Koinup Blog

Meet Fellow Musician and Metaplace Founder Raph Koster

2009-11-21T04:32:00.000-08:00

If you are a musician looking for your first virtual world experience, think about starting in Metaplace. Metaplace is the brain child of Raph Koster - a blend of passionate visionary, thoughtful scholar, pragmatic developer and best of all, a soulful artist, writer and musician.

I met Raph in person in 2007 to talk about Metaplace (then Areae). It was an informal business discussion and I watched over his shoulder as he flew through the basic tenants of Metaplace, talking at speeds normally reserved for livestock auctions. We talked more over lunch (slower this time, there was chewing involved) about the future of virtual worlds, the collision of the social web and gaming, music, guitars and poetry. I won't bore you with our excursions of thought and speculation, but if I boiled down the conversation one thing predominated - the power of virtual worlds is unlocked when people can create, connect, and have fun pervasively.

Imagine what that means for a musician.

What's a Metaplace?
We could wander off and read the Mahalo text on "What is Metaplace?" but for me it's easier to think about it like this: if metadata is data about data, then metaplace is a place of places. Okay, maybe that's not easier, but you sort of get the idea.

Metaplace allows you to create your own space or world that is embeddable so that it's accessible from anywhere on the web, without a client application to download (if you don't count flash) or a walled garden to navigate. It's based on the premise that you don't have to be a software developer, 3D artist or game developer to create a compelling and entertaining virtual world on your own, or in this case, on your own with a help if you need it from an engaged and collaborative community.

Perhaps it's just easier if you watch the welcome video developed by Metaplace Community Maven extraordinaire Cuppycake.

Who is Raph?
You can read scores about Raph's work in the development of virtual worlds, dating back to early MUD days. One thing I've learned about Raph is that despite his insane schedule as a start-up founder, he still somehow finds time to work and play and share. He was kind enough to answer a few questions about being a musician and the collision of music in virtual worlds.

Q: It's relatively easy for a musician to perform live in Metaplace. Was live music always a part of the MP road map? What are the most important elements for a good performance?
A: I got started doing virtual worlds back in 1992 – text muds at first, and then Ultima Online work began in 1995, and I did big MMORPGs until I started Metaplace in 2006. But I have been doing singer-songwriter stuff slightly longer, getting going by teaching myself guitar in 1990 or so. Scary to think that I have been playing for 19 years now! I was led there in part by a growing up with folk music around me, by being a huge Paul Simon fan, and then discovering the contemporary folk scene in the late 80s in high school – at the time, that was Tracy Chapman, Indigo Girls, and thence a few years later to Bill Morrissey, Greg Brown, John Gorka, and so on.

Performance was not always part of the roadmap, but early on we did kick around an idea called “Stages” a lot, which was essentially a stripped down Metaplace that ONLY did online performance venues. Eventually we realized that what we had made accommodated it just fine after all!

I think that a good performance online is in some ways very different than one in a venue. I really feel the “absence” of the chatter and the crowd while playing – it’s more intimate and more distanced at the same time. You can focus on the music without distractions, but you can’t feel the crowd in the same way. Also, there’s more reverb… seems like you have to drown the signal in it to sound OK online.

Q: How do you see live performance shaping the future of Metaplace, or virtual worlds overall? Would you encourage fellow musicians to add virtual worlds to their tour schedule?
A: I don’t know what the future of live performance is in virtual worlds. I have come to realize that the challenge is getting people to show up, regardless of venue. A virtual venue is only marginally easier to get to, depending on circumstances!

I don’t any reason why musicians shouldn’t include virtual worlds on their tours. It may not bring in as much revenue as a well-attended show, but on the other hand, there’s no travel costs. So yeah, it’s totally worth adding to the schedule.

Q: You mention on your blog that you attend Kerville Folk Festivals have met a lot of professional singer-songwriters. Can you share one of your favorite or most memorable encounters?
A: Gosh, memorable encounters with singer-songwriters… Michael Lille, a huge guy, holding our nine-day-old daughter. Dana Cooper staying at our house while on tour, playing my 62 Gibson acoustic, while I introduced him to the music of Peter Mulvey. Telling Sonia of Disappear Fear that we couldn’t make her show because we had Indigo Girls tickets, and her answering she wished she could skip her show and go to that one too! So many chats with Tom Kimmel or Don Conoscenti, under the stars in Austin. Watching Diana Jones, whom we knew on the circuit in Austin, go on to great success. Walking with Rob Laurens in the dark at Kerrville, and both of us having a fanboy moment when we realized Latty Larkin was walking in front of us (“It’s Patty! It’s Patty!”). I could go on. J One of the nicest things about the folk community is that it really does feel very much like an extended family, and it is a group of peaceful, thoughtful, caring people, very welcoming…

You could take that last Raph quote and change "folk community" to "metaplace community". Like every virtual world, there are people behind most of those avatars and while you can't avoid a few miscreants, Metaplace has a great feel of community about it that starts with Raph who spends time in world on a regular basis and extend to the Metaplace staff and cast of resident volunteer helpers.

What about music in Metaplace?
One of the first people I met in Metaplace was Swedish musician Fredriksson at his Folk N Coffee Cafe. Fredriksson, now a Metaplace "guru" was then working with Raph on ways to stream live music into Metaplace and reached out to see if I could help. They already had all the pieces in place, all I really had to do was show up, connect my stream to Raph's Metaplace guitar and viola, that night we were dual streaming in both Second Life and Metaplace. This was a perfect example of Raph's vision to make experiential worlds accessible and entertaining.

Overall, the music scene in Metaplace is still nascent but the community itself is active and engaged thanks to some amazing community leaders like Cuppycake and Amethyst. Metaplace was one of the first virtual worlds to host Koinup's Rocking the Metaverse Tour where Cuppy and team pulled out all the stops by developing The Lotus Room as a premiere performance venue.

Raph has played live concerts himself and recently delivered an amazing two hour set in world for Halloween, you can listen to it here. Several other well-known Second Life musicians have found their way to Metaplace including j9scarborough, Onehempcat and Al-Hofmann but the world is vast and you can develop your own venue and be playing live in very little time. You can check out some of the Metaplace music venues here to give you some ideas.

What about the technical set-up?
If you need help with the technical set-up, there is no better reference that the "Doing Live Music in Metaplace" post on Raph's blog. Metaplace also has an entire forum dedicated to sound and music where you can get help just by asking.

When you are ready to schedule your event, be sure to post your live concert to the event calendar so people know where and when to find you.

If you are hoping to make a few dollars, listeners can pay you in either Metaplace coins or there is also a tip jar in the marketplace that allows you to take Paypal contributions.

So give Metaplace a try, it's free, easy and you'll learn a lot about performing in front of a live audience and when you get there, look me up and say hello. You can hop in right from here and get started.

Peace, art and music ~ Grace

Grace McDunnough on Koinup
Phasing Grace
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Photo challenges for virtual worlds members

2009-11-20T02:23:00.001-08:00

The autumn is getting "very hot" on Koinup. Members have the chance to enjoy a series of lovely initiatives that challenge their skills. These initiatives are open to all the virtual worlds members, they have only to register on Koinup.

If you're not yet signed on Koinup, you can join by creating your account or login using your pre-exhisting social media accounts. The first reason, because you may want to register on Koinup is to join the 1st 3D Fantasy Art Contest. The contest is about creating fantasy-like themes and submit as pictures to Koinup.

