By:  Sapphoria Shilova

As you all know from previous announcements, AngelGate’s new sim Celestia is scheduled to be removed by LL as the wonderful man who donated the sim suddenly passed away before arrangements for the sim could be finalized.  We were told the sim would vanish into the vapor at any point after midnight last Friday.  Here we are, at Wednesday and Celestia still stands.  The magic at Celestia started with the donation from this truly special man and it continues in our having Celestia for a little longer.  The Magic is now continued by Nepherses Amat.  Our own Neph decided on Monday, when Celestia was still here, that it was time to give Celestia something special; to give Celestia something light and fun and joyful and beautiful.

So, Neph whipped out her terraforming tool belt and began to play.  Before long, Celestia transformed into lofty peaks and plunging valleys with linked waterways cutting through the mystical beauty.  This fledgling playground was then textured in the most beautiful crystals of vibrant, stunning color.  Reaching into the sky and down into the water is a land that looks like crunchy sugar candy.

When Neph rested her smoking terraforming tools, she excitedly called me over.  I was astounded at all she had given Celestia, and I was immediately swept up in the playful transformation.  We began to add little freebie playthings that visitors could enjoy.  We put down ridable inner tubes and started to chase each other through the waterways.  We then decided to leave lots of colored inner tubes that visitors could pick up as gifts and then join in the inner tube racing.  That led to placing all sorts of little treasures and toys that visitors could find, take and enjoy.  Other friends came by to touch Celestia with their contributions to its beauty.

Here…now at Celestia, you can see a pool of sea life living together. You can tip toe carefully through a small bed of very dangerous mushrooms!   You can eat cake all day!  You can find and take ball droppers, dragons, slorbs, a box of kittens,  a groovy bluesy frog, and so many more goodies!

Celestia is now an oh so temporary … wonderland.  You simply must see it.  Go play; before Celestia is gone forever.

Go To Celestia Now!

First of all, thank you, everybody for supporting this show.  I keep receiving IMs from people who are grateful for the opportunity to see the works of the great master in one place.

For those who are interested I would like to give some details about the art collector behind the exhibition and why I believe it was a good idea to bring this art in Anglegate (surprisingly there are people who challenge this).

General about the show

It was purely “opportunistic” show.  Angelgate had received a wonderful gift - a full prepaid sim.  It takes time to move in a new sim the existing gallery from the old location and expand it, invite the new residents, etc.  Meant we had a whole full sim to use.  I always wanted to see works of Starax presented in a personal show format since looking at over hundred sculptures body of work is very different from experiencing a single sculpture.  It allows us to see how the artist grew and developed his style and technique from 2004 to 2007.  In this sense this show provides a unique opportunity for understanding not just Starax, but general Secold Life progress.  Given that Starax’s sculptures are very primy this was the only chance for us to use the whole sim resource to show the work.

About the collector

Jeri Rahjia is one of the most interesting and unusual people I ever met in SL.  She is known for her passion for art in both worlds.  As an atorney she has means to follow her passion and collect what she wants.  Being seriously sick and bedridden last year she has time to find what she needs.  This fortunate/unfortunate combination resulted in one of the most spectacular eight-sims wide art collection.  LIke most art collectors she is paranoid about safety of her treasures and keeps the sims locked.  I was lucky to be invited there and had a glimps of what she has a year ago, when she bought some of my sculptures.  When I saw that my metal flowers were placed among the works of the most legendary art works I was in shock - what was around me was mind blowing.  Unfortunately she kept it locked because  of “troubles” and I couldn’t even boast about this honor and bring all my friends to show off.

When Jeri found out about our new sim she surprised me by offering to show Starax to support the gallery.  Given how secretive she is about her collection I was very touched by this offer and trilled.

