Showing posts with label UWA. Show all posts
Showing posts with label UWA. Show all posts

Monday, April 29, 2024

Last University of Western Australia Sim Has Closed

 
 
Longtime readers may remember the University of Western Australia sims. They were the place yearly art competitions, which offered prizes that once exceeded a million Linden dollars. But sadly, the last of the sims is now gone. In the UWA in Second Life blog, it was announced the sim vanished last month, in March 22.

Sometime on Friday 22 March 2024 Pacific Time the University of Western Australia region left the Second Life grid for good.

Jayjay, Freewee and quadrapop and the rest of the UWA in SL team thank you all for your support and involvement, however big or small, over the years. Without the SL residents interest (artists, videographers, bloggers, gallery owners, performers, and visitors) this project would not have been possible, nor as successful.

There is so much that could be written here about this seminal Second Life project, but the time has come for the project to close. 
 
It's been a long, slow, goodbye. For years, they held many art and machinima events, then in 2015 announced they would be having the last of their annual ones. Later that year, four of it's sister sims were slated to be taken down, but given a reprieve. Then in 2017 came their "Final Chapter." with half the sims closing soon after. In 2018 came the last machinima contest. I would last write about the place in September 2020, when it announced it was holding it's final art event ant would close soon after. But it seems the last sim. was given a reprieve, though nothing was mentioned about it in the blog, or anything else until the final announcement.
 
For art and machinima lovers, a final reminder of a time gone by has closed.
 
Bixyl Shuftan-

Thursday, September 24, 2020

Last University of Western Australia Sim to Close - Final Art Event in November



A sim that's made the news a number of times in the past will soon be closing, and will have one final event.

Longtime readers may remember the University of Western Australia area in Second Life for it's yearly art competitions, which offered prizes that once exceeded a million Linden dollars. But in December 2015, it was announced the competition then would be the final one. In September 2016, it was announced four of the five sims would be closed down. But a month later, it was announced the sims had been given a reprieve (one transferred to someone else). In March 2017, it was announced the reprieve on three of the four sims left was ending. But one of the three would get another break, so two would remain. One last prize money competition would be organized by supporters in March 2019. This would be the last time the Newser would write about the area, it's long term future in doubt. Still, the UWA area would be the scene of some weekly events for a time (UWA blog).

But it seems almost five years after the end of the yearly art competitions, the UWA area has finally run out of chances. It was announced in the UWA 3D Art and Design Challenge group that the last sim, University of Western Australia, would soon close, after Midnight December 31st . So it it's honor, there would be one last event.

One last show... let's make this a good one.
Uni of WA estate is down to one region and it will disappear at the end of the year. (yes REALLY disappear)
Jayjay, Freewee, quadrapop and all the others who have helped put together art and machinima challenges over the years invite you to take part in this event organised by Chuck Clip.


*  *  *  *  *

This is a grand finale, a sad farewell to show our gratitude to UWA and all that they did for us as artists, curators, and residents of SL. Their work brought life and beauty to all of us and made the art world in Second Life a thing to behold.

The theme is "Gratitude"
This art show is open to everyone. The theme is “Gratitude” with a 150 prim limit per artwork, and limited to one entry per artist.

Why The Theme “Gratitude?”
For over a decade, the University of Western Australia has been synonymous in the minds of many residents of Second Life with the arts and the support thereof. Their work was unparalleled on the grid, and made waves in the art world that, even as they prepare to close their sim, resonate through the art world today.

There are so many people whose lives they touched in one way or another. So many artists found inspiration in their 3D Art Challenge themes, and support in the encouragement of the community they created.

I, Chuck Clip, am one of them, and I am honored and humbled to have been granted the chance to organize this event. I’ll attempt to carry their extraordinarily heavy torch, to continue to support the arts in Second Life in their stead.

Let us all come together this one last time to say thank you to the men and women of this great institution, to celebrate their achievements, their impact on our own achievements, and to mourn their departure. 


The deadline for interested artists to enter is November 1. There's a 150 prim limit per exhibit, and "Artwork entered should be able to be interpreted by the casual viewer as being representative of the theme." To enter, head to the UWA landing point at University of WA (76/227/25) or to Sinful Retreat (137/142/52). Both sims have a UWA Art Show Submissions box located there, "To submit entries, select the entry in your inventory (left mouse button) and then press CTRL & drag the entry while holding down that key to the UWA Art Show Submissions box. When the cursor is over the box (red outlines should appear around the receiver box), release your left  mouse button and the item is received. Do this for BOTH your entry and your Artist Notecard." Those who have problems doing so can pass the exhibit and the artist notecard to Chuck Clip.

