Kultivate Magazine - March 2021 Issue by Kultivate Magazine

Welcome to the March 2021 issue of Kultivate Magazine! This issue features artist Slatan Dryke, The Lyrical Center for the Arts, Ribong Gallery, The Glinka Gallery, The Drune Diesel Sim, The Biera De Ribera Sim, The New Linden Lab Chalet Homes, and the announcement of SL18B’S Exhibitor’s Applications. This issue also has photo essays by Tempest Rosca Huntsman, Inara Pey, and Grace Sixpence! It is hard to believe that it has been a year already since we first had the pandemic touch all of our lives and while we are still wearing masks and quarantined in some areas, not to mention social distancing, there is light at the end of the tunnel for most of us, even if a small one. People are getting vaccinated, restrictions are being lifted, cases are going down, and there is a resolve that as humans, we were not going to let this thing beat us. I can se some of the spirit of humanity that my grandfather used to talk about from his WW2 days. Keep fighting everyone and hang in there, that light will glow brighter and the tunnel end is almost there. Never lose hope! Tempest and I would like to thank our staff, supporters, advertisers, business partners, and artists for their support and we hope that everyone enjoys this issue as much as we do!

Sincerely, John, Owner & Publisher of Kultivate Magazine

PUBLISHER’S NOTE

KULTIVATE MAGAZINE—MARCH 2021 CREDITS

Johannes Huntsman, Owner & Founder

Tempest Rosca Huntsman, Photographer Liaison Veruca Tammas, Gallery & Sim Manager Jessii Warrhol, Marketing Manager CONTRIBUTORS: Inara Pey, Lead Contributor Johannes Huntsman Tempest Rosca Huntsman Ricca Saenz Grace Sixpence

COVER PHOTOGRAPHY: Betty Tureaud

FEATURED ARTICLE

ARTICLE: JOHANN

PHOTOGRAPHY: S

E: SLATAN DRYKE

NES HUNTSMAN

SLATAN DRYKE

first met Slatan Dryke about 5 years ago

when he exhibited at the Windlight Art Gallery. Currently Slatan is our featured artist at the Kultivate Loft Gallery. Slatan is a talented artist and photographer, whose art work has graced many galleries in Second Life. Below is Slatan’s official biography and the following pages will display some of his excellent artwork: “Photography… My Photography is not an Art Expression. It’s only a way to bust from myself… however, being closer to my Kernel”. – Slatan Dryke – “The suspended moment intervenes during the action, and suddenly it blows up in a sharp lapse into yore”. – Slatan Dryke – Slatan is Italian and he grew up surrounded by the best Art expression at 360°, and probably the best in the world. Slatan loves Art in every form, but he is most fond of paintings and sculptures, following his classical education. Slatan is also a photographer in RL. Always the traveler, Slatan loves to wander across the grid, finding new pockets of beauty for his pictures, thanks to the creativity and imagination of fellow residents. Slatan is a perfectionist in taking his pictures, never missing a single detail. The ratio, the framing and light are quite an obsession, until finally the right image is in his viewfinder. Slatan rarely uses an editor to modify his pictures, so he likes to say his works are “natural”. On the other hand, Slatan admits to have limited skills in building, so he creates his sculptures, not following a real scheme, but only indulging his instinct and his love for abstract forms, which are often slight but become alive with a creative use of textures,

lights and movements. Slatan likes to use oldschool SL building methods, with a preference for prims in their multiple aspects rather than mesh. His buildings, sculptures and photographs have been exhibited in Art Galleries and at a number of main SL events:: University of Western Australia (UWA), BURN2’s, Santalarity, Burnal Equinox, Conception; SL Birthday, Raglan Shire’s ArtWalk, Art in the Park, Emphatic Eccentricia, Seaside Gallery, Oxford @rts Gallery. Pop-Up Art, Cape Able Art Gallery, VWBPE (Virtual Worlds Best Practice in Education), Ethnographia, Linden Endowment for the Arts (LEA), Kultivate Windlight Art Gallery, Holly Kay Art Park, Phoenix Artists Collaboration, Ani’s Gallery, La Maison d’Aneli, Argentum Artem, ArtCare Gallery, International Photography Festival, One Billion Rising, Relay for Life, Rock your Rack, Second Life Endowment for The Arts (SLEA), and many others including collaborations with artists in Second Life and Educational Institutions in Real Life as EduNation and Dublin Institute of Technology. KM You can visit Slatan’s work at the following link:

https://vimeo.com/217825299 https://www.flickr.com/ photos/22453297@N02/

INSIDE LOOK: A LYRICAL CENT

ARTICLE & PHOTOG

TRE FOR ARTS IN SECOND LIFE

GRAPHY: INARA PEY

n entry in the Destination Guide for

the Lyrical Café’s Cultural Centre recently caught my eye, prompting me to slot it into my weekend travels – and it proved to be a more than worthwhile visit, revealing as it did a new center for arts in SL and the opportunity to chat with the driving force behind it, Mrs. Kamille R. Kamala – LIVE (Kamille Kamala). Occupying just under one half of a Full region that boasts the private island LI bonus, the setting has been designed by Angela Viera (AngelFruiT) with the assistance of JJ Landar (Jucae). In looks, it might be said to present a West Coast urban vibe with a sub-tropical lean (although the region surround also suggests somewhere more temperate) and which is set under an evening’s sky cut through by the Milky Way (although I opted for more of a daylight EEP for the photos here). Within the provided space can be found a range of facilities that enfold visual arts, literary arts and performance arts and music, all of which are gently mixed within an environment that offers spaces and informal venues that include a beach and spa, that warmly invites exploration. The main landing point is located alongside the entrance to the Lyrical Café itself, the home of the Lyrical Café Poetry Club founded by Kamille in 2009. This is the location for twice monthly poetry events (2nd and 4th Saturday of the month) that are streamed into the Café as a mix of poetry and music – Kamille is an accomplished poet. Its a place with a sense of intimacy in its décor, one that carries with it a sense of Africa that is both subtle and inviting. TO OPEN A CULTURE AND ART CENTRE HAS BEEN A DREAM I’VE HAD FOR YEARS. I WOULD SPEND TIME JUST CONTEMPLATING IT OVER AND OVER, NOT REALLY THINKING I COULD PULL IT OFF. I HAD AN EVENT IN MY PRIOR VENUE, BUT IT GOT TO THE POINT WHERE SO MANY PEOPLE CAME, IT WAS TOO SMALL. ONCE I REALISED I NEEDED A BIGGER PLACE, IT GAVE ME THE COURAGE TO GO FOR MY DREAM. – Kamille Kamala on the inspiration for the Lyrical Café’s Cultural Centre

Centre.

Currently the gallery is home to a diverse collection of African American art drawn from the physical world, with reproductions of pieces by the likes of Whitney Austin, Elizabeth Catlett, Chuck Styles, Charles White, and more offered for visual appreciation. In the future, the gallery will be host to similar exhibitions of art from the physical world, and also the work of artists active within Second Life, who will have the option of also selling their work if they wish. Alongside of the gallery, and back-to-back to one another are the dance center and the Mahogany Club. The latter is a venue for DJ events focused on soul music (dates and times available through the Centre’s in-world group), while the former is named for Misty Copeland, the first African American performer to be appointed as a principal dancer for American Ballet Theatre, and is open to anyone wishing to make use of it, with the barres fully animated. Facing the entrance to the gallery building is an impressive garden that makes superb and colorful use of the space allotted to it to present a further open-air venue with dance area, a little café of its own, together with a bar space and a little cozy corner neatly tucked away awaiting discovery. There is a richness to Lyrical Café’s Cultural Centre that goes beyond words. There is a sense of balance through the setting that is genuinely captivating, be it the positioning of buildings and use of space around them, or the depth of greenery that offsets the muted tones of the structures, or the utterly artful use of water throughout in the form of falls, fountains, water walls and natural channels, or the manner in which nature, architecture and 3D all come together as a single entity. As a home for arts, it is truly sublime and richly diverse; as a statement of art, it is equally exceptional, and I look forward to making many more visits – as I’m sure all patrons of the arts in SL will as well. KM Visit Lyrica Café Here: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/New% 20Paradise/43/40/32