With the help of Shoji, we had also launched a Virtual Wallpaper Contest aimed at collecting the best virtual worlds images, you'd love to keep on your desktop as savescreen.....

Here's an example

One of the most active members, Mforiero, has been so smart to open two other community challenges. The first is the Virtual Autumn Contest. As you can imagine, the contest is about taking snaps that convey the mood of this season, both in the portraits and in the landscapes. Read the rules, here. The other challenges launched by Mforiero is called: My avatar!
This initiative sounds pretty nice: take one photo of your avatar to describe your real-first persona! Have a look at the pool and contribute to it!

Show off your skills........

Winter Wonder

2009-11-18T09:02:00.001-08:00

Winter is coming upon us. We are on the verge of the holiday season where we dream of twinkling lights reflected in a glittering snow, a warm bright room with a cozy fire in the fireplace.

I put together two looks from two different worlds to get a feel for the holiday season.

Second Life, which provides my usual fashion fix, has a plethora of winter outfits available. However, I chose to feature this absolutely gorgeous new gown from Nicky Ree. With its ethereal snowflake motif and otherworldly ambience, this dress makes me feel like I am the Snow Queen herself.

The skin I wore, one made by Hart Larsson, provides a very haute couture facade to the Snow Queen, making her indeed a fantasy beauty. I have complimented the dress with a hand-made necklace from Random Calliope, the original tiny prim master in SL. The hair I wear is a prim wonder itself, being for once, a short hair style in SL!

In IMVU, I pushed to assemble an all white look and won when I found Mysty23c’s Winter Sorceress and my look fell together. Underneath (unseen) are fabulous knee-high boots from VampyreKaitlin, and I embellished with a beautiful necklace from LadyElvenstar.

This is HarperB close up, in her Winter Wonder outfit (without pretty effects):

What I am wearing:

In SL:

Hair: LH_hair13_rabi _white_f_L by Falastar Aeon for Little Heaven

Skin: [PXL] July LT SpringRose DEB by Hart Larsson for [PXL Creations]

Dress: *DNR* Snow Dream Collection in Snow Blue by Nicky Ree for Designing Nicky Ree *

Jewelry: (WW by RC) Ice Queen by Random Calliope for Worthwhile

In IMVU:

Boots: Winter Stiletto Boots by VampyreKaitlin

Hair: White Kunika Winter by Mysty23c

Dress: Winter Sorceress by Seelentraum

Necklace: Elven D. Winter Necklace by LadyElvenstar

Skin: *AK* Smokgun Skin by Aloke19

Eyebrows: `Real Brown Eyebrows by RacheLLiouS

Stories From The Machine Presents: The Princess And The Pea

2009-11-18T06:31:00.000-08:00

A great many have no idea how difficult it is to make machinima. While my personal taste strongly favors original, coherent stories rather than the artsy type films, never let it be said that any machinima is "simple." Even more difficult is the adaptation of material and the translation of it to a new medium. Koinup member Toxic Menges tackled this with her rendition of the classic children's fairtytale "The Princess and the Pea."

The reason I adore old fables is quite simple really; It is the birthplace of storytelling. From William Shakespeare to The Brothers Grimm, from A.A. Milne to Lewis Carroll, the origins of storytelling are preserved indelibly; And before it became such a sophisticated art, it was to keep the imaginations of children ripe with wonder. Perhaps this is why some of those tales still find new audiences today, such as the forthcoming Tim Burton film Alice in Wonderland.

Of course, bringing such a tale to life in Second Life must have been quite a chore, but Menges kept the integrity and whimsy of the story well in tact. Utilizing dreamy camera shots, beautiful sets and costumes, she brings the story to Machinima with a healthy dose of visual bliss. It's small in scope, as short fables should be, but keeps her viewers rapt in mini-delights, such as her own brand of subtle humor and the lovely original instrumental accompaniment by Xengu Kurka.

Pay careful attention to the composition of Menges' shots. The detail is staggering, from the lush backdrops to the ambient lighting. It is a little bit of magic captured, and a fitting modern tribute to an ageless tale.

Enjoy!

Speaking of a little fantasy, have you entered Koinup's new 3D Fantasy Art Competition? Not yet? Well, there's still time enough for you to come and share a little bit of your own fairytale with us. Read all about it here!

Phaylen

Phaylen's Official Blog
Phaylen's Koinup
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Changes in the Koinup "coolest" algorithm

2009-11-17T05:31:00.000-08:00

The "coolest" algorithm is the "Koinup item algorithm" that assigns to any images and videos posted on Koinup a specific weight. Its has been built with the purpose of ranking contents and displaying some of them with more frequency in the front-pages of the website. The "coolest" algorithm is the reason because some works are more frequently seen and displayed than others on the website. The algorithm was based on democratic criteria such as the number of favs and comments.

If you login today, probably you may notice that the list of Koinup coolest works in the various pages dramatically changed. This happened because we upgraded the algorithm in order to include new criteria and elements in the measurement of the specific weight of the contents.

Koinup turned gradually itself from a basic photo and video sharing service to a more advanced social media platform. The website is providing many ways to "interact with" and "share" contents, from the upload of videos and photos, to the creations of widgets, to the add of images and videos to pools & groups, plus many other social actions, as well.

We wanted that "coolest" was an exact representation of these actions and of the many and multiple way people interact with works on Koinup. Unfortunately, before the upgrade the algorithm only measured approximately the number of favs and comments. This could sound good, but it was otherwise very easy to game the algorithm and moreover, it wasn't exactly a complete way to measure the performance of works on Koinup. So, we looked into the issue and we built a more sophisticated "coolest".

With the new algorithm, there are many more factors suitably assessed before the weight is assigned to an item. But first let me tell you what we had in mind when we started to think that new "coolest"

The purposes of the upgrade were the following:
1. Giving more people the concrete chance to be displayed in the coolest pages
2. Allowing more genres of art and creativity to spread out from the ground
3. Making possible that also newcomers could have a chance to be featured in the coolest pages

If you look at the coolest pages, so far, it seems that works displayed are more heterogeneous and various. So, we think that we're moving in the right direction.

The main areas of intervention on the "algorithm" are the following:

1. The algorithm is now able to distinguish between various kind of comments. If before it was only important the absolute number of comments, now its more important the number of commenters (same for fav.)
2. The algorithm is now able to distinguish between the timing of actions related to a specific work. If a work persist to attract comments and favs for a long period of time, it's a sign that such a work has a real value and with the new algorithm these kind of works display better than other that attract comments and favs only when they are published for a few hours.

We hope you can leave us your feedback and/or make some constructive critics. We're open to discuss the changes and improve further the job done. So, lets open the forum! thanks!

3D Fantasy Art Competition!

2009-11-16T02:18:00.000-08:00

According to Wikipedia: Fantasy Art is a genre of art that depicts magical or other supernatural themes, ideas, creatures or settings. The 3D Fantasy Art Contest is about depicting, by using images and sceneries derived from virtual worlds, games and 3D tools, magical and supernatural themes and avatars: as fairies, wizards, dragons, etcetc... Read all the rules and guidelines in the discussion board.

Read all the rules & guidelines and join the competition! Express the magic in you!

The winning works will be picked by the jury made up by the italian journalist Mario Gerosa (curator of the Virtual Renassaince Exhibition in Florence) and Simon Newstead, founder and CEO of Frenzoo

JOIN THE CONTEST NOW!

