I am in an art show in Raglan Shire.  There is a lot of art.  Three areas feature 2d art both RL based and SL based.  One area features sculpture.  This little bunny by Todd Borst welcomes people to the art hanging on the hedges over by Paw & Whisker, a local gathering place. One of the unique aspects of this show is that the 2d work is all mounted on hedges and left out in the open for a month.  Good thing it doesn't rain in Raglan Shire!

Here are some other nearby artists.

 I enjoyed the humor in the "paintings" by Shmoo Snook as he put a Tiny twist to famous classics.

Callipygian Christensen likes to take photographs in Second Life. She ranges from scenics to portraits.

Lorimae Undercroft also photographs images in Second Life in sepia tones with a techie but 18th century edge. I love this photograph "Joy of  Steampunk" with two tinies manning a film projector or maybe a death ray.

 victoriouspower mixes Second Life portraiture with a sense of the macabre balanced by pyrotechnics and a sensual almost painterly quality.  Imagine a Borg - Dante ballet produced by Dracula for the intriguing unique sensibility.


On the other side of that hedge,Petunia Liveoak imported in her watercolors and gouches from RL (Real Life) with a calming images of bits of nature: feathers, a robin's egg, a canoe.

Builder's Brewery Creator's Showcase

So my grad class is done and I can write on whatever I like.  Yay! Summer vacation. On Second Life, there is a cool place called the Builder's Brewery.  I like it because they give free classes on building and there are also freebies.  They sell a lot of different things too in their big building that are fun like a rocket that you can ride and a teleport door.  This weekend may 9-12, 2010 they were having a creative showcase that anyone could enter so I sauntered over to see what was there. There were a lot of cool stuff people had made.

Sapphy Rotaru built this aquatics environment (she said you can get more at Sapphys Gallimaufry Store at Ubatuba (148,59,23).  One of the things she said tht she had a lot of one-prim items.  I clicked on this grotto (the main large rock to the left in this picture) with the plants on front and either it's all linked or it is one prim.  It's very pretty. Mermaid time.

Medusa's Gaze was a gargantuan statue in front of a pirate ship by Pravda Dark Couture. Standing staidly nearby is Pierrot.

Behind her, the striped red and white sail is a viking ship which is below.   Only in Second Life would you find a yacht, a viking ship and a pirate ship next to each other at the docks. The creator Havorn calls his Viking creation, the dragon ship.

There were also a lot of different builds of homes from a Polynesian style on stilts to a grand manor home with old style ovens- you know the kind you see in ritzy pizza places with a fire and an opening above it where you can shovel the bread in and out while it warms the house at the same time.  I like the Polynesian style -- the build created a very good rope and board staircase to the loft and downstairs there was also a second bed built into a bookcase and desk -- very good if you don't have much space.

harpsichords

I am just noting some Renaissance England info on harpischords for folks

Giovanni  Baffo Harpischord, 1574, Venice
Pine case, inner face veneered with rosewood, partly inlaid with boxwood; cypress soundboard
This harpsichord was built by Giovanni Baffo, the leading maker of harpsichords in Venice, one of the main instrument-producing centres in Europe during the 16th century. The instrument is decorated with traditional Islamic patterns, then widely used in Venice, and also fashionable classical motifs, such as Apollo and the Muses, a suitable theme for musical instruments. National Art Library at the Victoria
and Albert Museum. http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O58982/harpsichord-baffo-harpsichord/

Celestini harpischord, 1594
... a giant Venetian harpsichord, one of the few remaining by Giovanni Celestini, dated 1594. One year's carefull research unravelled its complicated life history. It was bought by the Medici at the end of the 17th century, and worked on by Cristofori, and by one or more of the Ferrini's, who were Cristofori's successors .Due to the fame of its maker, its large size and precious decoration, it was perhaps the most prestigiuos keyboard instrument in the Medici collection. www.gb.early-keyboard.com/Celestini.htm

The below historical information is from Wiki Visual viewed on May 10, 2010. http://en.wikivisual.com/index.php/Harpsichord
Images are from sources as noted

" History
The origin of the harpsichord is obscure, but is known to have begun some time during the high or late Middle Ages. The earliest written references to the instrument date from the 1300s and it is possible that the harpsichord was indeed invented in that century ... A Latin manuscript work on musical instruments by Henri Arnault de Zwolle, c. 1440, includes detailed diagrams of a small harpsichord and three types of jack action.

.... 
Italy
The earliest complete harpsichords still preserved come from Italy, the oldest specimen being dated to 1521. The Royal Academy of Music in London, has an instrument of a curious upright form, which may be older; unfortunately, it lacks the action. These early Italian instruments can however shed no light on the origin of the harpsichord, as they represent an already well-refined form of the instrument. The Italian harpsichord makers made single-manual instruments with a very light construction and relatively little string tension. This design persisted with little alteration among Italian makers for centuries....
....
England
The harpsichord was important in England during the Renaissance for the large group of major composers who wrote for it, but apparently many of the instruments of the time were Italian imports. Harpsichord building in England only achieved great distinction in the 18th century with the work of two immigrant makers, Jacob Kirckman (from Alsace) and Burkat Shudi (from Switzerland). ..."