The event opening is November 11, from 12 Noon to 4pm SLT. Exhibits will be taken down on Dec 31 or just before, before the sim closes.

For more information, check the notecard in the UWA 3D Art and Design Challenge group.

Hat tip: Inara Pey

Bixyl Shuftan

Friday, March 30, 2018

"The Long Kiss Goodnight" UWA Announces Results of Last Machinima Challenge


On Sunday March 25, the University of Western Australia sims held the awards ceremony of what will probably be their final major art competition, the SLArtist@UWA Machinima Challenge. Seventeen entries were made by various artists such as Bryn Oh, Secret Rage, Chic Aeon, and others, for a total prize pool of 430,000 Linden dollars. The winner was Glasz DeCuir. who took the grand prize of 75,000 Lindens.



"This is not a continuation of the MachinimUWA series, which ended in Dec 2015," their blog stated earlier, "but is a special event that has a life primarily thanks to LaPiscean Liberty, who wants to nourish the dynamic partnership between artists and filmmakers."

"Jay Jay announced that after 9 long years of helming art and film challenges, that this would be his last, drawing to a close the UWA chapter in leading art and film challenges in Second Life, with hopes, the baton will be taken up by others, in the same way he and UWA stepped in when some or the original luminaries of Second Life were pulling back."

The second place prize went to Tutsy Navarantha for "Serendipity." Third place went to Natascha Randt and Karima Hoisan for "The River of Forgetting." Fourth place went to Isabelle Cheren for "Before the World Was Made." Fifth place went to Bryn Oh for "Cerulean."

The sims themselves will remain up for now, though it seems they are likely to vanish after mid-2019.



JayJay Zifanwe gave a speech at the ceremony. He expressed sadness not just for this being the close for the final event, but for the recent passing of Alizarin Goldflake. She was one of the first artists at the UWA, and her "Maze" can still be seen at the sims. Of the closing, "it brings to an end the grand art and film challenges run by UWA, which started almost a decade ago in 2009, with Alizarin and other pioneers, who included Soror Nishi & Oberon Onmura. In the past there had been tough times and moments when it looked we wouldn't make it this far, but we scrambled and pulled through."

"Its been an absolute pleasure for me to work with all of you over the course of these challenges, and over the years, and especially to those who went above and beyond the call of duty to make all of this a success. ... More than 50 nations with 6 of the 7 continents of the world represented."

"It has been an honour for me, the accidental art and film caretaker over the years to work with so many of you and have the privilege of viewing your art and film. The relationships built here have crossed over to RL as well, as I have met a number of artists and filmmakers from SL in RL, with FreeWee Ling spending a few months at UWA on an Australia-US Fellowship as well. The people of SL have helped my older son win a number of Peoples Choice events, as sometime over the past 2 years he suddenly became quite a successful filmmaker being selected for 4 Academy Award qualifying festivals, and when I travel to Denmark this July with my younger son for the World Triathlon Championships, another SL artist has offered to put us up for a while and show us around. Life has been definitely richer because of my involvement with SL, and I hope the friendships created will last well beyond the middle of 2019, when the digital night is likely to set on the UWA sims themselves. Thank you one and all."

To see the full list of videos, and read the transcript of the ceremony in full, check the UWA blog here.

Bixyl Shuftan

Saturday, January 6, 2018

SL Video: "A Journey from The Past: Singapore"




(Click here if the video fails to load)

From Diana Rose on Dec 29, "featuring the art of  Rebeca Bashly, Nish Mip, Djehuti-Anpu (aka Thoth Jansen), Elle Thorkveld, Rosie Dimanovic, Ama Avro, Igor Ballyhoo, Krystali Rabeni, Eliza Wierwight and Pumpkin Tripsa"

One of the entries in the SLArtist@UWA Challenge, which closed to new submissions on Dec 31. There is 350,000 Linden dollars available in prizes.

Thursday, August 3, 2017

"A Final Farewell to Half" The UWA Sims



It was almost a year ago in which it had been announced that four out of the five University of Western Australia sims would be retired and closed. But a month later, it was announced that the sims had been given a temporary reprieve from closing. Later it was announced that they would be up until the end of July. In a group chat last night, Jayjay Zifanwe announced that two of the sims, UWA Winthrop and UWA WASP, would be gone by Saturday, along with the builds on them.