Grace's Liner Notes

2009-11-13T19:21:00.000-08:00

photo credit: Paddy Wright

Do you have any idea how hard it is to write your own introduction? Seriously, this is entirely too difficult and even a bit unsettling. I guess we should just start with the basics and keep it short.

I'm Grace McDunnough and I am pleased and honored to have joined the Koinup team.

That's me there performing live at my cafe on Nevi in Second Life. You might call me a wandering minstrel; I'm a live musician in Second Life and a member of the ground-breaking virtual world live music tour called "Rocking the Metaverse" presented by Koinup.

Here I'm unofficially in charge of sass, and officially charged with writing stories about the magic of music in virtual worlds, affectionately labeled Grace's Liner Notes.

Liner notes are a wondrous mix of music inspired art, words and untold stories, and that's exactly what I hope to bring you here. I'll also share tips and insights about live music in general - from being a performer to hosting your own venue.

When I'm not performing, I spend most of my time exploring Second Life and other virtual worlds. I'm always open to story ideas so please drop me a comment here or email me if you have a euphony scoop to share.

Peace, art and music ~ Grace

Grace McDunnough on Koinup
Phasing Grace
Follow Grace on twitter

Koinup for Arts News and Views.

2009-11-12T13:15:00.000-08:00

Welcome to the new style KoinUp blog, kinda smooth-looking I think. In these Virtual Arts posts I hope to be able to bring you some of the more interesting things on offer in Virtual worlds.

In this post.....
Breaking News for AM Radio Fans
University of Western Australia
Brooklyn is Watching
Lindens Support the Arts????

There’s nothing more frustrating than going to see a show, waiting ten minutes for the thing to rezz and then finding out there’s loads of dodgy photos of roses or cats which would be more at home in Google Images than wasting both prims and my valuable time in some poorly designed virtual gallery. So....I hope to be able to point you, whether you are a noob or veteran in the direction of some tasty bits and pieces.

I am very critical of my own work and feel that this gives me the right to be critical of others too. As I have said elsewhere, if you can’t take constructive criticism, see a shrink, or give up art. Art appreciation is purely personal, you like it or you don’t and any number of intellectual pages or notecard won’t make a silk purse out of a pig’s ear.
I have hung shows in (RL) galleries myself, (often 300 a month) so I have seen quite a bit. I tend to praise 3D work and digital art more than poor resolution shots of RL 2D stuff, for obvious reasons, I think, and hope you enjoy some of my selections.

First up..... Oberon Onmura and Ninka Darkstone..... ....AM Radio news and more

The University of Western Australia has, in a brief two or three months won over a substantial group of SL artists. They have regular monthly shows/competitions both for imaginative art and for flagship architecture. Hosted by Jayjay Zifanwe, pictured above, and aided by the tireless Quadrapop they not only award prizes but also share a small cash pool with all the entrants.

This, (previously) unheard-of generosity should be a lesson for all those who rely on the hard work of artists who provide free content and traffic to otherwise empty sims. Well done, very well worth supporting, I think.

Oberon Onmura is a well known SL artist and this piece, called Light Traffic I believe, really embodies a lot of things I like about the best of SL art. ....imaginative, amusing and only possible in a virtual world. Playing with gravity (lack of) is something architects could do a lot more with than they do too.

This piece, along with the following one by Ninka is on show at UWA....here

Now, there are many KoinUp readers who don’t share my aversion for realism, and, though it is it is fine to be hypocritical (saves me from being consequent) I do have a realistic avi and nice clothes.
So, I make no apology for the inclusion of......
Ninka Darkstone has her flamingos on show here too. The scripting and texturing is of the highest quality and they are well worth a visit, as is her shop....here.

So.... Friday, 13th, Brooklyn is Watching, (an open art show, for those of you who don’t know it) is moving, courtesy of the generous Mab Macmoragh to ::Push:: a sim sponsored by Mab, I believe.

BiW is basically a huge computer screen on the wall of a cafe in Brooklyn (RL) where one avi is controlled by people too frightened to come inworld themselves. Sorry if that sounds a little negative, but I do sometimes feel like I’m in a freak show.
I have already awarded a prize to BiW, namely, title for the worst use of the english language in their sign, which says....” Do something “here” and “you” will be watched.”....now this excessive use of quotation marks has me picturing some complete nerd making little rabbit ear signs with his fingers. I am not a “you” in any shape or form of the english language I have previously read on either side of the pond.

Currently, Oberon is showing the above piece there, Cheen Pitney, Sunn Thunders, Betty Tureaud, Pol Jarvinen, Magina Forcella, Cinco Pizzicato.....to name a few....

However, if you fancy seeing a fair number of well known and lesser known artists, it’s a good place to go to see a range of work, there’s always something there worth seeing, and if you have a performance piece you want to be seen in Brooklyn.....

go here... from tomorrow, Friday....

This is White Lebed, and she, apart from being an extremely fine sculptor (noone bends a nice prim) is an extremely talented curator and organiser. She is the brains behind the success of AG3, Angelgate, and has been one of the key figures in getting BL09 to run sooo smoothly this year.

After what would have been a stressful enough few weeks to put any normal person in a padded cell... White organised Adam Ramona's show at Kolor, covered in Koinup by Poid, here

Talking to White earlier today she revealed that AM Radio was going to bring back his BL09 installation for Afterburn showing.

"AM Radio had major computer problems during BL preparation and he couldn't make exactly what he was planning to do for one of 12 Big Art plots."

"He was very disappointed about that. Even in not completed form his installation was one of the most popular in BL. I think it would be great to give him a chance to realize his vision fully. He is going to be the first presentor of Afteburn program. In addition to that he will teach an advanced building class right next to his BL installatoin. He doesn't talk publicly too often, so I think it would be a very interesting event and a great launch of the new Afterburn season"

Now there are more than a few people who remember Whites great series of lectures which she got top SL artists to give at AG3 (which is now "on hold" for a while)...and I have no doubt those AM Radio Tutorial seats will be taken pretty sharpish...

" I am thinking of making this Afterburn program working like that - established artists show their builds from previous BL sessions and discuss their artworks in a class. We will cover some technical and artistical aspects of content creation in SL. These classes will be a great preparation for the next year BL."

I think Poid had also talked to LL about this idea before, but now it seemed like this is more than a rumour... one sim isn't much, really, but considering how little LL has done previously for artists..... this was news....

A series of lectures on various building techniques could be to their advantage too, of course. According to White the series of 9 "anti-lag classes" she arranged this year led to a halving of the lag at BL09.

"I even have a name for it - Burniversity." White smiled.

:))

Harper Beresford's guide: "Style Across the Worlds"

2009-11-12T07:41:00.000-08:00

Dear readers, we're pleased to announce the launch of a new column on the Koinup Blog. It will be called: Style Across the Worlds
and it will guide you through the most fashionist people, style, trends that are spreading out (NOW) from the Metaverse. The column will be held by Harper Beresford.

Second Life bon vivant, business woman, and builder, Harper Beresford is the Duchess of RFyre (CMO and Business Manager) and blogger for House of RFyre. A Second Life Mentor, owner of two sims–Avant Garde and Vanguard, photographer, art collector, and jewerly-maker, Harper has made her mark on the virtual fashion scene with her SL fashion blog, A Passion for Virtual Fashion (http://slfashionpassion.wordpress.com).

