Peoples Choice Vote: GRAND FINALE UWA 3D Open Art Challenge

The announcement below came to me via JJ at UWA and I'm passing it along in the event you hadn't heard about it yet.  This marks the end of the UWA 3D Open Art Challenge and give you the art patrons of Second Life the opportunity to participate in the event by making your selections known. After reviewing the list along with a stop at the site to see many of the pieces, I can guarantee  that it won't be an easy task. But it will be a fun one and the chance to see the work of some of Second Life's finest artists.

Greetings,

We've come to the end of the MONTHLY rounds of the UWA 3D Open Art Challenge and now we're looking for the People's Choice Grand Finale winners!!!!

To have your say in who you think should win, all you have to do is choose between the art pieces listed below.

There are two categories to be decided;

            *Overall Winner

            * Best Non Scripted Artwork

PRIZES FOR VOTERS

3 Lucky voters will win for themselves L$5,000, L$3,000 & L$2,000 respectively  + Special RL UWA packages posted out to you!

(Full Prize List at Bottom of NC)

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To make your vote count, we ask that you:

    * Submit a notecard entitled 'People's Choice Vote UWA (YOUR NAME)'

    * List your top 10 preferences for EACH category IN ORDER.

    * Send your entry to both Jayjay Zifanwe and FreeWee Ling by the 30th of November 2011.  

WINNERS WILL BE ANNOUNCED FROM 6AM SLT, SUNDAY 11th of December.

WHO CAN VOTE

1) Everyone can vote (with some qualification - see next item)

2) If you, your alts or your partners work is part of the Grand Finale, you will still be allowed to vote, but you cannot list your own work or that of your partner in your top 10

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FINALISTS FOR UWA 3D OPEN ART CHALLENGE (Please give me a Top 10)

The 59 finalists for UWA 3D Open Art Challenge. A list of the works in the running:

1. FLY WITH THE WIND by Josina Burgess

2. FOR YOUR VIEWING PLEASURE by Miso Susanowa

3. THE GLOWING SERPENT by Ginger Alsop

4. LAZER BALLS by Betty Tureaud

5. DREAM OF THE COLD SLEEPER by Typote Beck

6. IL PLEUT SUR MON COEUR COMME IL PLEUT SUR LA VILLE ("It's raining in my heart, as it's raining in the town") by Cherry Manga

7. TRAVEL IN THE SHADOW OF TECHNOLOGY by Anley Piers

8. PARANORMAL FROTTAGE by Misprint Thursday

9. THE ILLUSIONIST by Gleman Jun

10. LIGHT TOWER by Betty Tureaud

11. TURNING THE TIDE by Nish Mip

12. CHOOSE YOUR BLOSSOM by Suzanne Graves

13. SYMPHONY IN THE BARREL OF A GUN by Arrow Inglewood

14. PLANET CENSORED by Anley Piers

15. STRANGE PLANT...UGLYNESS & BEAUTY by Claudia222 Jewel

16. THE RHYTHM OF MOOD - Lea Supermarine & Jarapanda Snook

17. DIGITAL GLOVE by Misprint Thursday

18. THE WILD WILD WORLD OF ILLUSION by RazorZ  & Olga Soulstar  

19. THE MINOTAUR OF CARTON by Typote Beck

20. ALICE'S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND by Cherry Manga

21. SHATTERED by Ginger Alsop

22. THE FRAGILITY OF THE SOUL IS NOT A DEFECT by Gleman Jun

23. SPANISH BULL by Silene Christen

24. TROIS PETITS TOURS ET PUIS S'EN VA (Three little turns and it goes away) by  Josiane Sorciere

25. JUNGLE CHALLENGE by Dusty Canning

26. THE DOCK SPIRIT by Scottius Polke

27. ULTRA VIOLET by quadrapop Lane

28. THEATRE OF WAR by Miso Susanowa

29. VENUSTRAP by Claudia222 Jewell

30. ONE AND FOUR TIMEBOARDS by L1Aura Loire

31. UNE HORDE DE CORDES by Aristide Despres

32. 5x8 COMPUND CUBE by Wizard Gynoid

33. TIME AS A HELIX OF SEMI-PRECIOUS STONES by Miso Susanowa

34. THE HUMANICAL FROG by Lollito Larkham

35. HERE COMES THE SUN by Sledge Roffo

36. TV MORNING EXERCISES by Dusty Canning

37. PIUME DI PAVONE by Nino Vichan

38. DANGLING NARROW CHAIN DEMONSTRATOR by Emilin Nakamori

39. HARMONIES IN C GREAT (+) by Artistide Despres

40. NOT EVERYTHING IS PLAIN BLACK & WHITE by Fuschia Nightfire

41. LIVING FRACTAL by June Clavenham

42. THE MATTER OF IDEAS by Gleman Jun

43. THE SUPERHEROES BREAKFAST by Typote Beck

44. DOWN ON THE DATA FARM by Miso Susanowa

45. PETITE ETUDE SUR OLIVIER MESSIAEN by Artistide Despres

46. OMNIPOTENT by Pixels Sideways

47. THE CHASM by Oberon Onmura

48. EXCERPTS FROM REALITIES by Glyph Graves

49. THE ABANDONED DAUGHTER by Eliza Wierwight

50. YOU CAN'T TOUCH HEAVEN by paleIllusion

51. AUTUMN by nexuno Thespian

52. THE CROSSING by Nish Mip

53. FANTASIA EN LA SOMBRA by Romy Nayar

54. PRIMSCAPE DREAM by Sledge Roffo

55. 99% by Harter Fall

56. BLACK SHIRT by Misprint Thursday

57. IN DREAMS by Blue Tsuki

58. SWALLOWED UP BY THE CROWD by Fuschia Nightfire

59. L'IMPATIENCE by Josiane Sorciere

FINALISTS FOR THE NON-SCRIPTED (Please Give me a Top 10)

The 24  finalists for the Non-Scripted Imagine Challenge are located at the above LM. Here is a list of the works in the running:

1. THE COPPER BEECH by soror Nishi

2. LOSS by Gingered Alsop

3. MISS N by Suzanne Graves

4. DAUGHTER OF THE WIND by Fae Varriale

5. GECKO ON THE GEKKO by Yooma Mayo

6. SHATTERED by Ginger Alsop

7. THE FRAGILITY OF THE SOUL IS NOT A DEFECT by Gleman Jun

8. TRIBUTE TO GOYA by Silene Christen

9. MARIONETTE by Haveit Neox

10. HISTORY IN CREAM by Haveit Neox

11. FATA DANZANTE by Daco Monday 

12. SPATIAL by Sledge Roffo

13. SPRING BOX by Cherry Manga

14. TRUST by spirit Radikal

15. TUNNEL WITH LIGHT AT THE END OF IT by RazorZ

16. HURDLE by Corcosman Voom

17. BEHIND COLUMNS by Harter Fall

18. BIRDSONG by Cherry Manga

19. YOU CAN'T TOUCH HEAVEN by paleIllusion

20. STILL LIFE by soror Nishi

21. 99% by Harter Fall

22. THE REVOLT OF THE MANNEQUINS by Silene Christen

23. USED PIECES by Secret Rage

24. SMALL PIECE OF HELL, The Suicide Forest Infested by Harpias by Rebeca Bashly

PRIZE POOL

3 Lucky voters will win for themselves L$5,000, L$3,000 & L$2,000 respectively

Overall 1st Prize: L$100,000,  L$75,000 (2nd), L$50,000 (3rd), L$20,000 (4th), L$10,000 (5th) and L$5,000 each for 6th - 10th.