PHOTO ESSAY

IMAGES BY TEMPEST

Y: MANNEQUIN

T ROSCA-HUNTSMAN

LINDEN LABS NEWS: SL18B EXHI

ARTICLE & PHOTOG

IBITOR APPLICATIONS ARE OPEN

GRAPHY: INARA PEY

Those who are interested in exhibiting at SL18B are asked to read, complete and submit the official exhibitor application form, which une 2021 will see Second Life officially “come includes this year’s Exhibitor Rules. Note that of age” as it were, as the platform celebrates the closing date for applications is Friday, May 28th. it’s 18th anniversary of opening to public access. A reminder that performers interested in Eighteen is generally acknowledged as the age participating in this year’s SLB music Fest, which of shedding minority status and of (if only in a will form the opener to the SL18B celebrations legal sense in) reaching adulthood, as such this and take place between Thursday June 17th and year’s Second Life Birthday (SLB) celebrations Saturday June 19th inclusive, can still apply to be considered. will likely acknowledge this in some way or

ways – although we’ll have to wait to find out exactly how.

The Lab is seeking at least a dozen performers, both veteran Second Life musicians and those SL18B will run from Thursday, June 17th through new to the scene, to provide the music for the until Thursday, July 1st, and Linden Lab officially festival, and full details on requirements / opened exhibitor applications on Friday, March policies can be found in the Music Fest 19th. The theme for this year’s celebrations is application form. But if you do plan to apply, simply given as “Hidden Worlds”, with the Lab remember, applications will close on Sunday, March 28th! noting: YOUR EXHIBIT DOES NOT NEED TO STAY IN THEME. IF YOU ARE INSPIRED BY THE THOUGHT OF THE HIDDEN WORLDS AROUND YOU, SHOW US! OR, SHARE YOUR SECOND LIFE PASSIONS WITH US. YOUR INTERESTS. YOUR COMMUNITIES. YOUR WORLDS! EVERY YEAR WE CELEBRATE BECAUSE OF YOU, THE AMAZING AND CREATIVE RESIDENTS, WHO HAVE CHOSEN TO CALL SECOND LIFE HOME. WHAT HAS DRAWN YOU INTO THIS WORLD AND WHAT KEEPS YOU HERE? THIS YEAR AT THE EIGHTEENTH ANNUAL SECOND LIFE BIRTHDAY, SHOW US WHAT FUELS YOUR SECOND LIFE AND INSPIRES YOU. LET’S GO EXPLORING!

RELATED LINKS SL18B Applications are Now Open for Exhibitors! Exhibitor Rules and Application form Second Life’s 18th Birthday Music Fest – Sign Up for Auditions!

Music Fest application form KM

SIM SPOTLIGHT: DRUNE’S DIESEL

ARTICLE & PHOTOG

L-DECO DELIGHT IN SECOND LIFE

GRAPHY: INARA PEY

I’

ve been a fan of the region designs by Hera

(zee9) ever since I visited 2019XS before it morphed into what has been perhaps her most poplar series of region builds, the Drune series. I’ve not written about every single iteration, but they have been something of a theme in this blog down the years for their marvelous cyberpunk vibes edged with a touch of bohemian dystopia. However, with Drune Diesel, I think Hera has created one of the most engaging, intriguing and layered region designs it has been my pleasure to visit – and one I really do urge folk to hop over and witness for themselves, particularly if, like me, you are a film and cultural buff. Rather than keeping to the broadly cyberpunk theme of previous design, with this iteration, Hera has turned towards the oftoverlooked dieselpunk genre. I was sent the LM for the region by my ever-vigilant region sleuth, Shawn Shakespeare, and it arrived somewhat serendipitously. Earlier in March I had visited Isabel Hermano’s art exhibition at the Janus II Gallery entitled Living in a Steampunk World (see here for more). Whilst steampunk oriented, two pieces within it – Radio City Music Hall, and The Sisters – incorporated very distinct deco and dieselpunk vibes and seeing these pictures set me to wondering if anyone in SL had actually stepped away from the more common steampunk and cyberpunk themes to present something more rooted in dieselpunk – and then just a few days later, Shawn drops Hera’s LM on me! For other unfamiliar with the genre, dieselpunk (and it’s sub-genre or decopunk) is based on the aesthetics popular in the interwar period of the 1920s/30s and extending through to the end of World War II, with some exponents also including the early 1950s. It is broadly defined as the era in which the diesel engine replaced the steam engine as the focus of technology. Within it, decopunk centers the aesthetic of art deco and streamline modern art styles particularly prevalent to design and architecture in the same overall period. Within Drune’s familiar city setting, compete with its tall buildings, canyon-like streets and split-level

