The Art of Moya in Second Life

Today I visited Moyaland in Second Life. Moyaland covers a large area that covers four sims. The large expanse is filled with the work of the French artist Patrick Moya.  The artist is said to be one of the first people to explore digital art. From Wikipedia:

"Moya's maxim has been "to please everybody while remaining avant-garde; to be everywhere without wasting oneself; to touch each medium while staying perfectly recognizable". He credits his time as a nude model for his healthy degree of exhibitionism and narcissism that gets duplicated as his cartoon alter ego. The result is art that crosses generations and genders. His work is often described as positive and jubllant."

 What this boils down to is that much of his art consists of sculptures and images of his last name, "Moya", and cartoon and sculptural self-portraits. 

At first I felt as if the artist was a little full of himself, but after a while I began to understand, and grew to enjoy it. Certainly, if you see four huge three-dimensional letters, an "M", an "O", a "Y", and an "A", it is easy to identify them as the work of the artist "Moya". I found some of the small sculptures, with the four letters intertwined, to be very charming.

Although his art is exhibited in real world galleries, I think this virtual space is a great place for his art. Where can you find a gallery that would hold a five-story statue, or that would pay for the electricity for the myriad lights and animations.

Moya's self-portrait as an angel overlooking part of Moyaland.

Here a giant 'noob' statue is collared by an "O"
while another "Moya" representation looks down.

The works cover an immense space, and so there are vehicles you can borrow or ride to get from one site to another. If you can find the Tourist Information Office, there is even a system of teleports you can use.

If you can find the tourist information center,
they have teleports to take you to all the different installations.

You can borrow this plane, and there are also cars and trolleys
you can use to explore.  

 

A room full of illuminated circuitboards and scrolling displays.

I climbed and climbed to get to the top of this building,
only to find that it is another Moya sculpture.
(See helicopter on shoulder for idea of scale).

Looking down from the neck, you can see some cartoon gears.

If you go still higher, you can see the statue's brains....

 

In another part of Moyaland there is a carnival with a parade.
Notice the Moya's in the audience. The "Moyas" and "The Lambs"
were everywhere.

Map of Moyaland

 

I ended up in an amusement park with a 'haunted house'. I never knew that going to an Art exhibit could be so much fun. It is certainly not like wandering through most art galleries. His work is like nothing else. I hope to visit Moyaland again.

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Moya/117/116/22 

Here is a link to a nice English-language PDF about Moya

Virtual Traffic

Driving down a Second Life highway today ran into a seven-car crash site. It appears that some residents have riderless vehicles going down the roads, and some of them don't seem to be able to navigate.

You can't see them all, but there are three passenger vehicles, three buses, and a tank truck.

I Have Become A Crazy Cat Lady (In Virtual Life)

I have been trying to blog about serious (or semi-serious) things in Second Life. I should be writing about the wonderful architecture and landscaping, Rockcliffe University's educational game about global warming, events that raise money for real-life charities, or even about the installation that includes a fast-food franchise in Hell.

Instead, I will tell you about my virtual cats. I have pictures. People who don't like cats can leave now.

It started, innocently enough, when I was first wandering around Second Life and one of the newcomer-friendly freebie sites had free cats.  Being a sucker, I took one. I soon learned that there is no such thing as "a free cat."

KittyCats, the major cat breeder in Second Life, has a wonderful business model.  The cost of the first feline may be very modest, but as time goes on you find that there are additional expenses. If your cat or kitten hasn't been fixed (made into a 'Perma Pet') it will need to be fed or it might run away or get sick.  KittyCats sells food, provides vet assistance, and helps locate lost animals. If you want to make the cat a "Perma-pet" so that it doesn't need to be fed, then KittyCats will sell you the elixir to do that.

There are, of course, many related items you can buy -- cat clothes, pillows, scratching posts, and even a small house. I actually lived in the Cattery Cottage for a short while after I accidentally deleted a new 'people' house I had bought. The Cottage is comparable in size* to Thoreau's cabin at Walden Pond.

