Gazira Babeli's 2nd Solo Show - 1st in RL!

Find more videos like this on Museo del Metaverso

This opening night video footage is by the Curator of the Museo del Metaverso, Roxelo Babenco. This opening was so fabulous, I wish all RL opening nights could be as surreally sublime and aesthetically pleasing as this!
Seriously, you just HAVE to check this video out! I can watch this over and over and over! This is one of the most fantastic documents I have EVER witnessed!

Here is the official exhibition poster. As you can see, it is Gazira's first show in RL. It looks like the curator Domenico Quaranta is making an official catalogue for this exhibition and I think that my Second Front colleague Man Michinaga (Patrick Lichty in RL) as well as performance art legend Alan Dojoji (Alan Sondheim in RL) . I hope I can read a copy in RL :-)

Hey there Gazophiles and Generation-Idol Idolaters!

My Second Front colleague-in-crime Gazira Babeli just had a legendary retrospective show in both Odyssey Island and in RL at the Fabio Paris Gallery in Italy.

Here is the official press release for this show:

OPENING
Saturday, March 15th 2008

'Real Life'
fabioparis artgallery, 6 PM
Catalog curated by Domenico Quaranta

'Second Life' - Locusolus 9 AM SLT

Gazira Babeli is an artist who lives and works in the virtual world of Second Life, where she was born on 31 March 2006. Like all inhabitants of virtual worlds she is an identity construction known as an avatar, but unlike them, she does not acknowledge the presence of a “human” controlling her. In this short space of time she has earned attention and respect with her provocative performances which explore the issues of the body, space and identity in virtual worlds. Babeli acts like a virus, unleashing earthquakes and showers of icons extrapolated from pop culture, or spreading epidemics which deform the bodies of other residents of Second Life. “Gaz” has become a multivalent term, and a household name in her virtual world. The aura of mystery that surrounds her has engendered a kind of legend, which quickly moved beyond the confines of Second Life.

Gazira Babeli is a “virtual” artist, but her work is “real”. She explores the body, space, identity. She compares her oeuvre with art history. She talks about us. She is closer than we think, with our multiple identities, our way of representing ourselves, our lives in front of the screen. To those who ask her if there is a point in living in a virtual world, she mockingly responds: “What about you? How’s life in Microsoft Office?”. Seen in this light her work acquires meaning and efficacy even outside the world which generated it, as her numerous appearances in shows and festivals demonstrates. Now, in this solo exhibition at the Fabio Paris Art Gallery, the artist presents a selection of works that reflect the two fundamental poles of her oeuvre: her world and her identity as a virtual artist. Babeli lives in a simulated world, a realistic, 3D universe generated by castles of computing code, yet “inhabited” and experienced on a daily basis by millions of people. Her work explores the conventions and contradictions of this world, addressing concepts like time, space and the body by simply manipulating language. Her work is ‘performance’ in the purest sense of the term: language which generates action. Bodies change shape and come alive; giant towers collapse and then rise from their ashes once more; mysterious forces and objects take possession of us. But Babeli’s main work is Gazira herself, and the knowing manipulation of her legend, as shown in the video triptych Saint Gaz' Stylite and the movie Gaz' of the Desert (March 2007), the first high definition film entirely shot in a virtual world. Babeli mixes hagiography and slapstick, surrealism and country music, to tell the story of her life behind the screen, midway between isolation and sociality, asceticism and temptation.

Gazira Babeli has taken part in festivals and exhibitions in Italy (Peam 2006 - The Diamond, Pescara 2006; V07, Venice) and abroad (Deaf 2007, Rotterdam 2007); and with the collective Second Front she took part in Performa 07 (New York). A year from her birth, the retrospective Gazira Babeli: [Collateral Damage] (10 April - 31 May 2007), put on in Second Life in a museum-sized venue, represented a definitive confirmation. In the space of two months the show attracted more than one thousand visitors. Her work has also elicited the attention of publications like El Pais, La Stampa, Liberazione, Exibart, Der Spiegel and Kunstzeitung. Gazira Babeli is her first solo exhibition in the “real” world.
http://gazirababeli.com

The exhibition will also see the publication of a book, Gazira Babeli (edited by Domenico Quaranta, with essays by Mario Gerosa, Patrick Lichty and Alan Sondheim).

And.... Here is the other press release for the show...

