Red’s Mystery Shack ~ Route 8 Nagarjuna

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Nagarjuna, Red's Mystery Shack, Route 8, Satori, virtual tourist trap

A delightful place to spend some ending-of-summer time, for those of us in the  Northern Hemisphere, is Red’s Mystery Shack. Just off Route 8 in Nagarjuna, on the continent of Satori, it’s an imaginative sim for travelers to hang out.

There’s a lot here, but even with my poor internet connection and low-end laptop, the textures loaded and I was able to move around. The parcel is rated Moderate and there is a 60 minute autoreturn.

“Thank you SO so much for visiting the Shack!

I built the shack as an homage to the roadside attractions I’ve visited over the years. Normally much less mysterious and much more “tourist trap”, these places still always held a certain charm and novelty for me. I hope you feel the same! Please feel free to make yourself at home, go for a swim, do some fishing, even just sit and enjoy the atmosphere. If you take any pics, feel free to share on on our flickr. ”

“Souvenirs are available in the shop for super cheap. My effort at some of the silly little gifts that you can buy at these attractions either as a memento or as something to take home to a loved one. If you are interested in a souvenir and unable to afford one, drop me a line and I would be happy to send it to you. The price isn’t about making money to me–just a way for people to say they “bought” a souvenir.”

“I cannot tell you how much I appreciate the donations people have provided. Every linden goes toward the 35USD a month land use fee for the Shack. But please know that, donation or not, what means the most to me is that people enjoy what I have created (and continue to work on) for them.”

❤ Willow

From the Land Description: “Experience the Mystery of the Shack! Gravity Defying, Mysterious, Amazing! Stop by our One-Stop for a souvenir, a snack, or to top off your fuel. NTBI, GFS, RoxOil, gtfo,7 seas, fishing, weird, roadside, tourist trap.”

I enjoyed the nature sounds; crickets, birds and such added to an amusing, immersive experience.

 

Daydream by Cica Ghost

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Cica Ghost, Daydream, Veyot

Cica Ghost’s newest sim installation, Daydream, opened to the public two weeks ago today. This is my favorite installation by her in quite some time; I’m pleased that I’ve not only been able to visit several times, but I’m able to post about it before it closes. I am guessing it will be open at least two more weeks.

The windlight is beautiful; there’s a restful, soft, surreal atmosphere, accented by brightly colored flowers and delightful characters.

The ground is sprinkled with daisies, mushrooms, and fantastical creatures. There are poses and animations to aid avatars in including themselves in photos.

There are some familiar favorites; cats, birds, a materials-sparkling dragon can be found with a thorough exploration.

I’ve seen enjoyable photos on various media of this installation. A favorite is a Vimeo called A Lucky Day at Daydream, by Veyot, just a little over two minutes in length.

 

 

Depth of Field ~ Film Photography Exhibit

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35mm photography, Depth of Field, Klaus Bereznyak, Montara Bridge Works Gallery, vintage camera

The current exhibit at Montara Bridge Works Gallery is Depth of Field by Klaus Bereznyak. It features real life film photography.  The poster near the landing offers a notecard about the exhibit.

The ground level of the gallery shows landscape, color photography; all but one were taken in the wild.

Upstairs, black and white photos show both outdoor and interior scenes.

“The discipline of photography is an invitation to “Seize The Day” and an allegory for the kind of life that has the patience to wait for an opportunity, the eye to see one and the spontaneity to take it.

I use 35mm film in vintage cameras to try and capture the moment. I do not use any post processing or digital editing so what the camera saw is the final piece.”

The exhibit runs through October.

 

Wanderlust Art Park ~ July – August 2018

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mainland, Quentin, Sansara, Wanderlust Bench Art Park

Even with the summer slow down and a rapidly changing world, almost all the art at Wanderlust Bench Art Park is new for July and August. There’s about two weeks left to visit before the refresh happens the beginning of September.

From left to right above, pieces by myself, serra Qendra and Wheedle.

There’s never a theme and I always look forward to seeing what avatars choose to exhibit and how it always seems to come together in my view.

Horses by Klaus Bereznyak and landscape by Veyot.

The 512 parcel in Quentin has been exhibiting works by various artists for almost two and a half years! From avatars who make one 2D picture every two months, to more prolific creators, exhibiting at the park and Wanderlust Cafe is an alternative or addition to other types of galleries.

From left to right, screen by Lynette Trinity, digital art by Lil Mint and Elle Thorkveld.

We have a video, a short story slideshow set at Tralala’s Diner by Tralala Loordes. Photographs and story by Klaus Bereznyak.

A first time exhibitor at this outdoor gallery, Amy Inawe has a gorgeous painting called Splash, in the left of the photo. The image next to it by Klaus Bereznyak, contains his written essay, Out Loud.

The photo taken in The Birdhouse shows two levels; upstairs contains a hideout with a digital piece I’d made for another project; downstairs a 5 panel story, photos I took with text by Klaus.

A colorful floor vase by Lynette Trinity.

Photographs by Seraphim Placebo.

The ground floor of the Wanderlust Cafe Gallery shows paintings by Giselle Seeker.

Upstairs, graphic art by Lil Mint.

The installation I put together on the roof of Wanderlust Cafe was inspired by the banlines from the correctional facility next door.

