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3 min

Mesh Dramatics

One of my most cherished possessions in Second Life is a huge collection of dramatic poses created by Heidi Dahlseveen, which she very generously gave me many years ago. Heidi is a storyteller and her poses are unlike any other that I have ever seen in SL, in that they compress a huge amount expression into that one instance that the pose represents. And when one poses several avatars one ends up getting quite extraordinary mise-en-scenes. Which is something that I have done

2 min

And very well behaved they are…

Yesterday I finally got over all my inhibitions and went into 3D software, after remembering that Cica Ghost had once told me that she was using Sculptris. And after muddling around for quite a while, watching a lot of tutorials, I did get some results – the critters in the photo here. Had a hellish time with uploading the textures that I had also made for them into OpenSim (which is where I am testing all this before I spend a fortune in SL), at which point further investiga

1 min

A small stage

I have been making these things. I am collecting them on a tumblr to see what they look like as a group. I am working on them at the same time as I am making the curly stuff, going back and forth between the two. They look quite different (these look more “artsy” so to speak) but to me they are really the same thing. In fact the first one was meant to be a curly thing with the faux-Japanese typography. And this one too, with the script font, although I have not put it on the

1 min

The Miro Sphere

I had forgotten about this. It was a self contained environment inside a sphere filled with 3D objects that were inspired by Joan Miro’s critters. I made this 4 or 5 years ago and the objects were in fact mesh. Made in photoshop where I could be intuitive, by which I mean following what coincidences or even accidents give me. And back then they gave me these guyz. Could I reproduce them or make something similar today? Probably not. I have made quite a few things in SL that w

3 min

A Eureka moment

I have been sitting here all weekend – reading, taking notes, even starting the draft of the draft of a draft of a paper. (Need to read a lot more before I even get to the draft of a draft stage ;-). I really am somewhat obsessed with the question which I keep asking, you see. The one about my students. I am, after all, attempting to do a PhD, the subject of which is art education… How can I even write a dissertation without taking all this into account? Or so I was thinking

5 min

Continued from the other day

I am still wondering here. The previous post, where this bit belongs to as well, is already way too long. So, I am starting a new one. … First, why was I only vaguely aware that Hegel had a gripe with art? Could it be because it is an uncomfortable truth (uttered by Hegel, no less!) which goes against the grain of the prevalent art system? In other words, it is not in the best interest of persons seeking a place within that system, be it as critics, theoreticians, curators or

5 min

re-blogged

Quoted from the blog Sex Drugs and Post-Structuralism (unfortunately no longer active, it seems): … “when I am alone with myself, I have not the courage to think of myself as an artist in the great and ancient sense of the term. I am only a public entertainer who has understood his times and exploited as best he could the imbecility, the vanity, the cupidity of his contemporaries. Mine is a bitter confession, more painful than it may appear, but it has the merit of being sinc

2 min

Artistic Oxymorons

… and Tautologies! I have been giving some thought to these of late. I found a gem of a one the other day, but I am saving that one for later. And if I continue to find some more, who knows, I may even start a weekly rubric called “Artistic Oxymorons and Tautologies by Alpha Auer” right here on this semi-dead blog. Neat, huh? Pump some action into this place! Coming home from work just now, stuck as I was in heavy traffic on the bridge, another really good one occurred to me

4 min

Ai Weiwei (or the RL day of 2 SL avatars)

I am so glad that I can post this now, right after the last post. After having completely let loose about how I am so fed up with the mediocrity, the banality, the cliche ridden existence of contemporary art in general, it feels so good to be bowled over and wowed by this! Truth be told I am at the point where I no longer even bother, no longer go to art events, avoid biennials and such. I no longer want to be subjected to so much ado about nothing, to endless loops of grainy

5 min

I am not an artist!

Stelarc has come into Second Life. Hugely significant, I think. He is a breaker of taboos, a master of the art of pulling the cute little rug of complacency out from under people’s feet. And, from where I am standing, our little world needs some serious breaking of taboos and a thorough dishevelment of complacency. Not the many people who unassumingly pursue their individual paths of playful creativity by taking SL photographs to post on Flickr or building their own personal

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