*GAZIRA BABELI*

Saturday, march 15, 18.00 pm

Fabio Paris Art Gallery
via Alessandro Monti 13 - 25121 Brescia
tel. 030 3756139 - Skype: fabioparisbs
www.fabioparisartgallery.com
From march 15, to april 30
15.00-19.00 pm everyday except holidays

Second Life, Locusolus simulator 9 AM SLT
Party<->Crasher<->Party
Second (Real) Audience vs. Real (Second) Audience
Anti-Invitation (No Invitation Needed)
Crash the party! Crash your car! Crash the Sim!
All Live!
Eat! Drink! Barf! Love! Hate! Sleep! Dance!
Do Art! Think! Fight!

Ok, I know you really only wanted to check out this blog to look at the photos from the opening day/night to see if your avatar appeared in one of the pix...it is all about "see and be seen" anyways so....here you go...lets hope/pray, you were visible enough to blogged about at Gaz's show...

Worship the Golden Gaz! Here I am with Gaz impersonator, Violette LeShelle. I must say though that she was not the only impersonator that evening. Not to be outdone at the opening, I realized that I also had to fit in to some degree and at least wear an official Gaz hat for solidarity ;-) I think the official golden Gaz bust set the tone for the whole evening and for her place in virtual history. Overall, I would say that Gaz has reached the point of absolute deification which is perfectly fine in my books since Second Front is also along for the ride ;-)

This is the closest I was able to get with showing the entire audience that managed to attend Gaz's show at its peak. Gaz herself guestimated that about 65 people were stuffed into this Black Cube Aquarium. Well, at least it was white inside enough for all the conversative art critics...heheheheheheh ;-) I am glad that Olga took pictures of the gallery cube itself because I had no idea what kind of space I was hanging out in...I was so strung out from the art strung onto the walls to notice...WHOA!

This pic shows the a special camera angle that I took that illustates the intermediary space between gallery-space and ummmmmm.... "art"-space....I mean, life is art and art is life especially in Second Life, right? SIGH! Well, on Locusolus the whole area is self-consciously arts-infested and that is a good thing, right? On another note, I hope you like the coloured orbs that people were playing with inside the gallery. All I had to bring to this event was my token Toyota Scion...ooops! I did not mean to make a product placement...if only I could invoice Toyota for this...SIGH! Yes it is true that my avatar was nodding off throughout the exhibition. This had nothing to do with my interest in the show, for the record. In fact, it even had nothing whatsoever to do with drug use (honest)!!! Rather, my RL duties happened to siphon off my attention span at the same time the peak of this opening occurred... TRIPLE SIGH!
Oh, I should also mention that another Second Front colleague was in attendance and this was none other than Bibbe Oh...Yaaay!

Here is a side view of the gallery crowd and (yes, of course) my Scion. Also featured in this gratuitious group photo is the curator Domenico Quaranta's new look and Olga's own Gaz impersonation.

Here are some great examples of Gaz's trademark deformed avatars that Second Front used for the Spawn of the Surreal Performance a year ago. I loved the highly detailed pictures that Gaz had produced. The detail was so high, we could just about see our own reflections and Great Art, of course is entirely based on the degree to which we can gaze at our own glamourous reflections, right? I also loved the gold SLeaf detailing on Gaz's bust statue... I guess Gaz has truly entered the lapdance of luxury this time and has rezzed at least one brass ring...woo hooo! I am truly happy for her as everyone knows in SL, wealth = total happiness :-)

Here is a picture of myself with Man Michinaga who is also a colleague with me in Second Front. Man is in his/her trademark incarnation of Ciccolina. Behind us, you can see more reflective paintings that Gaz had made. I love the Goth poses! The whole show was truly amazing...I was in awe of all of the images and this is coming from someone who usually only cares about Performance Art.

Here I am with a deformed incarnation of Odyssey's curator, Sugar Seville as well as another Second Front colleague Fau Ferdinand who sported her own golden avvie. Also included in this scene is a piece of holographic sirloin steak...well, it is a hologram of some kind of meat offering...hmmmm.... Maybe it was the meat-confusion or perhaps the proliferation of biohazard signs but Sugar Seville seemed to remark, "I cant see anything with this mega prim twirling around".

Once again, we have a richly detailed (but necessarily gilded) group portrait with the understated and unrezzed Gazira Babeli herself with our favourite videographer nearby - Evo Szuyuan.

Congrats to Gaz on yet another mindblowing and overflowing retrospective show!

Please stay tuned for Second Front's next performance at Dorkbot Paris this friday at 12:30 PM SLT....

Avatar Orchestra Metaverse at Wien Modern!

Hey there Graphic Scorekeepers, Electronic Conductors and Wagnerian Wienerphiles!

