Saturday, July 31, 2010

A Suzy Yue Machinima of the JUNE Winners

A wonderful machinima by Suzy Yue of the JUNE IMAGINE winners of the UWA 3D Art & Design Challenge!

APOLOGIES... technical problems. Will sort out and embed.

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Pontific Catholic University of Peru (PUCP) & UWA



UWA had been providing access to the staff & students of art at Pontific Catholic University of Peru (PUCP - Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú) to the UWA 3D Art & Design Challenge platform for some time, and on the 19th of July, the relationship ratcheted up a notch, with Jayjay Zifanwe being invited to address a group of 80 PUCP lecturers and professors being introduced to SL for the first time via a large screen.


At the invitation of Joselias Diesel (SL) of PUCPO's School of Art, this talk was a part of the Technology & Information Integrated Communication in Education: Virtual Worlds and eLearning Seminar, which was carried out for the most part in RL.


Seated Left to Right: Pamqui Vita, August Portilo, Jayjay Zifanwe

Other invited speakers included Pamqui Vita (SL) / Pedro Amill Quiles (RL), a Professor at the University of Puerto Rico and August Portilo (SL) of University Cayetano Heredia of Peru.

Sunday, July 11, 2010

MachinimUWA II: Art of the Artists

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WHAT:
MachinimUWA II : Art of the Artists

THEME:
Create something that will take our breath away!

WHEN:
Submissions are open 7th July 2010 till 20th Sept 2010
Shortlisted entries will be displayed on the University of Western Australia (UWA) Second Life Blog.

PRIZE:
PRIZE POOL: $L140,000
Winner to be announced during the announcement of the Grand Prize winner of the UWA 3D Art & Design Challenge in early October 2010. 1st Prize $L70,000, 2nd Prize $L40,000, 3rd Prize $L30,000

THE CHALLENGE
Create a Machinima of between 2 and 5 minutes in length (we wont be finicky about time limits) 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.

SUBJECT MATTER
Winning artworks for the monthly rounds of the year long UWA 3D Art & Design Challenge located at the UWA 3d Art & Design Winner's Platform
(note the artworks are spread across 4 floors)
Level 1
Level 2
Level 3
Level 4

you may also choose to film any of the art entries to the July or August rounds of the IMAGINE or FLAGSHIP challenges, as part of the Machinima, should those pieces better suit the machinima you are trying to create. These will be located on the UWA 3D Art & Design Platform and the Flagship Platform (accessible via TP panels on the Imagine Platform)

METHOD OF ENTRY & OTHER INFO:
* Load the Machinima anywhere, preferably youtube or vimeo, and provide the link to Jayjay Zifanwe
* The length of machinima referred to above is only a suggested maximum, and will not be enforced nor cause entries to be disqualified
* Please acknowledge the artworks you feature (full list below)
* If you need to rezz (blue screen etc), contact Jayjay Zifanwe, quadrapop Lane or Taralyn Gravois

CLOSING DATE:
Midnight 20th September 2010
(winners announced in Early October 2010)

UWA Logo Texture to be used if you wish
(available from Jayjay Zifanwe or quadrapop Lane in SL)

JUDGES
1. Professor Ted Snell (RL) - Director, Cultural Precinct, The University of Western Australia
2. Dr Carmen Fies (RL) - Second Life Lead: University of Texas San Antonio
3. quadrapop Lane (SL) - Curator of the UWA 3D Art & Design Challenge
4. White Lebed (SL) - Lead of Burning Life Art Department, Curator
5. Jayjay Zifanwe (SL) - Owner of The University of Western Australia (SL), Creator & co-host of the UWA 3D Art& Design Challenge
6. Iono Allen (SL) - Official Machinimatographer of the UWA 3D Art & Design Challenge
7. Cisko Vandeverre (SL) - Reigning UWA MachinimUWA Champion
8. Dr Kim Flintoff (RL) - Lecturer, Instructional Design, Centre for eLearning, Curtin University of Technology, Australia

ARTWORK LIST
(Works currently in the contention for the Grand Prize - this will be updated over the next two months with the July & August winning entries):

SEPTEMBER 2009 WINNERS
OUR SOULS COLLIDE by Snubnose Genopeak
IMMERSIVE ART: THE MAZE by Alizarin Goldflake
AN UNKNOWN RACE by Isaa Gelber (non-scripted)

OCTOBER 2009 WINNERS
Willow by Bryn Oh
Holophrasis by Snubnose Genopeak
Concentric Shells by Ichiko Miles (non-scripted)

NOVEMBER 2009 WINNERS
Tendrils by Glyph Graves
Consolation of Philosophy of Ichiko Miles
Jackobs Stairs by Silene Christen (non-scripted)