Half the presence will be gone in 48 hours including some old iconic works starting with the Patch Thibaud Gallery that won the very first challenge at UWA and 4-SIM Theatre where many of the grand finale announcements were made. They will all disappear on Friday. Freewee's blog post below highlights some of these areas and provides links to them for anyone wanting to stop by to farewell them.

The UWA blog post about the two sims can be found at : https://uwainsl.blogspot.com.au/2017/07/ch-ch-ch-changes.html

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/UWA%20Winthrop/187/48/22

Tuesday, March 7, 2017

University of Western Australia's "Final Chapter" Annouced: "Transformations"


It was on October 2016 that the University of Western Australia area was given a reprieve from three of it's five sims closing down. But a couple weeks ago, Curator FreeWee Ling announced that they would be holding one more event, their "Final Chapter" before the sims (save SJSU Atlantis) are shut down, which is scheduled for the end of July. The theme of the event is "Transformations." In the past, the UWA would offer prizes for the best displays and videos for it's events. This time, there is "No prizes. No judging. Just warm memories and hopes for a brighter tomorrow."

The UWA presence in SL is scheduled to cease the end of July 2017. (Details about that will be posted later. Contact FreeWee Ling if you have questions.)

Before that happens we want to have one more show! Starting immediately, we are accepting entries for the literal UWA show to end all shows. We are hoping all our old friends from the past seven years will want to be part of this last hurrah. But we also welcome entries from those who have never shown here before. It will be a regular exhibition, similar to the current IMMATERIAL show. No prizes. No judging. Just warm memories and hopes for a brighter tomorrow.


Our final chapter is  open to anyone as usual. Entries will not be judged and no prizes are offered. This is NOT a competitions, but an exhibition/celebration. As a small incentive, the show will be documented and an exhibition catalog will be published online as part of the UWA Studies in Virtual Arts (UWA SiVA) journal series.

Our final show is to be titled "Transformations" and is about beginnings, endings, transitions, change. The theme is deliberately vague in order to allow for the broadest possible interpretation.


The University of Western Australia has has a presence in Second Life for many years, since October 2009, and became known for ir's art and machinima (videos done in virtual reality or computer games) contests for cash prizes. For Second Life residents, especially fans of art and those who value the presence of universities and colleges, while they can take a little comfort there is some time to prepare for one more event, the announcement that the reprieve the UWA sims were given was just a temporary one and that the sims are set to close later this year is a sad one.

Source: UWA blog

Bixyl Shuftan

Monday, October 10, 2016

University of Western Australia Sims Saved, For Now



Last month, the manager of the University of Western Australia sims announced that four of their five sims would be retired following budget cuts at the real-life university that owns them. One, UWA Virlantis, would be handed to another owner. Three others, UWA, UWA Winthrop, and WASP Land, would be abandoned and allowed to vanish. Only the University of WA sim would remain after October 9.

Thankfully, the sims are still up. JayJay Zifanwe announced the sims have been given a reprieve, thanks in part to people writing to the university. None of the sims will be vanishing, although UWA Virlantis is still being handed to Dr Phylis Johnson (Sonicity Fitzroy).

Following a lot of work in the background at UWA in RL. The UWA presence in SL has been extended through 31st July 2017. Thank you to the many who have written in to UWA central providing support as well as the many who have worked to preserve a lot of the art and grounds in film. Thanks especially to the Desinging Worlds team with AviewTV and TreetTV for their incredible work on their tribute programme, and to Secret Rage (AKA Vee Marie) for her excellent videos documenting nearly everything on the 4 UWA sims. See links below. 4 of the 5 sims will remain part of the UWA cluster, and the 5th SIM (UWA Virtlantis) is being taken over by the University of San Jose & Sonicity Fitzroy, who have been occupying it for the last couple of years.

When sims are so often gone too soon, it's good news to hear about some given a new lease on life.

Tuesday, September 13, 2016

University of Western Australia Retiring Four of Five Sims



While there have been many colleges and universities which have had a presence in Second Life, perhaps the best known has been the University of Western Australia. Over the years since their begining in 2004, they have sponsored and held a number of art and video contests on their sims. But Jayjay Zifanwe and , the manager of the sims, had some bad news on Sunday September 11. Due to budget cutbacks, the number of sims held by the UWA will be "restructured" from five to only one.

