Post Exhibition Reflection:)

As this new week begins, I would like to take a brief respite from my RL responsibilities and simply state my gratitude toward all the people who have made my SL a better place. Especially to those who made this last weekend's photo exhibition a memorable one.

Not being one to attend events where large congregations of people gather for lag problems that inevitably lead to my crashing out of SL, I felt compelled to attend my one and only exhibition in AVATRAIT. [Okay, to Life

r Bloobury's credit, who has been most generous with her time and advise, she also posted one of my winning entries for a competition held in Flickr at the SMART Gallery inworld.] And here is a list of what transpired with a bit of history, for contextualization:

1. I began playing with PS circa November 15th, 2009, posted that work on the 17th. My gallery invitation came on the 7th of January, 2010.

Hello Theoretical,
My name is Looker Lumet, and I am manager of the Avatrait Gallery inworld.
We have been following your work and would like to ask you if there is any interest to show new original work in our gallery.
The Avatrait Gallery is known for the high quality pictures shown during the exhibitions of talented artists. If you don’t know the gallery, you can have a look at the Avatrait website (http://www.avatrait.ning.com) or take a look at the current show of Nessy Shepherd inworld (http://slurl.com/secondli

fe/beethoven/114/128/1502)
For the next show in February we were looking for new talented artists, who would make three new images by the end of this month, never shown or posted anywhere, in relative high resolution. This should be a show with five or six artists, all showing three of their art pieces.

We would be proud to have you in our gallery for this show. Should you be interested, please send me a mail at [ ] .com, and all details will

be provided.
Thank you for your time to respond.

Kind regards,

Looker Lumet

Thank you for the honor, Mr. Looker Lumet.

2. I accepted, naturally, created my images, and forwarded them to Looker week prior to the deadline. He then informed me of additional space available, and I rushed to submit a fourth piece titled Alecto, Resting.

3. I settled back into RL, continued experimenting with PS.

4. The date of the exhibition arrived. I invited over several people from my RL to come and view my images. They both agreed, but as I predicted, being unfamiliar with SL led to them being increasingly frustrated with movements and such. And to me being unable to respond to increasing IMs. Well, we all tried our best, my work was seen in situ, and I was very happy to have had them over. We also had a good laugh at our avatars' expense...and at a few others who were there dancing and dressed a little off the beaten path. Of course, I was one of the freaks! I was

so pleased with with their presence and their attempts to enter a world I so enjoy that I had to stand back and allow things to flow as they would. I just took one thing at a time. They were very gracious, said their goodbyes and thank yous, and left...permanently back to RL.

5. AVATRAIT was packed, as expected from the comments heard throughout in Flickr postings. The lag level was high, the movements of my avatar significantly compromised. Eventually, the sim would crash, the gallery owner informed me of this a bit later that night, and send us all into oblivion. Alas, the parties

in SL.

6. Ah, but seeing all the people that have commented in my Flickr photostream was absolutely wonderful. It was finally placing a person, a moving avatar, to the names and pictures I have frequently seen in Flickr. Very cool, extremely cool...my highlight at mid-party.

7. The incoming IMs from well-wishers, familiar and unfamiliar were so nice. This is a completely new experience for me in SL, and I need to ponder as to the repercussions or implications these comments have on my identity development in SL as well as in RL. How seriously should I take it all? Who knew I had fans (eee!) who would come to me rather than I being the one starting the conversation? I just wish I could have responded to all, answered all questions, been more gracious. Thank you to my friends Damn, Zola, Nepherses, Ed and others for making the effort to be there.

8. Major highlight: My dear, dear friend Marcel, whom I have known the longest in SL made the effort to come inworld specifically to see me and my work. To me that speaks of the strength of bonds that form within SL. I know how much he hates large congregations of people, and how weary he's grown of SL, and that makes me appreciate his presence even more.

9. No, I didn't sell anything. I was the only one of

the four 'artists' who didn't (I much prefer the term digital manipulator, but that is too long a term). But I stand by my images regardless of their lack of commercial viability. Thinking back to the time I posted my first manipulated image to my Flickr account, I believe I have grown as a creator and that pleases me tremendously. I am not where I need to be with regard to Photoshop skills, but a couple of months' practice is hardly anything to brag about. But hey, it got me into a fancy gallery inworld, which was a first of its kind experience for me. The fact that people no longer see me as a noobish image creator is quite a feat for this wandering avatar.

10. Consequences of our actions: In the middle of the commotion, I received an IM from a contact not at the exhibition. She hired me as a photographer. Yes! Rent money, thank you...and who steps up to help? Mr. Damn Teardrop. For over an hour, after the party had concluded, and while listening to my complaints of headaches and exhaustion, and hunger, and my sheer ignorance and inability to grasp what he was telling me, he taught me how to make a photoalbum for the lady who had just hired me. And never once complained nor gave up on me, even when I left SL in need of a brake. He even went to the location of the shoot to help me scout out good angles. Finally, when he saw to it that I had all I needed for work, he faded off to sleep. It must have been past 2 AM for him in Europe, a full six hours ahead of my time zone.

11. What I got from this experience: It is still too soon to tell, but I know one thing. I want to continue my Photoshopping, it is amusing for me, but it has also become a source of power or control, where I can decide what I create. It is wonderful to be in control of something that can be displayed for others to see and hopefully even enjoy. Another thing I learned about was the magnitude and strength of the bonds I have established with people in SL. Thinking about that still floors me. I was so skeptical a year ago, so arrogant, and well so ignorant about the possibilities of 'life' and 'living' on the grid. Now I consider myself a resident, and quite frankly, I don't care if RL people see me as nuts for 'playing' this virtual game. In SL, I have served as mentor to RL university students, I have been a builder and terraformer, I have learned about interpersonal relationships and identity within virtual environments, I have participated with performance artists, and I am now a creator of fantastical images. Not too shabby for a lowly avatar like me who still doesn't have a paid account to save her laggy ass. I may not be a noob, but I am still free!