Non-Scripted 1st Prize L$15,000, L$10,000 (2nd),  L$5,000 (3rd), L$3,000 (4th), L$2,000 (5th) and L$1,000 each for 6th - 10th.

People's Choice 1st Prize (Overall): L$15,000, $8,000 (2nd), $5,000 (3rd)

People's Choice 1st Prize (Non-Scripted): L$8,000, L$5,000 (2nd), L$3,000 (3rd)

* With thanks to our sponsors, MidnightRain Glas, Philip Vought, Patch Thibaud, Aino  Baar and TheDove Rhode

Choices - An Immersive Art Installation at UWA

Earlier this evening I arrived at the site of the immersive installation "Choices", created by June Clavenham. It is one of a trinity of creations now at the Virtlantis. As I waited to fully rezz into the site, I clicked to open a notecard and read about this and the other two installations. This trio appears to be, judging from from JJ's notecard the last of the UWA Full SIM Art Series. He goes on to explain that, "All of this could disappear anytime after the 18th of August, as the SIM hosting the art series, will, like the isle of legend it is named after, disappear off the face of the multiverse." 

Second Life being second life, the site took an inordinate amount of time to rezz full and when it did, I found the virtual me standing inside a dark and large rectangular room. Directly in front me at the point of arrival is a set of immense doors with the word "Resistance" emblazoned on the floor in front of it. I used the right arrow key to spin my view and found three more doors. The next is labeled "Dreams" and then "Fears", with the last doorway called "Memories". 

Before I made a choice, I re-read June's statement about the installation in which she tells us that she believes, "Our choices are sometimes not the most wise, but they are the best we can do at a given moment, and at the end we will be able to find what brings kindness and peace to our hearts."  The statement brought a smile to my face and I decided that I would explore dreams first. So I started the virtual me off in that direction.

Before I clicked on the door however I released the arrow key and my avatar came to halt. "Maybe I should start with fears", I thought. Being the pragmatic kind of guy that I am, I'd generally thought that one should confront one's fears head on … the wrestling with demons that we all do, some more frequently  then others, but it is a shared human affliction.  So I spun around and started in the opposite track. As I neared that door however, out of the corner of my eye I spotted the word resistance and once again, my finger tip was raised from the arrow key as my avatar began it's iteration through the cycle of poses in the animation over rider.

"It is something that has taken many forms in my life … some of which had an external source but most often it appears to come from with in me", I thought. It was than that a memory popped into my mind of when I'd begun writing Lane's List nearly four years ago.  I had resisted writing for most of my adult life. It was a fear of not being good enough to be read … this is the devil I wrestle with most often.  I had prior to my arrival in Second Life, conveniently used that as my resistance to put my thought to paper. The memory of that first post I wrote came to mind. Not the subject, but the after I wrote it. I had clicked the button to post and then copied the link. Before I sent it out to my friends in second life, I put the virtual me at the bottom of the deep end of a virtual swimming pool where I hoped the water over and around me would cushion me from the criticism. As I started to receive instant messages from my readers, the resistance seemed to melt away rather quickly, they liked it.

Since then, I've written many posts for Lane's List, along with articles for the SL Newspaper, Avenue Magazine, Second Arts and one or two other publications. Many fond memories of the people and places the virtual me has met and seen.  The ding of an instant message arrived and took me out my reverie. I glanced at the clock and realized that I'd spent nearly thirty minutes here and all that I'd done is spin the virtual me around in a circle. With pleasant memories fresh in mind, I approached that door and raised a virtual hand to click on the door to enter.

Beside June's installation at Virtlantis, one can also see, "Immanentize The Eschaton" by CHUCKMATRIX Clip and "CHILDHOOD" by Silene Christen. But hurry before it vanishes  after the 18th of August. 

UWA Announces the Winners of the UWA 3D Open Art Challenge for July 2011

ARISTIDE IN HARMONY AS FUSCHIA TAKES FOUR: WINNERS OF THE UWA 3D OPEN ART CHALLENGE (JULY)

Aristide Despres creation, 'Harmonies in C Great (+)' whose power exudes a sense of grandeur has taken  the L$10,000 1st Prize for the July Round of the UWA 3D Open Art Challenge. Artee, as she is known, doubled the winnings as she also won the CARP Prize and the Nordan Art Prize. Fuschia Nightfire almost topped those winnings with 'Not Everything is Plain Black & White' by taking home 4 prizes and a total of L$17,500. She won Joint 2nd Prize, alongside June Clavenham & Gleman Jun, she also won the People's Choice Award as well as the Tornado Gallery and Pirats Group Prizes. Typote Beck with 'The Superheroes Breakfast' emulated a feat achieved only once before by taking out 3 Group Awards (Odyssey Prize, S&S Gallery OFA Prize & Project Z Prize).  An unprecedented night saw yet another creation take 2 Group Awards with Miso Susanowa's 'Down on the Data Farm' also gaining direct entry to the Grand Finale winning both The Workhouse & Art place d-oo-b Prize and the Phi Designs Prize. The Non-Scripted Prize also resulted in a tie with RazorZs 'Tunnel With Light at the End of It' deadlocked with Corcosman Voom's 'Hurdle', while Toughlove Sabra won the Curator's prize with the deceptive and surprising 'Inside A Troubled Mind'.

Full list of winners @ UWA Blog

July 2011 UWA 3D Open Art Challenge

The time is winding down for voting for your favorites at the July 2011 UWA 3D Open Art Challenge. I stopped in yesterday evening and wandered around for a few hours enjoying seeing as many of this months 73 entries as I could. For those who use twitter, you can see a list of the works that I viewed while there. I did speak briefly with Freewee Ling, UWA Curator who reminded me that the voting ends on the 1st of August at noon PDT/SLT with the awards announcement ceremony on the 3rd of August at 6 am PDT/SLT.

A list of the 73 artists and their pieces follow:

Vote for as many entries as you like, on a scale of 1 to 3. Note that ANY VOTE is a POSITIVE vote. If you don't like something, don't vote for it. It's important that you look at all the works and to vote for all the pieces that truly speak to you. You are, of course, welcome to encourage your friends to come see the show and to vote for their favorite pieces.  But please don't tell them to just come and vote for yours. It's about the art, not the artist!