roadways, Hera has created a setting that encapsulates the heart of dieselpunk/ decopunk to present something that will be instantly recognizable to those who have visited Drune’s earlier iterations – but which is also utterly unique. It’s a place where the richness of detail, large and small, is truly staggering and the cultural and film references sublime in their placement and presentation.

delightful in its own suggestions oriental decadence.

Similarly, the city’s movie theatre boasts showings Blood and Sand, starring Rudolph Valentino and released at the start of the dieselpunk era, together with Fritz Lang’s Metropolis (1927), arguably the first film to depict dieselpunk long before the term was ever coined. Indeed, Drune Diesel reflects The initial sense of familiarity comes not only something of Metropolis: whilst the workers from the lie of the city and its streets, but also are all down on the lower levels of the city, in the display of lighting and signage that living in basic conditions and with the muck adorns the sides of building and lines the and sweat and fumes of the city, the elite live railings of overpasses. But whereas past up in the towers, where halls are lined with iterations this lighting and signage has been a marble and grand statues hold aloft light mix of bright neon's, flickering LED screens and fittings or strike heroic poses. brash images, now we have a richer mix: spotlights illuminating billboards, softer-toned Other references are more subtle but are neon's, traditional banners, and fluorescent bound to bring a smile to the lips when lighting that follows the lines and curves of recognized, from the SS Venture alongside the building façades or sits within parking meters wharf and being prepared for the voyage that and so on. will see her bring home King Kong (1933), to the U-boat sitting in its pen and carrying Another change is with the cars on the roads. something of an Indiana Jones vibe. One of my While many of these (again in keeping with favorites is the billboard reference to Karel past iterations of Drune) may well hover, they Čapek’s 1921 film Rossumovi Univerzální are not the seek Blade Runner-esque designs Roboti (Rossum’s Universal Robots). Not only visitors may recall. Instead, they are entirely of does it fit the period, it is the film that first the era, encompassing bulky Cadillac-like brought us the term “robot” (although those in beasts to smaller open-topped Mercedes and the film were closer androids than robots); it pencil-like single seaters. They are held aloft has also been cleverly paired with an indirect over tracks that line each side of the road by reference to Douglas Adams’ The Hitchhiker’s great round conduction coils that replace their Guide to the Galaxy through its tag-line – even wheels and which are presumably powered by if the Sirius Cybernetics Corp might want to the diesel engines sitting under their hoods. have a few words about it! They share the roads with cars that retain their wheels, perhaps because their owners cannot As indicated in the introductory notes, the city afford the hover update or perhaps simply also contains references to the BBC Television because they want to be fashionably different. series Peaky Blinders, the fictionalized tale of one of England’s most notorious crime A number of the buildings include interiors gangs that was based in the city of that have been made over to match the Birmingham. These range the Garrison pub, theme. The Black Pussy nightclub goes full-on inspired by the pub seen in the series and deco in its interior styling that could have you rumored to have been used by the real Peaky out on the dance floor like the most carefree Blinders, to the wharf side chalk advert flapper, whilst the Cortez Hotel’s lobby featuring a racing horse and the words has more grandiose deco setting, complete “Shelby, est. 1920”, a reference to both the with stained glass windows and vaulted ceiling family leading the fictional Peaky Blinders and (as a set of four themed bedrooms). Those to the illegal bookmaking both the fictional seeking a meal can always drop into and real gangs ran. There’s even billboard the Shanghai Dragon, a restaurant that is truly advertising Cadbury’s products providing