About the placement

I am a perfectionist and I like to build my exhibitions according to some rules.  Jeri is a perfectionist and she doesn’t follow anybody rules.  The fight was in the air.  Eventually I gave up and let her do it her way.  Her way usually involves time and money investment - she bought that building in the middle, some software for auction, etc  Jeri never does anything half way, I always knew it - now I had experienced it.  After some adjustments we finally placed some art for auctions inside the building and large sculptures around on the stone platforms (Bryn Oh’s suggestion).  Miso kindly helped with all the textures for the show.  We were ready for the viewers~

The Openng

It was almost a regular art opening.  ColeMarie Soleil shared with us her unique one of the kind sculpture that Lightwave (former Starax) made for her personally.  A few guests wanted to add a few missing sculptures to the collection.  I asked people who had rl contacts with Starax send him emails with information about the show and secretly hoped he would show up.  He didnt’, not openly at least.   I really wish he would.  Because he could greatly help to solve some controversy that all of the sudden started forming around the show.

Controversy N1: copybots danger

I was very surprised to hear from people whom I greatly respect that I shouldn’t show Starax sculptures.  Are you surprised too?  Apparently it is not a good idea to show historical art in SL anymore because some bad guys can copy the artworks.   And those copies can be sold (cheap) and therefor reduce the value of same sculptures owned by other art collectors.

My immediate reaction was “so what does it mean? we can’t generally show art anymore? sound very wrong”.  Given that this is not a temporary problem - the copybots dont’ go away, it means no more art shows - who knows what they will copy in upcoming Burning LIfe? lets hide our art! from everybody!! is it me or it sounds really silly?  I wish we could ask Starax himself if he minds the copybots.

Controversy N2: Jeri’s sculptures could be copies

Now this argument was more serious.  I put mine and the gallery reputation online by presenting artists in Agnelgate.  I see it as my job to make sure what we show is legit.  I know that Jeri is a very careful person - she spends great deal of time examining what she buys - she spent fortune on SL art, but she wouldn’t part with 1L without careful evaluating of what she pays for.

However, as I mentioned before, I am a perfectionist when it comes to my work.  I personally examined each sculpture in search for known signs of copied prims.  Couldn’t find any.  I asked people who knew Starax and saw his art as he was rezzing it to come and examine the sculptures.  They approved all of them. I asked people who actually write copybots and know how they work, etc etc.   As much as I could see all the sculptures had the correct times, names, prim counts.   I asked those who actually claimed that the sculptures are fake to come and point out at one single suspicious prim  - they refused.  Lindens who helped Jeri find a few sculptures that escaped from the new sim also confirmed the originality.  At least nobody could see anything wrong with any single prim.

This is another reason I wish Starax/lightwate/kings or whoever would show up and put the end to this debate.

For now, here is what I had learned after hours of discussions iwth the above people.  Copied art is EASY to spot.   The copybots either change names and dates of the prims (that is so easy to see by inspect nobody should be fooled) or the more sophisticated ones manage to become part of a sculpture and save the names and the dates.  There is a trick - there has to be one prim that is not by the artist.  I know, it is very tiring to check each of 200+ prims, but if you are ready to pay 70K lindens for a sculpture you would bother, right?  Just keep your eyes open when you pay for rare old art, examine, check the seller reputation, ask for a second opinion.

Copied art exists, it is a problem.  As an artist I wish something was done about it.  As a gallery curator, an art lover I don’t think this is a reason to stop showing art.

The show will be closed on 18th with in-world demonstration of Starax’s magic wand.

This extraordinary work by The Legend, Starax - Light Waves

By:  Sapphoria Shilova

do we ever really own art?

it “belongs” to its creator through the tortured and euphoric process
but do we “own” our creations?
Much like Parent to Child,
the Artist  has an immeasurable bond
and sees to a purpose driven life for their creation.

it “belongs” to its collector through the passage of coin,
but does the price offer ownership?
or the exquisite obligation to share the experience of it?

Art has no master,
and it’s purpose cannot be squashed by politics, fear, ego, money, or agenda.

THE HISTORY OF SL ART SERIES
STARAX THE LEGEND

As AngelGate Director I am immensely privileged-as I believe  visitors to this exhibit are- to participate in celebrating  the great art of Starax.. I cannot think of a more spectacular birth than for  Celestia  to be accompanied  by the creations of Starax.

