Amy Freelunch makes a welcome return to broadcasting in the first of her monthly shows for Soup Radio. She begins by talking about the Miami Art Fairs and her new projects there, the history and issues surrounding ArtNation, and pays a visit to the Caerleon Museum of Identity in Second Life.
Arahan Claveau introduces a two hour conversation with guests Jane Vippond and Allan Stanley Taylor and their recent visit to Burn2, he responds to some of the topics raised in Amy's show, a mini review of the film Trash Humpers, Simon Fujiwara's Frozen at Frieze Art Fair, and The Gate at Odyssey.
Penumbra Carter has a conversation with friend Molly Cybertar, a RL/SL artist, the discussion includes Penumbra’s recent experience with the 48Hour Film Project, Molly’s making of her first machinima, the Lunar Society art critique group, and how their work has been influenced by participation and social interactions in Second Life.
Khamudy Mannonen discusses with Arahan the latest client development including a push towards browser based viewers, Philip Linden leaving his position as CEO of Linden Lab for a second time, changes in Linden Lab's marketing strategy, and a number of blog opinion posts expressing a feeling that Second Life is a "collapsing world".
Amy's websites/references:
Amy's playlist:
Foetus - Social Anxiety Disorder (theme)
Deep Fried Fat - Ride da Riddim
Alice Donut - American Lips
A Tribe Called Quest - Award Tour
Chicks on Speed - Night of the Pedestrian
Destiny's Child - Survivor
Lamb - TransFatty Acid
M.I.A. - Bamboo Banga
Ellen Allien - Alles Sehen
Ministry - Burning Inside
Marianne Faithfull - My Friends Have
Deep Fried Fat - Ride da Riddim
Alice Donut - American Lips
A Tribe Called Quest - Award Tour
Chicks on Speed - Night of the Pedestrian
Destiny's Child - Survivor
Lamb - TransFatty Acid
M.I.A. - Bamboo Banga
Ellen Allien - Alles Sehen
Ministry - Burning Inside
Marianne Faithfull - My Friends Have
Arahan's websites/references:
Arahan's playlist:
Robert Anton Wilson - Namu Amida Buddha (2010 The Original Falcon Press)
Hauschka - Kamogawa (2010 Fat Cat)
The Final Houdini Séance (recorded October 31st 1936) (2007 Supposé Verlag)
Antony & The Johnsons - The Great White Ocean (2010 Rough Trade)
Leslie Flint As Charlotte Brontë (1973) (2007 Suppose Verlag)
Ornette Coleman - Intersong (2003 WMG)
Deerhunter - Earthquake (2010 4AD)
Throbbing Gristle - Convincing People (1978 Industrial Records)
O. Children - Smile (2010 Deadly People)
Vivian Girls - Before I Start To Cry (2009 In The Red Records)
Burn2 show - websites/references:
Burn2 show - playlist:
Talking Heads - Burning Down the House (1992 EMI)
Sleepy Sun - Desert God (2010 ATP)
The Things - Crash and Burn (2009 Psycho Sound)
Howling Bells - Cities Burning Down (2008 Independiente Music Ventures)
Human League - Empire State Human (1979 Virgin Records)
The Exploited - I Believe In Anarchy (1981 Anagram Records)
Grace Jones - Pull Up To The Bumper (1981 Island)
Penumbra's websites/references:
Penumbra's playlist:
Laurie Anderson - The End Of The World
Orchestra of the Kivo Opera - Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy
Laurie Anderson - Coolsville
New World Orchestra - Peter Gun
Cradle Soulbirds feat. Nieve & Jean - Memories
New Order - Shellshock
Moby - Extreme Ways
Khamudy's websites/references:
Khamudy's playlist:
Bingo Gazingo & My Robot Friend - You're Out Of The Computer (2004 Gammon Records)
Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti - Revolution's A Lie (2010 Beggars Banquet)
After to listening to Amy and Arahan's shows, I have not listened yet to Khamudy's will do that soon. In SL , as in RL, we are defined by the choices we make and subsequently the ones we do not make. I too visited the Caerleon Sim that hosted the Museum of Identity and was immediately confused as to what it all was. I did not know where to start and why things were placed where they were. Nothing seemed to be set up to compliment the art that was about. Its about choice, what gets shown,where and why. The lack of hard curatorial choices distracted from the art. At first I was a bit upset by Amy's remarks because at least Caerleon Sim gave the opportunity for a wide group of artists to participate. I have grown a bit used to these types of large exhibits that ramble on, and I have learned to almost ignore the platform that they are put on. Having said that, I think that that just creates an environment ,in a world where we can control alot of it , of chaos. I think it would be exciting for a curator within SL to work more individually with the pieces that they are wanting to exhibit. As far as the conversations about ArtNation, I too was disappointed by the outcome and the perception of a "power grab", I just saw it as here we had someone extremely capable and willing to take on this project, Arahan. Also someone who would and could make choices. I too visited Burn-2, I did like how that kind of rambled on, especially after hearing Jane's comments from actually participating and witnessing the RL Burning Man, where Burn-2 is in honor of the spirit of Burning Man.
