Thanks to everyone in the BIW community who worked so hard to try to keep this all going.

NIW was always kind of a new experiment- I can talk more later about what happened..
What happens next? I am not at all sure. Maybe something… there will be discussions… I have to run- its my turn to take care of Theo. (my baby born June 25)

Hello Gallery Aferro and Jay,

When I woke up today (I sleep at odd hours, similar to a baby’s schedule) I had communications that my latest blog post was taken off the Newark is Watching blog.

I can see that for myself now, and also that I have been denied access to the blog.

I realize it’s possible you may not understand this but I was involuntarily put in the very tough position of buffer between Aferro and Second Life® virtual artists whose work I care about and believe in, all of whom have been trying to do the best they could on a completely voluntary basis, blindfolded and hamstrung by uncertainty.

For every question you were asked and didn’t answer, I probably had a dozen related come to me, which I answered as well as I could and as promptly as I could, even if it was just to say ‘I don’t know, let’s try to find out’ or ‘we must keep an open mind’.

I have never attempted to influence anyone’s opinion on anything that has happened except to urge for understanding, patience and tolerance on your behalf.

The art in Second Life®, as in all participatory conceptual art, depends on engagement, curiosity, and timing – you get from it what you bring to it.

One of the things I have said to my son about being an artist is: Art must hit on the beat or have a good reason not to, otherwise it’s not art- it’s just dust in the wind.

Thank you for your time and as I said in my now-removed blog post, I wish you well.

Mab MacMoragh

We work in the dark–we do what we can–we give what we have. Our doubt is our passion, and our passion is our task. The rest is the madness of art. (Henry James)

Take care with people you meet because you can’t see what invisible mountain of burdens they carry. (Anon)

Arahan has posted on his blog about the surprise announcement that Oberon made on my behalf regarding my inability to continue with Newark is Watching. The comment I wrote in response was too large to be accepted, so I’m putting it here.

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Thank you for this Arahan. You’re a good friend. I haven’t made a statement about closing because I haven’t been capable of knowing what to think or say, and actually Oberon’s shocking (to me) group announcement was the first I’ve really thought about it in concrete terms. He knew I was struggling with a morass and took it upon himself to make it public, which was a tremendous favor to me as it unlocks the issues and makes things move along. I’m grateful for that.

I have no reason today to think the future of Newark is Watching will be anything other than different and interesting and new. This is my hope. The meeting on Saturday with all concerned (Gallery Aferro should attend) will be a beginning step to make it clearer what could happen, what the possibilities and limitations are, what the organization and structure of it should be.

Gallery Aferro has made public their preliminary schedule and, while I don’t know how it would all fall into place, it seems they now have time to learn and plan and revise, revise, revise, revise, if they’re serious and are open to the challenges, realities and possibilities of virtual art. My feeling is they’re interested in committing to a successful ongoing workable format, in whatever ultimate form it takes (probably a much different ultimate form than anyone can yet envision).

Last year when Jay asked me for land to temporarily rezz megaprims I was happy and honored to be in a position to help because I like him personally and felt like I knew him well enough to be able to judge that the financial sacrifice would be worthwhile. However neither of us could know then that not only would this temporary expense be prolonged indefinitely, but he was also asking for my blood, sweat and tears, and most of my real life useful waking hours (I don’t have many).

I don’t intend to take on an administrative role in the new Newark is Watching because it’s impossible for me, a severely disabled person who is frequently debilitated, to sort through nuts and bolts of something so complicated and labor-intensive. It’s dangerously easy for me as a naive nurturer to be swept into things like this over my head beyond my abilities. Too deep, too far. I hope to remain a quiet supportive observer of art on the periphery, as I was before. I have other dreams, long neglected now, set aside for Brooklyn is Watching’s sake. I have to be responsible with my life, as does everyone.

I can’t speak for others, but I have no feelings about what has happened on Push SIM with Brooklyn is Watching other than gratitude I could be of service. No regrets. Even if no one was making official podcasts, we were there talking about the art amongst ourselves, and in that real connection was poetry. I loved Brooklyn is Watching and its artists from everywhere with all their languages who would come and go and come back again leaving their marks and influences like waves on a beach. I’m not an art scholar or an art critic, though I respect those who genuinely are. I have no aspirations or abilities in Second Life to be anything other than an arts lover.
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The past is history. Let it go. Now is the time to prepare for the future. I wish Newark is Watching well. Thank you everyone for all you’ve done.

