Misprint Thursday’s exhibit at SL7B

I woke up this morning on the wrong side of the bed.   For one reason or another, things on the grid weren’t working quite right and I’ve got tight deadlines for several projects  and I found myself in a generally cranky mood.  Then various  groups started buzzing with talk about an SL7B exhibitor who had put up naked Barbie dolls and had the exhibit rejected -  the hew and cry of CENSORSHIP flooded my chat windows.

“Sheesh,” I grumped aloud, “This happens every single year, you’d think by now the people building at SLBs would learn to read the darned rules and follow them.  No nudity.  It’s not complicated.”

That comment received furious replies and though no one pelted me with virtual tomatoes, the tenor of the conversation was pretty much equivalent.  And before long it turned into the usual timeworn “Linden Lab sucks!” and “They’re killing Second Life!” and woe the sky is falling, and here I am furiously working on a project that in part my real life job and career depends on.  “What’s really killing Second Life is all the darned negativity,” I think to myself, “And everyone picking fights over things that we should have stopped fighting over a long time ago.”

Somewhere in the midst of all of this, someone posted a link to the comments (and just the comments) on Joonie’s blog about the exhibit controversy, and I popped off with an irritable comment of my own:

(Oh darn, I deleted it and didn’t save a copy.  Basically it said “If you break the rules, what do you expect?  No nudity.  It’s not complicated.”)

I tweeted something similar, and then I got back to work and went on about my day.

. . .

First lesson:  Never post a comment on a blog without reading the blog post first, AKA, don’t jump into a controversy without bothering to learn the facts.

Hello, you’d think I would know how to play in the internet sandbox by now, but just goes to show that even seasoned veterans do really stupid things sometimes.  Why I posted a reply to a list of comments without bothering to read the blog post itself is beyond me.  (I’ve never liked that Blogger separates the comments from the post, actually, now I know why.)

I’m sure I’m not the only one to make this mistake, and I think it is something that we all are guilty of from time to time, and certainly when it comes to Second Life, I’ve seen numerous cases where Residents or Linden Lab or both jump in with both feet before they know the full story.   It would behoove us all to take a step back and make sure we’re looking at the whole picture before forming an opinion.

Blogger separates comments from the blog post they’re attached to, which doesn’t facilitate Lesson 1.

Second Lesson:  Whether guidelines are reasonable or not becomes completely irrelevant if the way they are enforced is “hamfisted” at best, or horribly disrespectful at worst.

Upon learning the actual facts of the situation, it became apparent that regardless of whether Misprint Thursday’s exhibit violated the “No nudity” guidelines, how the situation was handled by one of the volunteer staff members was simply beyond the pale.   Misprint is a long term, well respected artist.  Accusing her of furthering pedophilia is so absurd that it is beyond absurd – it’s insulting, it’s ridiculous, and it would almost be laughable if it hadn’t actually happened.  But it did.

Further, they didn’t just remove the image that was judged to violate the policy (which is being hotly debated across the grid), they also ejected and banned her from her own exhibit and apparently from all of the the SL7B sims.  This is again disturbing on so many levels – the punishment doesn’t at all fit the “crime” and it seems very wrong to continue to display someone’s work but refuse them access to it.

Misprint Thursday’s edited exhibit sits atop a chain of ladders
thanking other SL artists who have inspired her..
~
Perhaps all the more ironic for being in the “SL7B Absurdity” sim.
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/SL7B%20Absurdity/29/15/29

As I said in a fascinating discussion this evening hosted by Manx Wharton at his exhibit The Pros & Cons of Population Control, I am sympathetic to Linden Lab’s need to have guidelines for the event.  It makes sense to me that they want the birthday celebration to be a welcoming experience for everyone and they made the guidelines for participation pretty clear before everyone began building their exhibits.

The analogy I used was this:  If I invite you over to my birthday party and invite you to come make posters, but I say no nudity, and you show up wearing a naked Barbie doll costume, or draw naked Barbie dolls on your poster, I think it’s well within my rights to say that doesn’t make me comfortable and ask you to get dressed or take down your poster.

But though it may be within my “rights”, it would be awfully rude and more than a bit bizarre to accuse you of being a pedophile and forcefully kicking you off my property, getting a restraining order, and leaving up the rest of your poster minus the Barbie.    I mean.. wha?