Harper also write for Harper’s Bizarre and blog about women's fashion for the Costa Rica sims. Harper has shown SL photography in RL in Berlin, Florence, and San Francisco as well as published in Architectural Digest in Italy, and she has also published academic writing about SL.

Stay tuned with the weekly fashion digest Style Across the Worlds by Harper Beresford!

Style Across the Worlds

2009-11-11T20:59:00.001-08:00

Hiya. I’m Harper Beresford. Welcome to my world—the world of avatars and avatar apparel and enhancement. It’s called “fashion” in common parlance, but it’s more than what an avatar wears. It’s about how a person represents herself in these worlds and the artists who make those enhancements.

In this case, the person is me, so you are subject to my whims and tastes. However, my choices range across a broad swath. I like anything imaginative, artistic, elegant, fun, well-crafted, and/or evocative.

I will be exploring the worlds of Second Life, Frenzoo and IMVU. You will probably see more of Second Life here as I am an established resident there, and frankly, the tools for wearing, exploring, capturing images of, and making fashion seem a lot easier. That doesn’t mean IMVU and Frenzoo don’t have a lot going on and coming up. IMVU has a very lively avatar enhancement scene. Frenzoo puts a big focus on fashion. Let’s see what they have!

In fact, I wandered over to IMVU and made myself up. Here is HarperB from IMVU:

And at Frenzoo, you will find HarperB like this:

And here is Harper on a typical day in Second Life (typical being ironic because I change up a lot):

I was asked by Piers to contribute to the Koinup blog, focusing on fashion, and I am very flattered to be included among such great folks as Poid Mahovlich, Phaylen Fairchild, Soror Nishi, Grace McDunnough, and Fiona Haworth. I look forward to being among such august company.

Koinup's Cream of the Crop - True Friendship

2009-11-10T14:09:00.000-08:00

The best thing in Secondlife for me has always been the friendships I've made. On a tough RL day, I know my bestests are waiting for me inside to go shake it off by being silly or to listen to me piss and moan. Virtual worlds have made the oceans seem far less vast and forged together unbelievable connections around the world. Koinup's Cream of the Crop today celebrates True Friendship. "Fate chooses your relations, you choose your friends."- Jacques Delille

I cannot tell you what a delight it is perusing the 532 works inside this group made of 191 members. The pics all make me grin from ear to ear and remember all the fun snaps I have taken. I made a slide show in game of all of mine and continually add to them. I'll have to upload them to this group to share with everyone as well. :-)

Photo by: Brunaozao

Brunaozao captured this lovely shot of him and his pals playing the most favorite of all American past times....football.

Photo by: Emms

I love this shot from Emms called Beer Cooler Girls. This is so me and my girls! Party on ladies.

Photo by: CarlottaCeawlin

This is a fab pic titled Walking on the Edge by Carlotta Ceawlin. Now that is a friend!

Lastly I want to thank all my friends for the endless amounts of love. I would feel far less fortunate without you all (yes I know you are reading...thanks). As for the rest of you, please feel free to PM me or friend me on Koinup and tell me all about what's happening in your groups. You never know when you'll be Koinup's Cream of the Crop pick of the week!

Fiona Haworth
Guest Author - Koinup.com
Staff Blogger - Phantom’s Republic
Co-Owner - Prim Pads
Twitter - Fiona_Haworth

Adam Nash (aka Adam Ramona) Selected Second Life Works 2007-2009

2009-11-10T05:58:00.000-08:00

Adam Nash (aka Adam Ramona) just opened his first "solo retrospective" collection of selected Second Life Works dated 2007-2009. It’s a varied and random set of installations scattered high up on a flat suspended platform; his works comprising primarily of 2 main competent s, one being sound and the other movement – you see solid walls out colour, some more transparent, some moving, some not. These simple shapes hold an audio/ visual experience which draws you into a state of contemplation – I felt many times as if I was trying to unlock a puzzle of sorts. Adam’s work is engaging on a deep level, and its best experienced in person. Each installation has its own ‘personality’ if you will –and I found it to be truly captivating, and indeed before I had noticed, an hour or so had passed me by– I felt as if each individual experience pained a story in my mind and took me on a journey. As with all such moments in time, each of us with see it and feel it in our own way; and its meaning will of course vary to each of us – what is important here is that it evokes a response. Few Artists transcend, Adam is one of those, and he takes this creative platform of Second Life beyond the screen in front of you. Please go and see Adam’s work for yourself via this direct link and be sure to pick up the additional information made available about the background on both Adam and his work. Adam's "solo retrospective" was curated by the experienced White Lebed and hosted on sim generously donated by Kolor Fall.

Q1. Tell us in 7 words what best describes you in your virtual Life, and would that be the same for your real life?
I am an artist specialising in digital media, in particular realtime 3D virtual environments, but not exclusively. That is what I do in real life. Sorry that's longer than seven words. But I will type more words so that the answer becomes seven times seven equals forty nine words :)

Q2. What brought you to the Metaverse and how did you get here?'
Contentious question, since it is not clear that the metaverse exists.Certainly, there are several different proprietary multi-user virtual environments that do not communicate with each other. I first began working in realtime 3D virtual environments in 1996. At that time I was working with a performance art group called The Men Who Knew Too Much. We created what is now called a "mixed reality" show using VRML(virtual Reality Modeling Language) with an open source Java multi-user client. I have been working in various realtime 3D multi-user virtual environments since then. Second Life is useful because it has a large audience and therefore concepts can be developed over time and respond dynamically in a symbiotic feedback cycle between users and artists.

Q3. How do you see the future of a virtual universe? What is your ideal in terms of say technical and social development?
I remain deeply disappointed that VRML, and its current version called X3D, was not widely adopted. Because it is an open standard, certified by the International Standards Organisation, it would be possible to build a genuine, open, metaverse similar in philosophy and practice to the world wide web, where there is no single proprietary software that dominates and attempts to control the "market". I would like to see all of the great existing open technologies combined to form an open
metaverse, along with the development of open solutions for existing, and future, problems that face the construction of an open, evolving,metaverse.

Q4. If you could change anything to access the virtual world better what would you say or do?
Same as Q3 :) In specific relation to Second Life, I would like to see full access to the underlying sound engine, FMOD, a wonderful and powerful sound engine. It is an Australian production, used in many major games like World of Warcraft etc, but SL severely restricts access to its powerful features. I'm not sure why SL does that, but I suspect it's a combination of the fetishistic privileging of visuality
at the cost of all other considerations, and an undefined technical fear of digital sound. SL has some really crazy aspects to do with sound. For example it is incomprehensible to me why you would give auser UI access to the Doppler effect but not give a creator programatic access to something as basic as falloff.

Q5. Have you spent any time in a virtual world other than Second Life? If not, why not?
I have worked in many many virtual environments, including VRML/X3D, Pure Data GEM, Active Worlds, Blaxxun Contact, There, Second Life, PaperVision, Unreal, Neverwinter Nights, VastPark and Unity3D.

