Friday, April 8, 2016

Mariko Magic: Dem Bones




I was perusing Harper Beresford's blog  A Passion for Virtual Fashion looking for fashion ideas and stores to shop. She has an eye for interesting outfits and accessories, and I enjoy her pictures and commentary. But, on one of her recent posts, I became very intrigued with the location of her photoshoot - a wonderfully macabre exhibit of bones. Well, I just had to go there and see it for myself and to try my own hand at taking fashion pictures among dem bones.

Click on the pictures to view them in their full size glory. 



Using the landmark provided by Miss Harper, I teleported to a place called Split Screen Installation Space  where a flying skeletal fish (a bass, I believe) with bony wings (???) directed me to fly to something called Chronophobia. Off shore, in the distance, I spied three pedestals, high in the air, in the process of disintegrating - their debris falling into the ocean water below.



The pedestals are sundials, timepieces, and, in their centers are the skeletal remains of the ravishes of time - the bones that I journeyed to see and photograph. This was some pretty heavy stuff to take in. 



Chronophobia is the fear of time, and it's a thought provoking work of virtual art by artist Rebeca Bashly.  It's a cliche to say time is cruel. However, we know it's true. It steals our beauty, our health, and the ones we love. But, Bashly's Chronophobia is a fear that is even more visceral. As our timepieces crumble away, we know that ultimately we must inexorably fall into the void below. There is nothing beyond our time. We cease to exist - everything that is us ... our memories, the values we hold dear, our passions and our loves ... gone as if they never were. Fear of time is the fear of the dark and empty void.  



Of course, this is a secular view of our ultimate fates.  And I do pity the atheist who has reason to fear time. But, people of faith have no such fear of time for we know that values are eternal, our lives have meaning, and that dry bones shall rise again.



I need to lighten up. So, let's get back to fashion. In planning my fashion posts, I typically choose the outfit that I want to feature and then search for a suitable and visually interesting location for the photoshoot. But, now I'm beginning with the location and having to choose a suitable outfit, one that evokes a sense of time. And I found the perfect one, a design seemingly brought back from an age long left behind by the flow of time and incorporated into an outfit that is very now and very sexy.  




I'm wearing the Gizza Macha Outfit Embroidered designed by Giz Seom of Gizza Creations. Its a sleeveless tunic top worn over tight shorts. In my mind's eye, the embroidered gold evokes the ancient glory  of the Bronze Age, perhaps jewelry worn by an Mycenaean lady of wealth or even a necklace from the treasure of Priam, king of ancient Troy. It's very striking and sure to attract attention. Gizza Macha Outfit Embroidered comes with earrings, an arm band, and Slink heels. The tunic top can also be worn alone without the tight shorts. The outfit costs L$350, and I purchased it at Mimi's Choice, the best store for fashions in Second Life. 



Didn't I tell you that this outfit is very sexy especially when wearing this particular hair. The hair is from Emo-tions and is called Heather. I bought it at the Emo-tions Discount Store which is directly opposite the main store. Heather costs L$122 per color set and L$546 for an all color fatpack.



Split Screen Installation Space is part of a homestead sim made available for virtual artists to create large immersive installations.  In general, one or two artists will use the space for two months, and then others will take over.  Daniel Shotakovitch is the owner and curator of Split Screen Installation Space. Chronophobia will be on display through April.

Split Screen Installation:



I love scenes with wide vistas like this one.

Mimi's Choice:
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Deep%20House%20Island/208/18/21

Gizza Main Store:
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/GizzA%20Creations/126/113/72

Emo-tions Discount Store:
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Hells%20End/199/152/22



I was saving the best picture for last. It's my favorite picture from this photo shoot, and I'll say that it's one of my finest Second Life photographs to date, not that I'm any kind of Second Life photographer of note, not even remotely. Bones are morbid; so let me end this post on a fun note with a rendition of 'Dry Bones' by the fabulous Delta Rhythm Boys that inspired the title of this post - Dem Bones