1    Ally Aeon    Reflections

2    Anley Piers    Fantasy

3    Anley Piers    View of the past

4    Artistide Despres    Harmonies in C Great (+)

5    Asterion Coen    Caboose

6    Asterion Coen    Jupiter

7    Betty Tureaud    Magician hat

8    Cherry Manga    Eco Echo

9    Cherry Manga    Dotty Autoportrait

10    CHUCKMATRIX Clip     Windows to the Soul - Covet

11    CHUCKMATRIX Clip     Strength

12    Corcosman Voom    Hurdle

13    Daco Monday    Musico p

14    Daco Monday    Nudo al mare

15    Dekka Raymaker    Sole Survivor

16    Dekka Raymaker    Nude Descending a Staircase

17    Dusty Canning    Globalization

18    Earl Dinkin    Small Chair Under Big Chair

19    Faery Sola    Tiny Ivory Cell

20    Fiona Blaylock    Time flies

21    Frankx Lefavre    God is a Bullet

22    Fuschia Nightfire    Not Everything Is Plain Black & White

23    Gfresh Botha    On Reflection

24    Gfresh Botha    Spidercrab vs Zombiefish

25    Gingered Alsop    Welcome to our parlor

26    Gingered Alsop    Starforged

27    Giovanna Cerise    The armony

28    Gleman Jun    The matter of ideas

29    Jimmy Debruyere    Red Catastrophe on a Cocktail Pin

30    June Clavenham    Living fractal

31    Kolor Fall    Adjacent Lovers

32    Lollito Larkham     Aminima

33    Lollito Larkham     Go Ban et Luth

34    Mania Amat    Sl Molecules

35    Maya Paris    LightRoot

36    mcarp Mavendorf    Jack star

37    Milly Sharple    Lotus

38    Miso Susanowa    Vision Tree (Autumn)

39    Miso Susanowa    Down On The Data Farm

40    Moeuhane Sandalwood    Mommy told me to just try harder

41    Moeuhane Sandalwood    Redrock Miners @ Ant Vegas

42    Mudbug Cooperstone     Regeneration of Life

43    Nino Vichan    Four Medieval Scenes

44    Oldoak Merlin    Argusfrucht Gold

45    oona Eiren    Remote control

46    PeanutbuttahJellehTime Magic    A Bottle of Ideas

47    PeanutbuttahJellehTime Magic     My sister ate this

48    Penelope Parx    Two Crocodiles

49    Penelope Parx    thinking another me

50    Pinkpink Sorbet    Aleatoric

51    RazorZ    Tunnel with light at the end of it

52    RazorZ    4 speed art (8 Circuits on a pedestal)

53    Ronin1 Shippe    Trumpet Man (sculpture)

54    Sabine Stonebender    Crawling Upon the Wind

55    Sabine Stonebender    MacroScopic Plague

56    Secret Rage    Clouds

57    Secret Rage    Inundated (would you like fries with that?)

58    Silene Christen     Icarus flight: following our dreams

59    Sledge Roffo    Error Code 1.8

60    Spiral Silverstar    Art is Infinite

61    spirit Radikal     9.14 %

62    spirit Radikal     Baubles

63    Theda Tammas    My Pain

64    Thoth Jantzen    Great Balls o' Fire

65    Thoth Jantzen    World Egg of the Ogdoad

66    Toughlove Sabra    Right, left brain theater

67    Toughlove Sabra     Inside a Troubled Mind

68    typote Beck    The Superheroes Breakfast

69    typote Beck    Autoreverse

70    Tyrehl Byk    The Ego's Many Eyes

71    Ub Yifu    Child play

72    Vim Sims    Trumpet Man

73    zephyru Zapedzki    The Big Bang

A Conversation with Jayjay Zifanwe

I’d logged into Second Life early one morning, as I normally do before I leave for work. Ostensibly, it’s to collect messages along with any group notices all of which provide me a list of places to visit or people I would like to chat with when I return later in the day. While doing so on that particular day, I received an instant message from Jayjay Zifanwe who’d suggested that I relook at one of the entries from the recently concluded UWA III Machinima contest, “Twinkle’s Journey”. He’d simply said, “look for the hidden meaning”. I did and was surprised that I had missed the message. I felt badly that I had and doubly so for the creator Bay Sweetwater as the hidden meaning was a heart wrenching one. Jayjay and I chatted briefly afterward and I thanked him for calling my attention to it and then logged out. The next day, while I read through the blogs that I follow, I came across a post he’d written titled, “The Most Important Thing I Have Done in Second Life”. Early in the post he writes;

“I think these days, it is very hard to get below the surface with anything, to really know something or someone beyond the superficial exterior. News, happenings with acquaintances, friends, relatives sometimes go by in a blizzard of email, facebook and twitter posts. Many times we look, we read, we post, but we do not really see, we do not truly understand, nor do we really communicate. Sometimes though something happens that allows me to break through this fog... ”

I’d been introduced to Jayjay by White Lebed shortly after the University of Western Australia (UWA) formally became a part of the arts and educational community of Second Life in October of 2009. I do try and make frequent visits there to view the art submitted as part of the challenge, cast my vote and chat with friends and colleagues. Jay Jay Jegathesan (SL Name JayJay Zifanwe), is a Manager, School of Physics at the University of Western Australia and a winner of the Google Earth Build your Campus in 3D Competition. In Second Life, he manages the five SIM’s that comprise UWA’s virtual presence and of course which include the site of the UWA 3D Art & Design Challenge. Over time, UWA has hosted many special builds, including the works of artists such as Glyph Graves, Soror Nishi, Silene Christen and most recently Wizard Gynoid. Beside the promotion of UWA, Jayjay also works tirelessly at promoting the arts in Second Life through collaborative efforts with several of the major art houses in Second Life and he is also a member of the Linden Endowment of the Arts (LEA) committee.

A few days later, we exchanged messages once again and made arrangements to meet for this interview. I’d arrived early and ported over to the UWA sandbox. The Winthrop Clock Tower is right next to it and so I arrowed my virtual self in that direction. I checked the map and noted the presence of a dozen or so avatars scattered about the five UWA SIM’. I flew up and hovered near the clock. It all looked very familiar as I had seen it many times when I’d viewed the machinima that had been submitted. I had been asked by Jayjay to be part of the judge’s panel and while it had been a fair amount of work, I enjoyed it immensely. I was about to fly around to other parts of the SIM, when Jayjay had arrived in world. He messaged me and sent a teleport request. We met for this conversation at the platform which serves as the 3D Art Challenge. It was here that we’d often talked on most of my prior visits. We were surrounded by the art on display and it struck me that he stood amongst them much as a shepherd would his flock. We exchanged pleasantries and then began.

Nazz: I’d looked at your profile earlier and saw that you’d passed your second rezz day recently. I’m curious as to what is it that keeps you coming into Second Life every day?

Jayjay: Well, it’s the fact that the presence of the University of Western Australia has succeeded beyond what I had originally envisioned for it. We really wanted to build the campus initially, just a recreation of the plan and that’s what it would have been. But through serendipity, we’ve had successes in teaching with ongoing under grad and post grad programs, art, machinima, architecture, and a little bit of research as well.

Nazz: So it’s been a combination of things, your successes and experiences that have led you to grow the presence and take it forward into areas that maybe you hadn’t thought possible when you first came in to Second Life?

Jayjay: Yes, definitely. I mean like I hadn’t really walked into a an art gallery, well apart from the gallery at UWA itself in ten years or something like that … before agreeing at the drop of a hat to run the art competition, not having any experience at all in SL, not really knowing the art scene … and then deciding to do what has turned out to be the UWA 3D Art Challenge.

Nazz: What was your initial impression of the art scene in Second Life?

Jayjay: I've always had an interest in art because I'm a Pisces … I see in my profile that Pisceans really are supposed to have an affinity for art and I never found it before. So I guess it's finally found its voice. I mean you have a natural liking for art things which are beautiful and are able to capture the imagination. You're able to do that here … it's hard to explain to someone who doesn't kind of feel it … like you know it’s not like I'm an artist myself or feel like I'm a supporter of the arts or a patron of the arts or anything … in a sense though that's what's been happening.

Nazz: In the nearly two years since it began in Second Life, UWA has established itself as one of the premier venues in Second Life for showcasing art and artists. Was that what you were thinking when you first started the art challenges … to create a venue that entices artists to come here to learn, grow and experiment?

Jayjay: I had no idea what I was getting into or what I wanted. The very first event that we had was the launch of an astronomy art gallery in real life and in Second Life actually … of the space photographs of John Goldsmith. It was also the simultaneous launch of the first structure put on UWA land in second life, it was the physics building. We had that launch but two days prior to it, Professor Ted Snell asked what I could do for art to go along with the launch. He said he'd give us a small amount of funding for it … and I just said I could organize a yearlong art competition without thinking about it.

