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.

Avatar Orchestra Metaverse Rehearsal III...

Here is a sneak-preview of the brand new HUD interface combo designed by Bingo Onomatopoeia for my upcoming compositon, "SLippery SLope" (2007). If you notice the colourbar on the left with gradations from purple-pink-blue, you can see what v2.0 of my performance HUD looks like...

Here was what the previous versions of my SLippery SLope performance HUD looked like:

...v1.0 was designed by Maximillian Nakamura. I am currently scavenging my archives to find a pic of Max making this classic HUD version... So far, no luck...sigh! For the record, I intend to use his classic HUD for additional SLippery SLope performances...

... and the transitional v1.5 HUD was designed by Bingo Onomatopoeia.

Hey performance art, new music and choreography fans!

I have just finished documenting my 3rd rehearsal with the Avatar Orchestra Metaverse today. I literally just finished rehearsing a couple of hours ago...I wish I had more time today to also rehearse Bingo's brand new piece but at least I got to see what the performance materials for my own up and coming composition looked like :-)

The HUD-test was alot of fun! I had people running around the fountain and I would yell out the name of a cafe and/or restaurant in this virtual version of Regensberg and if they saw it, they would press the corresponding button :-)

Here is the audio podcast from today's HUD-test for SLippery SLope.

Here is the description of today's HUD-test by co-member, Miulew Takahe who recorded this sound check...

"This is the very first AOM testing of Wirxli FlimFlam's piece SLippery SLope, or better call it the very first testing of the new HUD's made by Bingo Onomatopoeia for Wirxli's piece. We were running round the fountain at virtual Haidplatz and this piece sounds and looks very promising for coming AOM performances." - Miulew Takahe.

Here are 2 more pix and one extra hyperlink for an audio podcast below...

With this pic, you can get a more detailed look of some more of us wearing these parachute-like backpacks which are also part of Bingo's custom receiver-info HUD. So, when we play the coloured buttons on the left, our avatars will dance to the inflatable shape and colour of the morphing backpack...very kewl! Merce Cunningham, Stephanie Skura and Twyla Tharp, watch out! ;-)

Earlier in the day, we did a 2nd rehearsal of Miulew Takahe's "Rue Blanche" (2007). You can see his sine-tone performance HUD menus on the left. I think we have finally mastered the performance aspects of his piece now...yaaaay!

Here is Miulew Takahe's podcast audio recording of today's rehearsal of "Rue Blanche".

Please note that although the podcast says "Rue Blanche Rehearsal #4", I have posted this blog entry as my 3rd rehearsal with the Orchestra as I missed one of the rehearsals for this piece...sigh!

My first gig with the Avatar Orchestra Metaverse...

Video recorded by AngryBeth Shortbread. If you cannot see this embedded video, click here.

Here I am about to officially perform with the Avatar Orchestra Metaverse for the 1st time.You can see from my point of view that is was midnight and you can also see what the performance interface looked like from my perspective. The nametags above the avatars give you their names. DeThomas Dibou will be joining our group for the next performance.

Hey performance art and new music fans,

I have just literally finished performing my first concert with the Avatar Orchestra Metaverse at the Odyssey Ampitheater (Odyssey 104, 80, 22 are the stage coordinates)!

We performed a piece called "FADHEIT" which was composed by the group's founder Maximillian Nakamura.
In addition to Max and myself, the performers consisted of Bingo Onomatopoeia, Paco Mariani and Miulew Takahe.

DeThomas Dibou will be officially joining us as an orchestra player for our next performance but for now, he had to resort to listening to us from the sidelines.

There was great photo-documentation by Loop Luo!
She took a portrait of me, plus a group photo and more photos on Flickr.

Bryan Dix from the SL-Newspaper was also there so I expect to see a news report from him very soon.

Stay tuned for some more embedded Youtube video-documents of upcoming performances courtesy of AngryBeth Shortbread :-)

In the meantime, check out Miulew Takehe's audio podcast recordings of takes 2 & 3.

Wirxli joins the Avatar Orchestra Metaverse!

Wirxli tastefully presses some square musical triggers (buttons) as part of Maximillian Nakamura's unique in-world orchestral performance interface.

Hey performance art and performing art fans,

I have decided to go back to my roots and experiment with being a "performing artist" like the good ol' days of RL. I think this will be my only exception to my usual rule of being a puritan "performance artist" and not dabbling too much into that taboo realm known as the "performing arts".

Maximillian Namakura started this group called the "Avatar Orchestra Metaverse" and asked me to join. So, about 30 minutes after accepting his offer, I performed at my first rehearsal at the Odyssey Island Ampitheatre about 20 minutes ago. We will be playing next tuesday at 2 PM PST/SL time. We will not be playing for long - just one of Nakamura's own original compositions.

So basically, we play coloured buttons and follow a graphically notated score (conducted via a group IM session by Nakamura). The result is pure 20th Century era academic New Muzak ;-)

I tried to record video and audio for this rehearsal but my Camtasia screen capture software crashed me on...sigh! Maybe I should switch to FRAPS after all - I heard that software records audio and video at a much more reliable rate.

