Australia Council announces first in-world artists forum
July 5, 2007
The Australia Council certainly can’t be accused of not howing interest in Second Life as a means of artistic expression. Last week we reported on the ‘matchmaker’ service for artists and musicians working in Second Life. Now, in conjunction with the ABC they’ve announced an artist forum for the 12th July:
“The in-world event, to be moderated by ABC’s Sunday Arts reporter/producer Fenella Kernebone, is for the Australia Council’s inaugural Second Life artist residency.
In an open forum at 7pm (EST) on ABC Island, Paris-based artist and architect Brad Kligerman - one of the first artists in Second Life to complete an in-world residency - will present his work, discuss ideas and answer participants’ questions.
Brad, an architect and teacher, completed his 11-week residency with US-based Ars Virtua , a new media centre and gallery in Second Life, where he questioned the idea of materiality in the rendered environment and the nature of image.
Australia Council chief executive officer Kathy Keele said the partnership with the ABC was a great fit with the Australia Council’s Second Life initiative. ‘The ABC was the first Australian media organisation to establish a presence in Second Life and we are excited about working with them on this project.’
‘We hope that Australian artists gain valuable insight from Brad Kligerman’s successful art interventions in Second Life and that they will be inspired to create innovative works in-world that will place them at the forefront of this groundbreaking practice,’ Kathy Keele said.
The Australia Council has also set up an artist’s forum in Second Life for artists looking for other artists with whom to collaborate. The moderated artists forum can be found at ABC Island and the Australian Film, Television and Radio School (AFTRS) Island, Esperance.”
Like any event, places are limited so drop an email to slrsvp@ozco.gov.au with your Second Life Avatar name. The event will be streamed live at a location to be announced and and a vodcast . A vodcast of the event will also be available on the ABC Sunday Arts website . Sunday Arts screens at 5.00pm on… Sundays.
For more information on Ars Virtua and Brad Kligerman visit www.arsvirtua.com.
Popularity: 11% [?]
Second Fest
June 30, 2007
Second Fest is on this weekend and it’s very Australia-friendly with Day 2 kicking off around 9pm AEST (4am SL time). The rumours about an avatar appearance of the Pet Shop Boys are probably nothing more than that, but hey those guys were avatars fifteen years before SL so it’s an obvious fit.
The Intel sims are spacious to say the least with multiple viewing locations:
Popularity: 6% [?]
International Technology Expo 2007
April 19, 2007
Over the next three days SL will be host to the International Technology Expo - 2007. It opens on Friday April 20, at noon PDT (April 21st at 5.00am Australian EST).
The organisers have billed it as “showcasing the most innovative in technology products and services created by its residents for business and personal needs.”
The full listing of expo scheduled events has been posted but along with the technology focus there should be a few visitors dropping in for the concert events (in Australian EST):
April 21 Midday Concert - John Legend
April 22 Midday Concert - Black Eyed Peas
The event has an aussie connection in one of the major sponsors, Melbourne headquartered, Cattle Puppy Productions.
UPDATE: final confirmation of John Legend and Black Eyed Peas is pending.
Popularity: 4% [?]
JJ’s Coffee Bar - Music Streaming Evolution
April 16, 2007
Remember Happy Days, the iconic American program of last millennium?
It started off with a shot of a jukebox playing a record of the program’s signature tune. Throughout the past 100 years or so the idea of people listening to, talking about and enjoying music has been a mainstay of modern culture.
One of the issues confronting SL is the provision of content and it may be through the medium of music that the content void may be filled in these early innovative and developmental days.
Take, for instance, JJ’s Coffee Bar.
JJ’s currently streams music from the UK, The USA and Australia.
The owner, Jeremy Jorda, has chosen to use Triple J as his Australian choice of provider. And, whilst there may be some question of copyright issues there can be little doubt that music, and radio programs in general, are an easily executed content source for areas in SL.
The question may not be whether the radio stations listed at JJ’s Coffee bar have an issue with such online provision of content, but whether they can afford not to be part of the developing medium. After all, many radio stations already embrace apps like MP3 streaming through iTunes radio or Real Player, and Windows Media Player. Venues such as JJ’s Coffee Bar are the obvious next step in that evolution.
Popularity: 3% [?]
Making real music in real time
April 10, 2007
I was pointed to a fascinating blog post - a Tokyo-based artist, Lance Shields is the real-life alter ego of both Andres Watanabe and Juria Yoshikawa. He’s developed Sound Station 1.0 - there’s a streaming video on his site.
If you watch the video, the Sound Station has obvious uses for musicians or other performance artists in-world. We’ve dropped Andres a line to find out more, watch this space. Anything that takes virtual music performance beyond streaming is a big step forward.
Popularity: 4% [?]
Guitar Lessons Anyone?
March 2, 2007
Nickeax runs a small Australian music enterprise in SL called Guitars Australia.
A visit to the SL store will enable any young or young at heart rocker to outfit themselves with a variety of Marshall amps and Gibson Explorer Mark II style guitars. The Marshall pack includes a Marshall JCM800 100w head and 2 Marshall JCM 1960 cabinets.
Once kitted out you can wander over to the Guitar Australia website to start your education in the world of guitar playing. And, of course no guitar player can go without the obligatory Stairway to Heaven treatment, which is found in the “classic solos explored” section of the website.
Another plus is it should enable a less ear assaulting barrage compared to a real life garage session. If only Nickeax sold drum kits for those of us that can’t read music!
Popularity: 3% [?]
Australia’s first major SL music event on the horizon
February 27, 2007
The Austrade Music Office in conjunction with Cattle Puppy Productions are holding Australia’s first large-scale music event in SL. It’s called the “The Hoe-Down Under - Texas’ Aussie Music Party” and is coinciding with the South by Southwest Music and Media Conference 2007
The online event will occur on the 15th of March 2007 at 1:00pm to 4:00pm Australian Eastern Time on March 15. Bands scheduled to appear include The Beasts Of Bourbon, You Am I, Youth Group, Airbourne, Dallas Crane and more. Sydney-based vocal group Kaya will also perform (pictured below)
The “The Hoe-Down Under” will digitally recreate an island beach atmosphere with two stages, a dance area, swimming, jet ski rides, hot air balloons and more.
Popularity: 10% [?]
