The Returning by Marcus Inkpen

The Returning, a full sim installation at the Linden Endowment of the Arts by the incredibly talented Marcus Inkpen of The Looking Glass (with Sharni Azalee). Marcus has an incredible talent in the use of light in Second Life, no easy task but painstakingly considered and implemented, particularly in his remarkable interior spaces.

Come over and wander the sim while you still can...and find all the mysterious items scattered over the landscape.

Visit at http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/LEA17/227/34/22.

More photographs can be found in this Flickr set.

Virginia Alone by Bryn Oh

Byrn Oh's latest installation on view at Immersiva and part of the Santa Fe New Media Festival. Virginia Alone is about a woman who is over 80 years old, blind with cataracts and lived alone in a remote farm house in the Canadian countryside.

For more information, visit Bryn Oh's blog.

More photographs from this installation can be found in my Virginia Alone Flickr set at http://www.flickr.com/photos/pj_trenton/sets/72157630501128630/. 

This work, along with work by fellow Second Life artists  Artistide Despres, Haveit Neox, Tyrehl Byk and Ultraviolet Alter are all being featured in Santa Fe.

Designing Worlds Returns to Insilico

Designing Worlds hosts Saffia & Elrik take a grand tour of the dark and beautiful city of Insilico.

Linden Endowment for the Arts Announces Land Rush Residency

The Linden Endowment of the Arts is an official Linden Community Partnership program whose purpose is to help new artists, cultivate art in SL, and foster creativity, innovation, and collaboration within the art community.

The Linden Endowment for the Arts (LEA) has just announced its Land Rush Residency. This initiative gives artists an opportunity to “claim” 1/8th of a region for a period of 2 months to mount a virtual art installation. Limited spaces are available on a first-come, first-served basis.

The first round will be held in two phases on October 30, 2011 at 10:00 am and 4 pm SLT. A total of 16 parcels in two regions will be given away.

For complete information on the Land Rush Residency, please visit the official LEA blog at http://lindenarts.blogspot.com/2011/10/linden-endowment-for-arts-announces-its.html.

Earlier this month, LEA announced that it had negotiated with Linden Labs for the creation of 20 new regions for the arts in Second Life. Of these:

• four regions will be reserved for exhibitions curated from LEA sandbox art,
• two regions will be allocated through the above noted land rush, and
• fourteen will be allocated by application (deadline for submission of applications, which must be completed online, is November 1st)

Exciting things are already afoot on the LEA sims with the first monthly installation of the LEA Full Sim Art Series; Rebeca Bashly’s Inferno, inspired by Dante Aligieri’s Divine Comedy Inferno (slurl). For this series, each artist/group of artists will have a full 15,000 prim SIM for 1 month from the 1st day of the month, till the last day of the month. As such, Rebeca’s installation will be available until October 31st so be sure not to miss it.

This is certainly very exciting times for the arts community in Second Life!

Designing Worlds at Burn2

Saffia Widdershins and Elrik Merlin take a tour around this year's edition of Burn 2 and meet with artists and organizers of this popular annual festival.

Check out my set of Burn 2 images on Flickr.

Metaverse Arts at Burn2

Host Tricia Aferdita returns to a new season of Metaverse Arts with a big visit to this year's Burn2 exhibit in Second Life. Guests include Karima Hoison, MenuBar Memorial, Briawinde Magic and Trill Zapatero.

Photographs featured in this episode of Metaverse Arts can be found in my Burn 2 Set on Flickr.

2nd Annual Boobie-Thon Art Auction Opens Tonight!

October 1, 2011 marks the launch of the 4th Annual Boobie-Thon in Second Life. This annual Second Life event runs in conjunction with the Bloggers Boobie-Thon which is now in it's 11th year.

Second Life's Boobie-Thon is the result of the dedicated work of Eva Bellambi and Serra Anansi who have organized a wide-range of events since introducing this fundraising initiative in Second Life.

Funds raised during the Boobiethon in SL go to the Susan G. Komen Foundation for the Cure as well as an annually selected charity.

While a serious subject, one of the hallmarks of the Boobie-Thon is to raise money and raise awareness in a fun, educational and irreverant way. Some of the events are downright saucy!