further references to the Midlands origins of the gang. Drune is also a setting that encompasses so much more as well. There is a very Gothamesque vibe in places that goes far beyond the Batmoble awaiting discovery, whilst the streets and atmosphere lend themselves to thoughts of a dieselpunk Philip Marlowe trudging the glistening footpaths (It was raining in the City — a hard rain — almost hard enough to wash the slime from the streets. But it never does.), and more besides. This is a place that deserves time to appreciate all of the detail that has gone into it, from the way the building rise from worn brickwork to fine, faced stone with carved motifs and proud banners to the crafted rotary engines that pump clean air into their refined interiors from their tops and cough it used and dirty, onto the streets below. Much of this detailing, all created

by Hera, both adds depth to the setting and offers up more in the way of cultural references, particularly for central Europe in the inter-war period. Magnificent, engaging and deserving to be witnessed, Drune Diesel is simply superb – when visiting, do make sure you are running with Advanced Lighting Model active (Shadows not required). KM SLURL DETAILS You can visit this great sim at the following location: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/ Blissful%20Summer/204/123/2836

PHOTO ESSAY

PHOTOGRAPH

Y: NELLIPOT

HY: INARA PEY

3D ART EXHIBITION SPOTLIGHT: ISOLATION, SELF

ARTICLE & PHOTOG

F, AND MOOD AT RIBONG GALLERY, SECOND LIFE

GRAPHY: INARA PEY

t’s been too long sine my last visit to Ribong

Gallery Artspace, operated and curated by San (Santoshima) – so my apologies to her for this being the case. Ribong is a gallery that offers extensive space for 2D and 3D arts, the individual display spaces separated by altitude, giving each a sense of individuality. They can also be reached either via direct LM, or for first-time visitors via the gallery’s lobby. Exhibitions within the spaces can be quite long-lasting (or possibly permanent); I actually reviewed Harbor Galaxy’s Alter Ego, available at Ribong 2535, in October 2019, and Bamboo Barnes’ Receding Reality at Ribong 2243 in September 2020. More recent to Ribong is Meiló Minotaur’s Confined Within Me, located at Ribong 903. While it is a more recent exhibit than those mentioned above, it nevertheless shares something of a common theme: that of introspection, the nature of self and reflections on identity, although its core theme is perhaps somewhat deeper and potentially darker. Starting from a large room with a small poem printed on one wall, the installation leads visitors through a pattern of spaces that grow smaller in size, including narrow hallways. Within them are figures, partially embedded in walls, or lined between the narrowing walls, slumped, eyes or mouths covered, whilst further inside the installation the figures become more smoke-like or become themselves wreathed in black, apparently trying to pull themselves apart. The references to mental illness – depression, anxiety, depersonalisation-derealisation disorder (DPD), the sense of losing one’s own identity – losing oneself -, of being trapped within one’s life – all appear clear. Without the need for extensive exposition, but through simple representation and a six line poem that is itself incredibly powerful in its wording, Confined Within Me visualizes a range of conditions that can be so debilitating to those who suffer from them, but so hard to put into words such that others might understand.

Opening on Saturday March 20th at Ribong 1920 is Silence is the Flower, by Joss Floss, an exhibition of 2D art. Again, it shares something of a connection with the other three exhibitions, in that it explores communications and feelings, as noted in the artist’s statement on the images presented: “SILENCE IS THE FLOWER” IS A JAPANESE PHRASE ROUGHLY TRANSLATED AS “SOME THINGS ARE BETTER LEFT UNSAID.” THESE PICTURES ARE ABOUT NOT SAYING AND NOT SHOWING. • Joss Floss on Silence is the Flower Spread across three levels (use the yellow teleport cubes to move between them), Silence presents a series of images in soft focus or which use depth of field in order to focus the eye on the flowers whilst keeping the figure (Joss) either outof-focus or gently blurred, the idea being to allow the flowers and tone to offer the sense of mood and message within each piece. What this might be is down to those observing each of the of the images presented here. What is clear is that the direct, unadorned method of presentation allows the eye to focus on each picture, allowing it so suggest its own story. Whether taken individually or as part of a visit that also encompasses Alter Ego and Receding Reality, both Silence is the Flower and Confined Within Me offer two engaging exhibitions. KM You can visit the gallery at the following exhibition: http:// maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/ Mieum/174/60/2075