Yes! Finally, the Avatar Orchestra Metaverse have played perhaps their highest profile blockbuster show in RL so far by scoring a gig (pardon the pun) at none other than the ultimate showcase for all those "Modernist" yet still "Contemporary Classical" composers, Wien Modern. I am sure you know that Vienna is musically speaking, the cultural capital of the Western World (not to be confused with merely the Westcoast World). So to be a historical part of this city's most important contemporary music festival is sure a treat...it even beats Darmstadt!

The Orchestra's founder, Maximillian Nakamura was there in Vienna in RL to ensure that everything went along smoothly and on time. Thanks Max! :-)

Here is the official history and mandate of the festival that occurs throughout various cultured sites in Vienna:

"Following an initiative of Claudio Abbado, since 1988 international composers, artists, interpreters and ensembles have been invited to present the wide variety and artistic creativity in the world of sound. Wien Modern is a festival of contemporary music - and also provides a platform for Modern Dance, new visuals, texts and film.

Since 1988 international composers, artists, interpreters and ensembles have been invited here so that all the different artistic facets connected to the world of sound can be experienced. Wien Modern is a festival of contemporary music - and also provides a platform for Modern Dance, new visuals, texts and film."

Oooops! I noticed that Wien Modern quoted itself at least once in that body of official text...oh well, more excuses for me to place some hyperlinks in there but maybe they should rename themselves, Wien Postmodern? ;-)

Anyway, instead of an overture, the Orchestra played full-length versions of 4 original compositions (well 5 if you include the Birthday Encore..ummm..I guess that does not qualify as "original"...does it?). Two of the 4 compositions were World (both SL and RL) Premieres! Here is a quick summary of all them in chronological order...

I - MIULEW TAKAHE - FRAGULA...

Photo by Evo Szuyuan.Just have a look at the pattern on the floor! Wow! Just looking at that pattern reminds me of being at Wien Modern!

Takahe's composition is part of the AOM's standard repetoire and is still extremely fun to play. For this performance, we interacted with Second Front co-member Gazira Babeli's installation called Come Together. After sticking together, we branched out across Virtual Haidplatz like pollen snagged by bees strung out on Viagara!

It really was an epic and sublime sight to see and unless there is a forthcoming video and audio document of it...well...I guess you just HAD to have been there ;-)

II - MAXIMILLIAN NAKAMURA - URSONATA...

Click here to listen to the live audio recording of Ursonata.


The composer Maximillian had two very special HUD interfaces designed. The stripey horizontal bar on the bottom of the screen allowed me to change the fricative sound effects that was triggered by my gun. The tiny square buttons on the right of the screen corresponded to different fricative syllables and drone samples that I could also improvise with.

As I mentioned earlier, Maxi (not to be confused with Maxxo) is the founder of the Avatar Orchestra Metaverse. Without him, we are nothing ;-) Maxi (as his alter-ego Shintaro Miyazaki) lives in Berlin in RL these days so fortunately he was local enough to check out the Wien Modern performance first hand. He was even able to share a coffee break or two with Wien Modern's curator, Berno Odo Polzer. I think it was Berno himself who invited the Orchestra to play. He was also the one who mentioned that the Production Coordinator named Barbara Lebitsch was having her birthday so Maxi and Berno planned a special surprise birthday encore...well, more on that later but lets focus for now on Maxi's 2nd AOM composition and its World(s) premiere.

This piece Ursonata is both an ode to Kurt Schwitter's classic Merz era equivalent to slam poetry and Gazira Babeli's installation of the same name which Second Front (my other group) used for our performance of The Gate at iMAL in Brussels a couple of months ago. Hmmm...now that I think of it, Maxi also used Gaz's mutation script which was used in Second Front's Spawn of the Surreal performance that took place almost a year ago...wow! I guess I was serious when I said that the festival should have really been called Wien Postmodern!

At any rate, it was a very fun piece and it reminds me of the days in RL when I was a music composition student at Uvic. My teacher at the time, Christopher Butterfield is quite well known around the globe for his performance of Ursonate ("Ursonata" in English).

III - WIRXLI FLIMFLAM - RIESENRAD...

Photo by Evo Szuyuan.Here is an overture...er..overview of the ferris wheel.

Click here to listen to the live audio recording of Riesenrad.

Ok, my own composition also had a World(s) Premiere at Wien Modern. I have already blogged about it in the post below this one so you may as well just go there. To summarize, it was a Maximinimalist (cross between Maximalist and Minimalist) ode to all the classic and modern Vienna-based composers and is probably currently getting derided by the critics as being more Fantasia than Fantasia.