UWA Virlantis will be taken over by Dr Phylis Johnson (Sonicity Fitzroy). The UWA, UWA Winthrop, and WASP Land, barring a last minute handover, will vanish on October 9. only the University of WA sim will remain, "Everything on All Sims will remain as is for the next 2 weeks... do come back for a visit as many of the artworks going back 7 years are still at various locations. Once those 2 weeks are up, our curator, Freewee Ling will start to rationalise what is on the UWA sims, so that some items from all sims are brought onto the one remaining sim."

Curator Freewee Ling had the following to say, "I am saddened by the restructuring that is happening at UWA and that the university's presence in SL will be so drastically curtailed. JayJay has done a remarkable job establishing the virtual campus, maintaining the sims and, more significantly, building a worldwide reputation for UWA's virtual presence. He has worked tirelessly to promote UWA in SL for the last seven years. There is no one at UWA who didn't know about it, and tours of the rl campus by everything from local school kids to international delegations were routinely given a tour of the virtual campus as well. Our reputation for inspiring the creation of literally thousands of virtual artworks and machinima by hundreds of artists from around the globe has helped to raise awareness of what creative people in virtual worlds are capable of achieving. Our programs have served to elevate and legitimize the work we do here. We had an inclusive open entry policy that allowed newbies and veterans to exhibit and compete on equal footing. I am very proud of all the work you submitted to our programs. I will share more of my personal thoughts in a separate post."

More details can be read in their blog post (here). Ironically enough, the exhibit mentioned in the post is "The Last Ocean," the theme being the death of a virtual world. You can check out the exhibit at UWA Winthrop (32/28/27).

Bixyl Shuftan

Saturday, January 16, 2016

SL Video: "Pursue Impossible"




(Click here if the video fails to play)

Produced October 2015 by Diana Al Martini -"Fayzan Huzayl (27), a blind youth, energetic and positive thinker passionately singing songs and playing guitar to entertain his audience. Through a tragedy that happened in his life, music drives him forward to see the positive side of life and he believes that through his music he can lighten up people's hope and happiness within them. That has become his dream ever since. Although he tried to radiate positive side of life, people's keep pushing him down due to his disablities. But Fayzan took that as a challenge and keep pursuing his dream that seems impossible to others but to him only one little jump to achieve it."

Thursday, December 17, 2015

Kobuk Farshore, Elif Ayiter, Get Top Awards at MachinimUWA VIII: Pursue Impossible


Click here if the video fails to play.


On Sunday December 13, the winners of the MachinimUWA VIII video and art competition, "Pursue Impossible" were selected. Both the best filmmaker and the best sculptor received 60,000 Linden dollar prizes (about $240 USD) In a close vote by the judges, the  top prize for machinima went to Kobuk Farshore.

An awe-inspiring and brilliantly crafted film, 'Pursue Impossible' by Kobuk Farshore of Alaska, took the top spot and its L$60,000 prize for the 8th UWA International Short Animated Film Challenge (MachinimUWA VIII - Pursue Impossible), in a thrilling one point victory over defending champion and four time winner of the UWA film challenges, Tutsy Navarathna, the dominant Frenchman from Pondicherry, India, who delivered a tour de force with the stylish and visionary 'Death of Death?'. The US-Swiss combination of Haveit Neox and Lilia Artis finished 3rd, but also won one of the 2 UWA Special Prizes through their thought provoking offering, 'Tis An Egg'. Indonesian Diana Al Martini was the other recipient of the UWA Special Prize, with a film showing 3 amazing Australians who successfully pursued the impossible, Professor Barry Marshall, Dr Fiona Wood and Turia Pitt.


Top prize for the best artist went to Elif Ayiter (Alpha Auer) for his work "The Bridge." One can take a look at his 3D work at UWA (198, 106, 324), and the main gallery at UWA (20, 175, 247).

For the UWA Grand 3D Art Challenge, 'The Bridge' by Elif Ayiter of Sabanci University (SL: Alpha Auer), Istanbul Turkey widely regarded as among the most brilliant creators in the virtual world, was the winner over Australian Carmsie Melodie's work, 'Achieve Impossible' inspired by Thomas Edison and Nicola Tesla. The UWA Special Prize, selected by the UWA members of this international judging panel, went to Krystali Rabeni of the United Kingdom. Her creation Dream within a Dream' was deemed to the artwork that best encapsulated the UWA essence of 'Pursue Impossible'. Haveit Neox & Lilia Artis proved formidable winning awards across both the film and art challenges. The curator's award, went to someone without whom these challenges might never have come to be what they are, West Australian, quadrapop Lane. The alpha and the omega. It all started with quadrapop Lane in 2009 and its fitting that she is honoured in the last, as the sun sets on the Grand UWA Art & Film challenges in 2015.

