The secret life of Gracie Kendal…

When I first found Second Life two and a half years ago, my best friend Jordan, had a show for me in her gallery. We titled it “The Secret Lives of Gracie Kendal.” It’s funny, as you grow up and mature in Second Life, you start to think about who you are and what you want in all lives. I am finding that it isn’t so ’secret’ after all. And really it never was. Of course, we all have parts of ourselves we don’t share with anyone…and in that case, we do have secret lives… but for my part, my life as Gracie  is as much real and public as my life as Kris. In fact. I consider Gracie my pen name or pseudonym so to speak. Sooo many great artists and writers have/had them, so why not me. (Ugh..we won’t go into facebooks recent banning of alternate names…LOL)

Anyway, as most of you know, I am working on my Graduate degree in Art. I plan on graduating in May of 2010. Yes finally for those of you rolling your eyes…LOL This next year is going to be a great time for me. I am working on my thesis project. I am still working on and thinking about what it is going to involve. I do know for sure it is going to involve Second Life and Gracie Kendal and “my so-called secret life” there. Which isn’t going to be so secret anymore.

I wanted to start by telling you how I got involved in Second Life. But actually before that, I wanted to explain something. Whether I talk about Gracie or Kris in the first, second or third person, which I may do, they are all the same. It is all me. I am Gracie and Kris all the time. Someone called out the name Gracie the other day at the grocery store, and I instinctively turned around…LOL And, when I see the name Kris in Second Life, I have to take a double take. Although some of my friends in Second Life do call me Kris. It’s quite intriguing and funny at the same time.  But really… I was born Kristine, and ever since, my parents and family call me Tina and of course my friends call me anything from Kris to Kristy to Krissy to Kristine… Soooo what is the difference??

Ok, so the story begins…

In October of 2006, my aunt and uncle told me about Second Life. A month before, they had read about the music scene in Spin Magazine. They told me I really had to check it out. It was an amazing place for Art, music and so many other things So on October 2, 2006 I joined Second Life. I was very very lucky. As soon as I got in, I gave my aunt my name, she IMd me and tpd me to where she was. She took me shopping that day, where I bought my skin, shape, hair and clothes. Which to be honest, I still have. So many people change their skins and shapes all the time, but I like mine so much, I don’t want to change. Although I’ve tried..I always go back So I explored, going to all sorts of malls and even Archan (If you remember what that was..LOL). Actually In Archan, I met a friend who I am still friends with to this day. Within the first week, I had a condo, furniture and had started an art collection. It was amazing.

The next week, I had established my own little art gallery “Gracie Kendal Designs” where I showed my own art, paintings that I had created for the past 8 years. I uploaded digital photos of them into Second Life and exhibited them. It was sooo exciting. I started realizing the potential. People from all over the world were actually seeing my art. Art that up till then had only been shown and sold to friends and family. While I was at my gallery, I made many amazing friends who I will cherish always.

Within a couple months of being there, I was offered a solo show at Enigmatic Artworks to be held in December 2006. I will say, that experience set the bar high for all of the shows in Second Life since. I will always remember and hold a high regard for Amie Collingwood and Whisker Ophelia. I thank them for opening so many doors for me. My career in Second Life has only become more successful because of them. Thank you so much.

I have had many more solo shows since then, as well as being named in 2007 one of the top 10 best creation artists in Second Life.

Since becoming a part of the art community in Second Life 2 and a half years ago, my life has changed. I have made some amazing life-long friends all around the world. I have grown as an artist and as a person. My experiences here, all of them, have shaped who I am today and who I will become…and I am soo excited about the endless possibilities for the future.

More next time…

Identity and the avatar…

Yep, can you believe it??  A new post after only a couple days..well I am going to work on keeping it up… this blog is part of the new project.

I have been talking with my good friend Chrome Underwood about my new project. We had a great discussion yesterday about identity and the avatar. I have some great ideas I am really excited about, but still new, so don’t want to spill all the beans right away.

However, I have been thinking of identity and the avatar. So many people in the real world, don’t understand what it means to have an avatar, much less how it feels. They laugh at us, and think we are just playing a silly game. If you are in Second Life, than you know that is not true. (Well for most of us anyway!) Of course, I can only speak for myself in this regard. My avatar Gracie Kendal, is an extenstion of me. Her personality, the way she dresses, her art, her relationships,  her house, her dogs… I don’t hide anything. Now sometimes that can get me into trouble…LOL (won’t go there!!) But for the most part… Gracie is true.

This leads me to a quote that I found… first while reading some Baudrillard (which I have to reread to fully understand) but then I found it on the Ars Virtua Gallery website… “The simulacrum is never what hides the truth- it is the truth that hides the fact that there is none. The simulacrum is true.”  ~Ecclesiastes   (Jean Baudrillard The Precession of the Simulacra)  I absolutely believe this is key to my art!! For myself, as I don’t want to speak for you, I believe this wholeheartedly. I have often believed that my second life is more true than my real life. Although, this is changing a bit, as I have learnt to balance the two, and they both bring me truth in their own way, I don’t feel like I am hiding in Second Life, like I sometimes do in real life.