Speaking of Vienna-based composers, I sure wish our Orchestral colleague Gumnosphistai Nurmi had his own composition called "Avatars Brew" ready because he certainly has had direct experience with channeling the Greatest Composer Ever To Live in Vienna (well, until Falco).

IV - BINGO ONOMATOPOEIA - WEE NO KRESH (WNK)...

Click here to listen to the live audio recording of Wee No Kresh.

Photo by Digital Randt.

It was Bingo who designed all the custom instruments and HUD interfaces for the Orchestra and it was also Bingo who recorded each composition in realtime while performing, coordinating, giving tech support and yes, even showcasing his own composition.... ALL HAIL TO BINGO!

Bingo's piece WNK is also a classic repetoire piece like Miulew's (Takahe's) Fragula.

Bingo's composition is unique in that it is the only one that you can DANCE to.

Hmmmm...did I mention Wien Postmodern a bit earlier on? ;-) Maybe it is time for a parallel festival.

My buddy Digital Randt (who is also an instrument interface designer) took some kewl photos so I figured I had better at least show another one he took of WNK....

Photo by Digital Randt.

V- HUMMING PERRA AND THE AOM - FRAGGY BIRTHDAY CELLO CONCERTO Op. 1 "Barbara"...

Click here to listen to the live audio recording of the Birthday Concerto.

Click here to download and watch the video of this Birthday Surprise in Vienna (RL).



Well, Humming Perra did an awesome job playing Happy Birthday on the laggy Hypercello designed by Robbie Dingo (not to be confused with Bingo). As a Modern form of accompaniment, Miulew conducted the Orchestra players and instructed us to improvise using the gear that Bingo designed for Fragula. All in all, it was a great time where the red wine was flowing the snow was blowing...er....maybe I should save all this talk about the snow blowing that occured during an backstage interview with me for the next blog... SNIFF! SNORT!

PAGES Exhibition in London - Day Two...

Wirxli Flimflam - "SLippery SLope" (2007) [Video/Audio Excerpt]

"SLippery SLope" (2007) composed for the Avatar Orchestra Metaverse by Wirxli Flimflam. DeThomas Dibou was the architect for this site-specific composition. This is a salvaged excerpt from the in-world premiere which combines the video archive from DannyDarko Raymaker with the audio recording from Miulew Takahe. This video is not in sync with the audio and is not an accurate portrayal of what avatars witnessed live. If you cannot see this embedded video excerpt, please click here.

***UPDATE FROM THE NEAR FUTURE - SPINSTER VOOM HAS BLOGGED THIS EVENT...AND HAS ALSO PROVIDED ADDITIONAL DETAILS ABOUT THIS EVENT***

**ANOTHER UPDATE FROM THE NEAR FUTURE - MIULEW TAKAHE FROM THE AVATAR ORCHESTRA METAVERSE HAS ALSO BLOGGED THIS EVENT***

Hey there performance art and new muzak fans,

Finally, I have posted some salvaged archives from Saturday's performance event that was part of Spinster's PAGES (PgUp) exhibition in London.

Anyways, it took me forever to post the above video with the Avatar Orchestra Metaverse. Saturday was really stressful in that I was scrambling to find someone to video-document my premiere of "SLippery SLope". Fortunately, DannyDarko Raymaker was able to record the video component and then I just need to find someone with audio. Miulew Takahe had a very live and raw recording from his avatar's perspective (yes, the composition is very subjective and spatial) so I mixed in his audio archive with Danny's video excerpt and what we have as a result is a very confusing and non-synced video...but hey, it is better than nothing and I am extremely grateful to Miulew and Danny for helping me to document my transient composition. I was going to re-perform it just for a machinima muzak video but I found that DeThomas Dibou had already de-installed the SLopes from Virtual Haidplatz on Odyssey Island...sigh! Oh well..I can always compose a new piece and ensure that it can be re-performed over and over...

Ok, some of you are wondering what the whole concept is behind my composition.
Well, I already summarized in an earlier posting so if you just click on this link here and scroll about half-way down, you will see my official PR paragraph about this composition.

However, I think it is about time I displayed for you in fine print exactly what my official notecard score for the composition looked like...

This might not make much sense to you as a reader but thankfully, it made sense to the members of the Orchestra...phew! The text you are about to read below was actually not as daunting as it first appears. For starters, I guided them through the spatial aspects of the composition a couple of times throughout our scheduled rehearsal times. In addition, I ensured that the score was seperated into a "HUDer" score and a "Classicist" score so the performer only needed to focus on their unique role within this very spatial and SLope-specific composition...