AngelGate values the  creative potential for transformation  individually and collectively.
A treasured element of this is for “creativity unbound“.
The history of rl art is beset with the desire to monopolise the meaning, access and importance of creations by the few for the many.

An interesting question is:Is this happening within sl?

I personally consider a high level of participant involvement in art is one of the great possibilites of creativie exploration here. Rather than ownership dictating the ability to display and dominate  meaning structures:- all people equally can construct and de-construct when such power hierarchies are removed-where those who “Own” ( sl is a medieval hierarchy) fully share and so in truth deed these experiences as a collective identity. Rather than Narcissus reflecting themselves.

White Lebed has taken  a bold step in embracing freedom and access for the wider community . I would like to affirm AngelGate as a place where meaning in controversy can be welcomed as an opportunity for dialogue.

I thank Jeri Rahja who is both inspirational as a collector and for all else she is and facilitates in SL.l. I thank all at AngelGate for standing behind these values. Any collectors interested in creating access to their unique “view”of creativity here is extremely welcome to explore that space with us at AngelGate.

Thankyou
Sophiajane Alcott
AngelGate Director.

Hi, All.

This is Marly Milena, director of the Octagon for Creative Exploration at Angelgate.  I thought readers would be interested in getting a description of some of the work I have done in RL in order to understand the extension of that into SL.  I was trained as a Gestalt therapist in addition to having a background in many arts, education and organizational development. For more, see my website: www.peoplesystemspotential.com

I hope you enjoy reading this and I welcome comments.