This is one of the more expensive things you can buy for your cats.  (About 50cents, US). 

The first cat I got was Victoria. She was too old to have kittens, so she didn't eat as much as a cat who was still kitten-bearing age (7 to 121 days), but I paid to have her made into a 'Perma Pet'.

Then came Desdemona. I think I bought her so that Victoria would have a friend.

Desdemona

Then came Feliz - he was a free kitten given away to celebrate Second Life's 9th birthday.

Feliz, wearing his party hat. (I took it off after I took the picture).

At some point I was given two kittens still in the birthing boxes, and they were still in my inventory over two years later when I returned to Second Life. I was surprised to see that the kitties were all still 'alive', and even more surprised when, shortly after the two new kittens were 'born' I got a message saying that a new update was available. A few clicks later, and all five felines were up to date, and had learned a few more tricks. (Wish that worked with my computer software.)

Kittens will ride on your shoulder, if they are in the mood.
(The floating text after their names reflects their status.
 You can set it to show all stats, or none.)

Now, KittyCats in Second Life are more than pets, raising them can, with luck and skill, be an income source.  The kittens come with seven genetic traits that can be passed on to their offspring: eye shape, pupil color, whisker shape, body shape, ear shape, shade, and tail type. Careful breeding can suppress 'ordinary' traits, and encourage the 'better' traits in future litters. Breeders keep careful track of their cat pairs (breeding involves nothing naughty, you just have to make sure the future parents get the proper food and care, and are close to each other) and then wait patiently for the female cat to 'drop a box'. Kittens with valuable traits may fetch high prices at auction, and their owners are in high regard in the large community of KittyCats breeders.

Cats are not the only 'breedable' pet you can buy in Second Life. Amaretto horses are very popular, as well as meeros, fennex, dragons (large and small), garden fairies, and many other creatures. For me, the KittyCats are the best because their designers keep adding new features. The Main KittyCats store is also fun to visit, with constantly-changing displays and new breeds of kitties.

In doing research for the blog I picked a random dealer from the 'approved' list published by KittyCats. I went to FelinesKittys, a virtual business which offers space to merchants who sell felines and related merchandise. This was set up like a large street fair, and I was very impressed by the ingenuity of the stalls.

I think this merchant sold software to make it easy to publish your cats' pedigrees.

I had told myself that buying virtual accessories for virtual pets was really frivolous, but I did buy an automatic feeder so that the new kittens wouldn't starve when I was away. 

I find them very amusing. Perhaps I am too easily amused. Certainly they have most of the good traits of real cats, and few of the bad.  Real life cats can cause complications. (Digression to RL now). For example, we are responsible for two semi-feral cats, and have installed a cat door so that the cats can come in at night. This morning my husband found a skunk making itself comfortable in the living room. Fortunately, it seems to have left peacefully. Darn cats!


*Thoreau's house was, I believe, 10 feet by 15 feet. The Cattery in Second Life is larger, but proportional since Second Life avatars need more room to move around.

Art, Fashion, History

I wanted a new outfit to wear to the "historic Berlin" build in Second Life. This free outfit came from The Curious Seamstress in New Toulouse.

And speaking of Berlin, I would like to refer you to http://brynoh.blogspot.com/2015/05/obedience-artwork-opening-at-judisches.html   A Second Life art installation is being shown both inworld and in the Jewish Museum in the real city of Berlin.

How to Find Free Textures to Use in Second Life

When I first came to Second Life and started to build things, the permissions that some texture makers put on their products were confusing, and it wasn't always clear whether you could use the textures on things you wanted to sell. Since at that time I was making things I wanted to sell, I decided to make my own textures.