Q6. Your first "solo retrospective" show is about to launch, whichsignifies a closing of a chapter for you - where do you see yourself headed next?
Yes and it is a good chance for me to review what I have created as a solo artist (distinct from my collaborations that have produced farm more significant works,
such as Autoscopia http://autoscopia.net , BabelSwarm http://babelswarm.com and Ways To Wave http://waystowave.com ), and perhaps introduce my work to a broader range of Second Life users. Currently, and for the future, I am collaborating with John McCormick on SquareTangle http://squaretangle.com where we are working mainly in
Unity3D to create "mixed reality" events involving large portable domes, persistent virtual environments, presence activation and motion capture to create evolving, large scale performances that are true collaborations between artists, audience and virtual entities. John and I have been awarded a residency at the Ars Electronica FutureLab, where we will continue to develop the project in January, and then
return to Australia to present the show in live, virtual-only form in July, and then as a full "mixed reality extravaganza" in November. We will then tour the show, first in regional Australia and then internationally. I am also collaborating with John McCormick and Christopher Dodds to create Cloud Cabinet, http://www.squaretangle.com/cloud_cabinet.html a set of physical network-aware, user-activated audiovisual sculptures of glass, wood, aluminium, LED lights, sound system and electronics. The five units constantly communicate with each other to form a kind of meta-sculpture. At SquareTangle we are also devising ASX_e_Dancer, a
motion captured work for SL based on fluctuations in the stock market http://www.squaretangle.com/asx_e_dancer.html . I am also collaborating on the mounting of the ACVALab http://blog.acva.net.au a series of workshops to facilitate collaboration between professional Australian artists working in conventional forms, and Australian virtual artists working in digital forms. ACVA is also launching the
Australian Journal of Virtual Art to promote and disseminate a
critical dialogue around virtual art.

Q7. Your work with interactive sound installations has been ground breaking - what do you consider was the impetus behind your creativity?
The impetus for creativity in this field is suggested by the intrinsic qualities of realtime 3D environments, they can be seen as a "post-convergent" medium where notions of "sound" or "vision" or "network" gain new, fluid definitions, dynamically reconfiguring themselves constantly in response to the symbiotic feedback matrix in
which they all exist equally, without any one taking precedence over the other. Therefore, I don't consider my works to be "sound installations", they are simply "installations" :)

Q8. Which of your sound installation have you enjoyed creating the most and why?
All of them! Because they are awesome! Seriously, though, each work offers its own set of problems and contingencies that are absorbing to be immersed in as the creator. I love them all for all different reasons.

Q9. When you dream at night, do you ever dream about your virtual life?
Oh, I don't distinguish such a thing as virtual life. There is only life. Virtual environments are a part of life, they are not separate from it. Having said that though, I don't remember my dreams very much but they always seem to involve people, I think. On the other hand, I sleep very badly and not much, so I spend a lot of time in a kind of waking dream where I am devising my virtual artworks, definitely. I
try to avoid going near the computer until it is absolutely necessary, because they are like a vacuum sucking all creativity out of you, I find it far more rewarding to design my works inside my own head and I do indeed spend a lot of time in a dream like state immersed inside universe-sized virtual environments with limitless and unheard of qualities. I am constantly amazed that an infinity of universes can
weigh less than 2kg!

Q10. Does the prospect of creating in Second Life still give you a thrill?
The prospect of creating gives me a thrill. The concretisation of creation into a technical environment (SL or any other) is always a dull, repetitive, perfunctory process that would be difficult to describe as thrilling :)

Ok Adam now you have the opportunity to ask and answer yourself 3 of your own questions - knock yourself out, if can be about anything you would like to tell, share and so on ...
I only have one question, and I don't know the answer:
Q1. When presented with the means to egalitarian power, why do we as
people consistently surrender that power to libertarian capitalists?

Until next time on metanopsis!
Poid

Poid Mahovlich on Koinup
Poid Mahovlich - blog spot
Follow me on Twitter

Koinup Blog Expansion

2009-11-08T01:48:00.000-08:00

Since the call for new guest authors, Koinup Blog has been headed to expand the area of interests. Thanks to the active support of Poid Mahovlich, we're actively building a staff of bloggers that under the label of the "Koinup Blog" will cover fashion, art, machinima, education and all the creative things happening in virtual worlds.

Basically there are two big changes. First of all Koinup Blog is headed at cover news not directly related to Koinup.com portal. Then, the Koinup blog will be a genuine voice and tool to discover interesting things that are taking place in all the metaverse.

We have already a staff of 5 bloggers: Phaylen Fairchild, Poid Mahovlich, Fiona Haworth, Soror Nishi that are running their own columns

* Stories from the Machine by Phaylen Fairchild

* Metanopsis by Poid Mahovlich

* Koinup's Cream of the Crop by Fiona Haworth

* OMNIBUS by Soror Nishi

* MEET ME IN THE METAVERSE by Fiona Haworth

We are also pleased to say and announce that both Harper Beresford and Grace McDunnough have also agreed to join the bloggers role here at Koinup. They will cover fashion and music. These are two topics that are expanding from Second Life to all the metaverse, thanks to projects like "Rocking the Metaverse" and new worlds that are allowing user generated contents, as Frenzoo, IMVU, etc

On the next weeks, we will work on restyling the style of the Koinup blog page, by giving a more prominent visibility to the columns of the bloggers. We welcome also proposals from other authors to launch new columns and we're looking also for your genuine feedback on the job done and the direction we're moving on

OMNIBUS M is for me, me, me...

2009-11-06T05:13:00.000-08:00

I was bought up to be modest and that is a bit of a handicap when it comes to self-promotion. So, since I started my Second life I decided not to be backward in coming forward.

As you have, dear reader, enjoyed my musings here on Koinup, I thought I would share some more detailed information with you about myself.

Interviewers aren’t forming an orderly queue at the door, so, like a lot of things in life I will have to do it myself.

Age? 2.5 years old.

Origin? Harajuku, SL.

Sex? Rarely...(there’s nothing wrong with old jokes.)

RL name? ....I would have to kill you.

What inspires you? Me (duh!), it’s not like I’m gonna say...”my fridge”, or “Life” is it?

Why do you use so many colours in your work are you on drugs? (a question I am often asked...) No, that’s how many colours there are in the spectrum, I didn’t know there was supposed to be a limit. My drugs are coffee, nicotine and Sauvignon Blanc.... don’t see how they would affect my colour choice.

How did you learn about building? Kaltusaran Moonsoo was my first mentor in SL, he got me interested in building, showed me what Blender could do (but not how to do it) and told me not to watch Blender tutorials (well, there weren’t any worth watching at that time).

Where do you live? This is where I bought some land and called it Soror Nishi Beach, not very original name, I’ll grant...but hey....it does what it says on the box.

Enough of this interview technique..... I’ll just do some fav’s.....

My favourite avatar..... this is Betty Rogan in an av by Yoa Ogee (on the left).

My favourite build.... This is Nested Cubes by Selavy Oh.

My favourite build by Me.... This is Magoo by Bark... open til the end of November....more images here.

My favourite Koinup Photo..... OMG by brunaozao

My favourite photo by Me.... White Tree

My oldest friend in SL .... Pixi Cosmos and the only person I have met in RL.

and.....I had better stop or I’ll be at this all day..

Now....is there anything more you would like to tell the reader about your work or philosophy? No. (hmmm....maybe I should brush up on my interview technique...)

Byeee.

sorornishi@mac.com

http://sorornishi.blogspot.com/

Stories From the Machine Presents: The Little Wooden Boy and The Jewish Genie

2009-11-05T19:12:00.000-08:00

Oftentimes it's difficult to get the word out about great Machinima, thus there are hundreds of little gems hiding throughout our global community, tucked away on personal websites or on some YouTube account buried beneath the videos of 14 year old boys lighting their farts on fire. It is always a true joy when I run across a film that, to me, exemplifies a strong use of virtual tools to tell a coherent story.