(crossposted)

This fantastic work is currently on display at Newark is Watching on Push. See it before it goes away!

The installation on the theme of mining childhood memories was originally shown a year ago as part of the Aequitas Group Exhibition at Caerleon Art Collective, a RL/SL project curated by Sowa Mai. You can read more about that here and here.

Aequitas First Life by Sowa Mai (link)

(crossposted)

4 July 2010

Chaos reigns at Push as artists wonder if Newark is really watching. 1024×1024x256 Dancoyote Antonelli KOONSBALL! Rod Mandel LLifted LLader Misprint Thursday Brush Fire In Snow Corcosman Voom Regeneration — by Kicca Igaly — ICE COLD BLUE shellina Winkler Great Dodecahedron (large) – Flexi-hedra nand Nerd The Giant Deep Red Loop A Tribute To Zoe Keating by nessuno myoo The Giant Deep Red Loop – A Tribute To Zoe Keating A tribute to Canadian musician Zoe Keating. It ‘was a real shock. His way of expression through the use of the instrument is extraordinary. A mix of technology and live performance to serve the melody and harmony that arise by magic from his hands. This sculpture is an homage to her. His figure, his music, his art. Hephaestus Platonicator is a social sculpture by San Francisco artist DC Spensley who is also known as Dancoyote Antonelli in the virtual world of Second Life. Clicking the gold obelisk either deletes existing tetrahedrons or rezzes one above the obelisk. Click any face of the resulting tetrahedron and it will rezz another tetrahedron adjacent to that face. Like all Dancoyote social sculpture the Hephaestus Platonicator can be used individuallly or by a group, cooperatively or competitively. Enjoy! Hephaestus: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hephaestus Platonic solid: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Platonic_solid dc@dancoyote.com Special thanks to Nand Nerd who was engineer on the project. Thanks for visiting Newark is Watching, formlerly Brooklyn is Watching! -DC

Newark is Watching Blog

Visit Newark is Watching in Second Life® SLurl

(crossposted)

Oh, Newark. by Amy Freelunch

The story of Susa Bubble – Rose Borchovski Artwork by Iono Allen (link)

Watching Newark is Watching 1 by Mab MacMoragh (link)

29 June 2010

Virtual Artwork filmed in Second Life® at Newark is Watching on Push

Inside Newark is Watching on Push:

Betty Tureaud : zoom ball 01; zoom ball 02
Blue Linden : Blue’s Office (chair)
Corcosman Voom : Brush Fire in Snow
Dancoyote Antonelli : Hephaestus Platoncator; Untitled (huge flapping object in the sky)
Kicca Igaly : Regeneration
nessuno Myoo : The Giant Deep Red Loop A Tribute to Zoe Keating
Oberon Onmura : Exploders
Solo Mornington : Newark is Watching Tower; Jiggly Eyeballs
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Outside Newark is Watching on Push:

Arahan Claveau, Dekka Raymaker, L1Aura Loire, Misprint Thursday, Oberon Onmura, Penumbra Carter, Selavy Oh, Solo Mornington, Sowa Mai : Bridge to Newark is Watching from SL7B

Oberon Onmura : Untitled (circled mountains)
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Inside Newark is Watching on Push on 29 June 2010 but not shown in machinima:

Ester Dreier : Beuys’ Oaks
Kilara Balnarring : SL7B Shepherdess outfit box
Mason Wylie : Deluxe Barbie Box
nand Nerd : Great Dodecahedron (large)
Rod Mandel : KOONSBALL!
shellina Winkler : ICE COLD BLUE; Revolving Doors
SuperKawaii Mub : Michelangelo’s David (Plastic)
Tree Kyomoon : Get Forked
Werner Kurosawa : cicp
Xenophile Neuro : XN AEP Impulse Rezzer 2.0
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Rose Borchovski’s installation The Kiss was autoreturned by Newark is Watching before Mab could film it. Rose’s Susa Bubble virtual installations can be seen at many locations in Second Life®. A good place to start is Two Fish SIM (SLurl)
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Visit Newark is Watching in Second Life® SLurl