Nazz: I remember coming to one of the first competitions. It was a small space and it seemed like there were only twenty or so entries. What is the average number of entries now? 

Jayjay: At the moment, for the month of May it was seventy-eight. The average for a month is about seventy but it can range from fifty something to seventy something. We've also limited entries to two per artist. When we first started, the very first month I think there were twenty plus entries but one of the participants had eight art works in and another had six … so I think the actual number of artists for that first challenge was about twelve. I was really lucky I had the time and managed to get really prominent artists sending in works … like Alizarin Goldflake, Oberon Onmura  and Soror Nishi. 

Nazz: Where do you see the art challenge going and I'm leading you just a little because I did see where you're now collaborating with several of the leading art houses in Second Life … is that what you see as the evolution of the art challenge?

Jayjay: The collaboration was the evolution of the first year. We had the UWA 3D Art & Design Challenge and it was just UWA and we only had a UWA panel at the time. What I thought was that by the end of the first year we had grown big enough I guess to be noticeable to the art scene overall in SL. I didn't want the situation whereby other art groups were feeling that they were in competition with the UWA. The art groups really to be a force need to collaborate … that’s why the idea for it to be a collaboration came about. We're supposed to be gaining symbiotic energy from all this, as opposed to trying to outdo each other. That’s why this happened for the second year … whereby there are prizes given by these groups for whatever they've selected … and the interesting thing is almost all the time there is a whole range of different things being selected and that's what I saw in the first year as well. Each person … each artist and each judge has a different idea of what's the best and that’s why there are so many prizes as well. I'm going back to the question … what's the evolution. The 3D Open Art Challenge ends this year really. I don't know what I'm going to do beyond it. I don't think I have the capability or capacity to continue indefinitely … it was never the idea to continue the art challenges every month as a monthly challenge in perpetuity so it will end this year. What I do beyond that I'm not sure. We will have a major art event next year, it’s probably not going to be a monthly art challenge … maybe one larger art challenge in the middle of the year … and something like one large machinima challenge. What I do know is, we will definitely have and we've already started is the Machinima IV Challenge which is the Art of the Artists one. It's in a way a companion to 3D Open Art Challenge. There will be a Machinima V somewhere in the middle of next year. Beyond that I don't know. 

Nazz: On the topic of machinima, where did your interest start in that medium as art?

Jayjay: I didn't know anything about machinima except for seeing like one or two. I actually saw one by a UWA student as part of a class project he did for a second year school of business unit. Everyone was supposed to give a presentation at the end of the semester. The whole course was about business in second life. Everyone else was doing a powerpoint presentation … he did his presentation in the form of a machinima. I guess I saw that one and I thought it would be great if it was more focused … it started out really well ... It was just this kid who was doing it with no real experience. It had really great music and it started off showing the ability to learn in a virtual space and then it started to focus on free tee shirts and peacocks. It could have been so much more ... he did show a bit on education and a little about the arts.

Nazz: How did that evolve to become a machinima contest?

Jayjay: I had kept that idea in the back of my head and then White Lebed said I should run a machinima competition. She in fact contributed a small amount ... she didn't want me to tell people about it. But it's been long enough since then that I can actually say that she put in 5000 L$ for it and I added 5000 L$ and that’s how we started … 10000 L$ was the first prize pool for the UWA Machinima Challenge. For me to run it, I had to run it as a way to break through the real life and second life barrier. There is a difficulty with bringing second life to real life in a university setting and making people sit up and take notice and interest. So the first year challenge had the theme of showing off the art, architecture, research and teaching on the UWA SIM’. That sounds like an extremely exciting topic for a machinimatographer and that was the challenge for the 10000 L$ prize pool. I had no idea what it took to make a machinima and I found out through this … to make one minute of machinima takes 10 to 12 hours of work … so I realized the prize pool was completely inadequate … there were people telling me that we were trying to get a free advertisement for the university as opposed to running a machinima competition. I spent a lot of time with each of the machinimatographers for that round and to show them personally all the areas that I knew were important to be filmed and the reason why we were doing it … the background and the future. It was, I explained to them a weapon to actually bring in more funding to the arts in general and machinima ... and that was the hope and vision … the first challenge as a battering ram to break down this wall between RL and SL. Several of the judges … like the vice chancellor for the university … saw the entries by Cisko Vandeverre … ColeMarie Soleil … Chantal Harvey ... Iono Allen. The prize pool jumped up to 230000 L$ and so it succeeded in a spectacular way in breaking down that barrier. After that funding was provided for the second and third round … based on what happened with that first machinima challenge. It’s kind of freed me so we don't have to focus on UWA ... for example the third machinima challenge was journeys and they could do any journey they wanted but they had to incorporate Winthrop Clock Tower as part of the journey. They didn't have to focus a lot on it or didn’t even have to mention that it was part of the university … it just had to be part of the machinima and I think they did a brilliant job in bringing that forward and so the future challenges will have some aspect of UWA in it … but not having to do some song and dance about UWA to get it in.

Nazz: I do want to talk more about the recent contest, when you'd messaged me to have another look at Twinkle's Journey. I did and then a few days later I read your blog post which I thought very moving. One of your key points and one I think we can all relate to is how we don't often get to know each other as we're all so busy in our own lives. When you did recognize the message and in your conversations with Bay Sweetwater what was your reaction to that?

Jayjay: It makes you realize … it makes things real. Sometimes in second life you paper over the real life aspects. You don't really know the people and you don't know peoples motivation and I completely missed it. The first time when I saw that machinima, I didn't think Twinkle's Journey was Twinkle's Journey. It started out with a star, you got beautiful scenery and stuff then you didn’t see the star and I wondered why for a few seconds … why I didn't see the star … but I didn't really relate to it at all. I thought it was okay, but it was like a kids movie. In fact when I commented on the machinima I commented more on the art work within the machinima. Actually I thought the creations were good and that was the thing I could relate to. So when she won a prize for being a participant in the viewer’s event, a four way tie for 3rd place, which was good, I could have decided … should I only give the Lindens or should I give four books ... what would be good to do? I decided I would send the books. So when I said I would send the book, “100 Treasures of UWA”, she said donate it to a primary school. I was half thinking maybe … just in my mind as I was already preparing the packages … that it would have been just as easy to slip it in an envelope and send it off, as opposed to looking at how to donate a book to a primary school. But something in the back of my mind said that I should. I then called the school and I managed to get the principal straight away. I told him that there's been a donation … So I wrote to Bay that I'd organized donating the book to this school and if you'd like to give a message … and there was something strange about the message … it didn't sit right and so I asked if she'd like to give a different message, about why you're donating the book and that's when I went back to have a look at those words … “A childs journey to the stars, told by those of us who are left behind”. That's when the penny dropped, I did a search on Bay Sweetwater and that’s when I found the blog and she'd written on the blog that yes she had lost a child. I felt thankful that I had organized a school to be receiving this and thankful for the message and the way she wrote it and making me realize the background to it … from one of what was fifty machinima and one that in the end didn't win a prize, it became the headline in my mind almost as a post script to the whole challenge.

Nazz: After I viewed the machinima the second time, the thoughts and emotions stayed with me throughout the rest of the day. Then when I saw your post, I thought it was very moving. Thank you again for calling all of our attention to re-look at the machinima and the underlying story. 