Codewarrior Carling's short film entitled "The Little Wooden Boy and The Jewish Genie" genuinely made me smile. In fact, I laughed out loud. It's a true challenge for any filmmaker to invoke emotion using animation because they can appear unwittingly stiff or altogether static, but the performances in Carling's film are nothing short of stellar and they bring the characters a vibrant life that makes them leap from the screen.

Beautifully filmed in iClone 3D, this film is the perfect example of strong storytelling in a small scope. It didn't have to be embellished with effects, have a huge budget or dozens of exterior/interior shots to keep your attention. A good story with good actors keeps you invested from the first scene, and the team behind this film definitely achieved something quite spectacular using very little space.

It's a charming fable about an Orc who has purchased a magical bottle that, much to his dismay, contains a chatty, cantankerous little Genie with a blazing stubborn streak. Carling gave his actors direction, but allowed them to adapt their characters to his storyline by allowing them to ad lib their dialog, a method that truly brought out one of the most memorable performances in Machinima to date - that of Second Life Residents Thundergas Menges and Pooky Amsterdam as the Jewish Genie who is bound to leave viewers in stitches with her remarkable wit and punchy one-liners.

The originality of "The Little Wooden By and The Jewish Genie" was also an aspect of this film not to be overlooked. More and more machinima is venturing toward an Art House aesthetic with shorts that feature no stories, but instead a collective of moving tableaus, so it was refreshing to see something that returned to traditional storytelling using an explicitly nontraditional medium!

I hope you enjoy this short film as much as I did.

Phaylen Fairchild

Phaylen's Official Blog
Phaylen's Koinup
Follow Phaylen on Twitter!

Rocking the Metaverse at Club Cooee

2009-11-05T10:07:00.000-08:00

Rocking the Metaverse is back. The stars of the most hot crossworld live music tour will perform on tomorrow, 6th of november (friday), starting at 12pm SLT(pacific time) in Club Cooee, the new-innovative 3d Chat World.

The show will take place in the International Club of Club Cooee, a cool dj lounge room where you can sit and enjoy music, and hangout with friends

If you're wondering, what's the hell is Rocking the Metaverse? Rocking the Metaverse is a crossworld live music project, aimed at bringing live music in all the virtual worlds. The musicians of the Rocking the Metaverse (Doubledown Tandino, Slim Warrior, Grace Mcdunnough) already performed in Second Life, Reaction Grid, Twinity, Metaplace, Active Worlds and now they are headed at Club Cooee

Back to the upcoming show. Bookmark the news, and stay in loop. On the next hours, we will post all details. This is the direct link to the Club Coeee music venue of the show http://www.clubcooee.com/scenes/view/11

Meet Me in the Metaverse - Verdigris

2009-11-01T05:29:00.000-08:00

This week on Meet Me in the Metaverse I'm taking you to the sim of Verdigris. This is a unique sim in both design and shopping. It's got a bit of duality to it with the east side having a bit of an old west feeling and the west side being a old time vintage village. A deep gorge with a beautiful river divides these two halves and giant walking bridge connects them.

The landing point brings you to the east side where you can find a handful of really neat shops, and some great tables and chairs to just sit, think, and enjoy the view. Climb down the many many stairs and under the big bridge there is a really fabulous grungy old dock where you can fish with 7Seas system, take a row boat out for a spin, or just relax in the chairs provided. Cross over the the west side of the sim to find things like an open air ampitheater and then fly up to the shops area that really catches the eye of most the shutterbugs...the vintage village on a train bridge to nowhere. Fabulously exectuted and wildly photogenic!

Photo by: bark

Bark did a fantastic job of capturing this sim. What a jaw dropper! If this doesn't make you want to visit I don't know what will.

Photo by: fiona_haworth

I took this photo to show off the really fabulous build on the east side of the sim. It is the main shop for Dirty Rat and also a few smaller satellite shops. I really enjoyed just hanging out up top and enjoying the fab vistas.

Photo by: Shoji

Shoji's fantastic shot here shows you what a picturesque place the fishing area really is. I really love how Shoji captured the sunlight on the water as well as the all the reflections. Nice job Shoji!

I really want to credit n0th1ng Ackland and Oriolus Oliva for making a wonderful sim to both shop and enjoy as well as a great landscape for taking some fab photos!

Fiona Haworth
Guest Author - Koinup.com
Staff Blogger - Phantom’s Republic
Co-Owner - Prim Pads
Twitter - Fiona_Haworth

OMNIBUS lovely landscapes

2009-10-31T02:57:00.000-07:00

Second life is a bit back-to-front in a number of ways, one of which being that, despite the manic striving for ‘realism’ by some, it, and other Virtual Worlds are all bald. There is, unlike the ‘real’ world a total deforestation of land before you buy it, so you start off with a blank canvas. This obviously has it’s pro’s and con’s.

It isn’t unusual for land owners to put buildings up first and then, with the few prims they have left to throw a few Linden “photo-on-sticks’ trees around the site in an effort to make a landscape.

Luckily for us all there are exceptions, those who realise that actually a house is not so important in a climateless zone, and they relish creating a natural habitat.

Now this is not a "Meet me in the Metaverse" post.....just a look at some landscapes......so....some images of these attempts....

This picture by Vani ice called second life world shows just the sort of thing I mean. Here the designer has realised that it is the natural setting that really shows off the building. The photo is simple and well composed.

Bountiful isla mallorca ll by riotgrrrl 1974 is a riot of flowers. The simplicity of the landscape is actually quite realistic in that much of nature is a simple community of very few plants. Her treatment of the image takes it to other dimensions though.

LookatmyBack has, similarly, transformed a fairly plain scene into a rich image enhancing a sunset to the sort of surreal colourscape that we do see sometimes in RL, well...nearly.. This one is called....Isolation is not that good to me... I'm going crazy! .... :)) great place to go mad, though.

The woods can be quite moody and mysterious, and The Colours! by Franzael from the World of Warcraft, has certainly captured that magic. Dark, with light in the distance, it really makes you feel you are in there.

Well, while not quite as good a photographer as some I felt justified in popping this little one in here by soror Nishi as I've worked all my Second Life on landscaping. This one is from Magoo and shows the power of a good Windlight setting. This is Gelatto, one of the many settings you can play with, and suddenly transforms the scene into a swamp landscape.. worth playing around a lot before you snap.

Swan is another case in point, here Novadyszel has changed the whole feeling of this picture with a bit of simple re-working of the image in Photoshop, or Gimp or whatever....and it is suddenly an oriental swan... I think water, with its reflections is one of the most effective 'terrain textures' in Virtual World, certainly better than most 'grass'...

Now, maybe it’s because there are a lot of urbanites in Second Life, after all, if you love the Great Outdoors, the chances are you hate sitting in front of a computer screen, but those who have a genuine feeling for Nature make all our lives that much richer....

...and those that document the varied environments of Virtual Worlds give us all a chance to see what is out there to go and visit: keep it up...