Ok...here is my full conductor's score:

"SLippery SLope". Full Conductor's Score by Wirxli Flimflam, 2007

There are 3 different coloured SLopes designed by the Architect, DeThomas Dibou: Blue, pink and purple.

There are two unique roles in this composition that an orchestra player can choose:

CLASSICISTS wear and play a scripted pitched instrument (eg. cello or flute)

HUDers wear 2 HUDs made by Bingo (performance HUD and Info-Receiver HUD)

If you fall off any SLope:

CLASSICISTS = Play c-b-bflat over and over in loop while returning to the 1st blue SLope (or after 5 minutes of performing, returning to the SLope you fell off of).

HUDers = Everytime you recognize one of the 3 colours on the clothes or hair of an audience avatar, play a button that corresponds to that colour (blue, purple, pink) while returning to ascend the Blue SLope. (or after 5 minutes of performing, returning to the SLope you fell off of).

Note: Wirxli will play both the role of the HUDer and the CLASSICIST and will do some improv soloing while climbing the SLopes.

Blue SLope (top buttons in HUD)

CLASSICISTS = Play b-flat drone on scripted instrument (ex. cello)

HUDers = play from the blue buttons on the HUD if you see these Regensburg landmarks while on the SLope:

a) Wolf Lesen und Lernen
b) wittl musik
c) any avatar in the audience that is wearing blue...

Pink SLope (middle buttons in HUD):


CLASSICISTS = Play b drone on scripted instrument

HUDers = play from the pink buttons on the HUD if you see these Regensburg landmarks while on the SLope:

a) Wolf Lesen and Lernen
b) Reise Studi/Haifplatz
c) Rossini cafe bar and restaurant
d) Any avatar in the audience wearing pink

Purple SLope (bottom buttons in HUD):

CLASSICISTS = Play c drone on scripted instrument.

HUDers = play from the purple buttons on the HUD if you see these Regensburg landmarks while on the SLope:

a) Avastar Vending machine
b) Lepanto
c) Peppers
d) Any avatar in the audience wearing purple.

The piece is complete once every CLASSICIST and HUDer have successfully climbed across all 3 SLopes without falling.

Ok, there you go....that was the score...not too difficult to follow, right? ;-)

Well, here was the one pic I took of the premiere...

Yes, it is true...this is my only photo from my composition's premiere. I was too busy performing and conducting the performers of the Avatar Orchestra Metaverse...sigh! You can see that I am acting as both a "HUDer" and a "Classcist" for my role as I have Bingo's HUD interface and the Hypercello's keyboard interface on my screen which was designed by Robbie Dingo. If you have any other photos of my compositional premiere, please email them to me at ideatron@gmail.com


The second in-world premiere to be featured on saturday was "Fragula" by Miulew Takahe. It is quite a fun and dynamic piece as you can probably tell by my theatrical and gymnastical backflips. I consider Fragula to be the most frenzied composed for the orchestra so far. I have since nicknamed it "Count Fragula". I was seriously fragged that morning so I was pleased to let all my aesthetic frustrations out. Here is the official audio recording from our performance of Takahe's Fragula.


Here was what happened earlier on in the day...

Earlier in the day, I collaborated with my adopted daughter Fwwixli Swindlehurst for our very first public performance together called "Ageplay Performance Residue #1". You can read all about it on our collaborative blog and on the curator Spinster Voom's blog.

PAGES Exhibition in London - Day One...

"Rue Blanche" by Miulew Takahe. Video recorded by Evo Szuyuan. If you cannot see this embedded video, click here.


"Fadheit" by Maximillian Nakamura. Video recorded by Evo Szuyuan. If you cannot see this embedded video, click here.


"WNK" by Bingo Onomatopoeia. Video recorded by Evo Szuyuan. If you cannot see this embedded video, click here.


"Vicky's Remix" based on "Vicky's Mosquitos" by Hars Hefferman. Video recorded by Evo Szuyuan. If you cannot see this embedded video, click here.

Here I am buried in the crowd that is eager to watch myself and my colleagues peform in the Avatar Orchestra Metaverse.

Hey there peformance art and new muzak fans,

Yesterday was the first day of the PAGES Exhibition Festival called "PgUp" that was being broadcast live in RL at the Notice Gallery in London. Spinster Voom was (well, still is) the curator.