(crossposted)

Saturday night, 19 June 2010, at 9:15PM ET (6PM SLT) the old IKB (International Klein Blue) tower, built by Popcha, with the big marquee proclaiming ‘Brooklyn is Watching’ was attacked, demolished, and taken over by the new Newark is Watching tower built by Solo Mornington. The insurgent event was to be viewed live in Gallery Aferro in Newark, New Jersey. The audience there were able to drive Monet Destiny, the everyman eyeball avatar who likes to watch, around to see the bit of native Second Life® there is on Push SIM. There was a good turnout and the evening ended with a series of poofs, bangs, tickles and flames.

Newark is Watching officially came into being.

Bitches at Newark Art Event by Firery Broome (link to larger view slideshow on black)

Another version of the creation story for the Newark is Watching tower composed of a stack of precariously balanced shifting-hued cubes and its columnar logo pillar alongside in an interesting echo of Joseph Beuys and his 7000 Oaks : The old tower saw the new tower across the way and got so excited it jumped the distance to be one with the new NIW, proving once again then that love can build a bridge. Or a dream can cross a few bridges.

Which is true? Both! This art is about possibilities!

BIW2NIW by Oberon Onmura (link to video)

Oberon’s video (above) is of the journey from Jack the Pelican Presents in Williamsburg, Brooklyn to the Gallery Aferro in Newark.

The first Newark is Watching podcast with Jay introducing RL Newark’s Gallery Aferro owners Emma and Evonne can be heard here (link)

And if you’re interested, here’s the first blogpost on the old Brooklyn is Watching blog that charted the course for what was to come- an amazingly accurate plan, as it turns out (link)

All the old Brooklyn is Watching podcasts are still available for listening on iTunes (link) and FeedBurner (link)

Visit Newark is Watching blog (link)

Visit Newark is Watching in Second Life® (SLurl)

(crossposted)

This is the final week of Brooklyn is Watching before it hands over the prims to Newark is Watching. evonne has posted this notice on the Newark is Watching blog. I think there’s going to be a tower takeover event then but I don’t actually know any details! Gallery Aferro will be showing Newark is Watching to the public in their New Media Room (link for event). Come if you can and help inaugurate the new space! Will there be chaos? Probably. Will there be someone at a party in an art gallery watching? YES!

On June 19th, from 7-10 PM EST, the RL public attending Gallery Aferro’s 2nd annual benefit party will be able to operate Monet and look around. Not sure what to expect, but there will be more people in the gallery than at almost any other time of year.

So if you want to say hello or watch as Monet staggers a bit, please do visit.

Visit the Newark is Watching blog

Sunday 13 June 2010: Amy breaks Brooklyn is Watching’s simulated physics with her endlessly gushing Selavy Oh/Mosmax Hax pipeline art piece combining big bang scripting with Whitenoise freebies, discusses the art movement called Virtualism and how it could relate to several big pictures (info & info), and examines nerdy-funny robot art assembled with found objects by Cheyenne Palisades (who, by the way, has announced her candidacy for CEO of Linden Lab® here). Mab, who is definitely a nerd, has not had time to be inworld since last week so is illustrating this great Amy Freelunch podcast with an itty bitty slideshow made previously (above) and also a nice image (below) of a water skiing robot made by Cheyenne so you can squint your eyes and imagine seeing the things that Amy describes so well at Brooklyn is Watching.

Listen to the podcast here, or go to the SoundCloud page. The new podcast is currently in rotation on Soup radio inworld on the Soup sims. The radio is reset most days at 1PM SLT, which means that Amy’s podcast can be heard at that time, as well as intermittently the rest of the hours. After a few days off, podcasts 1 & 2 will rejoin the playlist inworld again.

‘Who Says Robots Can’t Water Ski?’ by Cheyenne Palisades

The new Amy Freelunch show, ep 3: Exploding Selavy by Amy Freelunch

Visit Brooklyn is Watching in Second Life® SLurl