 This is the last of the University of Western Australia's yearly 3D Art and Machinima contests, they having announced there will be no more of this particular event, though may have others in the future should funding be available.

For more information, check the UWA blog.




Monday, December 7, 2015

University of Western Australia Announces Dec. 13 Art and Film Show Will Be Their Last



On Friday December 4, the University of Western Australia in Second Life made a dual announcement. The date of their yearly 3D Art and Machinima show would be at December 13 at 6AM, with the films playing 24 hours before the event. There will be a total of over 500,000 Linden dollars given out as prizes. Unfortunately, they also announced that this event, which has gone on for several years, will be their last, the "Grand Finale."

So what will happen next? This isn't the end of the UWA sims themselves as they will continue. Nor will it be the end of art events, which will continue to run under FreeWee Ling. However, it "IS THE END for the major international art and film challenges that have run annually since 2009. There may be special art of film events if funding is secured to run those special events (of if a large amount is suddenly available to the UWA for work in virtual worlds)."

"It has been an amazing honour to run these challenges over the years, and it's with a heavy heart the sun is now setting."

For the announcement on the UWA blog, Click here.

Thursday, September 24, 2015

SL Video: "The Drax Files : World Makers (Episode 32: Jayjay Zifanwe) "




(Click here if the video fails to play)

Published by Draxtor Despress, September 23, 2015, "The backbone of the our university's presence in the virtual world is the art and the film. It keeps things alive at all times!" says Jayjay Zifanwe from the University of Western Australia in Perth.

"With the blessing of his Dean Jayjay is actively promoting immersive art and machinima made by Second Life residents from all walks of life all the while emphasizing giving voice to creators with disabilities or chronic illness.

"The relationship between UWA and the SL art scene illuminates how a major university can use the creative and social aspects of virtual environments to enhance their mission of inclusive learning on a global scale.

"May this be a model for other educational institutions to follow? With the resurgence of interest in VR JJ's efforts may just be a template to emulate in the future...

"More information on UWA in Second Life is at http://www.uwainsl.blogspot.com

+++++++++

"This episode features the films of Iono Allen {showcasing "Obedience" by Rose Borchovski, Jo Ellsmere and Bryn Oh with music by Luca d'Alberto}, Tutsy Navarathna, Celestial Elf, Hypatia Pickens, Erythro Asimov, Rysan Fall, Pepa Cometa, Chic Aeon, Karima Hoisan, Natascha Randt & many immersive artworks displayed at the UWA sim in Second Life.

"The Freedom Project art works can be seen in the official book for the event here http://issuu.com/freeweeling/docs/uwa_siva_3.1_-_the_freedom_project_

"Thumbnail is composed from a still from Spiral Silverstar's "The Mirror Lies" [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AA0Fp...]

"Many thanks to Skyspinner Soulstar, James Atloud, Mike Denneny and Foxy Haddison for participating with their RL puppeteers.

"Special thanks to FreeWee Ling for her wonderful work making sure the art is properly featured in SL and Hava Zhang for doing some fabulous "real life" acting.

"Lastly: big thanks to Natalie Jagals, Micah Foster and Paris Javid for filming on physical location in Australia."

Saturday, August 8, 2015

SL Video: "Adventures of a Cyborg Part II - MachinimUWA II "




(Click here if the video fails to play)

From Nina Camplin on Sept 2010, staring Fuschia Nightfire and JayJay Zifanwe, "A spoof parody of a Science Fiction adventure, referencing all my favourite sci-fi movies and TV series including Star Wars, Star Trek, Red Dwarf, Dr Who, Alien and Aliens. Filmed at UWA as part of the MachinimUWA II Challenge."

