Now What? Ideas for Odyssey.

[Man Michinaga AKA Patrick Lichty]

Now that the governance issue is solved, let's get to work.

What do you want to do? What should we program on Ody?
All right! Let's go!

[Alan Sondheim]

I want to see if I can get a residency for Foofwa d'Imobilite and myself for performance - we'd just need a very small space. I know this is self-serving - on the other hand, the video/performance work we do together has been premiered all over Europe in dance venues; it was shown to Baryshnikov and others is B's studio in NY as well (not to mention other new media venues of course). This wouldn't be until the end of May at the earliest.

There are some visual artists on the wryting-l list I'd like to propose to work with text in SL, but I'd want to consult with them first.

Finally, I can ask Leslie Thornton, who teaches at Brown, for recommendations - her students are often highly successful directors and filmmakers. But I'd have to know with this and the wryting-l people whether it's worth approaching, from Ihnen's point of view.

And Patrick - who do you recommend? What do you want to see happen?

- Alan, and thanks for a great meeting.

[Helfe Ihnen]

Haha - I started my browser this morning for to set up a disscussion like this - Patrick was faster :-)
I like it a lot that we have this constructive spirit here right now.

All proposals are very welcome here.

Alan - that sounds very good, we should talk about how much space you will need and if it is needed temporary / for how long ect.
There will be 4 galleries and 1 or 2 parcels for projects.

Gallery A was offered to Bibbe Oh by Sugar a long time ago, so it is fair to ask Bibbe first, if she is interested in an exhibit.
I will ask some artists I know too of course.

[Alan Sondheim]

Hi - I wasn't thinking of Gallery A at all. I'm writing to say I'm out of Gallery A completely - the prims that are there aren't mine and can be taken down. I have a small work dedicated to the Dalai Lama East of Odyssey, one prim, one smoke of ruined bodies.

I will get in touch with Foofwa about performance and I wrote Sandy Baldwin to see if he's interested in doing an artwork. I'll hold off on Leslie Thornton and the wryting-l list until I know that there are opportunities; I've proposed enough at the moment.

Also I wonder if the Forum on the Future of Odyssey shouldn't be archived; it's too full of disagreement to be useful for further discussion. -

Thanks greatly, Alan

[AldoManutio Abruzzo]

Hmmm ... what does this dearth of discussion say? Maybe it's more about the forum than about Odyssey; wonder how many folks actually come here and use this ... here it is nearly mid-July and only one project discussed here ...

[Helfe Ihnen]

Hi Aldo,
yes you are right, this thread is dead – but Odyssey is not.
But feel free to add ideas, critique what's ever in this or a new thread or IM me directly.
I am glad for any participation.

Helfe

[Alan Sondheim]

Hi Helfe and Aldo, I think there are several things going on, beyond the fact it's summer and people are away (I am currently for that matter). I think if there were some sort of initiative or imperative to use the forum, it would be - the discussions before were traumatic and a lot of people assumed things were done,. I'd love to see Odyssey have a greater role outside of Second Life (if that makes any sense) - for example advertising the shows in arts mags at this point (certainly the shows and artists hold up anywhere). Some people like Ian Ah and Dancoyote seemed to have left - part of that again is the summer, since Ian's away at a cottage in Nova Scotia. During the school year, next semester I'm teaching at the School of Visual Arts, I want to work a Second Life component into one of the courses, but nothing's happening there now.

Re: summer again - in New York the art season itself is on hold; the galleries are closed or have group shows, and it might relate to that?

For myself, I'm in touch with Scott Kildall who I think will help me with some scripting, and I've been looking at his work, talking with him. But the performers I work with - one's just coming back from Austria, and the other from Geneva. I hope to engage Sandy Baldwin more in SL soon.

Finally I do a LOT of talks about SL - I'm going to Copenhagan to present my SL work, so there are things going on 'around' the installations' all the time.

- Alan, just musing

[Patrick Lichty]

well, there are a lot fo things here -
First, I burned out badly last year. Still recovering. Much of it has to do with balancing a weird personal life with academic responsibilities and there are full time artists who want me doing as much as they are in Second Front, and I just can't anymore. I blew a gasket. In addition, SL is really high maintenance, and I just can't keep up and maintain my cool.

I feel that there is a sense of time compression in SL. Consider that most academic artists usually do 1-2 major projects A YEAR. PERIOD. That's just a yardstick.

Well, I just wrote an article for Publicx Art Review IRL, and I'm comparing Ody to Millennium Park, and there's something else that I have plugged ody about.

I woudl have liked to have had one of the installs for my recent piece at the Chicago MCA at Ody, but maybe I didnt' voice my desire for that loudly enough.

In short, I'm tryingg to do what I can where I can for IOdy, although it isn't always evident. I'm planning to help build on Bibbe Oh's show, and Gaz has been prodding me to propose a Lichty show at Exhibit A.

Sorrry to get on the board and then go dark. not my intention.

[Helfe Ihnen]

Hi Alan, Hi Patrick,

well, I think there is a lot going on in Arts on Odyssey and in many other places in Second Life.
Right now we have 4 major shows from a very good quality and some additional wonderful art pieces all over the sims. In two weeks 'Brooklyn is Watching' is guest on 'East of Odyssey' with the final 5 event of its art competition. Odyssey not only works together with them but with all other places with quality arts, like arthole for example to name only one. Working together is really a good thing and I am sure the day will come the "real" art world will notice that there is great art in virtual worlds.
I am talking to many art people in real life here in Germany and did some presentations too.
There is more that I am planning. Last month I have got an entire chapter talking about Odyssey and its aims in an art book, made by the Hamburg art school. You can find a similar text on the "Press" page here since a few days. We create catalogs from every art show on Odyssey that can be printed too. You'll find PDFs in a few days here on this site.
Alan - as I told you I would love to do one of your show on Odyssey too.
Patrick, I am looking forward to your retrospective show on Odyssey and you know that I would have been very happy to support you with your Chicago MCA piece! One word would have been enough, but I understood you liked to support your Columbia space.
Thank you for mentioning Odyssey in Art Review IRL. Please give the text/ article to me. Thx.

[Arahan Claveau]

Hi Helfe,

I've always liked the work shown at Odyssey, it is a vibrant mixture of great artists. I hope Arthole can take you up on your invitation in the not too distant future.

Keep up the good work!

-Arahan-

[Man Michinaga AKA Patrick Lichty]

Helfe,

Sorry about the misunderstanding regarding the MCA. We had not had any further conversation, and the time came up. It really did not have to be at Columbia; I had wanted to do five days at five locations, but it stayed at the one location in ColumbIA.