:))
sorornishi@mac.com

New Koinup Column: Stories From The Machine

2009-10-30T16:48:00.000-07:00

Greetings Koinup friends! Phaylen here! Some of you may know me from the machinima web series "DiVAS" while others may remember me from Virtual Big Brother or as the American Correspondent for the Italian production company Magnolia in their virtual production of Celebrity Survivor which aired in Italy, Germany and Japan on Rai.Due. Maybe you've listened to my Podcast or watched the show I produced "I Wanna Be A Celebrity!" Maybe you've run into me in Second Life where I've been active for the last 7 years!

What's that? You don't know me at all?

Well nice to meet you! I can't tell you how honored I am to have been asked to join the family here at Koinup where I have been a member since it's very early days! I am so fortunate to have gotten to know a great many of you artists in the realms of Machinima, photography and digital art during my time here, and the work many of you share on Koinup is nothing short of inspiring.

As a contribute to the Koinup blog, I'll be writing a weekly feature on virtual films - or, Machinima - from around this vast Metaverse. The community of filmmakers who harness the power of various virtual platforms to tell compelling stories is ever growing. In "Stories From the Machine," we will spotlight creators who have made some of the most remarkable achievements in that spectrum. Today, stories that have the power to move, immerse or invoke reaction are no longer limited to books, television or Hollywood productions. In fact, some of the most interesting tales are coming right out of World Of Warcraft, Second Life, The Sims, Halo or any number of virtual words and engines! There are even some amazing productions coming from various software developed specifically for machinimists to manufacture their stories. Ultimately, the term Machinima (A portmanteau of Machinine Cinema) encompasses any production created in a graphics engine or game engine, and it has carved out a pretty profound niche for itself in online culture!

I hope that you - yes you out there, will upload your works here at Koinup to share with, and contribute to our wonderfully diverse community! Don't forget - You can even import your works from YouTube directly to Koinup! Help has created a wonderful tutorial if you'd like to know how! That said, I hope you'll also join me each week as we embark on new adventures together and explore some of the best Stories from the Machine!

Phaylen Fairchild

Phaylen's Official Blog
Phaylen's Koinup
Follow Phaylen on Twitter!

Virtual Desktop Wallpaper Competition

2009-10-28T00:56:00.000-07:00

With the help of the Metaverse (and Wallpaper) artist Shoji, Koinup is launching a new awesome competition open to all virtual worlds guys! The contest is called: Virtual Wallpaper Contest and basically it ask participants to create a wallpaper desktop by using imagineries/sceneries of virtual worlds. You can read all the rules, and guidelines, here!

JOIN THE CONTEST NOW!

The three winning pics will gain a placement in the Koinup front-page, moreover, we're talking with metaverse developers for providing winners and honorary mention participants other cool prizes and awards....

The best of Koinup. This week

2009-10-25T00:52:00.000-07:00

BURNING LIFE
It's not easy to sum in a single post the most awesome things done by all the Koinup members during this week. But surely, something very relevant has been created by the Koinup blog team made up by Poid Mahovlich, Soror Nishi, Fiona Haworth. The fab three covered the Burning Life events, with a series of useful posts and with the creation of group that collect hundreds of Burning Life 2009 images.

3D GIRLS CONTEST
The 3D Girls Contest has been not started this week. But it seems that most of the entries were submitted these days, so it make sense include this news in "the best Koinup things of this week". One of the most exciting things about the 3D Girls Contest is that the challenge is open not only to virtual worlds members, but also to creators and artists that use 3D tools as Posers, Daz3D, Maya. So, its a sort of 3D Art manifesto!

(image by Kaya Hansome)

WORLD OF WARCRAFT ARTIST
On the Koinup Facebook Page we daily profile the most interesting Koinup members, groups and artists (so, well, you're clearly invited to join the page and stay tuned with its updates). One of the profiles of the week is from a fantastic artist, mostly active in World of Warcraft: Arowhena. I invite you to browse her amazing gallery of Warcraft images

Koinup's Cream of the Crop - Burning Life

2009-10-22T14:48:00.000-07:00

As our continuing coverage of Burning Life continues this week I bring you Koinup's Cream of the Crop - Burning Life. This is an excellent group to join and add your memories from this year's event and also to browse and get a good look of all there is going on. With 218 works in this grouping posted by 41 members it's a really impressive collection.

There are only a few more days left to such a great event, so I also wanted to provide you a few links on what's going on out on the Burning Life sims so you can time your visit: http://burninglife.secondlife.com/eventsbrowse. Here's your link to the front gate: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Burning%20Life-%20Hualapai/253/3/24%C2%A0. I recommend if you are going with friends grab a tie dyed cart just inside the gate and travel in style.

&ampamp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://www.koinup.com/RockerFaerie/work/193279/"&ampamp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;Exploring Burning Life 2009&ampamp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&ampamp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt; - a &ampamp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://www.koinup.com/in-games-mmorpg/on-videos/"&ampamp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;Exploring Burning Life 2009&ampamp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&ampamp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt; by &ampamp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a&ampamp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;RockerFaerie&ampamp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&ampamp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt; on &ampamp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://www.koinup.com"&ampamp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;Koinup&ampamp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&ampamp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;
Machinima by: RockerFaerie

RockerFaerie takes us on a really fantastic journey around a few of the exhibits at this year's event. It's really well shot and put together. If you don't think you have time to make it....at least watch the vid, you'll change your mind. This piece highlights works from Snowy Hoobinoo, Donpatchy Dagostino, Kazuhiro Aridian, and Poid Mahovlich.

Photo by: TaliaTokugawa

TaliaTokugawa's BL Berlin09 is a fantastic shot of one of the many stages out at the Burning Life sims. This particular stage was made by Kazuhiro Aridian...who is the fabulous creator of Europa.

Photo by: LoquaciaLoon

LoquaciaLoon's piece named Moon was shot at Burning Life-12 Mile and is just one of the many freebies available for you this year. Grapho Fullstop, of alpha-tribe, not only includes five marvelous avatars but some corresponding animations and some fabulous fun. Grab the notecard and enjoy this site.

Next week we return to our regular columns so please feel free to PM me on Koinup and tell me all about what's happening in your groups. You never know when you'll be Koinup's Cream of the Crop pick of the week!

Fiona Haworth
Guest Author - Koinup.com
Staff Blogger - Phantom’s Republic
Co-Owner - Prim Pads
Twitter - Fiona_Haworth

The Art of Burning Life .. Part Five

2009-10-21T06:19:00.000-07:00

OK, so here are a few things I have seen at BL09 that you might like to check out.
These are a mixture of great pieces and pure fun, so I hope it will save you lots of laggy flying around and bungie walking over sim boundaries.....

Now, some of your humans may be old enough to remember the Mouse Trap game, and Nawlins Streeter has faithfully reproduced it here for your amusement...

for those of you unfamiliar with the game its a Heath Robinson type construction produced for the general amusement of kids in the 60’s or 70’s...somewhere around that time, back in the mists of antiquity....

You might need Nawlins to reset the green man to get the full effect....stand under the cage as it descends.

and the DMV is well worth a visit, right next to the mousetrap game.
Poid has a well written interview with the madman (well.....genius/madman) that made it all....here..
You can drive a spaceship, a fairy cake, an office chair....etc out into the desert....

Mr Bones .. here....is the sort of person that always leaves you with a wry smile..... I love most everything he builds. Tongue-in-cheek is a great starting point to design....

Poid has written a great interview with Selavy Oh ...here... and If you want a bit of fun, I can definitely recommend a visit....go smash some geometry.