I think Manx was being kind when he said their response was at best “hamfisted”.  That is simply no way to treat a wonderful member of our community regardless of whether or not she broke the rules.

Third Lesson:  When you’ve made a mistake, apologize.  Sincerely.

When I popped off and posted that comment this morning, I had no idea what had actually happened.  My commentary and irritation was largely fueled by frustration with the rampant negativity about Second Life that has followed the sad news about Linden Lab’s layoffs.

The Doom & Gloom naysayers are having a field day and while I share in the concerns about the direction Linden Lab is taking, and I too worry about the future of our world, and I too mourned the loss of good friends and colleagues from the Lab, I refuse to believe that this spells The End for Second Life or the vision of the metaverse that inspired us all to begin this journey in the first place.

Now is a crucial time in this story, it is more important than ever for us to be engaging with Linden Lab and their efforts to steer us all on a good course.   It is more important than ever for us to be coming together, virtually and in person (at SLCC!), to talk about what’s next for our future, for our projects, for our world(s), and for the metaverse itself  in the next decade.   It would be a shame to let bumps in the road or silly spats detract from the Bigger Picture that needs our attention.

Looking out over the exhibits of Second Life’s 7th Birthday..

Nevertheless, in order to have any good dialogue, both parties must be coming from a place of respect, and the way Misprint was treated was extremely disrespectful.  It is exactly this sort of thing writ large in the history of Second Life that has garnered Linden Lab’s reputation for being a walking PR disaster with its own passionate userbase – people who love Second Life just as much as any Linden Lab staffer.

When you make a mistake, you say you’re sorry, and you don’t do it again.  Linden Lab desperately needs to learn that lesson. Especially the “don’t do it again” part.

And perhaps so do the Residents of Second Life.

To Misprint:  I apologize.  Sincerely.   And I won’t do it again.

~ Fleep

]]> http://www.chilbo.org/blog/2010/06/oped-fleeps-mea-culpa-chilbo-artist-misprint-thursday-banned-from-sl7b/feed/ 0 http://www.chilbo.org/blog/2010/02/tomkin-euler-creates-video-of-chilbo-in-reaction-grid/ http://www.chilbo.org/blog/2010/02/tomkin-euler-creates-video-of-chilbo-in-reaction-grid/#comments Tue, 16 Feb 2010 07:02:14 +0000 Fleep http://www.chilbo.org/blog/?p=438 Chilbo resident Tomkin Euler posted a short machinima on YouTube of a recent visit to Reaction Grid. The video starts in the Chilbo sim on RG, and then moves to the Caerleon art sims to check out the work of Thoth Jantzen.

Check out Tomkin’s video below, and visit the Chilbo Community’s YouTube channel to see other Chilbo videos. Have a video we should include on the Chilbo channel? Contact Fleep Tuque!

In Attendance:  Fleep Tuque, Tara Yeats, Olando7 Decosta, Malburns Writer, Kristine Kristan, Monday Jinx, Rachel Corleone, Corcosman Voom, Skyeranger Pinion, toster Oh, Gem Blue,  Emru Rau, Gann McGann

Welcome ELEVEN New Residents

(HOLY COW and send a friend request!)  Kristine Kristan, Monday Jinx, toster Oh, MS Hawker, Mariya Maruti, Liam Gunes, marque Broadfoot, Nuro Enyo, Farzaneh Eel, Bobkoe Nirvana

Public Safety & Prim Report

Rachel Corleone, Director of Public Safety & Prim Management reports that Chilbo has not been actively griefed in over a year!  Litter has been scant and we have over 20% free prims in Madhupak and 9% free in Chilbo proper.

Arts & Entertainment Report

Corcosman Voom, Chair of Art & Entertaiment, reports that the next museum exhibit in the Chilbo Museum Center will feature works from artist Cecilia Delacroix, when Misprint Thursday’s “Gossamer Logic” exhibit finishes its run.  Cecilia is also the offical Poet Laureate of Chilbo, and she may be doing a poetry reading in Chilbo soon!  Stay posted, more details to come on both the museum exhibit and the poetry reading.

Fleep sent a quick IM to Ryan Snook about the planned avatar exhibit but hasn’t heard back yet, thinking that will be a good project for the Chilbo Summer Faire in August.