Jayjay: Sure, that’s why the title of that post as well was the most important thing I've one in second life. Some people might look at other achievements or something of the overall university and it would be true I guess, but then to me I put this as the most important thing I've done. Because the blog is UWA's in SL, whenever I write for it, I never write like that … that was how I normally write , that’s my style … but I generally suppress it and write in an official kind of tone or official inflection … but for that one I had to drop all of that and write as I naturally would. 

Nazz: It was obvious that it came from your heart. Before I go, I wanted to thank you as well for asking me to be part of the judging panel. It was an enjoyable experience. When I looked at the twenty plus names of the panel members, I felt quite honored to have been included in such a distinguished body.

Jayjay: We’re glad to have you Nazz. It may be curious that there are as many on the panel and people may wonder why I do that. Like I’d discovered from the 3D Art Challenge last year … there is such diversity of opinion in arts … at giving a top ten list, it's really hard to award a winner. However, by doing it as an aggregate of all these judges the winners … the top two or three come out so easily out of the whole mix that its absolutely incredible for me to watch as the one who puts it together. 

Epilogue:

Two days after we’d met, he’d messaged me in world with, “Sharni Azalee has made an artwork in tribute of Twinkle & Bay Sweetwater”. I stopped in the next day to see it. There’s a small plaque on the piece, it says; “Love’s Eternal Inspired by Twinkle and Bay”. Do stop in to see it when you can.

UWA Launches the 3rd Machinima Challenge - MachinUWA III: Journeys

On Sunday, the 6th of February at 6 am PST/SLT, Jayjay Zifanwe will formally announce the launch of the "MachinUWA III: Journeys" at an event at the UWA site in Second Life. This will be the third challenge  in the series by UWA, one of the more prominent arts establishments in the virtual world of Second Life. Jayjay had given me a heads up about the challenge and Sundays event, when he'd dropped a preliminary version of the notecard announcement. He also said in IM, "That's our almost finalized NC for the new challenge, the only things changing will be peoples names on the judging panel or something like that". 

Much to my surprise and delight, it was two days later, when he'd  messaged me in world once again and asked, "Would you consider being one of the judges?"

I readily accepted and in reply said, "I'd be honored to do so."

Follow the links and you can read more about the MachinUWA III: Journeys (3rd UWA Machinima Challenge - 2011) prizes, timing  and rules. Also here's a link to an interview I did with Cisko Vandeverre, winner of the first UWA Challenge, for the SL Newspaper.

Grand Finale of the UWA 3D Art & Design Challenge

45 entries from around the world were received for the Machinima UWA II: Art of the Artists challenge which asked machinimatographers to capture and honor the artworks in the UWA 3D Art & Design Challenge. Winners of this challenge will be announced together with the winners of the Grand Finale of the UWA 3D Art & Design Challenge from 6am slt, Sunday 10th October at the 4-SIM, 200 seat UWA-BOSL Grand Amphitheatre. ALL entries are linked below, and on the website provided. Do take part in the AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION EVENT described below, where YOU can share in a L$5,000 prize.


Date & Time: 6 am SLT, Sunday, 10th October 2010
Location: UWA-BOSL Grand Amphitheatre (200 Seat)
Guest Speaker of Honour: Lumiere Noir (creator of the legendary Ivory Tower Library of Primitives)
Star Performer: Mommaluv Skytower
WEBSITE WITH ALL ENTRIES


PARTICIPATION EVENT for MACHINIMUWA II - Deadline Midnight SLT 7th October


L$5,000 has been set aside for SL residents and viewers who take part in a special participation event. We are asking all the residents of SL to give us your TOP 8 machinima, in order of your preference.


The 3 residents whose order comes closest to the final order decided by the judging panel (see end of NC for names of panel members), will win for themselves L$2,500, L$1,500 & L$1,000 respectively. The winner will be invited to be on the panel for MachinimUWA III.


Method of entry - List your top 8 in order of preference on a NC, and send to White Lebed and/or Jayjay Zifanwe. Please title the NC - MachinimUWA Audience Selection (your name)


ALL ENTRIES - IN NO ORDER WHATSOEVER


LASLOPANTOMIK YAO (Barcelona, Spain) - City of Art & City of Art II
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXHkkZXwalY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GrRHI6_vS_U&feature=player_embedded


PIA KLAAR (Brewster, Massachusetts, USA) - Art of the Artists: A Closer Look
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kE-SuGbx7yE


ED VESPUCCIANO (Ottawa, Ontario, Canada) - Lessons in Democracy
http://vimeo.com/14894926


BRADLEY DORCHESTER (Perth, Australia) - Art of the Artists
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3HzHUNREno


LAURINA HAWKS (Ulm, Germany) - UWA Art of the Artists : No Tomb for the Arts
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QsrZgMA8SNI&feature=player_embedded


GLASZ DE CUIR (San Sebastian, Spain) - MachinimUWA II: Art Theft done in Second Life
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZxwJJvdl8es
http://vimeo.com/15073702 (High Definition Version)


YESIKITA COPPOLA (Rotterdam, The Netherlands) - Inspiracion
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ubRVBll5muI


L1AURA LOIRE (Boston, USA) - CLICK, Immersive & Interactive Virtual Art
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Sf3Q2VAlKE


TUTSY NAVARATHNA (Frenchman in Pondicherry, India) - An Art Form is Born & Gladiator
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xr1JGXuXs_U&feature=player_embedded
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NF3WIJfvN1w&feature=player_embedded


LARKWORTHY ANTFARM (Tacoma, Washington, USA) - Freedom
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQ59KEzvPJA


ARCHIVIST LLEWELLYN (Lima, Ohio, USA) - Biological R/Evolutions
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndZi7W-kjBE


FUSCHIA NIGHTFIRE (Poole, Dorset, UK) - Adventures of a Cyborg Part II & Moonlit Heath
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tmSRirER49s
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ib_LxjvRgKw&feature=player_embedded


SPYVSPY AEON (Ottawa, Ontario, Canada) - I Am Not A Robot
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IXY12oCNxDQ&feature=player_embedded


BRYN OH (Toronto, Canada) - Art of the Artists
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9cLyeJ3_cs&feature=player_embedded


MEGAN MERLIN (Bavaria, Germany) - Wichtels Fantasy Fly
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2nnvg60xac&feature=player_embedded


RYSAN FALL (Enfield,Connecticut, USA) - MachinimUWA, Art of the Artist
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0XbX9b6Qs0


SUZY YUE (Sunnyvale, California, USA) - Across A Crowded Room
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ec8MAuK7fTU


MISSY RESTLESS (Santa Cruz, California, USA) - Yearning for the Sea & Quantum Matrix
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1TgtYzfVHg&hd=1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysDal1Q8ERE&feature=player_embedded


FAKE JEWELL (Cheshire, United Kingdom) - Song of Medusa
http://vimeo.com/14745121


PENUMBRA CARTER (Rural Midwest, USA) - University of Western Australia
http://vimeo.com/14994248


AIDAN WITRIAL (Munich, Germany) - MachinimUWA II : Art of the Artists & Shibas Dream
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGhczNdRX-o&feature=player_embedded
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGIdPy5O5Cs


APMEL GOOSSON (Stockholm, Sweden) - ROBOT - The Visit
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AB5NiND8h9s&feature=player_embedded


CHANTAL HARVEY (Maastricht, Holland) - Arts of Both Worlds
http://www.vimeo.com/15213371