ReplyDeleteHi there Pen,
ReplyDeleteI think we're all agreed that the Caerleon show is a curatorial mess, and it's that lack of focus that causes wider problems, the least of which is how difficult it is simply navigating the exhibition. It's OK for us seasoned residents, we are used to chaotic organisation so it's easy to forgive, but it's important that the art should be easily accessible to even the most casual visitor, or we are just limiting the audience. Of course it is good that there is free exhibition space for artists to use but just because it's free doesn't mean it has to be poorly curated.
As for ArtNation I know I made the right decision in leaving, in fact it was the only course of action I could really take given the lack of communication. People forget how Brooklyn is Watching ended up, in the final months it was badly neglected, the blog was full of spam, there were no podcasts, and generally it was confusing knowing what was going on, that situation got much worse when Aferro took over. It was an undignified end to what was once a brilliant project, and as Amy said in her show it was indeed a work of art, and the artist behind it was Jay Van Buren. Once Jay relinquished control it fell apart because there was nobody at the helm.
I really wanted to make ArtNation work, for the project to continue in Jay's footsteps, and everything was on track and things were progressing nicely, but there were some individuals who seemed determined to hijack it for reasons that still escape me. In the end I gave up because I felt I was deliberately being hindered or ignored by some people, and I asked myself why I was bothering when my efforts and energy could be better spent elsewhere.
I'm surprised that nobody has stepped up and taken control, the blog is ready (apart from the banner), there is still some great work being left on the sim, podcasts could easily be recorded, but for some reason nothing is happening. It's a sandbox, no more, no less, and even as a sandbox it isn't being promoted. I've tried to contact Kriss but no luck, I hope it all gets sorted out soon.
I really enjoyed recording the Burn2 show with Jane and Allan. There was quite a lot of that chat that went in unexpected directions, and I had hoped that the discussion would not just be about specific work, but addressing wider topics.
Great debut shows from you and Amy, lots to think about!
Really good show this november! I enjoyed specially the visit to Burn2 with Jane and Allan. Specially those comments about interactivity in installations or actually the lack of interactivity... there is a point where you visit the installation i had in there and i think actually that lack of interactivity affected my work there.
ReplyDeleteIt was just not directly interactive, and after listening the show i was wondering why... Sometimes i think, as creator, one can be really afraid about his creations "not working". In some moment in the show Allan says something like "An interactive work not interacting with people is not working.", i found that sentence really interesting and so right and made me thinks about all this all together. So, don't get me wrong, not meaning i made my work not interactive because i was afraid of how it may work with people, actually i was wondering if that was a subconscious reason for it.
SOUP radio is the sound of the mdm in Craft. I set the radio code in the media of the land. You know why? becouse SOUP radio is Mitic!
ReplyDeleteI spent a considerable amount of time at the Museum of Identity which included conversations with several contributors while I was there. I would tend to agree with your chaotic characterazation Ara. The theme I thought a good one, "Ambiguity of Identity" but the execution was diffused somewhat as I couldn't quite catch it from viewing the contributions in whole. The ones I did view I thought well executed with perhaps Pixels Sideways and Wotthe Dickins, "This Is How We..." the most notable and it captured the essence of the theme.
ReplyDeleteGreat show, enjoyed the listen and set it as the stream on my parcel.
WOW! What a lot of radio to listen to! I may or may not have listened to it all by now, but you can be sure I'll be listening on repeat. I don't have much time to spend inworld these days and I like to hear what everyone has to say.
ReplyDelete1. Arahan, the Burn2 walkabout was really interesting and I so enjoyed hearing the mixed perspectives of your guests Jane and Allan. I didn't have time to explore Burn2 at all so this was the next best thing to being there. Also, thank you so much for sharing your Frieze Art Fair experience! Fascinating!
2. Penumbra! Can't wait to hear next month's show! Ahahaha! I hope Molly will be a regular, you work very well together! Love the reminiscing…
3. Khamudy, you are a very smart avatar and I have learned so much about SL® just from listening to you. Knowledge is power!
4. Amy, I didn't feel engaged enough to justify spending my tightly constrained time and energy and mini-mind wandering aimlessly through Caerleon. I did visit Nebulosus Severine's installation, but that was with a direct teleport. I don't know what the answer is to bad organization- bigger is not necessarily better. I did not have the feeling of an overall vision.
5. I suppose I should make an attempt to explain what Soup is, there's so much confusion about it :D. And while I'm at it, perhaps I should explain Mab too so there won't be any time lost in future shows speculating and backtracking.