DECEMBER 2009 WINNERS
CHAOS IN ORDER by Igor Ballyhoo
AURACARIA ARTIST BOOK by Anyunie Daviau
BLACK SOIL PLAINS RUNNING THROUGH MY VEINS by Sistagrlro Wei (non-scripted)

JANUARY 2010 WINNERS
CYBERSHARK by Igor Ballyhoo
MUTASCOPES by FreeWee Ling
BLACK PEARL by Solkide Auer (non-scripted)

FEBRUARY 2010 WINNERS
ATOMIC-GO-ROUND by Atomic Gaffer
NIGHT LIGHT by Alizarin Gldflake
THE NIGHT ORCHID by soror Nishi (non-scripted)

MARCH 2010 WINNERS
HEATH by Flivelwitz Alsop & Fuschia Nightfire
OCEANS OF LIGHT by Kolor Fall/Patrick Faith
JULIA'S WILTING HEART SHRINE by Julez Odigaunt
BLOOM GLOW by Sledge Roffo (non-scripted)

APRIL 2010 WINNERS
JULIA'S MAGIC MIRROR - DEMON by Julez Odigaunt
ORGANIC RECURVE by Glyph Graves
THE ABYSS by Sharni Azalee (non-scripted)

SCIEN&ART (PHYSICS ) WINNERS - MAY/JUNE
COSMIC SHOWER by Merlino Mayo
STRING THEORY by Abstract Baroque

MAY 2010 WINNERS
UMBRELLAS by Nish Mip
IDENTITY CRISIS by Cat Boccaccio
TORSO SERIES (FIRE & WATER) by Eliza Wierwight
THE WHITE GODDESS TREE by Soror Nishi (non-scripted)

JUNE 2010 WINNERS
VERTICAL SPIRAL KALEIDOSCOPE by FreeWee Ling
EINSTEIN'S UNFINISHED SYMPHONY by Gleman Jun &
SIERPINSKY SIEVE by Takni Miklos
MEDUSA'S GAZE by pravda Core (non-scripted)

JULY 2010 WINNERS
TBA

AUGUST 2010 WINNERS
TBA

Friday, July 9, 2010

UWA Professor wins Pearson Prize for Second Life Study

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Professor Wade Halvorson Teaching at the UWA Sky Theatre

A/Professor Wade Halvorson of the School of Business, University of Western Australia (UWA) has won the Pearson Education Prize for the best Case Study paper at the July 2010 Academy of Marketing Conference. The Academy of Marketing annual conference is the largest academic marketing conference in the United Kingdom, and was held this year at the Coventry University Business School.

The case study concerns “Virtual Dublin”, a very successful online business in the virtual world, Second Life (Halvorson, W., Bal, A.S., Pitt, L.F., and Parent, M. (2010) Cashing in on the Green Dots: Marketing Ireland in Second Life, Academy of Marketing Conference, Coventry University, UK. July 2010).

Professor Wade Halvorson

This follows hot on the heels of the nomination of the University of Western Australia’s Second Life Presence and Jay Jay Jegathesan of the School of Physics, UWA (founder of the UWA Second Life presence), being nominated into the top 10 for the 2010 Linden prize for contributions to Art, Architecture, Research and Teaching in Virtual Worlds.

Professor Halvorson who uses Second Life as a teaching tool to undergraduate and postgraduate students at UWA for the Bachelor of Commerce and Masters by Coursework programmes said, “This means that Second Life businesses can be taken seriously. The case study presents a viable business model that works in the virtual world and that increased our knowledge in this field. Virtual world businesses have seen exponential growth. The total annual revenue of virtual products has reached a staggering USD 2 billion.”

Professor Halvorson described a paradigm breaking moment while he was completing his PhD at a Swedish University, while using Second Life to conduct classes with his students in Perth who were logged in at the UWA Sky Theatre within Second Life while simultaneously being addressed by a guest lecturer from Vancouver, Canada.

“It opens up the world to my students. We have students using the computer labs to conduct international consumer behaviour research. Second Life also allows me to conduct tutorials in brand communities such as at Harley Davidson Island in Second Life and give students exposure to brand community members without leaving their desktop.”

Since its official launch on the 2nd of October 2009, by Vice-Chancellor, Professor Alan Robson, the UWA presence in Second Life has seen a meteoric rise and is a recognized education leader in the virtual world.