Later I started offering some of the textures I made on the Marketplace as freebies. It was gratifying at first when dozens of people ordered them, but humbling when, after a few days, somebody let me know that they had opened the box and found it was empty. Most people were apparently just clicking on 'free' without looking at what they had gotten. After I made sure there was something in the box I added another separate texture to my store on the Marketplace, and gave it a price of 10 Lindens. Absolutely nobody bought it. It was obvious that it wasn't my textures that people wanted, but free textures.

I decided to prepare a package with directions and landmarks to places in Second Life where you could get free textures, and sell the bundle for one Linden*

Here is a blog version of the notecard.

-----------------How to Find Free Textures in Second Life---------------------------------------------------

Terrain texture as camouflage

You already have a lot of free textures in your inventory. Just scroll down to "Library" and then go to the different texture folders. The terrain textures, which match the ground in different parts of Second Life,  are particularly useful for camouflage.

Other Official Textures: 

Free Textures Offered At Linden Sites

Linden Communities:

 If you are a Premium member you have the option of choosing a home in one of the Linden communities, and each community has a spot where you can pick up the textures used in construction.  Anyone can visit the Infohub in those neighborhoods to pick up a copy.

 Tahoe Infohub is at Tahoe Springs. The Tahoe textures are rustic and are suitable for cabins and A-frames.

Only three textures are displayed, but there are actually dozens of different ones in each package.

   Elderglen infohub is in Elderglen. These textures are more earthy - good for hobbit holes and wizard's houses.  

   Shareta Osumai infohub. The textures here have an Asian theme, and are good for Japanese builds. There are some very nice rug and curtain patterns.

   Meadowbrook infohub is in Bucksnort. These textures are more modern. There are also two sculpt maps to make a simple lamp.

Meadowbrook Texture Kiosk

Linden Textures Made for New Continents:

Nautilus: When Nautilus was created the moles set up a freebie site at The Market. This one offers not only several containers of free textures, but many decorative objects and houses.

Free textures at Nautilus

Some of the free objects and textures at The Market

Bay City:

In Bay City there are two different places you can pick up free textures, houses, and objects.

Bay City Freebie Site

And another Bay City Freebie Site with a display of free houses in the background.

Some of the many free items at Bay City - coffee pot, shell, sandcastle, antique microscope, and mole hill, shown on four prims with textures from the same box.

Zindra

Zindra is one of the newest continents in Second Life. It was made as a place for "adult" content, so I don't go there often, so it took me a while to find the freebie vender there. Below see picture of the vendor, and also of a "Dangomushi" building of 51 prims from the vendor.

Linden Department of Public Works: A good resource for textures used by the Linden Department of Public Works is the Mole Mart at Leafminer.

Textures used in road construction, plus road signs and other useful things.

Textures Made by Individuals:

Many individuals have donated their textures to the community, and boxes of these textures can be found all over. One person who has created hundreds of free textures for Second Life  is Torley Linden. You can find his textures in several places, but I recommend getting them at Torley Island just for the fun of going there.

The texture dispenser at Torley Island

Yadni's : One of the most venerable resources for free textures (and everything else) was Yadni's Junkyard. Besides the tons of free resources there were two walls showing the history of Yadni's and the growth of Second Life. Yadni's Junkyard was in Leda.. Alas, Yadni's junkyard disappeared in June. Yadni himself has apparently moved on to other virtual worlds. He will be missed. I am hoping to put some of the things I got at Yadni's as freebies on the Marketplace in Second Life.

Each of those little dots was a box full of stuff. The red beam was a teleport beam. 

Yadni sculpture. That little dot to the right is a person.

The Nix Bazaar at Stillman has an interesting collection of freebies. Copies of old library inventory are also available there.  I found several boxes of freebie textures on the second floor on the west side.

Newcomer Island:  I found a huge variety of textures displayed on "New Resident Island".  

Click the picture of each structure, and get all the textures used on both the interiors and exteriors of the houses!

Unofficial Freebie Sites:

Dreams or Sojourner's Land. These sims are kept up as a living memorial to The Sojourner and are the site of regular building contests and other events.  There is a shop which has items for sale, but you can find some good free textures as well. Please donate if you can.