 Harpischord made by Jerome of Bologna, 1521, Rome.

Cypress case and soundboard, with decorative stringing, gilding and inlay
This harpsichord was made in Rome in 1521 by Jerome of Bologna. Although almost nothing is known about its maker, this example is one of the earliest dated keyboard instruments to survive. National Art Library at the Victoria
and Albert Museum. http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O58980/harpsichord/

Harpsichord by Andreas Ruckers the Elder, Antwerp, 1607.

The earliest known dated harpsichord by Andreas Ruckers. Rose with "AR" flanking a harp-playing angel; soundboard with painted decoration including the date "1607"; although the case was redecorated during the 18th and/or 19th century, it is essentially unaltered, retaining its original dimensions, internal construction, bottom board, and tool compartment with a door in the spine. The original bridges, nuts, and key frame were retained in the petit ravalement during which the keys and action were replaced. The date "12 octobre 1757" is written on the key frame. National Music Museum, University of South Dakota-Vermillion, http://orgs.usd.edu/nmm/Ruckersphotos.html

Three-manual harpsichord by Stefano Bolcioni, Florence, 1627

Russell Collection of Early Keyboard Instruments

http://www.claviantica.com/Publications_files/Russell_Collection_Italian_instruments_files/Russell_Collection_Italian_Instruments_Bolcioni_files/Bolcioni_3-4.jpg

  Early Italian harpsichord
A fine example of an early Italian harpsichord
Made in Florence, circa 1640
51 keys: 2 × 8’; C to d3

"The advent of the C-30 digital harpischord", Roland Corp. http://www.roland.com/classic/c30/meet/index.html

Harpsichord by Andreas Ruckers, Antwerp, 1643. "Although, by the beginning of the 19th century, harpsichords went out of fashion as instruments for contemporary music making, they soon were collected as aristocratic pieces of furniture reminiscent of the glories of the past. The plain painted surfaces of harpsichords like the 1643 Ruckers were deemed insufficiently ornate for the pseudo-historical fantasies of 19th-century interior decoration, so its exterior surfaces and the area around the keyboard were redecorated with elaborate borders, vignettes, and garlands on a gold ground. A flamboyant gilt carved stand was also provided. Anachronistic though this redecoration may be, it was responsible for the preservation of the harpsichord until it could again be appreciated as a musical instrument.

The Ruckers dynasty was founded by Hans Ruckers (ca. 1550-1598), who joined Antwerp's Guild of St. Luke as a master harpsichord maker in 1579. Two of his eleven children, Joannes (1578-1642) and Andreas (b. August 1579; died between June 1651 and March 1653), entered the profession. They worked together until Andreas established his own workshop about 1605. Later generations of harpsichord makers in the family include Andreas's son, also named Andreas (1607-1654/1655); Joannes's nephew and successor, Joannes Couchet (1615-1655); and, his son, Joseph Joannes Couchet (1652-1706). They are known to have exported instruments to Holland, Germany, France, England, Spain, and even Colombia and Peru. Their work, much in demand, was widely imitated; and, as early as 1688, Michel Richard, a prominent Parisian maker, passed off one of his Ruckers-inspired harpsichords as an original." 

The image and info on the 1643 Harpischord from the National Music Museum, University of South Dakota-Vermillion, http://orgs.usd.edu/nmm/Keyboards/RuckersHarpsichord10000/Ruckers1643.html

 This also sounded interesting:

Complete Harpsichord Concertos on Antique Instruments  Box set: 3 CDs

From an Amazon reviewer: " the inspired idea to assemble an ensemble of four antique harpsichords, each from a different "school" of building--a 1707 French instrument by Nicolas Dumont; a 1635 Flemish instrument by Ioannes Ruckers; an anonymous Spanish instrument from the first quarter of the 18th century; and a late 16th-century Italian instrument attributed to Domenicus Pisauriensis. Each country had its own style of building, which resulted in distinctive sounds unique to each tradition. I only wish they had been able to include a German instrument, an obvious choice for Bach's music, but the results they achieve are so glorious that this is a very small quibble. ... this recording is as educational as it is entertaining. Being able to revel in the gorgeous sonorities of these magnificent instruments in various combinations is pure ear candy."

Competency H

H. demonstrate proficiency in the use of current information and communication technologies, and other related technologies, as they affect the resources and uses of libraries and other types of information providing entities:

Second Life is a virtual world in which librarians are beginning to practice. It allows people to access information from any location that they are at.  Like chat, email and other forms of online communication that information patrons use to ask librarians questions even if they are not in the same locale, Second Life is another environment in which people can access librarians and information. Learning to use my avatar and to chat and finally to use voice taught me another environment in which to communicate information.  I also built a Women Surrealist exhibition that presented images of their work,  gave out notecards to read with short biographies, and referred to a women surrealist bibliography on the web.