ART EXHIBITION SPOTLIGHT: COMBINED TE

ARTICLE & PHOTOG

ECHNIQUES AND FIBS AT GLINKA GALLERY

GRAPHY: INARA PEY

urrently open at Glinka Gallery, operated and

curated by Wolfgang Glinka, are two very different but equally attractive exhibitions, one featuring paintings and images, and the other focused on words and poetry. Combined Technique presents a selection of art by Serbian painter and digital artist, Lash VV. Having opened on March 22nd, 2021, it is another enticing series of pieces the combine traditional painting and digital techniques that bring together elements of abstraction and impressionism and motifs that incorporate a range of themes in a brilliant mix of color and line, offered is a setting suggestive of a primal forest with effects by Boris Twist. There is something of a divide in styles presented here: those pieces centered on abstraction are clearly so; their form frequently wild or suggesting a certain frenzy. There is a deep and almost primal sense of emotion to them in the predominant use of lauder colors. The one apparent exception to this is Remembering Blue, a piece using the calming influence of blue shades that evokes a sense of anchor and balance amidst the more vibrant emotive splashes of the pieces around it. Mixed with these are pieces that offer impressionist views that are equally as captivating and offer some unique commentary on human history and our relationship with nature. Take Marsh as an example, as it carries within it a primal memory of humanity’s origins as a hunter-gatherer and times when hunts and the animals encountered were recorded through painting on rock walls, or Caravan, capturing that period of time – notably in the American west – when meat came to humanity’s growing towns and cities by means of the cattle drive. Meanwhile, Torn perhaps offers a link between the impressionist and the emotional tones of the more abstracted pieces, the bull within it clearly evocative of ideas or emotional responses (being bull headed, charging in like a bull, etc.), whilst Shadowlands offers a narrative of freedom

and spiritual escape.

Intriguing in form, Combined Technique is an engaging visual display of art, a unique combination of technique and form. A short walk from Combined Technique is Wolfie Tells Fibs an exhibition of poetry by Fibonacci poetry penned by Wolfgang Glinka under his physical world name, Colin Bell. For those unfamiliar with it, Fibonacci Poetry – or Fibs – plays on the Fibonacci sequence. The typical Fib is a six line, 20 syllable poem with a syllable count by line of 1/1/2/3/5/8 – with as many syllables per line as the line’s corresponding place in the Fibonacci sequence. Gregory K. Pincus is credited with bringing this 6line form to widespread recognition; however, as a broader poetical form, “Fibs” can be said to date back to Sanskrit prosody, with a similar stress on long and short syllables. As a poetic form, Fibonacci Poetry has become an expression in art not only for the mathematical progression of syllables, but for the fact poems can be shaped by rules – such as ascending from a single syllable to a set number of syllables at the mid-point in the poem, before descending once more back to a single syllable, or running in reverse, or forming mirrored forms in line / syllable counts. Much of this is in evidence in the poems displayed with the Glinka Gallery space, the poems themselves rich in imagery that encompasses a range of themes and narratives. Utilizing the Fib to present multi-stanza poems and well as single stanza pieces, and even reference classical poetry forms – do check out Three Fibonacci Poems After Ovid’s Metamorphosis – Wolfgang presents a rich and engaging display of Fibonacci Poems. KM You can visit this exhibit at the following slurl: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/ Nolidae/161/210/3001

SECOND LIFE: LAB ANNOUNCES LIND

ARTICLE: & PHOTOG

DEN HOMES CHALET THEME RELEASED

GRAPHY: INARA PEY

uesday, March 30th saw Patch

Linden announce the release of the Chalet style of Linden Homes for Premium members. First unveiled in December 2020, this latest style of Linden Home has something of an Alpine edge to it, with the official forum post noting: CHALET THEME HOMES ARE MODELLED AFTER STYLIZED EUROPEAN ALPINE WOOD-TIMBERED HOUSES (FACHWERKHAUS), OF A TYPE THAT YOU MIGHT EXPECT TO FIND IN MOUNTAINS OF GERMANY, AUSTRIA, SWITZERLAND, SLOVENIA, CROATIA, OR NORTHERN ITALY. THESE ARE NOT RUSTIC BUILDINGS, BUT CONTEMPORARY HOMES READY FOR 21ST CENTURY LIVING. As with the majority of the Linden Homes releases, these houses come with 1024 sq meter parcels (only the Campers and Trailers have thus far diverted from this footprint size). However, unlike previous Home releases, there are effectively eight variants that are available for rezzing, something Patch originally indicated to me when I previewed the theme back in December. In short, the chalets come in four exterior styles, each one of which is offered with either a “complete” set of rooms, or an “open plan” layout with minimal pre-built internal walls. The latter is intended to offer those who like designing their homes more flexibly with interior design. Each of the eight variants is distinguished by a unique name: •