An Artist-Therapist Travels with Arts Processes in Gestalt-Land by Niela Miller  (Marly Milena in SL)
I take special delight in working with artists of all sorts, probably because I feel
like an artist myself, even though I have not earned a living as a professional artist, but more as an arts process educator and therapist. To understand how I came to this propensity, and how it relates to my Gestalt therapy interests, it would be useful to give the reader a bit of my background.  I will then provide some anecdotes about my first experience using Gestalt principles with gifted youngsters, followed by brief examples of what I have done with other artists using Gestalt approaches.
I was born into a family all of whom expressed themselves through the arts. My mother was a writer, painter and dancer. My father and his brothers were musicians who played in a trio for many years.  He was the violinist.  My aunt (mother’s sister) was a pianist and my teacher for a good portion of my childhood.  I went on to major in voice at the High School of Music and Art where I studied composing and conducting.  I majored in Creative Arts/Theatre at Antioch College, continuing my conducting studies for a year,
then throwing myself full force into acting, directing and other aspects of theatre while also taking classes in creative writing, fine arts and dance.
It was while I was on one of my first co-op jobs as part of Antioch’s work-study
program that I discovered Gestalt therapy. Randomly (or not, depending on your belief system) I pulled off the shelf of the Arts and Psychology balcony at Scribner’s bookstore in New York City, the book by Perls, Hefferlein and Goodman (1951).  I had an unanticipated epiphany while browsing through its first section with suggested exercises in awareness.  I felt as though I had come home.  Intuitively, I understood this approach to life and learning; it was the first step in my becoming a Gestalt therapist.
After I finished my master’s degree in education, I taught at a large high school in the Bronx.  The chairwoman of the English department asked me to develop a creative
writing curriculum for a small group of bright kids who were eager to write.  The first time I met with them, I brought in the famous Gestalt figure-ground pictures of the young woman-old hag and the vase-profiles. This immediately engaged them in an exploration of what we see as reality, what we choose to focus on, how foreground and background can shift, giving us new perspectives.  Out of this came a writing exercise in which they were asked to make up a character, become it, speak, walk, express themselves as the character and develop their story from the inside out, i.e. what were they aware of as the character, where were they, who else was there, what was happening.  They were invited to create dialogues between characters by becoming each in turn and seeing what happened at the contact boundary when these characters interacted.  It was evident that they were discovering all sorts of characters who lived inside their own psyches.  The stories flew out of them and landed on paper without the kind of dry, laborious exercises encountered in many English classes.
Once I became a Gestalt therapist, I began to bring arts processes into my interactions with clients. I formed a study group to experiment with different expressive media, their uses and effects in different situations.  Along the way, some of the clients I attracted were artists of one sort or another. The rest of this paper is an attempt to describe how I worked with some individuals and groups of artists, both in educational and clinical settings.
Barry was a composer who had run into an impasse in which he just couldn’t get beyond a certain point in a composition. I had him imagine himself as the composition singing various parts to Barry and, in this manner, he moved past the stuck place by listening to the composition  speaking to him and moving him beyond where he had gotten bogged down.  He also became aware of how he contracted his body when he felt defeated.  We experimented with his ability to conduct and move in ways that helped him feel more alive and present in the here-and-now. This, in turn, led to the experience of his music flowing through him on to a score or the piano rather than creating an interruption of the flow and shutting down. He went on to create a unique form of community musical theatre getting local people involved in telling the stories of their towns and writing the libretto and score for the show.
Dorothy was a quilt maker and a painter.  When she came to see me, she was going through a difficult infertility challenge and finally decided to stop trying to have a child.  We worked on her decision-making process largely through art.  She painted her feelings and imagery from dreams which gave her guidance along the way.  We used Gestalt to help her contact each part of the painting, give it a voice, have dialogues between different parts, make use of insights she acquired from this work in addressing her life concerns.  We focused on her body awareness since she had shut down much of her feeling of aliveness in reaction to the fertility struggle. The central question became: “If I am not going to give birth to a child, to what do I want to give birth?”  She created an art quilt incorporating various aspects of her experience and hopes for the future. Over time, and largely through her explorations as an artist, she realized how important spiritual development was to her and she began to explore ways she could create through her church and service to others.
Several years ago, I worked with a group of young actors in the theatre department at Antioch College.  They had two projects: one was a production of “Mad Forest” by Carol Churchill, concerning the Hungarian uprising.  It contained a number of powerful images and strong dialogue.  The director wanted me to help the students, post-production, to assimilate their experience, something theatre people rarely get to do. (I also worked with her individually on creating dialogue for a play she was writing).  I pulled out single lines from the play and asked each student actor to pick one that had some power for him or her.  Through the use of drawing, movement and sound, they got in touch with the emotion and personal meaning of the line they had chosen and formed ensembles to put the lines together in improvisations.  We paid attention to what happened at the contact boundary as they interacted and said their lines to each other and what they were aware of in their bodies.  I had also asked them to record dream images during the time the play had been in production.  There were some weird characters like vampires and talking dogs in the play.  At first, the students were resistant to the idea of working with their dreams, claiming they were meaningless. As we worked with the resistances, they recognized their fear and anxiety about working with material and modalities that were unfamiliar and powerful.  The excitement of Gestalt work emerged as each student embodied an image and allowed it to come alive. As they interacted with each other’s dream images,  new levels of meaning opened up for them, not just about the play content, but about their own lives.