Tuesday, August 4, 2015

Press Release" University of Western Australia Announces MachinimaUWA 8 - "Pursue Impossible"



Jayjay Zifanwe: The University of Western Australia (UWA) is happy to announce the launch of 'PURSUE IMPOSSIBLE, the 6th UWA Grand Art Challenge and MachinimUWA VIII with a starting prize pool in excess of L$400,000. Sponsored by Tom Papas & SciFi Film Festival, Reign Congrejo & BOSL, LaPiscean Liberty & SL Artist, AviewTV, Pixel Bits, Virtlantis, Phillip Vought, Carolyn Steele & York University (Canada), Taralyn Gravois, UWA Marketing & Communications, as well as The UWA Virtual Worlds Project. We hope you are inspired by the 'PURSUE IMPOSSIBLE' theme to create many wondrous works of art and film as you have been through the years! (Please note the major rule & special prize guidelines as well as the Audience Participation Prizes for watching the machinima. All machinima will be highlighted on the UWA Blog & SL Artist.)

http://uwainsl.blogspot.com.au/2015/08/pursue-impossible-launch-of-uwa-3d-art.html

Saturday, March 22, 2014

Press Release: The Freedom Project Thank You Ceremony and Exhibition Launch


Location: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/UWA/40/107/248

Date: 23rd March, Sunday
Time: 5PM SLT

The Freedom Project which had been receiving creations for the past many months, will see a THANK YOU Ceremony and Exhibition Launch at 5PM SLT Sunday, the 23rd of March.

The Freedom Project is a 2D/3D Art & Film Event organized jointly by the University of Western Australia, along with members of the Virtual Ability Group, and the Centre for ME/CFS and Other Invisible Illnesses Group in Second created an artwork or a film/machinima or in fact a personal story on the theme of ‘Freedom’, showing how virtual worlds have in some way helped them or those around them.

This event is to thank all the artists, filmmakers, and writers for contributing their works and of themselves, as well as to thank the many individuals, groups and organisations who made this possible, including Eliza Wierwight, who created the poster for this event,  David Doyle & Simone Flavelle of DADAA's stARTSPEAK Project, Tom Papas & Screen My Shorts Inc. (Sydney), West Australian artist, Len Zuks,  Beverley Hill of UWA's Equity & Diversity Office, Craig MacKenzie and Deborah Bolton of UniPrint,  TheDove Rhode of Peace is A Choice Gallery, Taralyn Gravois, AviewTV and LaPiscean Liberty, Eleanor Medeir and The Sim Street Journal as well as Kit Guardian and Guardian 11:11 for their multifaceted commitment towards the event as well, also iMoogi TV (imoogi.tv) and Nu Vibez Magazine (nuvibezmag.com) led by Filipa Thespian

Feel free to come visit and take in all the wonderful creations anytime at the UWA Virtual Gallery.

UWA (40, 107, 247)

Saturday, July 28, 2012

SL Machinima: "The 3rd"



By Lala Larix, this SL machinima was inspired by T.S. Eliot's "The Waste Land."

This video, and fifty others, are finalists in a contest at the University of Western Australia, "MachinimUWA Five: Seek Wisdom."

Source: New World Notes.

Friday, June 1, 2012

UWA's Winthrop Hall is Back

Gemma Cleanslate heard about a build at the University of Western Australia (UWA) which is back, Winthrop Hall. Previously around in 2009, it's back. Gemma had a few words with the head of the UWA area about the hall and it's return.

Read more in Places.

Friday, December 16, 2011

SL Machinima: "Artwashers"

Artwashers from 2sense Productions



At the UWA's Open-Art Challenge last weekend, there was a contest for machinima. The one that took second place, written about by Rowan Derryth was the film "Artwashers," a clever parody about one advantage of a virtual art museum by Friday Siamendes.

"In many ways, though, this works the same way as visiting a gallery or museum. The work is physical, but we do not usually smell or taste it; and we usually don’t touch it either. In fact, virtual art is even MORE interactive–we can ‘touch’ is and be part of the work. And we don’t have to worry about caretaking and conservation in the same manner as physical work (although virtual works opens whole new problems in these areas). One of the machinima from the UWA challenge that I absolutely loved played upon these ideas was ‘Artwashers’ by 2sense Productions.

"By introducing us to the fictive cleaners at the UWA, the parody cleverly highlights how such a space is so much less complicated that a real museum, allowing the administrative energy to be focused on creativity and education. And that freedom to focus on the creative work has created a wonderful, happy accident."

Even those of us with a poor sense of the artistic can appreciate the humor. Well done, Friday.

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Winners Announced in UWA Open-Art Challenge

On Sunday December 11th, the University of Western Australia announced the winners of it's Open-Art challenge. With three contests for machinimas, non-scripted art, and exhibits that took advantage of the nature of Second Life, there was a lot to see and a number of awards given. But only one could take home the top one hundred thousand linden prize.

Read more in Design.