November 12, 2010
New Challenge Initiated
On October 10, 2010, standing on the stage next to quadrapop Lane, curator of the University of Western Australia (UWA) 3D Art & Design Challenge, Jayjay Zifanwe (a.k.a. Jay Jay Jegathesan in the real world) announced the winners of MachinimUWA II: Art of the Artists.
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Jay Jay Zifanwe
Lumiere Noir, creator of the Ivory Tower Library of Primitives, and Grand Finale judge, made opening remarks, first talking about the future of virtual art and then commenting on the quality of works created for this contest. “Virtual worlds have amazing potential, as does virtual art. Whether or not the virtual works of art we are producing today could be called great will depend on how well they endure in the minds of the people who experience them. We've got to grab a lot of mindspace in a short period of time, but with the pervasive nature of the medium of virtual art, perhaps the questionable longevity of virtual worlds will be offset by their ability to transmit a shared experience to millions,” he commented.
Mr. Zifanwe thanked the participants, supporters and judges. Explaining the origins of the contest, he stated, “MachinimUWA II grew almost by accident, out of a desire to honour the wonderful work that the artists of the UWA 3D Art & Design Challenge had created, and so the theme was, 'create something that will take our breath away'. And the subject matter was the artwork of the Grand Finale of any of the works featured in the July and August rounds of the 3D Art Challenge.”
An inspired accident, it may be called, when it has led to such imaginative and diverse works as are presented in this challenge. The challenge was to: “Create a Machinima of between 2 and 5 minutes in length (recommendations only - is not a criteria) that features some of the winning artworks from the UWA 3D Art & Design Challenge. There are more than 35 artworks spread across 4 floors, and you can choose to film as many (or as few) as you like.”
Zinfanwe and Lane with one of the winners.
There were 45 machinima entries in total and all may be seen at the UWA in Second Life© blog (http://uwainsl.blogspot.com/2010/09/uwa-machinimuwa-ii-art-of-artists.html). The panel of judges included Aaron Kennedy (RL) - Chairman, WAnimate, Raging Pixel Productions, Laetitia Wilson (RL) - Assistant Professor, School of Architecture, Landscape and Visual Arts, UWA and Michelle Glaser (RL) - Senior Project Officer, Department of Culture and Arts, Government of Western Australia. The panel seemed more academia-based than the panel for the Imagine challenge, in which the judges were mainly artists and SL business or media owners. The complete list of judges is available on the UWA blog page listed previously.
There was an audience participation component to the contest, explained as “L$5,000 has been set aside for SL residents and viewers who take part in a special participation event. We are asking all the residents of SL to give us your TOP 8 machinima, in order of your preference. The 3 residents whose order comes closest to the final order decided by the judging panel, will win for themselves L$2,500, L$1,500 & L$1,000 respectively. The winner will be invited to be on the panel for MachinimUWA III.” The winner of the viewer participation event is Beau Aie. The 2nd place winner is EdwardIV Beaumont and 3rd place is Pia Klaar.
People's Choice Winner Nish Mip
The winners of the People’s Choice Awards are for Imagine Art, “Umbrellas” by Nish Mip; for Flagship, “UWA Bridge to the Future” by Dijodi Dubratt; and for Imagine Art – Non-Scripted, “Medusa’s Gaze” by pravda Core.
In spite of issues with crashing and technical difficulties, Mr. Zifanwe smoothly announced the winners of the Art of the Artists Challenge:
Tie for First Place
Bradley Dorchester “Art of the Artists”
And
Laurina Hawks “No Tomb for the Arts”
Third Prize
Tutsy Navarathna “An Art Form is Born”
Award for Best Editing & Message
Pia Klaar “Art of the Artists, A Closer Look”
Award for Best Story
Yesikita Coppola “Inspiracion”
Award for Best Crossover Impact
L1aura Loire “CLICK, Immersive & Interactive Virtual Art”
Award for Best Art Visualization, Single Artwork
Ed Vespucciano “Lessons in Democracy”
Award for Best Art Visualisation
Rysan Fall “MachinimUWA, Art of the Artist”
Aview TV Award, with L$10,000 provided by Aview TV & LaPiscean Liberty
Fake Jewell “Song of Medusa”
Honourable Mention Prize – 3 Way Tie
Spyvspy Aeon “I Am Not a Robot”
Suzy Yue “Across A Crowded Room”
Laslopantomik Yao “City of Art”
Revealing a little of the inner workings of the UWA gallery and archiving of the entries, Mr. Zifanwe talked about quadrapop Lane, “…please help me thank the curator of the UWA 3D Art & Design Challenge once again, who has for an entire year, magnificently marshalled the 841 entries that I allowed to come in at all times of the day and night with not a single day break as to when the works were submitted, and not a single day when the gallery was closed across the year…And sadly, we have to announce that quadrapop will from today be stepping down as the curator of the UWA 3D Art & Design Challenge, as the Challenge comes to a full stop, and qpop will be able to get the great break she deserves! Thank you quadrapop Lane!” FreeWee Ling will take over as curator.
The End of UWA Challenges or…?
Not a chance…a new challenge was announced, which opened at the conclusion of the event. The new challenge is sponsored by UWA, Philip Vought, Bohemian Ghost and Patch Thibaud and is termed “a grand collaboration among major art houses & groups in Second Life, including The University of Texas San Antonio (UTSA), SL Arts, CARP, Pirats Art Network, Odyssey, Show & Tell, BOSL & UWA.” Entitled UWA 3D Open Art Challenge, this contest will operate similarly to last year’s challenge, in that there will be monthly and overall winners chosen. The complete details are listed at the UWA blog (http://uwainsl.blogspot.com/2010/10/uwa-3d-open-art-challenge-begins.html). Of the new challenge, Mr. Zifanwe posted, “In describing virtual worlds, it is often said, 'we are truly limited by only the imagination', and that is the theme of this art challenge. The limits are the imagination. Create something that will take our breath away. Any form, any shape, any influence, any medium. Of this world, or the next!” Again, similarly, a People’s Choice will run, but this time each month. The new machinima challenge, MachinimUWA IV: Art of the Artists II, will cover all entries over the course of the year.
The tradition of virtual art and machinima continues on UWA in SL, much to the delight of artists as well as arts lovers.
Thank you for reading.
Press Pass Media Reporter
Se7en Wirsing