***NEWS FLASH FROM THE NEAR FUTURE: Spinster Voom has blogged a posting from this event.

For the first part of the day, my new muzak group, the Avatar Orchestra Metaverse played the classics from yestermonth. These included: Rue Blanche by Miulew Takahe, FADHEIT by Maximillian Nakamura, Vicky's Remix (based on an early improvisation called "Vicky's Mosquitos" by Hars Hefferman) and WNK by Bingo Onomatopoeia.

***NEWS UPDATE FROM THE NEAR FUTURE - To listen to performance of "Rue Blanche" from this event on the 28th, click here.

After those classics were re-played, I suddenly became an audience member and really enjoyed myself while checking out the next performance of the day...

FAU FERDINAND AND GAZIRA BABELI - All nOObs are Sailors (performance, 2007)


If you cannot see this embedded video, click here. This video was recorded by Evo Szuyuan. Please watch the whole video to see what happened to me at the very end of the performance...

The performance begins with Fau asking for a nOOb in the audience to volunteer as a participant in her performance. The obviously naive nOOb named Hopi Jun is called to the stage for the sacrficial offering...

At first, Hopi does not mind being in a Hot Pot Cauldron full of scolding water (what a nOOb, his nervous system has not even activated yet!)...but then when he finds he is trapped in this cannibalistic concoction, he screams for a teleport from the frying pot into what hopefully is not a fire...

Somehow, Hopi managed to get TP'd out of harm's way. I guess he was only needed for a few minutes - enough to add some flavour to the Cream of nOOb soup! It was at this point that I gave Fau a bottle of Absynthe in order to ensure that the soup was truly tasty...I guess at one point, Fau herself had a sip of the fairy sauce as she was getting quite tipsy...no wonder she reached for her...machine gun!

I was one of the few people sitting down and to my surprise, Fau gunned me down in front of the fountain...I guess that Abysinthe made her a little wOOt lOOpy! Well, I was alive enough to ensure the audience (curators, critics and collectors etc etc) that my recent death should enhance the value of my work for future generations. ;-)

Here is a better angle of Fau where you can see her DOOM-esque machine gun. Gazira was a collaborator in this performance but I guess she decided to stay on the sidelines for as much as possible...probably to avoid Fau's friendly fire...lol!

After her performance finished, we watched an in-world machinima video that was edited by Gazira and Fau...It was very tribal and trance-y, I must say... I felt I was having some sort of shamanistic near-death experience with all this minimalist drumming that was ensnaring my fragile psyche. Well, it must have only been a near-death experience because I was soon back on my feet and thanking the Lindens-on-High for my Second Salvation!

Stay tuned, for my next 2 performances happening on June 30th early in the morning in SL... I will be premiering my new composition "SLippery SLope" with the Avatar Orchestra Metaverse and will also be performing with my adopted SL daughter, Fwwixli Swindlehurst.

Gaz of The Desert Screening - In-World Premiere!

Here we all are at the premiere screening of Gaz's film on Odyssey Island. For those who do not know already, Gazira is a co-member of Second Front. I really like the Rhizomatic seating arrangement that Sugar Seville designed :-)

Here is a rear-view behind the seats of the movie screening. You can see the screen peeking through the seats here. Sugar was sitting high up in the nosebleed section - probably to score the best view of the vast Desert :-) Also, if you have a look at the chat-history, you will notice that co-star Beavis Palowakski had made an appearance to support the film's opening...yaaaay! Clap clap clap clap! You can see Beavis underneath the seats...

Hey performance art and in-world movie fans!

I barely made it in time to watch the beginning of Gazira Babeli's in-world premiere of her surrealist mini-epic Gaz of the Desert (2007) but I could not stick around long enough to watch the entire 23 minutes...I am so sorry folks! I just had too much RL to take care of this Sunday afternoon..sigh!

I wish I could have faffed around long enough to have watched my cameo appearance in Gaz's film...sigh! Well, at least I have seen a private screening of this film before so I know it is quite amazing and worth watching! I plan to watch it again when I have some more free time to re-enter SL and check it out :-)

Gazira Babeli's One Year Retrospective Exhibition!

I arrived just in time with my adopted daughter Fwwixli Swindlehurst and my two personal bodyguards to attend Gazira Babeli's gala opening event for her one-year retrospective exhibition at Odyssey Island's main gallery. This special media event was intended for European press, media and SLebrity VIPs/friends (such as myself).

Hey performance art and retrospective fans,

Finally, I have sobered up enough to post what I recall from attending Gazira Babeli's one-year retrospective at the main gallery on Odyssey Island with my two bodyguards and my foster daughter, Fwwixli Swindlehurst...