Opening Party, October 1, 2011 at 6:30 pm SLT
Tonight's opening party is at the Cliffs of Skye (6:30 pm SLT), the Second Life home of Eva Bellambi. Please be sure to join us at http://slurl.com/secondlife/Magna%20Carta/81/212/37 with music by DJ Frequency Picnic.

Art Auction Opens, October 1, 2011 at 7:30 PM SLT
Tonight marks the opening of the 2nd Annual Boobie-Thon Art Auction. is being held at Rowan Derryth's RoHaus Gallery right next door to Eva's at http://slurl.com/secondlife/Magna%20Carta/156/177/29. The auction runs until Thursday, October 6th with final bids at 8:00 pm SLT.

We are very excited about this year's auction which features 40 works by 37 artists! The auction has been organized and curated by Rowan Derryth and myself. I am so very proud of the massive support shown to us by all of the great artists who have donated a mixture of regular, limited edition and unique works for your bidding pleasure.

This auction includes some incredibly unique works, in particular a one-of-a-kind mesh sculpture of the Venus de Medici by Pumpkin Tripsa; whimsical Nipple Trees by Maya Paris; an amazing Bee Queen by claudia222 Jewel; a beautifully crafted image by Callipygian Christensen; and a really fun sculpture by Glyph Graves.

With 37 artists, it is impossible to mention every one of their submissions in this blog post so I encourage you to come and see all of their amazing works for yourself!

The full list of artists includes:

• Alexx Fenstalker
• AutopilotPatty Poppy
• Bobbi Laval
• Callipygian Christensen
• Cat Boccaccio
• Cee Edman
• Chrome Underwood
• Claudia222 Jewel
• Douglas Story
• Elin Egoyan
• Eliza Wierwight
• Floraclayflower Beeswing
• Fuschia Nightfire
• Glyph Graves
• GM Nikolaidis
• Gracie Kendal
• LadyDawn Starbrook
• Maya Paris
• Miso Susanowa
• Misprint Thursday
• Monty Streusel
• Nino Vichan
• PJ Trenton
• Pumpkin Tripsa
• Ragamuffin Kips
• Rowan Derryth
• Sledge Roffo
• soror Nishi
• Starlash Sweetwater
• Stephen Venkman
• T.S. Carson (RL)
• Texanna Schumann
• Tricia Aferdita
• Trill Zapatero
• Wildstar Beaumont
• Winter Nightfire
• Ziki Questi

Starting bids have been set at $1,000L for unique works, $500L for limited edition items and $100L for regular items. First bids are set at $100L less than opening bid prices so that the initial bid will be at the starting bid prices. Auction winners will be advised once bidding is closed and will receive their work(s) upon receipt of funds.

There will be an auction closing event on Thursday, October 6th from 6 - 8 pm SLT with last bids due at 8 pm.

Read even more about the auction at Rowan Derryth's blog I Derryth.

For a complete list of all of the events planned during the 4th Annual Boobie-Thon in Second Life, please visit Eva's blog at http://redroseofcaledon.blogspot.com/2011/09/once-again-we-work-to-save-second-base.html.

Designing Worlds Visits Isle of Wyrms

Hosts Saffia & Elrik get a tour of the legendary place in Second Life where dragons live. Welcome guides Orlith Nightfire, Skylarian Isachenko and Talarus Luan to the show and learn about the rich history and tradition.

For more photos of this fantastical set of sims, please visit my Isle of Wyrms set on Flickr.

You can visit Isle of Wyrms by visiting http://slurl.com/secondlife/Cathedral/125/142/102.

Designing Worlds Visits the 2011 Home and Garden Expo

A tour of the 2011 Home & Garden Expo can only show you a tiny part of the amazing things to see and visit. A major Second Life event all to benefit the American Cancer Society Relay for Life campaign. Your hosts Saffia & Elrik take us on a whirlwind tour and run into a few friends along the way.



More photos of the Expo can be found in my Flickr stream.

Designing Worlds at Fantasy Faire 2011

Elrik and Saffia visit the 2011 edition of Fantasy Faire in support of Relay for Life.