•

Matterhorn: 2 large ground floor rooms, linked by a rear hallway with back door, and a central front hallway / reception area with stairs to the upper floor. This has two large rooms, one with gabled windows to the front and rear, the other with large windows to one side aspect. Moritzburg: open plan version of the Matterhorn: fully open plan on the lower floor other than three walls supporting the central stairway. A single separate upper floor room with large open-plan space at the top of the stairs. Alpenrose: a two-story house with offset

front entrance with vestibule, three ground floor rooms, one with a side door to the garden. Stairs from the entrance hall provide access to three upstairs rooms, each with windows to a side aspect and either the front or rear.

spaces with parasol shaded seating. Those fancying a more noisy time out might try a visit to Die Betrunkene Maus (“The Drunken Mouse”), the new community center and hostelry for the Chalets. When I dropped in, Xeno Mole was suitably attired in a feathered cap and giving it a bit of wellie on an accordion. • Albus: open-plan version of the Alpenrose, With the regions stretching up to Satori, the featuring a single large lower-floor area Chalet homes form the bridge between that partially divided by a stairway supporting continent and Bellisseria, forming the much wall. Two upper floor rooms, one with door requested contiguous access to the major access from the stairs. southern continents – Satori, Sansara, and • Reizend: a single-story cottage-style chalet Jeogeot, with Bellisseria sitting in the middle. with two open-plan rooms, the front porch The Chalets and their regions are an attractive opening directly into one of them, with addition to the Linden Homes range – each doorways serving the remaining two rooms. iteration of the homes tends to be an evolution, • Ravensburg: open-plan version of the and I particularly like the idea of adding openReizend offering a single individual room and plan variants of designs into the mix – hopefully a large open-plan space combining the we’ll see more of this in the remaining themes remaining three, with partial dividing walls. that will be appearing through the year. • Edelweiss: a two-story house with front entrance to one side serving the stairs to the But that said, I have to admit these aren’t for upper floor and giving access to the single me – although I’ve nothing against the theme open-plan ground floor room, which also or style. It’s just that it took me a fair while to includes a side door to the garden. A landing finally make the jump from a Houseboat to a upstairs provides access to two bedrooms, Stilt Home, so I’m not about to leap elsewhere! each with widows to a front or rear aspect, As with other Linden Homes, the Chalets can be and to the side aspects of the house. obtained by Premium account holders through • Eikelen: open-plan version of the Edelweiss their secondlife.com dashboard and the Linden with the same ground-floor design, with and Homes page available from it. Those who do open-plan, door-less approach to the upper fancy one of the Chalets are asked to note the floor spaces. The setting for the Chalets isn’t following request from Patch: “Alpine” mountainous, but it is ruggedly hilly with plenty of changes in elevation that keep AS A GENERAL REMINDER AND TO HELP the landscape rolling. The roods are paved, FACILITATE THE RELEASE PROCESS, PLEASE DO with rez zones (where available) clearly NOT PLAY “GAME OF HOMES” BY TAKING AND marked. The footpaths are finished in red RELEASING HOMES DURING THE INITIAL brick and a nice contrast to the concrete road PHASES OF LAUNCH. ALSO IT IS EXTREMELY surface, while the coniferous flora helps with HELPFUL TO REFRAIN FROM RAPIDLY the higher altitude feel to the regions. SWITCHING THROUGH DIFFERENT HOME STYLES TO GIVE THE REGIONS TIME TO SETTLE Those who visited the demo region back in AND NOT OVERLOAD THE BACK-END SYSTEMS. December may recall it featuring a windmill – WE HOPE EVERYONE ENJOYS THE LATEST and several examples are scattered about the ADDITIONS TO THE BELLISERIA CONTINENT new Chalet regions, together with open public AND COMMUNITY! KM