Kristine Kristan is hosting Featured Artist Ronin1 Shippe at the K2 Gallery in Madhupak, stop by and check it out, half of the proceeds of any sales will go to VAI, where Ronin1 volunteers.

Commerce Report

Commerce Chair Tommy Brouwer was absent from the meeting, but there were a few other updates.

Fleep Tuque has opened the Chilbo Novelty Shoppe on the main street (Route 10) in Chilbo.  The shop features a few items created for Chilbo and other miscellaneous things.  Items for sale are also listed on XStreetSL.

Emru Rau is making good progress on the new commercial building on the north side of main street (Route 10), and is looking for folks who want to sell things.  Fleep encourages everyone in Chilbo to contribute something to the new store!  If anyone needs help learning how to package items, set up vendors, or make listings on XStreetSL, just let Fleep know.

Monday Jinx has opened up a new magic shop along Route 10 in the Kuwol sim, Sleightly, Purveyors of All Things Arcane and Mysterioso, stop by to see the latest razzmatazzle offerings!

Corcosman Voom rented the Commercial #1 space on the main street (Route 10) in Chilbo.  He’s selling artworks and images at Corcosmia Gallery, another great place to explore.

Fleep forgot to report that the Germelshausen Coffeehouse & Bakery is now open in the lovely adobe building in Madhupak sim.  MS Hawker and marque Broadfoot are the proprietors, stop by to say hello!

Olando7 Decosta wondered if the flagging world economy is having any impact in SL.  Several residents said certainly is affecting them in RL, Fleep reports that more residents seem to be interested in renting than donating tier, and some who were donating tier had to either reduce or remove their tier donation – all cited RL economic concerns.

SkyeRanger Pinion raised the issue of splitting proceeds of some sales from vendors in Chilbo to support the community, but Fleep responded that she’s not interested in taxing sales in Chilbo.  For now the community’s economy and coffers seem to be doing ok. 

Education Report

Gann McGann has contacted folks down in the Education Village in Madhupak and continues to support educational projects and activities in the community.  There are still homes, offices, and stores available in the Education Village, if anyone has a friend or colleague who is interested, they can check with Gann or use the rental vendor in the Town Hall to see what’s available.

Olando7 Decosta wanted to know if the Connectivism class taught by George Siemens and Stephen Downes would be held again this fall.  Fleep said she thinks so, but doesn’t think she’ll be running/organizing the SL Cohort this year.  If anyone wants to take charge, the Chilbo community can donate space/land to the endeavor.

NonProfits Report

Lizzette Zenovka couldn’t attend the meeting today, but the SL HIV Education & Prevention Center has expanded to a second floor with a lovely balcony!  Stop by to see the new space.

Fleep forgot to report that new resident Bobkoe Nirvana has opened up an office for the Levittown Historical Society & Museum down in Madhupak, right across from the SL HIV Center.  Bobkoe is rather new to SL, but wants to expand the RL presence of the Levittown Historical Society.

Activities & Events Report

Monarchy Republic had RL duties to attend to, but will be scheduling upcoming events.

Rachel Corleone will be sending an announcement soon about an upcoming poetry reading by Chilbo’s Poet Laureate, Cecilia Delacroix.

New Move-In Process for Chilbo Group Land

Fleep reported that all available properties owned by the Chilbo group are now set up with rental boxes to make things easier for everyone.  If you have a friend or know someone who wants to move to Chilbo, all they have to do is pay the rental box and fill out the forms that should be inside each location.  No need to wait on Fleep, just move right in!  A vendor is located inside the Town Hall Annex with a list of available properties.

New Resident Directory on the Web

To help Google better index Chilbo residents and locations, Fleep has been working on a new directory website.  This directory will also be terrific for helping new and old community members find other folks in Chilbo who share common interests!   See the new directory (in progress) at http://chilbo.org/directory – if your listing needs any corrections or is missing relevant tags, let Fleep know.  Fleep would also be very grateful if anyone wants to help with the data entry!

New Land Purchase, Chilbo Sandbox Moving

Fleep reported that the Chilbo Community now owns the large plot in Madhupak formerly owned by SunQueen Ginsberg and the Pastafarian Collective.  SunQueen ended up buying the land she used to rent in Linda sim for her store.

