In art, especially when you’re just learning the advanced levels, as I was at Otis Art Institute on that fateful day in 1967, you eventually learn about “denying the form”. What this means is that you create an illusion, generally a three-dimensional illusion on canvas, such as a landscape oil painting, and then you paint big numbers and letters all over it, jolting the viewer back to the two-dimensional canvas, rather than the deep landscape underneath it.
Well, it happened to my beautiful Ashram, as I predicted it must. I by no means want to discourage builders, but they must learn, not just go wild. Frank Lloyd Wright really had something there when he expressed the opinion that a house should not just be planted down anywhere in any shape — it should take into consideration the environment into which it is going. It’s not just the Purple Penis and the Flying Fairy Ball — in themselves there’s nothing wrong with them in a private region or property, but this is not private, and you are not encouraged to go wild with self-expression; it’s a place of work.
I know it seems absurd of me to point out things like that as glaring examples of inappropriate style in the Ashram, but those examples go a long way toward explaining what I mean here.
Well, dammit, look around, maggots!!! What I mean is, it looks exactly like the mainland, total chaotic wild stuff in the air and design totally disregarding neighbors and general climate and environment.
I have laid out the Ashram very clearly and with great consideration of interacting energies, and all my buildings respect gravity, use gravity as an effect to reinforce the “BEING HERE” immersion-effect that us game developers are always looking to achieve.
Well, you unwittingly wrecked the effect. I know you didn’t mean it. I know you mean well. Even when I find the last car or plane abandoned in midair by the panicked pilot, I’ll always realize that it’s not what you meant to do.
Not knowing that you did it just makes it worse, so don’t try to excuse it, because that’ll make it even worse for me. I’m depressed enough that I’m forced to mention it, because it’s lousing up the landscape something fierce.
All of a sudden, there are things hanging in midair just above the treetops, and it rips apart the whole illusion of a solid countryside, with “LOOK AT ME” signals, meaning “this object is out of place, it is not affected by gravity”.
This happens not from ego, not at all — the spirit of play is clearly there — but midair denial of gravity destroys my Immersion Effect, even though I know that it’s just from not understanding the effect on others of what you build and what you consider terrific. I suspect the word “appropriate” never entered into your considerations.
I know, I know, it’s a magical environment, and that’s why the buildings float. If I really subscribed to that, all my buildings would float, but they don’t, and I do a lot to get you on the ground, walking, running, driving and riding, and in the air with an airplane, so you have to learn Astral Flight techniques. Might as well be fun, don’t you think?
There’s a POG of buildings out there; that’s my team, a team of builds, which I’ve spent many many hours making, buying and putting in place, along with the details and extras and animations and all the trimmings.
You really should consider your build part of that team. If you did, you might not light your building up so brightly that it blinks and twinkles from a distance, so much so, that I, with my visual handicaps, and Claude, with his, can’t look over there toward the extreme southeast corner.
What the hell am I talking about???
I refer to the garish items in midair at several different levels, and things that totally disregard the general “look” of the Ashram, which is profoundly thematic and very restrained.
If you look at what I’ve done on those levels, you’ll quickly do something to respect that. Most of the builds in the annex area look okay and are just fine. It’s the ones that are garishly and wildly out of place that I would like worked on, and fast. Every day that goes by is a day we should not have to endure those … well…. dare I say, without fear of contradiction or offense, “architectural oblivion”???
What I mean to say is, TAKE A LOOK AROUND YOU BEFORE YOU BUILD. And that doesn’t mean copy each other; it means copy me, at least in spirit and somewhat in keeping with the style of the level, fer chrissake.
Now, do NOT take offense. It’s your first effort, and I sure don’t want to spook you on building. Go right ahead and build, build, build, But DON’T leave it up day and night if it doesn’t fit in with the Ashram Level setting that I created for you. Do everything possible to avoid denial of form.
