I do so love it when my readers give me ideas for reviews (and, please, don’t fret if I’ve not gotten to yours yet; I’ve quite a backlog) and I especially enjoy it when a SecondLife artist or builder directs my gaze to something special.

And gaze indeed did I at the Museum of Contemporary Art, lovingly assembled by the MoCA Neufreistadt Trustees and Volunteer Staff, Chicago Kipling, Trustee, Rubaiyat Shatner, Trustee, Delia Lake, Curator, and TOPGenosse Brouwer, Assistant Curator.

The recently opened museum has 2 floors and a rooftop area containing sculpture, paintings and videos of perhaps a score of some of the best Second Life artists. I’ll feature three of them here, just to whet your appetite some; but do take the time to visit and see them all.

Here you see me admiring Byron Curtis’s Twisted & Bound Series 2.3. I

It is exceptionally easy in Second Life to twist a shape and make it look like art. It is difficult to make it not look like something you made in your basement. Curtis does this … and does it well. His use of texture, and a simple texture at that, draws one in. There is a juxtaposition of straight lines and right angles that are not comfortable with the smooth edges. And since objects can float in Second Life, they often do. This piece does not float; it is held up by a support that is almost impossibly thin, but has a heft to it that suggests an extraordinary strength.

To my far right in the photo, you’ll find one of my pet peeves (I don’t want to appear peevish, don’t you know, but sometimes one just has to put one’s foot down!). That gold object is a spiral staircase that takes us to the second floor. I’d be happy if spiral staircases were banned from all sims! Oh, don’t get me wrong, in RL I love spiral staircases; the spirals that line the streets in Montreal’s Plateau are a marvellous sight to behold. But SL spirals are just plain hard to navigate. Step, turn, step, turn. I’m a little hot under the collar by the time I reach my destination.

And the second floor is worth it, if only for In Kenzo’s Opal Rampway. Again, what sets this piece apart from the run of the mill prim sculpture is the use of texture. The motion is a nice touch; it makes one wonder if one is seeing an embrace or an attack. You simply must watch this one for a while to see what I mean. I, myself, missed it at first.

Yes, that is a Starax Statosky behind me. And to the right is the haunting videodance Mother and Child of Sudane Erato.

The rooftop terrace holds what is perhaps my favorite piece, Adam Ramona’s Infra Assemblage.

At first glance, you’ll wonder why this is my favorite. It consists of a cluster of rotating boxes. But … well, try touching one. Walk into the sculpture. (Please, don’t try this in a RL museum!) Nice, right? (If you don’t understand what I’m talking about, turn your sound up.) Now click the yellow ball at the top.

Art can be fun, and this piece is. I’d love to see this in a public plaza somewhere.

I’ve only touched the surface of the exhibits at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Neufreistadt. You should certainly add this to your list of places to visit. The current exhibits will stay until May 17th, so you have some time … but don’t let it slip by, forgotten. And don’t just stay in the museum, the sim is also a beautiful walled city. (Sherpa particularly loved the city, as it reminded her of Saint Malo and Carcassonne in her native France.)