nessuno Myoo has placed three of his works (updated; the original text said “his or her”, but I met the artist) at Brooklyn is Watching this week, along with three works by Kicca Igaly that I will look at in other posts. These three pieces share some visual elements, and their placement alongside one another invite one to view them as a body of work. nessuno is Italian, and we have a number of other works by Italian artists this week; perhaps this is the beginning of a new Italian Renaissance of art.
The three pieces all have the appearance of metal. (There is, of course, no real metal in Second Life; it’s all done with prims and textures.) There are differences, though. Unicorn (the first picture) and MetalAngel (the third) have the roughness of metal that has been worked with hammers, like the product of a forge; Carillon S.E. per Luce (second picture) has smoother, polished finishes. Carillon is all about curves; the other two works combine curved surfaces and sharp angularities.
It’s hard to choose a favorite here. The angular nature of Unicorn makes us see it, not as a real animal, but as a robotic or cybernetic creature, and the roughly hewn surfaces add to the effect of a working animal rather than a piece of art; it’s easy to imagine this unicorn living alongside Bryn Oh’s steampunk creations. The smoother flows of Carillon have a more organic feel, and the swooping curves coming out from the body remind me of clothing taken by the wind; this feels like life captured as art. The legs of MetalAngel have structures that evoke visible muscles and sinews, so here we are not looking at the surface of life but at its insides; she appears to be doing a pole dance, suggesting that what we are seeing is not a celestial angel but rather an earthier sort.
As a body of work, these show a considerable range of effect from a single medium of metal sculpture. They also feature excellent prim craftsmanship and use of texture. Nessuno and the Italian wave are definitely things to watch for in the Second Life art world.