Bibliographies

Remedios Varo:  http://www.hungryflower.com/leorem/rembib.html

Leonora Carringtion : http://www.hungryflower.com/leorem/carrington.html

Ana Mendieta: http://www.hungryflower.com/leorem/mendieta.html

Francesca Woodman: http://www.hungryflower.com/leorem/woodman.html

Others:  http://www.hungryflower.com/leorem/others.html

Competency A

A. articulate the ethics, values and foundational principles of library and information professionals and their role in the promotion of intellectual freedom;

It is important that we as librarians support the first amendment right to free speech by making available that speech to information consumers. Free speech is not only words but can encompass documentary photographs and other modes of expression. My portion of the art exhibition in the Scotland/US collaboration was built around the theme of the Japanese American Relocation Executive Order 9066 in WWII . Dorothy Lange's photographs were censored by the military during the war as they were visually critical of the U.S. government's decision during WWII to imprison thousands of people without evidence or a trial but based merely on their ancestry. Even baby orphans were moved from orphanages into the desert prisons.  As, ironically, Dorothy Lange's project was paid by another government department, the photographs fall into the public domain once they were released. The United States National Archives created a project in wich they began scanning photographs and other public domain documents and utting them on the web at http://www.nara.gov.  Making the public aware of the availability of the images helps to mitigate the censorship during the war.
    I also put up a 3-minute documentary I made of the Japanese American internment using photographs and artwork of the era in the exhibition. I made it during shortly after 9-11 when the Japanese American community was concerned that the American government was once again targeting people of a specific ancestry and without evidence imprisoning people for years without a trial. Some people were becoming active and demanding that those people who were imprisoned had a right to a trial and that evidence must be presented that justified the imprisonment. The interesting thing to me is that I felt weird and questioned putting it up since part of the audienc was not American. Like not telling a family's dirty laundry, there was a surprising desire to protect the "American image." I chose to share the film because that funny feeling is the beginning of censorship and as a person in the library community, I stand against censorship.



You can view the movie at
http://www.hungryflower.com/movie/relocation.mov

Competency O

O. contribute to the cultural, economic, educational and social well-being of our communities:

Part of contributing to the well-being of various communities within the United Cities and various cities is being aware of the history that is specific to a particular community. Making people aware of that history assists in understanding the culture of a specific community.    Remembering that history also assists in ensuring negative treatment due to prejudice to a particular group does not happen again. Part of a librarian's job is to ensure that the history of a particular group does not get censored and that the information remains readily available even when it reflects badly on the majority who may want that information censored or forgotten or remembered in a different light.

In my collaboration with Scotland, I showcased information and the documentary photographs of Dorothy Lange on the WWII Japanese American internment as well as featured artwork by several artists who had been imprisoned.

My vportfolio for my Second Life graduate library class: Competency F

My introduction to Second Life was through my graduate library class. I've been learning, doing, and creating for the past four months. There are certain competencies that some of my projects fulfilled. This particular post is about how I fulfilled it.


F. Use the basic concepts and principles related to the creation, evaluation, selection, acquisition, preservation and organization of specific items or collections of information:

I think I showed this in several of the projects. In the service project with Renaissance Island, I was working with their library. The theme of the island is an environment specific to Tudor times with a special emphasis on Shakespeare.

They wanted items in the library related to that.  They had created notecards that served as bibliographies on Tudor books.  It was also my understanding that they had notecards of Shakespeare books.  So I thought they might have a use for in-world books of books or items of that era. I created a sample book of armariums -- a furniture item common in the bookrooms/libraries/scribe rooms(scriptoriums) of that time. I did not finalize the book as I could not find the reference for a couple of images.  However, another Ren isl inhabitant, Serenek Timeless used the book to make an armarium for their library. It is displayed in my SLIS vportfolio room. The bottom cubicles were used to house scrolls and incunables (bound books in various forms before 1500)

I also recreated a book that was published in 1581.  The Library of Congress had scanned a book "Francis Drake" by Breton. I recreated the book in-world with a preface on how to read the lettering (sounds) as there are a few differences in printing conventions (for example v was often used in place of u).

I also collected a variety of maps published between 1489-1575 and "published" them in an in-world book showing how the European image of the world evolved with their exploration of the Americas.

In another "collection", I collected images by Dorothy Lange on the relocation of Japanese Americans in California as they were taken from their homes to San Bruno. (San Bruno was where they moved to first before they were relocated to desert internment camps/prisons).  I chose and organized the images in a slideshow that was presented in an art gallery for the Scottish/American collaboration.

In another "collection", I collected images by women surrealists.  I chose which women surrealists would be represented in the exhibit, their images and what information was displayed in the short bios.  This was hard to do as there were other women also of merit and of course, other images and much more information.  I did provide links to bibliographies so that a person could pursue the information on their own.

The above information that I collected and presented are "preserved" in a virtual format.  There are some caveats: they are preserved as long as Second Life exists and those items are shown. With changing technologies, as we preserve things in new technologies, they become available to those who use those technologies.  However as technologies evolve, older technologies get abandoned at faster and faster rates. Paper replaced the papyrus, books replaced scrolls.  When Second Life is replaced (and since it also functions as a business -- if it goes out of business), items created or archived in the SL format will also cease to exist unless the SL world and technology itself is preserved in some library or museum archive.