One thing especially sticks out, and I hesitate to say it, but it’s true. Floating things definitely destroy the effect. Gravity is important in Second Life, and a great many things are made with it in mind, especially in our own builds, such as the aircraft, all intended to reinforce the effect of being actually inside the environment, which creates a better quantum bonding with the Actual Ashram, about which we’ll talk this morning.
There are a number of floating islands and stuff around the Ashram, and as fun as they are, they are just going to have to go. This does not include Admin and Training areas, it includes YOU and your space in the ANNEX.
Speaking of admin spaces, SpaceBuddhaa has a private retreat in the admin level above 3450 meters. Some folks have been teleporting into her magic invisible cube and sitting at her waterfall and such. She expects to be able to bathe there without intruders, guys. Please stay away from that waterfall in the sky, and erase the teleport to it.
You don’t want to embarass her or yourself by stumbling into the place or teleporting in where she’s taking a bath, or getting dressed, or just meditating and resting.
It’s the only place Space has that is totally hers. Everything else is either in public access or she shares it with Hoodoo.
Space, to her total credit, didn’t want me to say anything, because the folks were clearly in need of some sort of refuge, but I know you want to know the rules, and besides, there are dozens of refuge and meditation spots available to you, and if you need something special, talk to Space about it, and she’ll work it out with Claude to accommodate your needs.
If you don’t know which place I’m talking about, it’s an enclosed box within which is a complex set of waterfalls and meditation areas, and it’s up in the restricted area.
Just next to that magic waterfall cube is my private dressing room, and I’ll thank you to stay out of there, too. My retreat is located at the 3450 level. You may not land on the 3450 level Everything you need is well below that level, so there should be no “accidents” whatever.
The golf course is now accessible to all, and you’ll find my standup comedy lounge in the 19th Hole building; what’s more, there’s now a brand-new zen archery range somewhere near a Dojo. Has Rocky already found it???
In the lower areas, I’ve added a few temples and meditation spaces, plus my outdoor speaking and concert area is re-established just in front of Hall of Heroes.
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/prosperity/67/105/3203
It has meditation pillows surrounding it on three sides; the two side strips are for Cloister and certain Institute Admin, such as Claude, Patricia Elizabeth — you know, the leadership.
In the Chen-Rig Temple, the seating is currently open, Cloister members will soon have their own seats, usable only by themselves. This is something to be worked out when I have time.
Same is true for several other areas in the Ashram, such as the new housing for special members; I’m trying to put in the really big stuff first, then attend to detail, hopefully completing four full levels by the end of the year. At least your stasis tanks are in, that’s a big step in the right direction. Hopefully, your Avatar won’t have to eat, sleep or go to the bathroom for a few more days.
I’ve spent some Lindens on a few great buildings, actually in the past few days, about L$100,000, mostly for Zen Temples and an incredible Mosque, but there are a few more great items made by Armana, that we can use for our meetings and reincarnation awareness walks, and they amount to something on the order of L$20,000 to L$50,000 apiece, and there are about a dozen of them.
There are no other buildings even remotely like these on Second Life, so until and unless I find some of this same order and skill, this is positively my last territorial demand.
If that’s not funny to you, you never occupied the Sudetenland. Pity.
I’m looking forward to an Ashram “look” that settles down into a better model of the Real Thing than it is right now. Don’t erase everything in panic; check with me or with Claude to see if your building is okay or not, then don’t erase it, fix it.
ART ACADEMY LESSON #1:
Learn to accept criticism, even harsh criticism, with grace and dignity — not the grace and dignity with which Young Frankenstein accepts his apparent failure to revive the monster.
Well, actually, that sort of grace and dignity would be okay.
If what I’ve said discourages anyone and gives them an excuse to stop the building practice, I’m terribly sorry.
What the hell am I saying? All that exposure to the fake politeness of the texting world has me utterly confused. What I meant was, if that’s all it takes to turn you off, you were never turned on in the first place.
See You At The Top!!!
gorby