SCENIC LOCATIONS:

ARTICLE & PHOTOGRA

: BEIRA DA RIBERIA

APHY: RICCA SAENZ

t seems strategic that the region’s landing

point takes the visitor straight into a deforested area. At your arrival in Beira da Ribeira, you immediately encounter one of the most worrisome problems that affect the Amazon today. The fact that a ship waits nearby suggests that we are not seeing a small -scale operation, but a more devastating timber extraction effort. This is what I mean when I say that the place offers us some narratives: it delivers some stories with their specific contexts and circumstances. The sim (I would probably face Patch Linden’s anger if he learned that I used the word “sim” instead of “region” here, but since I enjoy no more than 6 or 7 regular readers, I doubt he will ever be aware of this post ) has two small inhabited areas. One of them is a village with houses built on stilts – and it’s interesting to compare them with the stilt homes recently released by Linden Lab in Bellisseria. While in Belli those dwellings are part of a suburban landscape that would easily fit the US imagery, houses in Beira da Ribeira look much more modest. It is interesting to notice, too, that in a section of the village, an entire group of houses counts on an single outhouse for their residents – which implies a more traditional way of building latrines (and which also makes perfect sense in an area with no sewage network, as it seems to be the case there). The other area is a classic settlement of a native people. It is set in a clearing and displays items like huts, hammocks and traditional cooking utensils. I missed an adjacent vegetable plot, but it’s true that it’s not a mandatory element for all native communities. Finally, of course the region is full of different plant species and animals like alligators, macaws, woodpeckers, jaguars and so on. It is clear, in the sim, that tradition is not a pure extension of the past into the present, but a continuity that shapes life as long as it makes sense for those who follow it. The region represents it well, as it does not depict traditional elements in a purely stereotypical way. Actually, it places them along with items

such as a communication tower and solar panels, indicating a more complex dynamic between permanence and transformation. Of course, Beira da Ribeira is a static scenery, but it does refer to the complexity of the real Amazon where its inspiration comes from. And it does so not by reproducing any particular part of the Amazon in the virtual world: instead, it represents the rain forest’s elements – that’s how the region by Fred Hamilton (frecoi) and Lotus Mastroianni takes us right into the Amazonian multiplicity. Let’s be honest: for the majority of SL residents, the Amazon is a distant part of the world that they know by movies (which often distort it) or newspapers and news programs on TV. So, Beira da Ribeira transports us into a more realistic Amazon even if it is not a reproduction of the forest. As a matter of fact, reproductions generally face problems in SL. A building found in real life, for instance, will always have to deal with the quandary of proportion in Second Life: if it keeps ratio between its dimensions, avatars will feel uncomfortable inside it, even if you change your camera angle, and it won’t be possible to translate into the virtual world the sensation of being inside the real (as opposed to virtual) building. That’s why, in Second Life, feeling real (and by that I mean translating into the virtual world the sensations or impressions that one has when they experience some real-life reality) may be more important than being real (in the sense of reproducing some real-life reality as accurately as possible). That’s what happens in Beira da Ribeira: even if it does not depict any particular place in the Amazon, it can evoke in visitors the feeling of experiencing the Amazonian environment. Of course, it is a limited experience, compared to what it could be in the so-called real world. Yet, it is powerful enough to allow us to understand a bit better the challenges that the forest and its communities have been facing. KM You can visit Beira at the following slurl in Second Life: https://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/STYX/29/223/22

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Ristorante Kandela is the free and self serve restaurant on the Kultivate Sim! This v couples intan so you can enjoy a romantic date out with your loved one! The restau Huntsman a notecard in world with the booking date and time and any other specia 20Haven/95/221/28

venue is decorated in an Italian rustic style and features crooner music and a urant is also available for private events, free of charge. Simply drop Johannes al requests. SLURL: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Water%

KULTIVATE MAGAZINE

VOLUME 6, ISSUE 3 MARCH 2021 WWW.KULTIVATEMAGAZINE.COM