 

Rusted Farm

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Rusted Farm, SOLO ARTE, Terrygold

I’ve revisited Rusted Farm several times since it opened July 6th. It’s the latest installation by Terrygold and has an ecological theme. Environmental damage and pollution is a serious subject. The installation is beautiful though and I was delighted to find the use of prims.

The arrival point is an underwater tunnel where you can adjust windlight settings according to suggestions received by clicking on a British flag for English or the Italian flag.

I use the Lab viewer, and kept it on region setting. I happened to take these photos at night; they’ve been cropped and the exposure lightened.

Opposite the settings info, is thanks, in English or Italian, for friendship and collaboration on the project: Melania (melaniabis) for photos and articles on environmental degradation, Vincenzo Daxtor for translation of texts, Jill Agresti for the script, Solkide Auer for help and encouragement, and Annalisa Mullaina for photos and organization.

Mutant creatures, appearing to be made of trash, swim in the tunnel just past pictures and info on oil and plastics degradation to our world.

Further on, you walk past rusty barrels with blobs of oil on top of the water. A ladder to the field is at the end of the tunnel.

The field looks great in any light; there are small brightly colored flowers among the grain stalks. At night, the glowing lights of some of the creatures are very effective.

There are pipes in the field; animated and flying rusted forms are scattered about the landscape.

The installation is located at SOLO ARTE – Arte e Cultura di SL in Casvian Caye, a Moderate sim. The land description:  “Solo Arte is an initiative for the encouragement, diffusion and promotion of art in Second Life.”

Walking up a pipe near the back wall, there’s a door that leads into a behind-the-scenes, industrial polluting area.

Again, a serious subject and the composition, constructs, lighting and textures are beautiful.

 

Touring Part of Route 8

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mainland, Route 8, Satori

Like many other parts of the mainland, Route 8 has had many changes along the road during the last few months. I happened upon this stretch of highway after visiting a dystopian sim with a friend. We’d seen photos on Flickr, teleported in to explore, and then noticed on the world map that it was on the continent of Satori. We decided to see if we could walk across abandoned land to the road; yes, we could.

There is always a gentle rain on the 512 parcel shown in the photo above, just off Route 8 in Granville.

It soon became apparent that this part of Route 8 has many places welcoming to the public although there are private homes too. I saw a gacha resale and several service stations.

Shown above is Mustang Trading Post, Maplegrove.

Shown above, the Garden Cafe “Familia Loca”, in Milaniovic. There’s a bicycle rezzer near the road.

There’s also a bike rezzer at Yankee Truck Stop in Zvjaginsev.

A 256 sq m parcel in Ibranic, #BardDesire#, is open to the public.

There are facilities on a tiny parcel in Nagarjuna; it’s actually a prim farm. I first wanted to do this post because of an interesting place across the road that had film and photography sets. It’s now under construction by the same owner.

We’re ending today at Red’s Mystery Shack.  It’s an interesting place with a group joiner for The Drivers of SL. I have a few photos taken here for another post.

 

 

 

Cherry Manga and Barbara Borromeo at La Maison d’Aneli

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Barbara Borromeo, Cherry Manga, Francogrid, La Maison d'Aneli, Virtual Holland

There’s another week to see the current exhibit La Maison d’Aneli; it’s open until the 16th. Entering the gallery, you’ll see 2D work by Barbara Borromeo; walking towards the back, you’ll find a teleport to Cherry Manga’s exhibit. The photo above is of the Cherry Manga installation.

Cherry Manga was one of the first artists I became aware of when I rezzed into SL. It took a while for me to notice art in world; this may have been in 2012 or 2013.

The next time I saw the work of Cherry Manga was on the FrancoGrid in opensim. ( I used Firestorm Opensim viewer and explored several grids and even blogged about it several years ago. )

The 3D exhibit here is animated and dynamic; you walk into it and watch the movement from all angles.

Cherry Manga’s bio includes info about Fest’Avi on FrancoGrid and there’s a blog link.

Several free avatars are offered. A reminder, these photos cannot possibly do justice to the installation.

The 2D art pieces of Barbara Borromeo are a lovely complement to the 3D art of Cherry Manga.

Barbara Borromeo is an interior designer and artist in Milan. She has paintings and sculptures in an inworld gallery and on the Marketplace according to her bio.  She builds, landscapes and designs sims, houses, and clubs. She doesn’t speak English and has an inworld English speaking friend and agent.

Again, this exhibit is open until August 16.

 

Flash Creativity at “Another Coffee Shop”

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Another Coffee Shop, mainland, Veyot

Here’s a cool collaborative project on the mainland that I like: Another Coffee Shop in Pahto.

The 4224 sq m parcel is rated Moderate. From the land description: “coffee shop, rooms with views, art, grunge, privacy
Now located in the sky!”

by Beatrix

 

The owner, Veyot, rezzed a compact, grungy city with a coffee shop and gallery rooms. One day she looked at her contact list of the avatars who were online at the time, offered one of five rooms to decorate, and the first five to respond got a space to work with.

by NodesOfYesod

The results are splendid; a fun project indeed.

by ChrysTeRox

By the way, I’m aware that some things simply do not rez for me on my viewer, so apologies for anything missing in the photos.

by Dawnie Macarthur

There are poses for photography in the compact city in the sky; a teleporter leads to a park area on the  ground.

by Laserskater

The above photo does not show the whole room; watch out.

Once again, I’m appreciative of those who create these sorts of sims for people to participate in and visit in our world.