Soup is the concept behind the SL® Soup sims, which currently but not forever are:
a) Eryri- where the big house is and various artworks by Lovers Lane Studios artists are scattered about
b) Magoo- the water sim where Selavy Oh now has a work in progress called 'spherical topography'
and formerly Soup but still very much beloved:
c) Push, the sim that was purchased for Jay Van Buren as a no-strings-attached love offering- with its venerable history of third-home-of-Brooklyn is Watching's rogue megaprims, Newark is Watching, and now ArtNation.
Soup is also the Soup blog and the wholly independent Soup Radio (rahr!).
Soup, in other and more words, is an art flux experiment and collaboration that changes according to need and what's available, what's fresh and in season, steaming hot or chilled, tureen du jour or petri dish. It's the air we breathe, the amniotic fluid we emerged from, the fog we feel our way through, the explosive energy of the cosmos. Not to mention being a typo (it was first to be called Soul- why? I can't remember).
Mab MacMoragh (pronounce Mac-MORE-uh with bonus points if you can burr the r) is not a Second Life® Artist, but rather a dreamy arts lover and poet. In real life, her puppeteer is also a dreamy arts lover and poet, who makes variable media art sometimes, and sometimes soup, when she's not sleeping.
Hello everyone! Thanks for visiting and leaving comments, good to see you and great to know people are listening. I have to thank Amy, Penumbra, Khamudy, and Jane and Allan for contributing such lively and diverse content this month, and of course Mab for hosting the radio stream.
ReplyDeleteHi there Raul. I think in SL people expect some level of interactivity from the art, personally I don't care so much, if an artist says what they need to say without avatar interaction then adding it may just unnecessarily complicate the message and could even be gimmicky. What is often missing is proper documentation, I regularly see work that has little or no explanation, I don't mean I need to be told what to think, I enjoy working that out for myself, but it is useful to have information about the artist, links to websites etc. Anyway, I think you did a fine job at Burn2, we weren't confused by the piece, and it was actually one of the more stimulating displays we came across during the visit, it certainly got us all talking. Hopefully Allan and Jane will visit and respond to you too, it's an interesting topic for more conversation.
Hi Roxelo! Thanks a lot for streaming Soup Radio on your land, that is very cool. (Will visit soon in Craft.)
Howdy Nazz. Yes there is definitely some good work at Caerleon, it’s just a bit lost in that space. Amy goes into quite a lot of depth in her show about the problems with the exhibition, and the wider impact that poorly curated shows have on Second Life art. There is a general mood in the air that big changes are afoot, some are predicting the demise of SL and the move to Opensim worlds as inevitable. I’m very interested in tracking developments and next month I’m planning a show about alternatives to SL and the ramifications that has for the artistic community. Thanks for listening Nazz and streaming us on your land.
Hey Mab. Yes hours and hours, at least nobody can complain about lack of content! Glad you enjoyed the Burn2 show, it wasn’t an exhaustive tour and summary of the event but I tried to steer the conversation so it would be interesting for both SL veterans and those not familiar with it, so we avoided being too geeky I suppose, actually that’s a lie because we talked about Super Mario 3 and the internet. Nerds.
I was initially quite confused when you sold Push Mab, I thought you were selling all your SL land, but then realised you kept Soup, which is good because it’s a great space. The name Soup is perfect for the project, and for Soup Radio, which is an evolving and eclectic mix of art and music. But maybe we need one of those disclaimers - “The views expressed on Soup Radio do not necessarily reflect the views of Soup or its shareholders.”
I pronounced your surname correctly this month!
Penumbra, when can we see your Super 8 films on Youtube?
ReplyDeleteeek, sorry i didn't post this on soup blog till just now, what an incompetent blogger mab macmoragh is and what a speedy month november has been (going faster miles an hour!) (reference to amy's M.I.A. song)
ReplyDelete/slaps self and flips off calendar
and you know what? anyone who says my name can say it any way it comes out- THERE IS NO WRONG WAY except still with the bonus points for burring the r
:)
Hi everyone,
ReplyDeleteAnd thanks for the comments on the Burn2 show. I just wanted to say to Raul that I thought his work didn't suffer by not having an interactive element. I think Jane was saying that the option is there so it would be great to maximise the potential of SL artwork by including it. At one point we saw an artwork which was 'fishing for the truth' and we all agreed that it was very simplistic and didn't need to be anything more than that because it was very effective at getting its message across. Your artwork was likewise – I appreciated the irony of having 'virtual water' to get your point across. It's impossible to waste and yet in this reality water is a precious commodity. Interesting slant, even if it was subconscious.
Looking forward to seeing more work.
Allan
xx
Yes, Arahan I going to video tape my super 8's while they play on a screen, they are on reels. I will put them up for people to see. Hey Nazz and Roxelo, glad your enjoying the Soup Radio Stream:)I too must visit Craft soon.
ReplyDelete