The second project was a class called Autoperformance in which the students, over the semester, had to create a performance piece from autobiographical material.  I was with them for a week at the beginning of this process.  Among many other Gestalt experiments I did with them, one of the most thrilling was having them explore their relationship to the audience and what happened at that contact boundary when they were disclosing personal material in the context of an autobiographical  performance.  I had them be audience as well as actor and stay aware of the array of feelings, projections, resistances that came up for them.  A lot of this material was then incorporated into their performance pieces. Joining us for this work was my old theatre professor, Meredith Dallas, now emeritus, who, after years of teaching theatre at Antioch, came to study Gestalt therapy with me and then, on my recommendation, went on to the Gestalt Institute of Cleveland.  He did a very touching demonstration in which he simply walked from the back of the stage to the front and looked out at the audience, not speaking.  One could see many states of awareness and emotion reflected in his body and on his face.  It was a powerful example to the student actors of how staying fully in the here-and-now in a state of awareness can have a profound effect, not only on the actor/person, but on the viewer.
Jim was a multiply talented artist: singer, actor, painter, writer, dancer, videographer.  He had a difficult time focusing and wanted help because he had to create a final project for his MFA degree.  He was afraid he would not be able to make the deadline.  His resistances were manifold.  He kept changing his mind every week about what he wanted to do.  It was exhausting both for him and for me, and yet, I was excited about his potential and suggested that he find a project that was inclusive, that used as many parts of him as possible.  He owned each part in turn.  This seemed to release him into a whirlwind of productivity.  He bought an old piano, stripped it, painted it, and did paintings on each key.  He decided to video himself learning a Debussy piece from scratch while speaking on camera about his session-to-session practice process.  He wrote short essays and poems about being a scattered artist and sexually driven man, illustrating and framing each of them. Finally, all of this came together in the exhibit space and was really extraordinary. Along the way, we did a lot of awareness work, cultivating his ability to stay in the here-and-now in each form of expression he was utilizing.  When distractions came up, I asked him to speak to the distraction and find out what was happening at the point of contact with the material or experience that pulled him away.  Sometimes the distraction was helpful in letting him know when he was becoming obsessive in a process and actually needed to move on.  This process led him to be more accepting of his multiple talents and to see how he could form a Gestalt by integrating his various artist parts rather than tearing himself apart.
What I love about doing Gestalt work with artists is the richness of the metaphors that comes out of their creative expression and how alive they are in using the creative process for exploring various states. For an artist, everything that is felt, seen, heard, tasted, embodied, is an opportunity for creative expression.  Even when an impasse occurs, the artist can express it through her or his chosen medium or through another less usual medium.  The relational aspects are also strong since there is always either a real or implied viewer, audience, or listener for the work that is being created.  That relationship at the contact boundary can be explored in a variety of ways using many tools from the Gestalt orientation.  The evolution of the artist over time can be helped by the deepening of awareness in contact with the actual art process, with the sharing of it, and with the release of it into the world.
I believe that everyone has the makings of an artist and, given the right atmosphere, can discover the joy of creating in various  media.  As Janie Rhyne said in her book, The Gestalt Art Experience (1973, p. 6), “Humans both need and want to make things–to do art.  That desire is an inherent part of our humanity.”  Perls suggested  that “an amateur plays earnestly with the art, he is responsible to the art (for instance, to its medium and structure) but he need not engage in it; an artist is earnest with the art, he is committed to it.”  This may be the only distinction one can make between the amateur and the professional artist. Yet I have known many so-called amateurs, myself included, who, when immersed in an art project, feel fully engaged and as serious about the exploration and commitment as any professional artist. In such a moment, he or she is an artist.  As a Gestalt therapist, I approach each client as though he or she has that innate desire and ability to create art in some form and do not make much distinction between someone who is able to put together a gorgeous meal or produce a beautiful garden and the professional artist who makes a painting that hangs in a gallery or dances on a stage. In my experience, Gestalt processes intensify the artist’s feelings of aliveness, flow of imagination, commitment, focus, problem-solving ability, and productivity. The excitement and discovery-making that has come about in my life and work from the integration of arts processes and Gestalt has certainly done this for me and provided a sensory banquet for me as an amateur artist. [Is it any wonder that I fell in love with SL and am inventing ways to use my skills there?]
References
Perls, F. S., Hefferline, R. F., & Goodman, P. (1951). Gestalt therapy. New York: Dell.
Rhyne, J. (1973). The Gestalt art experience. Monterey, California: Brooks/Cole.