As some of you may know, Gaz is a colleague of mine and co-performer in Second Front.

In RL, it takes 10 years for an artist to have their first major retrospective in a gallery and/or museum but in SL, time works so fast, one year is enough to become totally recognized, collected, historicized, archived, institutionalized and reflected upon! I am waiting for my turn to have the exact same experience in a few more months :-)

This retrospective called "Collateral Damage" was curated by Sugar Seville and Beavis Palowakski. Palowakski was also the main architect for this gallery space.

Ok, I had better show you the rest of the photos I took of the event before my brain blanks out and I will have to wait another year to remember what the last retrospective looked like ;-) So, here we go...

Here is my entourage about to head back to give my personal compliments and congrats to Gaz after literally just checking out Gaz's "Nudes Descending the Staircase" (2007). One of my bodyguards, Bear Brooks was ensuring that his automatic machine gun was cocked and on high alert...As for me, I was simply high! ;-) Yes, it is true, when SLebrities get wasted, they require a pair of dark tinted shades...I got mine from Chanel.

Here we are near the front reception desk of the gallery having a glass of complimentary (and obligatory) red wine. The guards of course, were on the job so I did not expect them to drink at the opening... mind altering drugs, however, is a totally different matter! ;-) I was so elegantly wasted at the time, I am still not sure if I signed Gaz's guestbook correctly... Signing the guestbook at the time this snapshot was taken is the Oslo-based artist/curator, Plurabelle Posthorn. I am glad she was around for Gaz's one-year retrospective because I do not think I remember enough from the show (I am still sobering up) to reflect on it properly...Fortunately for me, Plurabelle did a fantastic job of articulating the wide range of classic Gazjects on display via her related blog posting for the Virtual Artists Alliance.


It was not until we decided to mingle with the crowd in the middle of the gallery that things started to get a bit rowdy. Within minutes, a bunch of Italians appeared and began to do some crazy Lambada type dirty-dancing in what looked like a deserted fire-pit! Oh ok, this must have been one of Gaz's performance scripts....oh wait! Did I pass out during the last time I witnessed and participated Gaz's "Come Together" masterpiece also from 2007? Geez, my excesses must be catching up to me since I am starting to forget where I have seen these pieces before? Oh wait! This is a retrospective...duh! Hmmmm...and where have I seen avatars like Fwwixli mutate before? Whoa! Uh.....I am sure The Ava-Star has been taking notice of my habitual drug use lately...my bodyguards can only protect my body and not my constitution nor my integrity!


Here is a quick snapshot showing SL-Newspaper reporter Bryan Dix checking out Gaz's kinetic concrete slabs with my entourage.


Apparently, one of my guards was having "ruthing" problems... Ruthing is when there is a glitch in RL (on other words, a regular day) and you log-in as a default avatar that looks like...well...Ruth...you know? The butchy type of gal that prefers platonic discussions about sex and sports a trashy mullet ;-) Well, maybe a can or two of Mama Gaz's homemade Second Soup oughtta calm my guards' nervers down from their recurring bouts of chronic Ruthitis.

Here is a gratuitous and pointless close-up of me posing with my guard Sturdus Goldblatt next to an original and authentic (yet still unsigned) Gazira Babeli exhibition sign. I took this pic because sturdy Sturdus was about to go off shift. I also decided to take a break from all this sobering up and schmoozing and left with my daughter, Fwwixli. We did not return until 6 PM SL time for the official exhibition opening....Replacing Sturdus was his company's boss, Nick Kelly...


Ok, here we are at the 6 PM opening... I just took this snapshot to show off my heart-shaped earring by Scarlett Johansson's signature 3sRBK line from Reebok. Do you like it? Can you see it? Should I have made a tiff file of a cropped image where I would zoom in to get a closer look at my ear? I think the Gaz impersonator in the background is Second Front co-performer, Man Michinaga. It is amazing who you can look like for a total of L$1! If you are wondering what those paintings in the background are doing with those "3D" chairs installed right in the middle of them, lets just say that I gotta be Frank with you, this isn't Canadian Bacon. In fact, this is where Fwwixli mutated herself for awhile!

Here is a pic that shows my new bodyguard Nick Kelly for the first time (well, she was in the previous pic but you could see her because she was buried underneath Fwwixli...Yes, Nick is actually a "she" and not a "he". As for me, my gender is also often confused especially when Fwwixli calls me "Daddy". I gotta admit though, I am actually what is known as a SLemale! I hope I will not be marginalized for saying this...hmmm...then again in the realm of performance art, marginalization and tokenism might work to my advantage! Then again, living on the margins might spoil my hard-earned SLebrity status.