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Jayjay to Speak at Emerging Technologies Forum


UWA EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES FORUM
Jayjay Zifanwe will be speaking (in RL) about Second Life at the UWA Emerging Technologies Forum at the Tattersall Lecture Theatre on the 7th of July.

http://www.facebook.com/editalbum.php?aid=182978&add=1#!/event.php?eid=131432663534843&ref=search


CAMPUS CHALLENGE
The above event follows a talk to 35 High School students on the 6th of July as part of an event called Campus Challenge which is a week long camp at the University of Western Australia where high school students get to experience all aspects of uni life from living at one of the residential colleges to participating in academic, sporting and social activities.

Monday, July 5, 2010

FreeWee wins Imagine, Nyx Breen & Herrick Straaf share honours: June winners of the June 3D Art & Design Challenges

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A brilliant and mesmerising piece by FreeWee Ling, VERTICAL SPIRAL KALEIDOSCOPE has taken top art honours (1st Prize: L$5,000) for the JUNE Imagine Round of the UWA 3D Art & Design Challenge! The Flagship (Architecture) Challenge went down to the wire, and in the end, the builds of Nyx Breen and Herrick Straaf could not be separated as the judging panel were hopelessly deadlocked, thus resulting in the first ever joint winners for the Flagship Challenge. Herrick a first time winner, and Nyx coming in with an incredible 5 wins across the 10 months of the challenge! Nicci Lane took 2nd Prize in the June Flagship Challenge.

Concluding the 1oth month of this year long L$550,000 challenge, June saw 68 amazing Imagine artworks and 7 Flagship builds submitted by artists hailing from all corners of the globe, including by a number legendary SL builders.


FreeWee Ling - Imagine 1st prize - June

Commenting on the win, FreeWee said, "I am just astounded at this prize. The June round had some of the most amazing work yet seen, including many pieces by some of the true greats of SL. Artists who have truly inspired me for a long time. To win first place in this field of entries is truly humbling. I was amused to see several kaleidoscopic pieces in this round. The nature of SL prim building lends itself to recursive forms like that. It's not hard to create interesting forms. But I admit my discovery of the effects of gravity on rotating flexible prims was a happy one. There is almost and organic quality to the piece as the parts spin and dance."


Herrick Straaf - Joint Flagship 1st Prize winner - June

South American winner Herrick Straaf was left stunned, "First, I have no words to describe my delight at winning this competition. It is an honor, since it's my first participation in the UWA Flagship challenge. I would like to thank everyone who gave me this vote and all of the jury and also to Keystone Bouchard who sent me a notecard about this contest. As a Brazilian, I have great affection for the people, culture and Australian architecture. The moment I heard about the contest, I became interested in researching more about Western Australia, and one of the first great impressions was the Stirling Park Ranges, which gave me the start to my building, so i made a reduced version with high-technology style of the Bluff Knoll peak. I am very pleased and honored to have had this recognition, and from now on will be tuned to the forthcoming events of UWA. My sincere thanks to everyone who recognized the work."


Takni Miklos - Rain Prize winner, Imagine 2nd prize & Joint 2nd prize People's Choice winner


Another first time entrant Takni Miklos won a host of prizes with her piece, Sierpinsky Sieve, taking the newly established Rain Prize, joint 2nd Prize in the People's Choice Award, and also joint 2nd Prize in the IMAGINE Art Challenge.


MidnightRain Glas founding patron of UWA 3D Art & Design Challenge
and now also sponsor of the Rain Prize


MidnightRain Glas, one of the founding patrons of the UWA 3D Art & Design Challenge and after whom the Rain Prize is named, explained, "Its very interactive, it tempts you to disobey the instructions, and you know you will, and so the artist.... is very clever and takes advantage of human weakness"

Takni herself was thrilled at the outcome, "I came to SL to chat and I didn't discover that you can build things here until a year later. Now I'm discovering that other people like my things, and I'm VERY surprised. Thanks to all."


pravda Core - Best Non-Scripted Imagine Prize Winner - June


The exquisite MEDUSA'S GAZE, masterfully crafted by pravda Core took the prize for Best Non-Scripted entry, and will prove very hard to dislodge in coming rounds. He's thrown down the gauntlet, and submitted his pieces for July already (The Vampire Heritage & The Minotaur's Wrath). A believer in the wonders SL can offer, pravda said, "nothing is impossible, dream, believe, be inspired and make it happen."

It was truly a month for joint awards, as EINSTEIN'S UNFINISHED SYMPHONY (Gleman Jun) and A BEAUTIFUL SOUL PASSES (Jeri Rahja) were both joint 2nd Prize winners, Imagine & People's Choice Awards respectively.
MUSIC OF THE SPHERES by Lea Supermarine & Jarapanda Snook also won a couple of awards taking 1st Prize in the People's Choice as well as the "Honourable Mention Prize for A BRIEF HISTORY OF EVERYTHING".

