freedom that two very unlikely people have become united in their dislike of LEA...

...an excerpt from SaveMe's blog....

Dancoyote Antonelli: did you know why we are on the same side?

SaveMe Oh: Maybe I become the Don Quichotte of SL

SaveMe Oh: tell me?

Dancoyote Antonelli: The director of user experience spoke

Dancoyote Antonelli: one Rhett Linden

Dancoyote Antonelli: and said how greatful he is that art is such good free marketing for Linden Labs

Dancoyote Antonelli: that was the moment we became on the same side

SaveMe Oh: They gave us the canvas, we had to bring the crayons ourselves, and now they want everything back.

SaveMe Oh: So fight along with me for freedom of expression on our own terms

Dancoyote Antonelli: I am with you

Dancoyote Antonelli: and now

Dancoyote Antonelli: we need a private channel

SaveMe Oh: Fear is also not an issue, the moment we brought in our crayons we start to be faster then them.

Dancoyote Antonelli: more on this later. Now LEA will try to kick me for my protest

Dancoyote Antonelli: it will be a big mistake if they do

SaveMe Oh: Make it difficult for them! Good luck as you have every right on your side."

May 4, 2011


Now, I have called this LEA effort Artists Endowment of the Lindens, and it is. Unlike UWA which, for the last 18 months has been awarding cash prizes to artists, known and unknown, and the many altruistic sponsors out there who donate prims and sims so that creators can create, Linden Lab has done nothing. Not a penny, or a cent has been offered. No sim has been donated, not even for Burning Life.

The thing about sponsorship is that there is, or should be, an element of altruism. Art should be sponsored for Art's sake, and the commercialisation of the LEA, i.e. it's use as cheap marketing puts me on the same bench as SaveMe and Dan.

Dancoyote Antonelli: shouts: Artists are NOT Marketing

For while Sasun can say...
"The LEA exists to help encourage and cultivate art and artists within Second Life, to foster community, creativity, and innovation among artists, and collaborate with existing art galleries and groups to help nurture their valuable participation in the SL arts."....

...it's all just words.... and I've heard a lot over the last 4 years....(previous Sasun)

16 months of dragging their feet, there's no 70 sims as promised, (link included for those that claim 70 sims was never mentioned)... just a large building, a game and a sandbox .. oh, and future plans for a welcome centre....

..big deal. I should be impressed??

:))

Culture, Art and shadows..

Obviously it is as stupid to make generalisations about the Boys as it is to do so about the Citizens that populate our virtual worlds... but..

..whereas people who feel that avatar existence is pathetic and meaningless, (engaged in by losers), soon stop being citizens and leave SL never to return, I can’t help feeling that employees at the Lab, or some, have an attitude which is tinged by these thoughts.. there have been remarks over the years to support this feeling, so this isn’t pure paranoia.

You have only to listen to Tom Boellstorff on Metanomics (as mentioned before), to realise how important issues of avatar identity are (an issue many of have been struggling with for years) to people who understand how revolutionary this experience is. If everyone at the Lab understood what he is saying, life would change inworld.

It is well worth reading Dusan Writer’s latest blogpost where both the video and a transcript of the video is posted. His assertion that we have a culture, obvious to us, is less so to some Lindens who are excluded from this experience because they are, at best, casual users of their product.

Peter Greenaway accused the Lab "You are endangering a tool that is greater than you", when discussing a censorship issue, and it became very clear to me that, for the most part, they have actually no idea how big virtual worlds are.

Most of them are not visionaries but office slaves, most of us are visionaries, or at least pioneering spirits.

...but certainly virtual worlds are huge compared to the Lab.


In other news.... Happy Rezz Day V2.

Yes, it’s the Sewer Viewer’s Rezz Day. One year ago some foreign geezers stopped work on the darned thing after making a digital scrambled egg of what used to be a UI...

..and the rest is history, or, as the Lab calls it, Release Notes.

It will go down in history as the most unpopular UI ever to have been invented I think, which, is quite an achievement. Whether or not it takes on the status of the iceberg in the Titanic thingy has yet to be seen, but...it’s gotta be somewhat on the same level.

...and...on the 23rd of February 2010...we got the following news...
Announcing the Linden Endowment for the Arts
"In the upcoming months, it is our pleasure to take a more active role in encouraging the arts inside of Second Life. We are excited to announce the creation of a Linden Endowment for the Arts (LEA) program which will help support, encourage, and highlight Second Life artists and their work. We hope that the collaboration between Linden Lab and the wealth of talented Second Life artists will contribute to a vibrant new chapter for the arts in Second Life.

The Linden Endowment for  the Arts (LEA) program's goal is twofold:
1. To create an immersive space for artists to share their art, build connections, and prosper in the Second Life community
2. To provide a new way for artwork to live on within our ever-changing virtual world. 
While still under design, this program will be a partnership between Linden Lab and Second Life artists, with the additional objective of gathering, displaying, and maintaining art at an inworld Arts Hub. We are currently building the LEA organizing committee, which will include members of the Second Life artist community and Linden Lab employees, to guide the program's management. Under the creative direction, organization and guidance of the LEA committee, we will hold biannual art exhibitions, highlighting the most creative artwork happening inworld.”

...by June (and the mass cull of Boys) I blogged...”I expect to be severely disappointed with the LEA.”.. it’s tricky to know what to say now, a year on....

A year ago I was getting excited about shadows too, but, though there are people who can get them, it is still beyond the scope of my graphix card, it seems...


...and people wonder why I am skeptical about mesh.

:)))