PROVA MICRO CONSTRUZIONI, or roughly “Test/Try Micro Constructions,” is a light hearted piece by Shellina Winkler that seemed to have popped up over the weekend.
PROVA MICRO CONSTRUZIONI looks like a shadow box, calling to mind playful puppet theaters and, as the title demands, inviting all those around to “prova” to their heart’s content. A figure walking tightrope stands out in white against a black background layered with a neon blue mountain scene.
Unfortunately the piece isn’t very interactive–you can’t even sit inside of it. It’s sort of a shame, because with the corner spot on the BIW Sim it really would be a prime spot to chill and survey the land.
I’m struggling between whether or not the piece is made to be seen up-close or at a distance. The title suggests the possibility of intimate interfacing between avatar and art piece, but all details about the piece seem to contradict that. From far away the darkness of the box flattens the image to look like a giant black canvas. As you move farther and farther away, the details of the tight-rope figure begin to become sparse and incoherent, while the blue neon background retains it’s integrity. From this perspective the object becomes an odd sort of landscape painting. When you get closer it’s like stepping inside of a Frank Stella painting; the outlines of (what I’m assuming are) the various prims glow neon blue, the details of the tight rope walker sort themselves out, and next thing you know, you’re up against that “far-off looking” neon blue mountain background. I was a little disappointed the first time I ran up against the background…I was really hoping for an Willy-Wonka-tunnel-esque experience (circa Gene Wilder, of course).
All in all, I really do feel like there’s something here, but Winkler hasn’t quite yet fully committed to that idea. When you’re in the box, there’s some interesting points on dealing with perspective, distance, and size in SL (your avatar isn’t quite tall enough to touch the tight rope walker, but the tight rope walker by comparison doesn’t seem far away enough to be that small) but I think the point would have been better articulated with a more hyperbolic approach.
Then again, the title does say “TEST.” Maybe the jokes on me?
I don’t think I lost myself in translation as the work has a title which is “Precarità – Frailty”, which I think is the meaning of the funambol standing on the rope. A simple word which carries inside all the meanings any observer can read. You talked about “prova micro costruzioni” that was the name I gave to the single prim I used while I was working and before giving it its title.(you probably read the inspect) It is not a test, it’s not an attempt of building. I only used micro prims to create it. Micro are portions of standard prims, very tiny and not so easy to be modelled. Thanks for noticing it. I hope that the true title in its simplicity will give you another point of view. thanks again Shellina Winkler
Left by shellina on May 27th, 2009