There were 5 Honourable Mention Prizes in all, with the others being won by Madcow Cosmos, Abstract Baroque, Silene Christen and Theoretical Afterthought.


Theoretical Afterthought - winner of Honourable Mention for Philosophy


Theoretical Afterthought put it very nicely when she said, "Recognition of someone's creative attempt to describe a feeling or emotion through the use of uncomplicated building blocks signals some degree of success, albeit temporary, for its creator. Being at the receiving end of that recognition for creation of The Panopticon is very cool, indeed. This being a build based on surveyance, on watching, on gazing, of one's physical depiction or that of others, I have to wonder what it signals to the spectator. It is that connection, that relationship that develops between the idea of the creator, and how the spectator receives it, that intrigues and challenges me. As a lifelong student of identity, introspection /self-reflection is always at the forefront of all my work."

Some other exciting developments with the UWA presence were announced at the awards ceremony.

First of all the Residents of Artemesia, through FreeWee Ling, have stepped in to help run a UWA 3D Art & Design Challenge Trophy Contest, to create a Trophy that will be given to the winners of the Grand Prizes in the UWA Challenges. The creator of the best trophy, that we select to use, will win a L$3,000 prize. The closing date for submissions of the trophy design is the 31st July 2010. Basically no scripts are allowed for the trophy, and the limit is 10 prims. There are notecards available here for anyone who might want to help design a trophy.


First winner of the Rain Prize - Takni Miklos' Sierpinsky Sieve

The Rain Prize
was also established. This is a special prize of L$1,000 offered by one of the founding patrons of the UWA 3D Art & Design challenge. This Rain Prize winner will be selected by the patron and provided for the June, July & August rounds.



We also had Second Life's 7th Birthday (SL7B) celebrations happen and UWA were represented by a lovely build by quadrapop Lane which was dedicated to the 180++ SL residents who have taken part in UWA events. JayJay gave a talk at SL7B which described all the "Unexpected Collaborations" that have driven the growth of the UWA presence.


Umbrellas - UWA Art Challenge Winners / May round from iono_allen on Vimeo.



Thanks was given to the master machinimatographer Iono Allen who created the Machinima of the May winners. His works have been much sought after, and his amazing interpretation of the winners will be sorely missed for the June round winners as Iono goes away on RL holiday. We are lucky however to have another very accomplished machinimatographer Suzy Yue, to pick up the reins for the June winners! Big boots to fill. But if anyone can fill them, Suzy can.


WINNERS OF THE JUNE ROUND
OF THE UWA 3D ART & DESIGN CHALLENGE


IMAGINE CHALLENGE - 3D ART

Imagine Challenge 1st Prize:
($L5,000 + Custom T-Shirt)
VERTICAL SPIRAL KALEIDOSCOPE by FreeWee Ling



Imagine Challenge 2nd Prize:
($L3,000) JOINT
EINSTEIN'S UNFINISHED SYMPHONY by Gleman Jun &



SIERPINSKY SIEVE by Takni Miklos



Best Non-Scripted Entry:
($L3,000 + Custom T-Shirt)
MEDUSA'S GAZE by pravda Core



FLAGSHIP CHALLENGE - BUILDING DESIGN

Flagship Challenge 1st Prize :
($L5,000) JOINT
CONCEPT BUILDING FOR AXS LAB by Herrick Straaf


&
UWA AXS LAB by Nyx Breen



Flagship Challenge 2nd Prize:
($L3,000)
JUNE UWA FLAGSHIP by Nicci Lane



Honourable Mention Prize for PHILOSOPHY
(L$1,000)
TA PANOPTICON by Theoretical Afterthought



Honourable Mention Prize for SOUL
(L$1,000)
THE LAND OF FORGOTTEN THINGS by Silene Christen



Honourable Mention Prize for A BEAUTIFUL MIND
(L$1,000)
IMAGINE by Abstract Baroque





Honourable Mention Prize for ELEGANCE
(L$1,000)
THE FORGE OF DREAMS by Madcow Cosmos





Honourable Mention Prize for A BRIEF HISTORY OF EVERYTHING
(L$1,000)
MUSIC OF THE SPHERES by Lea Supermarine and Jarapanda Snook






The RAIN PRIZE
(L$1,000)
Established for one of the Founding Patron of the UWA 3D Art & Design Challenge
SIERPINSKY SIEVE by Takni Miklos



PEOPLE'S CHOICE AWARD 1st prize:
(L$1,000):
Music of the Spheres by Lea Supermarine & Jarapanda Snook



PEOPLE'S CHOICE AWARD 2nd prize:
(L$500):
Joint Prize
sierpinsky sieve by Takni Miklos



A beautiful Soul Passes by jeri Rahja