After some discussion, it was decided that the new land was larger and flatter than the old Chilbo sandbox, so the new land will become to the new sandbox for the community.  Fleep will move the tutorials and other things in the old sandbox sometime this week.

Metaverse Week in Review

Malburns Writer and Tara Yeats continue to broadcast their weekly webcast, Metaverse Week in Review,  on Sundays at 12PM SLT.  The show features news, videos, clips, discussions, and live guests, all covering the emerging metaverse (SL and beyond).  Fleep and Corcosman agree, it’s a must see weekly event!  The live chat draws residents from all over the grid, and Mal and Tara do a great job summarizing what’s new in the metaverse from the past week.   Mal reports that they now have increased capacity to do live broadcasts from within SL, so maybe a Chilbo focused show should be in the works?   Mal also offered to run any machinima clips created by Chilbo residents!  Have questions about how that works?  Talk to Malburns Writer or Tara Yeats.

Chilbo Public Library Needs You!

The Chilbo Public Library was created to fill a niche, currently there are no libraries in Second Life that focus specifically on Second Life, the Metaverse, Virtual Worlds, and Web 2.0.  We have the opportunity to create a rich repository of books, newspapers, magazines, research articles, journals, and other resources related to virtual worlds and the emerging metaverse – a service for all the residents of Second Life, and educators and students too!   To contribute to the library, you can either take one of the blank books and customize it yourself (add a picture/cover, rename the object, and edit the script inside with the appropriate URL), or click the sign at the front desk to suggest a URL to have someone else create the book for you.  Chilbo residents can access the suggestions list and help stock the shelves.

SkyeRanger Pinion has a book viewing item that he will donate to the library (coming soon) and he suggested that a single master list of all the library’s holdings be collected and displayed or linked to from the front desk.  Fleep added that to the To Do list.

Fleep suggests that if you add a new book, you might want to link to the book’s listing on http://worldcat.org instead of linking directly to the amazon.com or other commercial site.  Worldcat.org will show readers where they can check out the book at a RL library OR purchase the book.  The site also has reviews and comment fields, so readers can learn more about the book before pursuing a RL copy.

Downstairs, there are collections for “Chilbo Recommends” – add a book if you have a recommendation, “Chilbo Authors” – add a book, journal article, newspaper story, whatever you’ve written!, “Second Life” – add books or other media related specifically to Second Life, “Metaverse, Virtual Worlds, & Web 2.0″ – add books related to those topics, and upstairs is for academic papers, journals, and research related to these topics.  If you have category suggestions, let Fleep know!

Miscellaneous/Other

Gem Blue wants to know who all from Chilbo will be attending the Second Life Community Convention in San Francisco this year (August 13-16).  SLCC is in her hometown, so let her know if you plan to go!

A free Chilbo skateboard is available in the Chilbo Town Hall.  We all used it to skate down to the library.   Feel free to pick one up!  =)

Meeting was adjourned.  Next meeting is scheduled for Saturday, June 13 @ 11AM SLT.

Full transcript is available in the Chilbo Town Hall.

K2 Gallery next to Kristine Kristan's house

Chilbo resident Kristine Kristan has opened K2 Gallery presenting original works of her own and of other artists. Kristine is an artist working in fused glass and that experience is evident in her Second Life stained glass and etched glass works.

Kristine is interested in presenting works of artists that make their work available through sites such as etsy.com. So a Second Life resident that finds a piece they like at K2 gallery might also obtain a complementary piece for their real life home or office. If you would like to keep up with the news at K2 Gallery, Kristine has created a Subscribe-o-Matic Group so that you do not have to use one of your 25 SL Group slots, simply touch the sign at the gallery to join the group.

Kristine is a fan of the Chicago Cubs baseball team. The Cubs are off to a fast start in the 2009 season, so the fans are encouraged this year. Kristine is also a cat lover. She says that she hopes to create some avant-garde videos starring cats to show at K2 Gallery just as soon as her cats learn to take direction. This, of course, could be a very long term project.

If you would like to visit K2 Gallery, Kristine is located near the Chilbo Museum complex at Madhupak/170/234/91.

