[2016/02/06 12:12] Serene Footman: hello
[2016/02/06 12:12] SaveMe Oh: hello
[2016/02/06 12:13] Serene Footman: i haven’t banned you, i’d like to see what you wanted to do
[2016/02/06 12:13] Serene Footman: so you are welcome
[2016/02/06 12:13] SaveMe Oh: thanlk you
[2016/02/06 12:13] SaveMe Oh: What I was actually doing was improvising on the landscape and the stream
[2016/02/06 12:14] SaveMe Oh: I liked it myself
[2016/02/06 12:14] Serene Footman: well forgive me for panicking when i saw the scale of what you were – presumably – wearing
[2016/02/06 12:14] SaveMe Oh: relax, It could have been much bigger
[2016/02/06 12:14] Serene Footman: haha
[2016/02/06 12:15] Serene Footman: anyway. we’re open
[2016/02/06 12:15] Serene Footman: help yourself
[2016/02/06 12:15] SaveMe Oh: I will, you are just in time, I almost deleted the lm
[2016/02/06 12:15] Serene Footman: i am happy to have a philosophical debate about freedom with you
[2016/02/06 12:15] Serene Footman: and ownership
[2016/02/06 12:16] Serene Footman: and the politics of access
[2016/02/06 12:16] SaveMe Oh: we have all our SL for that
[2016/02/06 12:16] Serene Footman: yes, but you seem to want to engage
[2016/02/06 12:16] Serene Footman: i am more than happy to engage with you
[2016/02/06 12:16] SaveMe Oh: works the quickest
[2016/02/06 12:16] Serene Footman: but you need to be open to debate
[2016/02/06 12:16] Serene Footman: and to counter argument
[2016/02/06 12:16] Serene Footman: it works both ways
[2016/02/06 12:16] SaveMe Oh: I am an artist, not a politician
[2016/02/06 12:17] SaveMe Oh: and I love drama
[2016/02/06 12:17] Serene Footman: that is a false distinction and i think you know it
[2016/02/06 12:17] SaveMe Oh: as an artist I have to love drama, as a guy with a wallet you might have other priorities
[2016/02/06 12:18] Serene Footman: not sure the guy with a wallet line works – cheap argument
[2016/02/06 12:18] Serene Footman: unless you want to tell me that you never ever use money
[2016/02/06 12:18] Serene Footman: it’s also bullshit
[2016/02/06 12:18] SaveMe Oh: advantage of being an artist is that I can switch between cheap and expensive arguments
[2016/02/06 12:19] Serene Footman: anyway, i want to see this
[2016/02/06 12:19] Serene Footman: oh you haven’t a clue who i am, i haven’t a clue who you are
[2016/02/06 12:19] Serene Footman: so let’s cut out the personal stuff
[2016/02/06 12:19] SaveMe Oh: let me introduce myself, I am the best virtual artist of SL
[2016/02/06 14:09] Serene Footman: this is awesome – i never saw you before
[2016/02/06 14:10] SaveMe Oh: dont hide under a stone again
I had not heard of SaveMe Oh before she came to Furillen.
By the time she left, after three and a half hours of the most immersive and engaging art I have ever seen in Second Life, I was in awe.
And I felt privileged.
It was that good.
I tell this story partly against myself; it speaks of my ignorance, and possibly – as SaveMe Oh, might argue – of my arrogance, too.
I’ll take both criticisms.
But the main reason I am telling the story in this way – and my reason for quoting the dialogue above – is because, as a subsequent review of the history of this artist’s work has shown me, the context in which her art is performed matters a great deal to what she does.
It was not a good start. Engrossed in solving the latest issues with video on the sim, I saw what looked like a griefer kicking off. I ejected her twice.
She called me a dictator. With a fat wallet.
Maybe I’ll send her a card next week.
So I asked a friend whether she had heard of an avatar by the name of SaveMe Oh.
Two minutes later, I asked the artist to come back and perform. With immense grace and wit – as the dialogue cited above demonstrates – she did so.
What followed was an astonishingly vivid performance, almost visceral at times, which seemed uncannily well suited to Furillen.
The sim’s music stream played a full part in the spectacle, as SaveMe Oh acknowledged. Indeed, she seemed to be responding to the music in the way her performance ebbed and flowed.
There were moments of sheer spectacle …
… incredible colour …
… unceasing movement …
… great humour …
… and – to my eyes, at least – intense melancholy.
I should have known who SaveMe Oh was.
But I am pleased that I did not.
I don’t see myself as a dictator …
… but this was art in situ – on someone else’s terms.
And that – in Second Life, as in first life – is important.
It was an experience I will never forget.
Furillen 
Thanks for sharing this and the story behind as well, I am so sorry I missed this perhaps one day I will have an opportunity of crossing paths with this artist too. art is not just a square box, or one shape fits all and as artist its nice when we see something different and vibrating it can encourage us to push our own bounders too and look further into our own creativity, sorry I missed this stunning show but so grateful for the photos I seen on here and in flickr.
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As each time with SaveMe, beauty is born of discord, and love sprang powerfully in reconciliation, it was stunning ❤
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It was the first time I’ve seen her perform and I’m glad you allowed it as I’ve wanted to for some time. Thanks for putting out the invitation!
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“Ground control to major Tom
Commencing countdown, engines on
Check ignition and may Gods love be with you…
(Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five,
Four, three, two, one, liftoff…)”
for sure this performance moved us into cosmic space – whatever it means 😉
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next week you can sing it live?! would be awesome !
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Sometimes you have to use a bit of force to open doors. And let me tell you a secret, being ejected is the virtual equivalent of an orgasm.
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No force needed next time – and I sincerely hope there will be a next time.
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Lets wait for the moment you beg me to stop.
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bring it on.
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Watch for me after diner
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… waits
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Ahhh, Serene, you did tell me you don’t see yourself as an artist. So it shows. I’ve seen so many artists wound up into a frenzy of indignance at the possibility of being overshadowed on their own stage. Ummm.. on second thoughts, delete possibility.
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I agree Tizzy – and I would go a step further and say that I don’t even see myself as a ‘sim owner’ in any conventional sense. I’m a caretaker – a janitor – and I’ll simply let things roll as much as I can. I try not to impose myself on the setting other than to ensure that people are not harassed or abused. This is why I think that SaveMe Oh ‘suits’ Furillen – and vice versa – so well. If she wants to rock up and perform, that’s what she’ll do.
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