Here is an aerial view of Gaz's retrospective exhibition...


...and here is yet another aerial view.



"Vino?" exclaimed Pei May (Franco Mattes) of the amazing duet with Pei Twang (Eva Mattes) called 0100101110101101.org Yes Pei and Pei, I will have some Italian red vino and I think both of you should get yourself your own bodyguards as 2007 has been a very risky year for us artists wrapped up in the SLarts Renaissance period. As soon as SL's Mannerist phase enters the scene (probably with the arrival of voice-chat in June), we will all be victims of our own fame....oh! Doomsday Idol! ;-) Seriously though, I told Pei and Pei that they really need to protect themselves soon. The price for becoming famous (even virtually famous) is that eventually, people like ourselves become unwitting victims of potential stalking (I like stalking sometimes, in moderation) and griefing (I like griefing sometimes, when it is called "performance art").

I took this pic to show how Italian things have become in SL lately...I am guessing it was the Italians all along who imported their flourishing artistic Renaissance into Second Life. Speaking of Italians, I was pleased to see that the in-world photographer Marco Manray was able to attend Gaz's opening.

Here I am in the middle of conversing with my good friend Lior Humphreys about my foster daughter while Gaz and Dancoyote Antonelli are duking it out with their superprims in the aestheticized "orgy" pit...

...different snapshot, same ol' situation ;-)

This pic was taken towards the end of my evening where I invited the CEO of the SLenquirer, Lanai Jarrico to the event...Looks like she was not the only one who brought along some personal protection so I do not feel so alone anymore in my choice to hire bodyguards....You may also notice in the chat history that Second Front co-members, Tran Spire and Lizsolo Mathilde attended the event. My partner and co-member Tea Chenille also attended this event...the pictures of her are on my blog all about Fwwixli...

BREAKING NEWS: IAN AH IS MOVING HIS SCREENING LOUNGE ON SUGAR MOUNTAIN!

Left-right: Wirxli Flimflam (me), Sugar Seville (CEO of Odyssey Island) and Chi5 Shenzhou (landscaping architect).

Hey performance art fans!

This past week has seen alot of turbulent change in SL. Just a couple of days ago, Man Michinaga sold his property in Han Loso where the BitFactory used to be.

It seems that this pattern is persisting towards that of an unfortunate trend because as of yesterday, Ian Ah has had to relocate his screening lounge on Sugar Mountain (Odyssey Island) due to some terraforming gentrification initiatives.

I am hoping he can just move his lounge around the other side of Sugar Mountain rather than having to move a long distance from my official PR Office which is located on top of this mountain.

Well, here is a sneak-preview of Chi5 Shenzhou's current terraforming project at Ian's former venue...

The new illusionistic "pool" with the mirrored texture on the deck-side is absolutely gorgeous!

From left-right: Ian Ah, Wirxli Flimflam (me), Chi5 Shenzhou and Sugar Seville.
Last night's discussion was very productive as Sugar offered Ian to re-locate his screening lounge to another side of Sugar Mountain. I think this will make for a reasonable compromise as Chi5 can focus on making this new opulent terraformed geological shelf :-)


Left-Right: Ian Ah, Wirxli Flimflam (me) and Sugar Seville.
Here is a dramatic angle shot!


Left-Right: Sugar Seville, Wirxli Flimflam (me), Chi5 Shenzhou, Fau Ferdinand and Ian Ah.
A little later in the evening, we were trying to determine if this deck could truly double as a hot-tub for wading in :-)

And here is what Ian's screening lounge used to look like...

From left-right: Maximillian Nakamura, Ian Ah, Wirxli Flimflam (me) and Nyko Nakamura.This is how the deck-area used to look prior to the terraforming.


Back-Front: Nyko, Nakamura, Wirxli Flimflam (me), Ian Ah and Maximillian Nakamura.
Here is an example of us watching a video. This video seems to be an archived performance by Alan Dojoji...

...this angle gives you a better sense of the kind of video we were watching.

Left-Right: Nyko Nakamura, Wirxli Flimflam (me), Ian Ah, Maximillian Nakamura and Gazira Babeli (in front of Max).
I think you can get the sense from these pictures that the lounge's atmosphere was very relazing and allowed for us to focus on casual chit-chat and video-viewing (no popcorn available though). Gazira had some of her own work installed on the lounge property. I am pleased to hear that she will be having a solo show soon on Odyssey Island :-)