Are you an avatar who likes to play with your art? Your mom told you not to, but you just cant help yourself. Click it, rez it, and grab it using Gossamer Logic. But look and listen closely...gossamer reveals but it can also conceal.

The Chilbo Museum is pleased to present Misprint Thursday's Gossamer Logic from February 1 through April 30, 2009. Visit the museum: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Chilbo/132/24/96

Gossamer Logic at Chilbo is a complete installation which includes an architectural “container” for the interactive exhibit. The building itself is a reflection of the installation providing sheer visual access to the art. The interior space consists of dreamlike objects that satisfy the viewer’s desire to click and play in the course of investigating an untold narrative.

>

Created by Misprint Thursday, she is an artist in RL and SL; in fact, she considers SL itself to be her art studio. Misprint is fond of physics, integrating custom sounds into her work, creating and decoding layers of mystery, using layered transparencies and generally making creative debauchery mixed with indulgent nonsense.

Explore and click things! Try different settings of light-it is not designed to any specific time of day. Please turn up your sound.

Visit the Gossamer Logic Exhibit at the Chilbo Museum Center!
Visit the museum: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Chilbo/132/24/96

In attendance: Fleep Tuque, Ryan Snook, Alleara Snoodle, Rachel Corleone, Lizette Zenovka, Corcosman Voom, Gann McGann, Margarette Fouroux, Tara Yeats, Skyeranger Pinion, Olando7 Decosta, Emru Rau, Tommy Brouwer, Valentino Tendaze, Gem Blue, Ra Deemster, and Jeff Kurka

New attendees: Johnfx Falta, Andabata Mandelbrot, Zil Lutrova, Rubaiyat Shatner, Celestiall Nightfire, Vrider Dancer, Violetta LeShelle

Welcome new members!

Please send a friend request and introduce yourself to some of Chilbo’s newest residents:  Johnfx Falta, Andabata Mandelbrot, Zil Lutrova, Rubaiyat Shatner, Celestiall Nightfire, Vrider Dancer, Violetta LeShelle, Peter Rojyo, Annie Pond, and Bud Budan.  (Whew, lots of new folks!)

Great Twitter Experiment

The Twitter experiment continues with much success, many folks are now using the Chilbo Public Twitter stations to report on news from around the sim.  To use, it’s very simple!  Just type “/285 <your message>” when you’re near a Twitter station in Chilbo, and your message gets automatically posted to the Chilbo Road Press and to the Chilbo Twitter account!  If you want a station installed near your location, please let Fleep know and she’ll set one up for you.

New Resident Welcome – Celestiall Nightfire

Please welcome Celestiall Nightfire, who recently won an auction on a plot down in Madhupak, just south of the laboratories.  Celestiall already has a gorgeous home up and is interested in learning more about OpenSim and other projects in the community.

Education Village Officially Opens

Education chair Gann McGann is now ready to open up the newly revamped Education Village in the south of Madhupak (replaces the Connectivism Village/old fair grounds).  The intent is to cluster people and projects involved in education to help folks get to know each other better and collaborate where possible.  Homes, offices, and project space is available, please contact Gann McGann for  more info or complete the Chilbo Land Use Application if you’ve found  spot you want!

Chilbo Has a Bot!  Meet Chilbo Sweetwater

If you’ve visited the Town Hall Plaza lately, you might have noticed our town mascot, Chilbo Sweetwater, hopping around waving a Chilbo flag.   (Thanks for the flag Tara!)   Fleep is attempting to learn more about how bots work and invites anyone who is interested in playing with the bot to let her know.  We have a first test use-case planned – an exhibit of Ryan Snook’s amazing avatar work!    Douglas Story will be working with Ryan to coordinate an exhibit planned for the future (spring?  summer?) and resident Wainbrave Bernal is interested in teaming up with the group to do some sort of cryptid-zoology hunt.  What’s that?  Ask Wainbrave for more info!  It will tie in with the opening of his new Lab & Grill down in the Education Village.