NICOLEX MOONWALL (New Orleans, USA) - Silken Vortex, Frames, Balloons, Holophrasis, Kunst Der Fugue & two additional tributes to Einstein's Unfinished Symphony
http://vimeo.com/15045751
http://vimeo.com/15027044
http://vimeo.com/15046450

http://vimeo.com/15149068

http://vimeo.com/15149827
http://vimeo.com/15146141
http://vimeo.com/15148453


KAFKA MOODY (New York, USA) - Aphrodite Visits
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YcfKbPFA7wA


EIFACHFILM VARCIRCA (Zurich, Switzerland) - The Abyss, Natural Energy, The Sandman & The Deep
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifpSfHx9YRU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40IpFCAhgng
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hveWvvKlj8U
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZLPTkR-VKo


MINDBLIND SETSUKO (Bologna, Italy) - Escape from the Art Gallery
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iohfTj65FiY


ROHAN FERMI (Stuttgart, Germany) - Order in Chaos
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tO8phE2-rMA


HYPATIA PICKENS (Rochester, New York, USA) - Hyperreal
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DwloFzqLMAQ


ABDULLAH YAZIMOTO (France) - Untitled (September the 18th 1984)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAqAJnr--ys


FRIDAY SIAMENDES (Calabasas, California, USA) - Virtual Vaccuum

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3tcH-p5j7EI


THEME OF MACHINIMUWA II - Art of the Artists: Create something that will take our breath away


THE CHALLENGE
Create a Machinima of between 2 and 5 minutes in length (recommendations only - is not a criteria) that features some of the winning artworks from the UWA 3D Art & Design Challenge. There are more than 35 artworks spread across 4 floors, and you can choose to film as many (or as few) as you like. You can view the artworks at the following location and vote for your favorite artworks & building designs.


JUDGING PANEL
1. Professor Ted Snell (RL) - Director, Cultural Precinct, The University of Western Australia
2. Dr Carmen Fies (RL) - Second Life Lead: University of Texas San Antonio
3. quadrapop Lane (SL) - Curator of the UWA 3D Art & Design Challenge
4. White Lebed (SL) - Lead of Burning Life Art Department, Curator
5. Jayjay Zifanwe (SL) - Owner of The University of Western Australia (SL), Creator & co-host of the UWA 3D Art& Design Challenge
6. Iono Allen (SL) - Official Machinimatographer of the UWA 3D Art & Design Challenge
7. Cisko Vandeverre (SL) - Reigning UWA MachinimUWA Champion
8. Dr Kim Flintoff (RL) - Lecturer, Instructional Design, Centre for eLearning, Curtin University of Technology, Australia
9. LividEye Yoshikawa (SL) / John Yap (RL) - Senior Media Producer, National University of Singapore
10. Michelle Glaser (RL) - Senior Project Officer, Department of Culture and Arts, Government of Western Australia
11. Ian Booth (RL) - Chief Executive Officer, Screen West, Western Australia
12. Raphaella Nightfire (SL) - Snr Writer Best of SL Magazine, Owner Sanctorum Gallery (SL)


PRIZE POOL: L$200,000
1st Prize $L70,000
2nd Prize $L50,000
3rd Prize $L30,000
5 Honourable Menton prizes @ L$10,000
With thanks to LaPiscean Liberty, Taralyn Gravois, quadrapop Lane and Bohemian Ghost

AUGUST WINNERS OF THE UWA 3D ART & DESIGN CHALLENGE

Press Release:

103 entries of the highest quality to the final August round of the UWA 3D Art & Design Challenge, and what happens?

Nish Mip's powerful and enveloping piece, THE LAST OCEAN takes the top prize (L$5,000) making it an unprecedented 3rd time she has won First Prize for the IMAGINE Challenge breaking a tie with Bryn Oh & Igor Ballyhoo, both of whom won the Challenge twice. Lee Supermarine and Eliza Wierwight shared honours in taking 2nd Prize. In the FLAGSHIP Challenge, Herick Straaf narrowly beat 5 time champion Nyx Breen to take the top prize for a 2nd time. Jesse Keyes, Alizarin Goldflake & soror Nishi picked up L$6,000 each in winning Legacy Awards for their work across the year for the IMAGINE Challenge, while Nyx Breen took home the Legacy Award for the FLAGSHIP Challenge.

The final month of this year long L$600,000 challenge, August saw a record shattering 103 submissions to the IMAGINE challenge with 6 Flagship Builds pushing the total across the year to 841 entries from more than 300 artists and builders. 6 of the 7 continents of the world are represented as entrants hailed from Venezuela, Belgium, Mexico, Wales, Canada, the USA, the UK, Uruguay, Scotland, England, Spain, Switzerland, Italy, France, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Denmark, Holland, Ireland, Portugal, Austria, Cuba, Serbia, Tunisia, Germany, Japan, New Zealand and Australia.

Commenting on the win, Nish said, "My thanks go to Jayjay and quad for putting so much work in to organising these competitions. They deserve the biggest round of applause for their efforts and to everyone else involved through support and sponsorship in whatever way and that includes the artists, judges, and the people who come along to look and appreciate this great boost for second life art. I really feel proud to have taken part in these competitions. I only came looking for a sandbox to finish my Butterfly house off, but I think everyone in whatever life they have wants to feel that they have a purpose and I'd like to make a special thank you to JJ for spotting something that I hadn't realised I had and am still even now finding hard to believe. I can only put my success down to being a bit of a perfectionist and never being satisfied with what I've done. Perhaps that helps, I don't know, but these competitions have definitely paved a way forward for me that I really appreciate. Thank you everyone who's made that possible. I know with the dedication that the UWA in SL has put in to the virtual art world they will go from strength to strength and I very much look forward to the coming years and to hopefully participating with UWA in making our second lives so much richer. I love you all. "

In acceptance, Legacy Award winner Jesse Keyes said, "I am honored that i managed to hang on long enough to receive the UWA Legacy prize.

It's been a long year and I look forward to making and entering more contest builds in the up and coming year. I would like to thank all the people that have worked on setting up the contest and to Jay Jay Zifanwe for putting bugs in my ears on when the build is due (they were real bugs). Thanks again UWA for hosting such a great event". She emoted, "gets drunk and falls off the podium, waves to everyone, uses trophy to crack walnuts."

soror Nishi, fellow Legacy Award winner, and winner of the Honourable Mention Prize for JOY for August, with 'Dotty the Dragon' chimed in, "It's a great thing to feel that what you try to do as an artist, that what you try to 'say' has been understood. An award is like someone saying 'yes, soror, I agree'..and it makes it possible to go on creating, trying to express difficult 'stuff'."

The biggest winner on the night in terms of the number of awards won was Eliza Wierwight, whose cleverly named entry, THE SATIRICAL POLEMICIST won the 2nd overall IMAGINE prize (L$3,000), 2nd Prize in the People's Choice Award (L$500) as well as the Rain Prize (L$1,000). "What an interesting journey from working in isolation for such a long time, then the genuine feeling that I am a part of the Arts Community family in Second Life as I do now. I'm smitten. While I'll know I will always seek time to get delightfully lost in the process of creation in seclusion, it's a reaffirming joy when I head back to shore to find such warm welcome as has been expressed in these awards I've been honored with today. If I was to say that a position in the People's Choice is like an embrace, then the Imagine Challenge Prize and the Rain Prize on top of that had me floored with delight. My huge and genuine thanks to the SL Community , the University of Western Australia, my precious friends, my muse , the delightful Miss Q (quadrapop Lane) and the genuine and astounding Jayjay Zifanwe whom I am still honing an ever developing artistic temperament on just for the sheer amusement of it. Again, for everything, my sincere thanks."