If you haven’t yet been to see The Tower...well...you should, I think. It's built by Frigg Ragu and Alpha Auer.
Alpha Auer is a very talented builder and has provided free, high-class avis for you to play around in. Frigg has forgotten more about animations than I will ever know.

If you fancy doing NOTHING....then go see nothing by Naxos L.
I did enjoy doing the bunny hop, but then, as I have said before, I’m easily amused....

And, last but not least two builds I would have in my backyard... firstly, madcow cosmos.
here
Enjoy it just for the quality of the build, it is better than any monument or archeological site you could ever find on the atomic planet...

and....a person I don’t know much about, Marcus Inkpen and a great build....here...

Then.....happening more or less NOW.....(that's Wednesday......21st Oct. .)
Party....

“It's time to light up the playa night again!
Come and join the Lamplighters as we walk north, from Lamplighter Village, to Center Camp, The Man and The Temple, lighting roadside lamps along the way.
After the procession we will dance and drum at The Temple, and illuminate the night with fire, from SL sunset to sunrise. That's 7:30 to 8:30 PM SLT.
FREE drums and gifts at Lamplighter Village. Drums available at The Temple too. Come PARTY with us! :-)))”

Now, if that doesn’t keep you amused...there’s no hope for you.
.......that should be enough for a few hours......

:))

sorornishi@mac.com

Koinup at SMAU 09 Milano

2009-10-21T02:07:00.000-07:00

Dear friends, this short post is just to tell you that Koinup is exhibitor at SMAU Milano 09. SMAU for the people that don't know yet, is the most important tech fair in Italy.

Koinup is exhibiting inside the project: I percorsi dell'Innovazione, a startup program directed by the innovologist Emil Abirascid.

If you're passing or leaving near Milan, we invite you to visit SMAU and meet us (rl). You can find the Koinup stand in Pad.4. All the info to visit SMAU, here

See you!
Pie

Selavy Oh - Irregularity - The Art Of Burning Life Part 4 on metanopsis

2009-10-20T02:37:00.000-07:00

Selavy Oh brings together something truly interactive with her build ‘Irregularity’ at Burning Life this year – ''Initially, the structure is completely symmetric and regular, but becomes more and more irregular over time. Each visitor actively participates in this transformation: When avatars fly through the structure and collide with it, the edges touched fall down and the structure temporarily becomes damaged. After a certain time, which depends on how many visitors are present, the edges will start to rise and slowly move back towards their original position. However, they never end up in exact the same position, thus resulting in an accumulative disarrangement of the structure'' – She writes in her note card by way of an explanation.

Her work to me, on this particular occasion, makes me feel like I am playing and interacting with a maths formula, and an almost childlike feeling came over me – as I felt myself regress to that simple childhood state and I recalled the same curiosity of seeing what would happen when playing with building blocks – It’s great fun, and a great example of the how scripting in combination with a beautiful artist form, works on both a visual and technical level. Interactive art in this virtual world of ours provides an added immersive experience and this to me is a key factor.
I think that it’s a very important than even though Burning Life is trying to aesthetically mirror aspects of Burning Man, that it still retains and explores the added dynamic of the virtual creative possibility which reaches beyond the day to day dynamic of a physical earth world. It’s very much a natural creative evolution – and I would like to see it come full circle – perhaps with virtual art being part of the real life playa – that opens in return a door and adds a cross connectivity that portals in both directions – maybe, say in the form of a Burning Life art work being displayed on a giant screen at Burning Man, showing the virtual playa or maybe bring a virtually created art piece to the playa and tackle the limitations that a non virtual world imposes – let’s see how this unfolds ...

You can find a camp directory to Burning Life by using this link You can also find a list of Burning Life events by using this one Also if you so wish take a direct TP to Selavy’s art plot by clicking here

Q1. Tell us in 6 words what best describes you best of all.
Seven spheres inside a single head

Q2. Tell us in 11 words what best describes your Art best of all.
Here we go: if that would work, I would be done

Q3. What brought you to the Metaverse and how did you get here?
Just as every other avatar, I was created. You never know for what reason. You may be created just because of ennui, or you may be there to act as representation of your creator. You may even be an art project. But take your chance; get your own life, your own identity!

Q4. You have an Art Project at Burning Life this year, what challenges if any did you have to overcome or consider whilst building at this particular event? Would you like to tell us a little more about your build?
The challenge is always to build within the given boundaries. Since I had applied with a specific project in mind, the space and size restrictions actually posed a problem. But the most difficult challenge was the restriction on script load: my scripts take more time just because of their number, but I hope that white lebed continues to back me!
Briefly, my build called "irregularity" is a structure consisting of 1872 poles arranged in a three-dimensional grid and forming a hollow sphere. Initially, the structure is completely regular, but over time each intruding visitor participates in making it more and more irregular. At the end of burning life, I hope that the structure will have evolved to assuming a new unique shape, which is formed by the behaviour of the visitors.

Q5. What is your personal favourite art plot or camp or indeed both at Burning Life this year and why?
Well, I didn't really see much of the other work; just what's next to mine, and therefore I can't give an informed answer here. I’ve visited the plots of friends such as those of alpha auer, bryn oh, and dekka raymaker, I’ve seen the build of adam ramona, and I can recommend them all! and of course I’m looking forward to what others like am radio will show.

Q6. What would you recommend changes in Second Life to facilitate the arts in a better way?
An alternate user interface that could be used in the setting of a gallery or a museum. Presenting art that uses second life as medium in an exhibition is currently very difficult, and in my opinion an easy interface which allows not much more than moving and touching, not even teleporting, would help. and then a possibility to possess artworks, not just inside second life. you can possess a photograph, a video tape, even a CD containing the executable of a piece of computer art. but art made with second life will always remain on the servers of linden labs. at the moment, i'm afraid that this doesn't really help collectors and museums in recognizing virtual-world art as a serious art form.

Q7. How important do you think the creative arts plays a role within the Second Life community?
My guess, without being able to verify it, would be that it plays a similar role as in everyday life. Just as an example: the MoMa, which is open the whole year and makes 20 to 30 different exhibitions, has about 2 million visitors per year. The Munich beer fest, the Oktoberfest, which lasts for just two weeks every year, has about 6 million visitors.
At least we have an advantage: while you can enjoy art in second life, drinking beer isn't really fun.

Q8. What is your next project going to be? Are you mulling over anything?
The next project is a terrain composition for several prims.

Q9. In what way do you like to document your work in Second Life best? Which form would you personally recommend?
How do you document a performance? Or graffiti on a subway door? Is a photograph or a video sufficient to document it? My work involves participation, and you cannot really document that, you have to experience it. But is an accurate documentation what we really need? What we need is an audience, and if we're lucky, we'll be remembered.

Q10. We all tend to have an influence that inspires us when creating - whom has this effect on you?
Taking a shower or reading the LSL (linden script language) wiki inspires me a lot. More seriously, and concerning the 'whom' in your question: art as I see it is always also about art. And therefore it's obvious that you certainly can find references to contemporary art and artists in my work; you may call that inspiration, but in fact it means placing my work in a context.

Now Selavy - yo have a chance to ask yourself 3 questions it can be about anything you like ANYTHING!
Q1. How frequently do you take showers?
Q2. Why do you participate in interviews like this?
Q3. How is Rrose doing?

Ok well that will teach me to say ask questions - I didn't mention about answering them 0_o *note to self ha

Until next time on metanopsis

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