Escape with Einy Marksman

by:  Sapphoria Shilova

Einy Marksman’s images will reveal facets that are unseen in the collection of his images. When his images are put together, like pixels on a monitor, the final shape is much more colorful and with a contrast that reveals a love and passion for his expression of creativity and his view of the SL and RL worlds.

AngelGate invites you ESCAPE into the creative genius that is Einy Marksman.  His extraordinary pieces will fill the Raphaella floor of AngelGate’s Grand Castle.

JOIN US for the opening of “Escape“; it will surely tantalize your senses.  Enjoy mystical music, wonderful wines, gifts for our guests, a fascinating group of art lovers and enthusiasts, and of course…Einy Marksman’s incredible creative expressions.

By:  Sapphoria Shilova

You will be seeing some changes ’round here and I wanted to update the community.

I am continuing re-design work, development, and promotion of our website.  There might be some down time on the site but it should be very little and infrequent.

I encourage everyone to register and have a log in if you don’t already.

Some changes already implemented:

1.  The current redesign makes the forum so much easier to use, read, and enjoy.  See the menu on the left to visit the forum.

2.  The events calendar is now active.  This is a great feature we will all be able to use.  Again, be sure you have registered and have a log in.  With that, you will be able to enter your events for publication on the website.  I will be sending out a note card on using the calendar but if you have any questions in the interim, please feel free to contact me.

Some changes still coming:

1.  We will have regular byline website authors contributing informative articles on topics relevant to AngelGate philosophies and missions.  Initially, we will add 4 byline authors and publish one article from each of them per week.  So look for some interesting material there!

2.  We will also reach out to our residents and community for articles they may want to contribute that discuss the work and/or projects they are currently involved in.

The website will now be more widely published and promoted.  The site is now tracked and published at Technorati, the RSS feed is published and better distributed, and we will have the ability to connect our content to all the major social media.

If there is a link you would like on the website, please submit that to Sapphoria Shilova for review.

Thank you and the website upgrades are but a small part of our attempts to broaden our community and our voice.  We hope to see you all excited and engaged.

The redone Memorial Shrine

AngelGate provides a Memorial Shrine here in SL. The little Memorial Shrine in the forest has allowed many to memorialize their loved ones who have died here in Second Life and Real Life. Because AngelGate’s mission is not only art, but also personal growth and therapeutic endeavors, we feel remembering the dead and facilitating healthy recovery of from grief and bereavement is part of that mission.

I have been keeping this shrine since AngelGate was created. Many have placed candles on the shrine in memory of their dead. In RL. there are often ways to hold service and grief is shared with one’s family. But many of us here in SL may only be in contact with people we care about in our little virtual world. We feel that people who need a place to remember their loved ones who have passed need a place inworld to do that.

Book about grief & copy candle

The old Memorial Shrine

On the shrine, you will see a book, If you click on this book you will receive a notecard that tells you about many of the effects you can expect grief to have upon you, what to do about grief and the tasks of working through grief. I would like to normalize reactions that many may feel isolated with when experiencing them. It is important to process the emotions of grief and if this is too difficult to do, find someone who can help you.

If you are inworld and come to the shrine, you will also see a “copy candle.” There is a round ball/prim to the left of the altar that explains how to place a candle after taking a copy of this candle. If you have trouble with any of this you can contact Nepherses Amat for help. Also, on the floor of the shrine is a marked spot to click for a vigil candle. I have often stood vigil while someone renamed and placed a candle on the shrine. Also, I will soon be redesigning the AngelGate Memorial Shrine to make room for more candles. So next time you visit, do not be suprised if it looks different!

Feel free to visit the AngelGate Memorial Shrine anytime, and for any reason. Nearby there is a meditaion spot with various kinds of theraputic and meditative information. Just look for the mushrooms to sit on as you read!  I am honored to keep this Shrine for SL residents, and I thank SophiaJane for allowing me to do so.
Be Well, and Many Blessings~ Nepherses Amat.

AngelGate extends an appreciative welcome to Cre8tiveFemme Chemistry!

Cre8tiveFemme has “out-world” gifts and experience  in working  dynamically with diverse communities and issues. Cre8tive has an enthusiasm for the potential of AngelGate as a resource for individual and community exploration and growth. Her contribution  is developing the content and promotion of Intentional Growth Programmes, especially group work and connections with relevant parties in sl. So Cre8tive will be working closely with other AG staff, residents and visitors to give Intentional growth it’s “wings”.       

 Hence her title-IG facilitator.:) Please introduce yourself if you haven’t yet had the pleasure of meeting Cre8tive! We are thrilled to have her as part of the AngelGate community!.

Sophiajane Alcott