Chilbo OpenSim Project

Fleep Tuque and several other residents are interested in learning more about the OpenSim software and emerging grids.  There is a workshop/class being offered about OpenSim on January 22nd, anyone who is interested in OpenSim is invited to attend!  Rubaiyat Shatner already has an OpenSim installation going with Ars Virtua, and you can fill out an application to check out their sim.  More info to come on the Chilbo OpenSim initiative as we get this ball rolling…

Chilbo Expands to Noru Sim

Residents Olando7 Decosta and Violetta LeShelle have recently purchased a large plot of land on the north end of the Noru sim – two sims north of Chilbo!   This effectively expands the borders of the Chilbo Community by quite a lot!  Congrats to Olando and Violetta, we’ll all look forward to visiting your new space when it’s ready.

SL HIV Education & Prevention Center Continues to Draw Traffic

Resident Lizzette Zenovka reports that the SL HIV Center continues to draw good traffic down in the Madhupak sim.  She’s also continuing to work on her recent expansion into other sims to help spread the word and good public health information about HIV prevention to Second Life residents.  Great job Liz!

Chilbo Community Home Opens

Resident Alleara Snoodle reports on the creation of the new Chilbo Community Home.  This new residence will be available for any member of the Chilbo group to set their home location, and is envisioned to be a great place for new residents to start out in Chilbo until they decide where to settle longer-term.  In addition, folks who have claimed a newbie home but seem to log in rarely will be offered the opportunity to relocate their home location to the new Community Home so they can continue to have a Chilbo home base.  Alleara will be organizing a party to deck the place out and decorate, so stay tuned!

The Crash House Jazz/Indie/Live Music Venue To Open in Chilbo

New resident Johnfx Falta is bringing live music to Chilbo!  He’s been searching for a good place to locate his new music venture, and after searching Second Life for a new home, he discovered Chilbo and felt like it had a good vibe for the kinds of music he hopes to bring to SL residents.  The Crash House will feature an eclectic mix of modern jazz, latin, bossa nova, DJs, vocals, pop, folk, and more!  John hopes it will become a comfortable place for musicians to hang out, noodle around, and for Second Life residents to hear great tunes.  Welcome to Chilbo, John!  Looking forward to the opening!

Policy Question:  Height Zoning Regulations?

Neighbor Peter Rojyo brought up the topic of regulating the height of buildings in the community, and a brief discussion was held.  There seemed to be a general consensus that two stories fit well into the community aesthetic, but taller buildings might need to be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.  This topic was tabled for more discussion at the next Town Hall, if anyone has thoughts or concerns, we hope to hear them at the next meeting!

New Art Gallery Comes to Chilbo – Louisiana Style!

Resident Margarette Fouroux recently expanded her project space on the west side of Chilbo and has opened a new art gallery and studio featuring artists from Louisiana and the surrounding area.   Artistes de la Louisiane dans Chilbo! is now open to the public, the current exhibit features the work of by Dan Johnston from Covington, LA.  Please stop by to visit and congratulations to Margarette on the opening!

…

Following a visit to the new locations, the meeting was adjourned at 12:30PM SLT.  Full transcript of the meeting is available in the Chilbo Town Hall.

Next Town Hall meeting:  Saturday, February 14th at 11AM SLT

Currently Scarp Godenot’s Flower Worlds is on exhibit through December 28, 2008. During the month of November, aside from Chilbo and Chilbo Connect members, there were over 130 visitors to Chilbo Museum. I have no idea if that is a “good” number, but getting some exposure for Chilbo seems a good thing to me. Scarp reported that he has had some sales from the exhibit, so there has been a bit of benefit for him also.

On December 6, Scarp held a workshop on creating atistic images using a flatbed scanner, the technique he uses for the images in the current exhibit.

The turnout was fairly good and Fleep blew the crowd away by producing a scanned image and uploading it as the workshop was in progress.  She has promised a future blog post on her artistic adventure, so  we will look forward to that.

For the future, I anticipate the next exhibit will be by Misprint Thursday and open some time in January. After that, the calendar is open. If you or someone you know would be interested in exhibiting at Chilbo Museum, please feel free to contact me. I am open to any suggestions, but these are what I would consider “bonus” points:

1. A Chilbo or Chilbo Connect Group member

2. Little or no previous experience exhibiting in Second Life

I did have one person contact me and I thought I had written her name down correctly, Odessa Oliphone. But when I went to Search for her later, no Odessa. Odessa, if you are out there reading this, please don’t think too poorly of me, get in touch and let’s take a look at what you would like to exhibit.

- Corcosman Voom