It's not clear from the photo, but the statue is as tall as a three-story building.

Textures as Hunt Prizes: 

If you want to see what the leading-edge texture artists are doing, and want to familiarize yourself with the wonderful texture resources there are in Second Life,  I would recommend joining a few "texture hunts" to visit different locations. Since dates and locations change, try looking in a place like the Timeless Textures to see if there are any current hunts** .

Edited 9-11-16: USC Textures is no longer there. Timeless Textures has moved to http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Razors%20Edge/215/200/3802 on the Razors Edge Sim. USC still has a Marketplace store.

Aley Mart: Arcadia Asylum was a former resident who created and gave away over 3,000 items while she was in Second Life. She has moved on to other virtual worlds, but her fans set up a site on the marketplace where you can get an example of almost everything she made. After you have found the listings, search for 'textures'.

NCI: This is a volunteer-run organization with several locations. Great place to get advice and freebies.

Free textures at NCI

That's it for now. I'm sure there are many more places out there, but these should give you a good start.

Now that you have a gazillion free textures, I would recommend you get one or more texture organizers. I suggest trying out some of the free ones at first, to find out if they meet your needs.

Happy Hunting!

Note: Even the best-run freebie sites may inadvertently have included some textures that the creator meant to be for sale. If you have a question about "free to use" it is a good idea to IM the creator and make sure. 

*A "Linden" is a unit of currency used in Second Life. I think the current exchange rate is about 260 Lindens to the dollar.

**A 'hunt" is an event sponsored by a group of merchants or an association. You look for an object in a store or location, and when you click on it, it gives you the landmark to the next location, and there is usually a prize at each store or at the end of the hunt. The advantage to the merchant is that it gets customers into a store, the advantage to the 'hunter' is that they learn their way around and sometimes get really neat freebies. Look for "Full Perm" hunts.

Travels in Second Life - China as Presented by Monash University in Australia

I visited the virtual city of Hanyu in China, a Second Life city created by Monash University in Melbourne, Australia. The site is intended to give students the 'virtual' experience of living in China. Almost everything you hear or read while you are there is in Chinese, but the visitor is provided with a HUD* that allows you to click on objects and get their Chinese name. You can listen to the pronunciation of key words, and there is also a Chinese dictionary.

This is a site heavy with information on Chinese culture and language. You can learn more at their website Virtual Hanyu.

Playing a classical Chinese musical instrument.

A sampan ride is part of the orientation.

Monash University has built a number of other virtual platforms where students can go for an immersion experience in different languages and cultures, but they are on different platforms. Their web page lists Croquet, Active Worlds, EVE-Online, and Lively by Google.

The University refers to the different platforms as "Moodles" but calls the one in Second Life a "SLOODLE".

I think that anyone who is trying to learn Chinese, who did not grow up in that culture, needs all the help they can get. I left the virtual city realizing how relatively easy** Spanish, French, and German are for someone who grew up speaking English.

--------------------------------------------------
*"HUD" in this instance means "Heads Up Display". Many activities in Second Life use different HUDs for different purposes - from keeping track of the 'gems' you've picked up in Linden Realms to offering a menu of animations for your avatar. The HUD display is usually shown on the top or side of your screen. The closest 'real life' equivalent I can think of is Google Glass.

**Not that I'm very fluent in those other languages, but at least they have the same alphabet.

Dressing Up As An Amphibian….

I wanted a new picture for the top of the blog so I went over to Freeby Galaxy and picked up an amphibian avatar, put it on, and then I went over to Elderglen and sat under some toadstools to take a picture.

This turned out to be harder than I thought, as the free avatar was missing some essential parts. I guess you get what you pay for. I ended up playing with different outfits and finally gave up and used photoshop to get the final photo.

A learning experience, all in all. What I do for my non-existant readers….