Here is an aerial view that I took of our rehearsal...

Clockwise from left-right: Xox Voyager, Maximillian Nakamura, Bingo Onomatopoeia, Wirxli FlimFlam (me) and Chi5 Shenzhou.

Here is an embedded video of the previous concert by the Avatar Orchestra Metaverse. This performance took place before I joined the group...

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 :-)

My Dorkbot SL Artist Talk with Ian Ah...

Official media release in The Ava-Star Issue #9.

RELATED NEWS LINKS:

Maximillian Nakamura's Self-Report on Dorkbot's 1st meeting in Second Life

Plurabelle Posthorn from Oslo reporting for the Virtual Artists' Alliance

Bryan Dix from Toronto reporting for the Second Life Newspaper

Sascha Pohflepp from Berlin reporting for "We Make Money Not Art"

Additional event pictures by Sascha Pohflepp can be found here.

Hey performance art fans!

I just had my very first official artist talk in Second Life yesterday.
I shared the talk with Ian Ah...

This was Dorkbot SL's very first in-world meeting in Second Life and was organized by Maximillian Nakamura. Ian and I were able to completely pack the venue(s) with plenty more avatar performance art fans lining up to get in...

For my brief 20 minute talk, I discussed my earlier avatar performance projects prior to Second Life and then talked about the formation of Second Front.

Check out the photos below...


To begin the event, we assembled at Max's Rhizomatic headquarters which acts as the home base for all Dorkbot events in Second Life. It was here where Max gave his slideshow and introduction to the first official Dorkbot meeting...


After about 15 minutes, we eventually brought the audience over to Ian Ah's Sky Lounge on Odyssey Island for the official artist talks. Ian Ah's Sky Lounge is inspired by the Ava-Bar created exclusively for The Avastar sim by Aimee Weber.


Here is a general view of the event just minutes before my talk was about to begin. You can see Ian Ah on the left conversing with Alan Dojoji about the possible questions and comments Alan was going to bring up at the end of my lecture...

Here is a photographed moment from the beginning of my lecture where I am showing the audience some early archival video footage of The Gates (Gateskeeper and Gatescrasher) from 2002.


This pic was also taken during my lecture. On the screen, is a video clip from Second Front's Danger Room rehearsal.

Ok ok, so I took alot of crowd-shots that look nearly identical to one another ;-)


I guess I must have began my lecture at right at the cusp of dusk because it was just a few minutes into my talk before night descended upon Odyssey Island.

Here is a side angle...

...and another side angle...

...and still another side angle (obsessive, I know)...

During Ian's lecture, he decided to open up his thoughts about the functionality of art media and academic transmission venues to the general audience for interactive consideration. And sure enough, there was a fair bit of commentary from the audience. Here is a thought-provoking statement by one of the first Second Life performance artists, Dancoyote Antonelli.

After the event had formally finished, we retired for a brief after-party at Ian's additional viewing lounge....

Special thanks to Sugar Seville and Pacino Hercules for their kind philanthropy in allowing events like this to happen :-)

RELATED LECTURE LINKS:

Personal blogs:

Irwin Ziiz ZW (alien avatar performance artist in the Moove/Roomancer community)

Roland Quagmire III (avatar curatorial project in the Moove/Roomancer community)

Voice of Fire (performance artist in Digitalspace Traveler)

Onto Distro's Journal (performance artist in Digitalspace Traveler)

Other personal projects:

AVATARA - First in-world documentary of an avatar community.

The Gates - The First Avatar Band and Performance Group in Digitalspace Traveler.
Additional Gates links: Scratchbook (Frankfurt), Techworlds (Seattle) and Raketa (Chiang Mai).

THM (The Hotmails) - First VoIPunk band. THM was formed with Alberto Guedea in 2005.

Historical links from the lecture:

Second Front - Pioneering Avatar Performance Art Group in Second Life.

Western Front - Vancouver New Media collective that inspired Second Front.

Intermedia - Vancouver New Media collective that became the Western Front. An example of a member of Intermedia is Gregg Simpson.

N.E. Thing Company - Early Vancouver New Media group brought up by Alan Dojoji during question period.

Outerspace - Open Space's history of prehistoric Telematic Art.

Announcement: Dorkbot Lecture in Second Life...

From Left-Right: Maximillian Nakamura, Ian Ah, Wirxli Flimflam (me) and Nyko Nakamura.

Hey performance art fans!

It has been publically confirmed! I will be officially giving an artist talk in Second Life to launch the first of many Dorkbot SL guest lectures. This semi-formal artist talk will take place on Sunday February 18th, 2007 - 2-3 PM PST.

The location for this event will primarily occur at Ian Ah's special movie screening lounge which is on Sugar Mountain (Odyssey Island) and directly below my PR office.

Maximillian Nakamura (Dorkbot SL founder) and Ian Ah will be the official hosts for the event.

I hope to see your avatar there :-)

Cheerios,
Wirxli Flimflam