22 December 2016

Silas Merlin at Pica Pica

"And the ring the boy is holding? He appeared out of nothing, in this position," said Silas Merlin as we looked up at one of his sculpted works (image above) now rezzed in gigantic scale on the sim Pica Pica. "For a long time I wondered what he was doing — until I thought of the ring. He is blowing through the hole in the ring, instilling tales into the world." The boy with the ring (Storybook 7 - Enchanter), along with a couple dozen other fanciful sculptures, are now on display in an enchanting and spellbinding world that suggests stories and myth. "You know when I make a sculpture the first thing I do is go to a sandbox and make it huge like this," remarked Silas. "So I guess this is what I wanted all along."

In real life, Silas is Jean-François Le Saint, a Master Pastellist of the Pastel Society of France, and his two-dimensional images have been exhibited in Second Life, alongside his more conventionally-sized sculptures. And "there are traces of pastel on some of the mesh," he notes. While his sculptures in their usual size have a land impact of no more than 10 to 15, the largest one in Pica Pica — the threatening Fiura, who stands taller than everyone, about 65 meters into the air (image above) — has a land impact of about 1,000. "The boy with the cats on the chair will be at an event called The Forest ... The two boys on a cube [The Brother's Tale, image below] is the newest, and I don't know where I will release it yet." Others can be obtained, along with the artist's pastels, at The Silas Gallery in New Babbage. He credits the fantasy illustrator Brian Froud for inspiring a few of his creations.

Be sure to visit the ruins on the far north side of the sim — they can be entered, and a scene with a storybook awaits within. Silas has been continually tweaking things, including the ground texture, the environment settings, and so on, so things may appear slightly different than pictured here. (Click on any image to enlarge.) My thanks to Haveit Neox, who alerted me to Silas's exhibit, and who created a lovely video, The Brother’s Tale: Art by Silas Merlin. Silas hadn't intended that the exhibit be public, and it's because of Haveit's video that he has agreed to keep the sim open an additional week, until December 27, so don't delay in visiting. Be sure to pick up a gift that's available at the landing point.

No comments:

Post a Comment