Princeton Groups - Launch Party

I'm taking a brief break from my self-imposed purdah to do a favour for a friend, and bring you news of an event this Sunday. Here is the official announcement:

Princeton University in Second Life announces “Diversity”on the Princeton Groups island
Scope Cleaver- Architect
Poid Mahovlich - Terraform Artist
Launch party: April 20, 2008, 5-7 pm SLT

Please join us for the opening of the Princeton Groups island with a concert by Grace McDunnough on Princeton Groups, 5 pm SLT, Sunday, April 20.

The “Diversity” building on Princeton Groups island is intended as a social gathering place for Princeton University student groups and organizations. The commission stipulated a warm and friendly location where students could meet, chat, and organize events in Second Life.

The resulting sim is a thoughtful contrast of Second Life resources with real world concerns. The stark, evocative landscape provides a foil for the elegance of the architectural composition. The central building’s rainbow colors exemplify the lively, multicultural community for whom it was built. The present generation of Princeton students will someday grapple with the environmental issues suggested in the desert terrain of the sim.

“Diversity” is architect Scope Cleaver’s fifth building on the Princeton University in Second Life islands. Like his other full-sim composition at Princeton in SL--Alexander Beach--it shows an expansive use of scale that unexpectedly creates intimate social spaces. Uncharacteristic of Scope are the warm, organic building textures, which underscore the building’s function as a community center. The organic theme is carried into the building’s massing, originally suggested to the architect by a photograph of a nautilus shell.

Poid Mahovlich, SL terraformer, designed and executed a landscape that would provide interest and focus to the building. More than that, the landscape itself is a series of destinations inviting exploration. A variety of walks and suggestive vignettes reveal artistic discoveries, environmental statements, and sweeping vistas from which to appreciate the greater composition of landscape and architecture.

Architecture and landscape merge in a delightful collaboration between Scope and Poid under the “Diversity” building. Don’t leave without discovering it!

location: SLURL: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Princeton%20Groups/130/47/22



Artist statements:
Scope Cleaver says: "Science is about describing things, describing reality . . . describing what there is. Design is about what should be. It’s trying to bend the world, bend the environment, to your vision."

Poid Mahovlich says: "I build creatively using smoke and mirrors. I am a geek dreamer; driven by ethereal fuel some days, nerdtech and biscuits on others. I have a passion for terraforming, sculpting pixel earth is an evolutionary process of discovery where you enter a very different head space. I am a Real Life professional conceptual Artist: a self-proclaimed Wizard who has a severe allergy to Hawaiian shirts."

Extropia Salon - Grace McDunnough

I have just returned to New New Alville after another interesting gig at the Extropia Core Salon meet, where Sophrosyne's guest was the mighty Grace McDunnough. The topic of conversation should come as no surprise to the many people who know Grace in Second Life: music in SL. Actually, this was another event in which I met people for the first time in Second Life whom I already know through other social networks: Twitter, Facebook and Virtual Worlds Connect. In fact, Grace is one of these people.

Grace's Salon gig was in two halves - a chat, followed by a live performance. It was interesting to hear (or rather, read) her experience of Second Life. I found a lot of resonances with my own views. I may be paraphrasing a bit too much here, but she has always had a passion for music, but lacked the confidence, or perhaps the conviction, to perform in RL. She found the degree of separation offered by having a virtual alter ego in SL was enough to tip the scales, giving her the confidence to perform live. Second Life has given her the freedom to express herself in ways that she would find too difficult in RL, not least because of the need to earn a crust in RL, which in itself is enough to force a constraint. In SL her creativity has had an opportunity to blossom, and she is now one of the "must see" live performers in our virtual world. Her songs, performed to the accompaniment of her acoustic guitar, are a mix of original material (often co-written with Salome Strangelove) and covers.




I confess I prefer my music a bit more brain-battering, but I have broad tastes and throughly enjoyed Grace's performance - albeit without the aid of Musimmersion (go look it up). She has a wonderful, emotive, strong voice - and she kept the audience enthralled.

Next week, yours truly will be in the hot seat - so you will doubtless find that Grace's gig was the Salon's high water mark, as there's no way I can come close. Grrr... why did I agree to it??! Perhaps I need to take up juggling or something... or maybe take inspiration from the works of the great Le Petomane.

Oh... I couldn't resist --- here's the moon setting on New New Alville.