The Linden Endowments for the Arts is hosting a series of 16 “interim” art projects through until the end of January 2013. I’ve already covered the Flash Mob event on LEA26 and LEA 27, so here are two more you might want to take a look at: The Wonderful World of Particles and Paper Observatory.

The Wonderful World of Particles

I’ve long been an admirer of particle-based art in Second Life, having first encountered the power and versatility of particles as an artistic medium through the works of Tyrehl Byk, who still stands as one of the great Particle Magicians in my humble view of Second Life. So when I discovered that Mary Wickentower would be using LEA13 to present The Wonderful World of Particles (sponsored by Aview TV), I knew it would be on my list of places to visit.

Open until the end of January 2013, the region comprises a number of areas in which the beauty of particles can be seen. The largest of these is Le Musee de Particules, which will be used for particle performances throughout the month, as well as displaying various exhibits relating to particles, such as a photography by Particle Tom. Around this can be found a particle art installation by Lexi Marshdevil, a drive-in movie theatre featuring particle-themed films by Mary Wickentower and featuring the work of noted particle artists, and a “particle garden” by Danya Sadofsky.

Shows will be held throughout the month, including one by Particle Tom which will take place on Sunday January 19th at 13:00 SLT, featuring music by Jed Luckless.

Take your time exploring; there are some interest displays to be seen – and you might want to have a little place with windlight to get the full visual impact from Lexi Marshdevil’s piece outside of the museum.

The keen-eared movie buff with a penchant for “Spaghetti Westerns” might also enjoy an aural treat inside the museum with some familiar chimes central to a story involving Clint Eastwood, Lee van Cleef and Gian Maria Volonté!

The Paper Observatory

Haveit Neox is at work on LEA-21 is what is very much a work-in-progress. Paper Observatory is eventually designed to eventually replace a four-year-old Paper Tower on his ACC Alpha region, and which houses the visitor centre and galleries.

“The new Paper Observatory on the LEA21 sim hovers above an ample arena. The city leading up to this build is concentric; rooftops conforming into one large sweep of concavity, suggests a satellite dish.” Haveit says of the piece, before going on to describe more of the structure of the build and the people within. The human activities on the streets of the city are reflective of superstitious times of old, in the days before science had given us a measure of enlightenment, and when the Earth was still thought to be flat and disease the visitation of evil spirits.

Overhead, the observatory floats serenely, the only way to reach it being via flight – and this is intentional, Haveit using flight as an analogy of turning the page to move beyond the past and into the realm of the present, where the observatory will “be connected to science and therefore be a venue where one could gather information and get in touch with thought-provoking theories.”

Within the structure of the observatory one can find images of Lawrence Krauss, Richard Feynmann, Isaac Newton and Neil de Grasse Tyson (whose television continuation of Sagan’s epic Cosmos I am eagerly awaiting) – and possibly more as the build progresses – which form interactive elements designed to get the grey cells working.

As the Paper Observatory will be under development and enhancement throughout the month, this is an installation one may well want to re-visit at least a few times to more fully get its entire measure. The completed build will be installed on ACC Alpha on Thursday April 10th, 2014, the fourth anniversary of the founding of the original Paper Tower.

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