The Non-Scripted IMAGINE prize was won back to back for the first time every, by prim wizard nessuno Myoo with THE UNICORN WOOD EDITION. "I'm really happy and I want thank all for the great opportunity to show my works alongside all this masterpieces. For me it is a great honor." Only he and soror Nishi have more than one piece in the reckoning for the Non-Scripted Grand Prize.

Corcosman Voom, who won an Honourable Mention for the Legacy Award (L$4,500), also took the Bohemian Ghost Prize (L$1,000 + 600 prims on the Summerland SIM). "I was very pleased to have been awarded an Honourable Mention UWA Legacy prize and The Bohemina Ghost prize in this, the final round, of the UWA 3D Art & Design Challenge. It has been my pleasure to be able to exhibit my art this past year in the company of work by so many talented artists. I am very grateful to UWA and everyone associated with the Challenge for the opportunity it has given to so many people. Most of all, I appreciate the dedication and hard work Jayjay and quadrapop have put into making this project a success. Thank you both for making this a great year."

A paradigm breaking piece called 'ANTARCTICA - AN INDIVIDUAL EXISTENCE' by Glyph Graves won the Honourable Mention Prize for Second Life Wizardry. This must see work, uses real time data from weather stations in Antarctica to create an enchanting symphony of sound and light. The technical expertise required to create such a work is mind-boggling.

Gleman Jun was also a multiple award winner as his 'STOP FEAR' won the People's Choice Award as well as the Honourable Mention (HM) Prize for Emotion. Other award winners included Oberon Onmura (Legacy Award HM), Oldoak Merlin (Casey Prize & FLAGSHIP HM), Blue Tsuki (HM Prize for Immersion), Gingered Alsop (HM Prize for Scripting Magic), Pinkpink Sorbet (Anton Mesmer HM Prize).

Joining the extended judging panel for the Grand Prize are art philanthropist & founding patron of UWA-BOSL Amphitheatre, Phillip Vought, Paisley Beebe, CEO of Perfect World Productions TV and Jopsy Pendragon, creator of the Particle Laboratory Learning Centerhave who have all stepped in to take the place vacated by M Linden. They will have the entire month of September to make their decisions.

UWA is grateful to Bohemian Ghost and the Summerland Estate for raising L$33,000 which was put toward the Legacy Awards. Bohemian Ghost will also be part sponsoring the People's Choice Award for the Grand Finale, along with the Residents of Artemesia who have been sponsoring the monthly People's Choice Awards.

The Grand Prize Round is now open, and there is a People's Choice Vote for this. There has been a beed over the past few weeks to rezz all the past winning flagships across the grid. We would like to acknowledge all those who have given up valuable prims and space to allow UWA to put up these flagships till the end of the voting period which is the 30th of September. They include Caren McCaw & Nyx Breen (of the Annapurna SIM), Dijodi Dubratt (Toor), quadrapop Lane (Poorlatrice), Kip Yellowjacket (Virtlantis), Lilli Field (Mysten), Phillip Vought (Acquitaine), Cuwynne Deerhunter & Eliza Wierwight (Patron) and the Linden Endowment for Arts (LEA).

This is the first time LEA land is being used and opened up to the public. One SIM of the LEA cluster has been opened up for this purpose.

The machinima challenge, MachinimUWA II: Art of the Artists, is ongoing, and closes on the 20th of September. & works have come in thus far from Tutsy Navarathna,spyvspy Aeon, Bryn Oh, Megan Merlin, Missy Restless and Yesikita Coppola. These Machinima feature the works that have been entered across the year to the UWA 3D Art & Design Challenge. They are all linked on the blog http://www.uwainsl.blogspot.com/.

WINNERS OF THE AUGUST ROUND OF THE UWA 3D ART & DESIGN CHALLENGE

IMAGINE CHALLENGE - 3D ART

LEGACY PRIZE (IMAGINE): $L6,000

Alizarin Goldflake

soror Nishi

Jesse Keyes

LEGACY PRIZE (FLAGSHIP): $L6,000

Nyx Breen

LEGACY PRIZE (Hon Mention): L$4,500

Oberon Onmura

Corcosman Voom

Imagine Challenge 1st Prize: ($L5,000 + Custom T-Shirt)

THE LAST OCEAN by Nish Mip

Imagine Challenge 2nd Prize: ($L3,000) JOINT

THE SATIRICAL POLEMICIST by Eliza Wierwight &

WHAT A WONDERFUL WORLD by Lea Supermarine

Best Non-Scripted Entry: ($L3,000 + Custom T-Shirt)

THE UNICORN WOOD EDITION by Nessuno Myoo

FLAGSHIP CHALLENGE - BUILDING DESIGN

Flagship Challenge 1st Prize : ($L5,000)

CONCEPT BUILDING FOR AXS LAB by Herick Straaf

Flagship Challenge 2nd Prize: ($L3,000)

UWA AXS LAB by Nyx Breen

Flagship Honourable Mention Prize: (L$1,000)

Oldoak Merlin

Honourable Mention Prize for EMOTION (L$1,000)

STOP FEAR by Gleman Jun

Honourable Mention Prize for SECOND LIFE WIZARDRY (L$1,000)

ANTARCTICA - AN INDIVIDUAL EXISTENCE by Glyph Graves

Honourable Mention Prize for JOY (L$1,000)

DOTTY THE DRAGON by Soror Nishi

Honourable Mention Prize for IMMERSION (L$1,000)

THE DEEP by Blue Tsuki

Honourable Mention Prize for SCRIPTING MAGIC (L$1,000)

QUANTUM MATRIX by Gingered Alsop

THE ANTON MESMER Honourable Mention Prize (L$1,000)

PARTLY ANTSY CHAMBER by Pinkpink Sorbet

The RAIN PRIZE (L$1,000) - Established for one of the Founding Patron of the UWA 3D Art & Design Challenge

THE SATIRICAL POLEMICIST by Eliza Wierwight

CASEY PRIZE - JULY (L$4,000)

BLACK SWAN by Oldoak Merlin

THE BOHEMIAN GHOST PRIZE (L$1,000 + 600 Prims on the Summerland SIMM for at least 3 months)

THE AERIALIST by Corcosman Voom

PEOPLE'S CHOICE AWARD - 1st prize (L$1,000):

STOP FEAR by Gleman Jun

PEOPLE'S CHOICE AWARD - 2nd prize (L$500):

THE SATIRICAL POLEMICIST by Eliza Wierwight

FREEWEE WINS IMAGINE, NYX & HERICK SHARE HONOURS: JUNE WINNERS OF THE UWA 3D ART & DESIGN CHALLENGE

A brilliant and mesmerizing piece by FreeWee Ling, VERTICAL SPIRAL KALEIDOSCOPE has taken top art honors (L$5,000) for the JUNE Round of the UWA 3D Art & Design Challenge! The FLAGSHIP (Architecture) Challenge went down to the wire, and in the end, the builds of Nyx Breen and Herick Straaf could not be separated as the judging panel were hopelessly deadlocked, thus resulting in the first ever joint winners for the FLAGSHIP Challenge. Herick a first time winner, and Nyx coming in with an incredible 5 wins across the 10 months of the challenge! Nicci Lane took 2nd Prize in the FLAGSHIP.

