Skrunda-2

 

A few weeks ago I visited Skrunda-2, created and held by Titus Palmira (the cool guy on the image at the bottom of this blog post). For the record Titus created the region with the assistance of Sofie Janic and Megan Prumier. 

Skrunda-2 is a full region design loosely based on the town of the same name in Latvia. Skrunda-2 was run by the Russians to host radar. The Russians left in 1998 taking with them all sensitive material and equipment, but leaving the buildings for the Latvian government to deal with. So what remains to this day is a complete, but empty ghost-town, a time capsule to Cold War paranoia and Soviet styling. 

Here's a 3 minute Youtube video of real life Skrunda-2 made by 4k 4Fun:

On 9 March I revisited and again I couldn't avoid making some images moreover, ... I met Titus. He told me he loved grungy things and dressed like a homeless person in SL, he even had a disfigured eye and his coat was torn, in other words he is a perfectionist, dressed to fit perfectly within the  environment of Skrunda-2. 

I love the place it's so well made with great textures which add to the mood of desertion and deterioration. The many graffiti, the deserted buildings, it's intriguing. A lot to explore and make awesome images (not mine coz they are snapshots), wander around and enter the abandoned cellars of the deserted apartment buildings where there is always a surprise waiting for you.

For more in-depth infromation please read Inara Pey's article in her blog Living in a Modem world and don't forget to explore the place yourself.

Enjoy!

Titus

Party for Venus & Daantje, the March exhibition 'I Want To Show You Something' @ Nitroglobus

 

Monday, 1 March was the official opening of the exhibition 'I Want To Show You Something' 3D projections by Venus Adored, based on commissioned and personal real live images of Daantje Bons @ Nitroglobus. 

The music was in the professional hands of DJ hEIN!, who made a great show. Venus shoot particles and Daantje danced and enjoyed a lot. 
For Daantje this was her first appearance in SL and she told me she felt very loved by all present, who complimented her with her images.

As usual the sim was full almost all the time. I sincerely apologize to all who weren't able to tp in. 
However, good thing is that the exhibition 'I Want To Show You Something' will be on the walls of Nitroglobus during the entire month of March. 

Moreover, Inara Pey wrote a great review about the exhibition in her blog Living in a Modem World

'Her style is perhaps best described as Contemporary Feminist, her approach that of presenting her own femininity or re-imagining femininity with a sense of provocative humour and a sexuality; their presentation and apparent contradictions intentional as a means of both capturing attention and encouraging the observer to think more deeply about the subject presented within each piece.'

click on the image of Inara for the url to Inara's blogpost

                                         ***

AND ... my friend Rofina Bronet made,, besides a set of great images, a super cool vimeo video of the opening party:

Daantje Bons, still from the video's made by Rofina 

• short version  
• long version  

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Of course I couldn't resist to make snapshots of all the good looking visitors, shown here:

Akim

Anja

Art Blue

Blip

Carelyna

Daantje dancing with Kurk

Daddio

David

Diconay

Dolphin

Dragon and Gina

DJ hEIN!

Hermes Kondor

Hoss and Rofina (who made the awesome videos)

JadeYu Fhang, the artist who created the amazing sculpture KHAOS exhibited at the main hall

Kimo

Maloe

Mohini

Moni

Romina & Mandel

Tizzy

Traci

Venus, Daante & Kurk

Vincen

Zack 

me

Venus shooting particles

'I Want To Show You Something' by Venus Adored, the March exhibition at Nitroglobus

 

Poster made by David Silence, based on an image of Daantje Bons

'I WANT TO SHOW YOU SOMETHING', a curated exhibition by Venus Adored of commissioned and personal works by Daantje Bons.

A really surprising exhibition this month at Nitroglobus, something completely different from all this gallery showed in the past: light boxes based on REAL LIFE Photography.
Daring, thought provoking RL images by Daantje Bons, a famous Dutch photographer who earned her spurs, transformed by her friend Venus Adored into light boxes.
Please be aware that there is nudity involved in some of the works.
I am sure you will be surprised and amazed by Daantje's images and Venus her creations.

Opening party: Monday, 1 March, 12 pm SLT (21 hrs Amsterdam time)
Music by DJ hEIN!


some overview images which I made @ Nitroglobus:

sculpture KHAOS by JadeYu Fhang

Daantje Bons   (visit her webiste: https://www.daantjebons.com/home/)

It often starts with a feeling or observation. Usually, something that makes me want to challenge it.

'I want to show you something'. This is my biggest motivation to photograph.
Learned behaviors both physically and mentally serve as my inspiration. I want to explore how identity is formed and to what extent social constructs are part of it. 

The expressions of gender identity and sexuality particularly interest me. Based on my personal experiences, questions, and opinions, I search what it means to be a woman and how femininity and masculinity play a role in this. Self-portraits are a way to organize my thoughts and a way to react to existing ideas. 

Also, I like to elaborate on certain ideas through still life photography works in which certain objects, shapes, or judgments are linked to the idea of femininity or sexuality.

Both in my self-portraits and still life works I like to play with contradictions and provocation because I think it's important that artwork makes one think. It has to provoke and trigger the viewer to think about the subject on another level.
In many of my photographs, I use soft pastel colors in which aesthetics is used as an eye-catcher, mostly followed by a raw contradiction in explicitly or ideas. This combination often lets humor arise within my work. Something I like to embrace to make my subjects more accessible.

My work has been featured in the Netherland’s largest newspapers and magazines such as De Volkskrant, NRC Handelsblad, LINDA Magazine, and &C magazine. Internationally, my work has been published in outlets such as “The Huffington Post”, “IGNANT”, “I-D Magazine”, VOGUE ITALIA, Kurier, FRAME Magazine, and “Refinery29”.
One of my works, Vulva, is an official artwork for the Vagina Museum in London.

© Daantje Bons. All rights reserved.
Spreading or copying photographs without consent is not permitted.

Please see instructions for VIEWER SETTINGS! When your viewer Graphics are not high enough you won't see the projections on the walls.

Last but not least, I like to thank my dear friend Traci for all her help.