Poetry and Particles

                The poetry of big, collaborative art - that was the theme of this week's trip, once again two great destinations, both highly recommended, HG Addresses at the end of the post as always.

Karima Hoisan on The River of Forgetting

                 First up, an invitation from Karima Hoisan to visit Kitely. It's always a joy to visit Karima's many regions on this grid. They are as varied as they are colorful, and The River of Forgetting is a special place because it's where Karima and Natascha Randt filmed their latest machinima, which they have entered in the prestigious SLartist@UWA Machinima competition in Second Life.


               This is the first entry to be filmed entirely in opensim, and that has offered some challenges, like sourcing animations. A good 'throw away' anim was the toughest to find, but here is the machinima, so you can see by yourself how well they managed.

The special Funerary Boat made by Silas Merlin

            Whether you view the region in daylight or by night, you will be sure to admire the beautiful ship that takes you on a ride that snakes through the sim, making the most of the space, and offering such a variety of sights and sounds that you will probably want to experience it more than once to get the full sense of what is going on here.

             River rapids, circus stalls, tractors on a farm, an elegant japanese house, and an arab barge, these are just a few of the things you'll see on the ride...
.... and they beautifully evoke the spirit of the poem upon which the region and the machinima are based.

            The message is an upbeat, reassuring, inspiring message, spurring us all on to let go of the negative, focus on the beauty of life, and enjoy the ride.

             That lovely ride ends at a ghostly, heavenly tent where there is delicate dancing by spirit creatures, you can join the ethereal experience by wearing the avatar supplied at the entrance, and at the beginning of the boat ride. Of course, it's not de rigeur, but it's fun to do, and you'll feel at one with the region if you do.

         After this wonderful boost of joy and positive thoughts we were ready to tackle anything, even the occasional bit of lag or crashing.

            It was not long before we were on Futurelab, Metropolis Grid, to experience a multimedia marvel called 'About Sand'.

               This is a group project by Art Blue, Venus Adored and Juliette Surrealdreaming and it's an explosion of vitality and mystery, set in a golden desert. (Pro tip, don't sit on the golden spots on the ground in front of the stage, they're fizzy fireworks, not seats.
 
   Originally shown in SL late last year, and it has a peri-Halloween feel, although the general beauty makes it far from a horror story, beginning, as it does, with our hero played by Art Blue having an unexpected encounter with a shape shifter.
         There's a lot happening which it would be crazy to tell you in detail, since that would spoil the drama, but suffice it to say, there's a lot of glorious golden showers happening...

              The inspiration for this play comes from a TV show on Netflix called Travelers  but even if, like most of us on the Safari, you don't watch much TV, the spectacle is still enthralling.

            It's a 45 minute tour de force that seemed over much too soon, and I think we would all watch it again in a heartbeat. Taking the audience from the Libyan desert to Crater Lake in oregon, the play was written by Art and Venus, narrated by Juliette and Art, with the most magnificent particles, rezzed scenes, and musical accompaniment, largely the brainchild of  Venus, who as you can see is an original artwork in herself.
         We are back on Futurelab in a few weeks for an art talk, so much to look forward to, and let's also hope that the Futurelab crew decide to give an encore performance of About Sand again soon, I'm sure many would love to see it.

The glorious Venus Adored

HG Addresses
The River of Forgetting              grid.kitely.com:8002:the river of forgetting
About Sand                                  hypergrid.org:8002:futurelab  (the stage is about 1000m up in the sky)