Concluding month 10 of this year long L$550,000 challenge, June saw 68 amazing artworks and 7 Flagship Builds submitted by artists hailing from all corners of the globe, including by a number legendary SL builders.

Commenting on the win, FreeWee said, "I am just astounded at this prize. The June round had some of the most amazing work yet seen, including many pieces by some of the true greats of SL. Artists who have truly inspired me for a long time. To win first place in this field of entries is truly humbling.  I was amused to see several kaleidoscopic pieces in this round. The nature of SL prim building lends itself to recursive forms like that. It's not hard to create interesting forms. But I admit my discovery of the effects of gravity on rotating flexible prims was a happy one. There is almost and organic quality to the piece as the parts spin and dance."

South American winner Herick Straaf was left stunned, " First, I have no words to describe my delight at winning this competition. It is an honor, since it's my first participation in the UWA Flagship challenge. I would like to thank everyone who gave me this vote and all of the jury and also to Keystone Bouchard who sent me a notecard about this contest.  As a Brazilian, I have great affection for the people, culture and Australian architecture. The moment I heard about the contest, I became interested in researching more about Western Australia, and one of the first great impressions was the Stirling Park Ranges, which gave me the start to my building, so I made a reduced version with high-technology style of the Bluff Knoll peak. I am very pleased and honored to have had this recognition, and from now on will be tuned to the forthcoming events of UWA. My sincere thanks to everyone who recognized the work."

Another first time entrant Takni Miklos won a host of prizes with her piece, Sierpinsky Sieve, taking the newly established Rain Prize, joint 2nd Prize in the People's Choice Award, and also joint 2nd Prize in the IMAGINE Art Challenge.

MidnightRain Glas, one of the founding patrons of the UWA 3D Art & Design Challenge and after whom the Rain Prize is named, explained, "It's very interactive, it tempts you to disobey the instructions, and you know you will, and so the artist.... is very clever and takes advantage of human weakness"

Takni herself was thrilled at the outcome, "I came to SL to chat and I didn't discover that you can build things here until a  year later. Now I'm discovering that other people like my things, and I'm VERY surprised. Thanks to all."

The exquisite MEDUSA'S GAZE, masterfully crafted by pravda Core took the prize for Best Non-Scripted entry, and will prove very hard to dislodge in coming rounds. He's thrown down the gauntlet, and submitted his pieces for July already (The Vampire Heritage & The Minotaur's Wrath).  A believer in the wonders SL can offer, pravda said, "nothing is impossible, dream, believe, be inspired and make it happen."

It was truly a month for joint awards, as EINSTEIN'S UNFINISHED SYMPHONY (Gleman Jun) and A BEAUTIFUL SOUL PASSES (Jeri Rahja) were joint 2nd Prize winners in the IMAGINE & PEOPLE'S CHOICE Awards respectively.

MUSIC OF THE SPHERES by Lea Supermarine & Jarapanda Snook also won a couple of awards taking first Prize in the People's Choice as well as the "Honorable Mention Prize for A BRIEF HISTORY OF EVERYTHING".

There were 5 Honorable Mention Prizes in all, with the others being won by Madcow Cosmos, Abstract Baroque, Silene Christen and Theoretical Afterthought.

Theoretical Afterthought put it very nicely when she said, "Recognition of someone's creative attempt to describe a feeling or emotion through the use of uncomplicated building blocks signals some degree of success, albeit temporary, for its creator.  Being at the receiving end of that recognition for creation of The Panopticon is very cool, indeed.  This being a build based on surveillance, on watching, on gazing, of one's physical  depiction or that of others, I have to wonder what it signals to the spectator.  It is that connection, that relationship that develops between the idea of the creator, and how the spectator receives it, that intrigues and challenges me. As a lifelong student of identity, introspection /self-reflection is always at the forefront of all my work."

Some other exciting developments with the UWA presence were announced at the awards ceremony.

First of all  the Residents of Artemesia, through FreeWee Ling,  have stepped in to help run a UWA 3D Art & Design Challenge Trophy Contest, to create a Trophy that will be given to all winners of the UWA Challenges. The creator of the best trophy, that we select to use, will win a  L$3,000 prize. The closing date for submissions of the trophy design is the 31st July 2010. Basically no scripts are allowed for the trophy, and the limit is 10 prims. There are notecards available here ( http://slurl.com/secondlife/UWA/64/136/250 ) for anyone who might want to help design a trophy.

The Rain Prize was also established. This is a special prize of L$1,000 offered by one of the founding patrons of the UWA 3D Art & Design challenge. This Rain Prize winner will be selected by the patron and provided for the June, July & August rounds.

We also had the Second Life Birthday #7 (sl7B) happen and UWA were represented by a lovely build by quadrapop Lane which was dedicated to the 180++ SL residents who have taken part in UWA events.  There was a talk at sl7b which described all the "Unexpected Collaborations" that have driven the growth of the UWA presence. (http://uwainsl.blogspot.com/2010/06/unexpected-collaborations-uwainsl-and.html)

Thanks was given to the master machinimatographer Iono Allen who created the Machinima of the May winners ( http://vimeo.com/12891162 ). His works have been much sought after, and his amazing interpretation of the winners will be sorely missed for the June round winners as Iono goes away holiday. We are lucky however to have another very accomplished machinimatographer Suzy Yue, to pick up the reins for the June winners! Big boots to fill. But if anyone can fill them, Suzy can.

WINNERS OF THE JUNE ROUND OF THE UWA 3D ART & DESIGN CHALLENGE
IMAGINE CHALLENGE - 3D ART

Imagine Challenge 1st Prize: ($L5,000 + Custom T-Shirt) VERTICAL SPIRAL KALEIDOSCOPE by FreeWee Ling

Imagine Challenge 2nd Prize: ($L3,000)  JOINT EINSTEIN'S UNFINISHED SYMPHONY by Gleman Jun & SIERPINSKY SIEVE by Takni Miklos

Best Non-Scripted Entry: ($L3,000 + Custom T-Shirt) MEDUSA'S GAZE by pravda Core

FLAGSHIP CHALLENGE - BUILDING DESIGN

Flagship Challenge 1st Prize :  ($L5,000) JOINT CONCEPT BUILDING FOR AXS LAB by Herick Straaf & UWA AXS LAB  by Nyx Breen

Flagship Challenge  2nd Prize: ($L3,000) JUNE UWA FLAGSHIP by Nicci Lane

Honorable Mention Prize for PHILOSOPHY (L$1,000) TA PANOPTICON  by Theoretical Afterthought

Honorable Mention Prize for SOUL (L$1,000) THE LAND OF FORGOTTEN THINGS by Selene Christen

Honorable Mention Prize for A BEAUTIFUL MIND (L$1,000) IMAGINE by Abstract Baroque

Honorable Mention Prize for ELEGANCE (L$1,000) THE FORGE OF DREAMS by  Madcow Cosmos

Honorable Mention Prize for A BRIEF HISTORY OF EVERYTHING (L$1,000) MUSIC OF THE SPHERES by Lea Supermarine and Jarapanda Snook

The RAIN PRIZE (L$1,000) - Established for one of the Founding Patron of the UWA 3D Art & Design Challenge SIERPINSKY SIEVE by Takni Miklos

PEOPLE'S CHOICE AWARD - 1st prize (L$1,000): Lea Supermarine & Jarapanda Snook - Music of the Spheres

PEOPLE'S CHOICE AWARD - 2nd prize (L$500): Joint Prize Takni Miklos - sierpinsky sieve jeri Rahja - A beautiful Soul Passes