So I am going to start thinking more about the idea of a simulacrum as it relates to our identity. When you look at it on the outside, it looks like we do hide in Second Life. We seem to escape into the other reality where we can shape it to however we want. We can right wrongs we have made in the past, undo regrets, live out our fantasies, our hopes and dreams. It can be said its about instant gratification, which is what our society is all about now adays. A hope and dream is in the future. Why wait when you can have it tonight?!?!?! (Sounds like a 50’s TV commercial) You can be anything you want, do anything you want. (well mostly) And you can change. No one is there to tell you you are an idiot for changing jobs, homes, genders… you are free. What does it mean to be free? How does this shape our identity? How does the avatar, the idea we can be whoever or whatever we want, help us find truth?

My so called second Life…

The title of this post is taken from a Times article from Dec of 2006, and also a panel discussion that was held at the College Art Association conference in Feb of this year. I think its a great way to start my new art endeavor.

As most of you know, I am a Grad student at California State University in Northridge. I was originally an Art History Grad student finishing all of my course work and working on my thesis, when I made the huge decision to change objectives to Studio Art. I am an artist. I realized, I am not a scholar. I love Art, all aspects of it, the past, present and future, the culture, the community, the controversy and the comraderie. I feel my life would be incomplete without it.

Being a part of the Art Community in Second Life(SL) has been an amazing experience. Growing up in SL the last 2 and a half years has also been an experience I will never forget.

As most of you also know, I am a painter in real life(RL). I upload digital photos of my work into Second Life to exhibit. This last year, I have been trying to reconcile my art and SL. What do I do here? I don’t create specifically SL based art using the tools that are available here but I know we are all immersed in a new and exciting moment for art. We are at the beginning of something that is already being written about in Art History books. (See “Digital Art” By Christiane Paul) It is an amazing time.

My last couple weeks in school, have really got me thinking about who I am as an artist and a person. Although frankly, I’ve been questioning who I am as a person for the last few years. Luckily, this last year, I have really started to find myself..yay!!! Being an artist within SL and the art community there, has really helped shape who I am. It has really got me thinking about where I want to go with my art. I have decided to take my art solely within Second Life. I am not going to create art within SL, but actually use SL as my art. I am going to use Gracie Kendal as my art. Her life and times, her so called life. Gracie as an artist in this community, the freinds she’s made, the relationships she’s had…even the wild penis in the window story (Ummm more later). I realize this is going to get very personal for me. Something I haven’t really dealt with in my art. My abstract art, has been personal on a very different tip of the iceberg level. But dealing with the life of Gracie, Is totally different.

I had talked with my mentor about this. I asked her, what is the media/medium going to be? She said it really doesn’t. Don’t worry about that. Think more abstractly. Funny, I can paint abstractly just fine, but thinking it…is sooo much harder. I am a very analytical, logical person. Object based as she put it. She said I have to stop thinking of the artist as a maker of objects (I LOVE Duchamp!!)

Just some basic ideas I have for this new project… Thinking about my career/life within SL as the art.. maybe ways to document my travels within SL… and other ideas:  machinima, SL photography, this blog…  During RL crits in School, I will not have my RL art, but rather show SL projected on a screen for the class to critique… (not sure what I’ll show them yet)… I will still create RL art, but it won’t be shown in RL…It will only be accessible within SL.

Other concepts for this project… Thinking about Sl and ideal beauty. The Avatar as mask. I could address my avatar, change her- play her up/Glam… etc. Reinvent myself within SL (Don’t think I can do this..but its an idea)- Avatar as content- series of self portraits as avatar… think about escape/fantasy (as it relates to my life and in general)- Can look at the idea of a beautiful woman being an artist, is that possible? Will it help or hinder her? How does that change within SL vs RL? Thinking about artist as persona, spectacle, performance- the cult of personality. Think about writing my own narrative, almost a journal or diary, etc.

This is all more a brainstorming session…But I’d love your feedback..I am really excited about this project and am really looking forward to working on it over the summer.

Thank you so so much ))

A crisis of Confidence…

So yesterday I was struggling with the idea of identity.

In Second Life I am known as Gracie Kendal. Face Book, Gracie Kendal- Twitter, Gracie Kendal- Myspace, Gracie Kendal- LinkedIn, Gracie Kendal….

Where do you draw the line between RL representation and SL representation? As an artist in RL, I upload my works to Second Life and sell digital virtual copies of my work. I use SL to help get my work out there to a worldwide audience. No one can deny that SL is wonderful for that. But where is the line drawn for crossing over into RL? I applied for the MA in painting Fall of 2008. When I first approached the painting professors with my art and artist statement. They said, one thing that drew me to them, was Second Life. Would I have been accepted on my art ability alone? How long do I use my SL persona and the idea of SL to promote my art? I am going to apply for my MFA February 5th, and I am worried that if I get accepted it will be on the basis of SL. That my art won’t be able to stand alone without it. Especially in the contemporary established artworld that I am trying to break into. How do I incorporate SL into my artist statement. My art hasn’t necessarily been about SL, although my most recent works, come from the emotional rollar coaster that I have gone through from my experiences in SL. How do I put that in my artist statement. I am challenging myself to use SL more IN my art, rather than for my art.

How do I use the social networking tools out there to promote both Gracie Kendal and Kristine Schomaker?

Ugh!!!  I am overwelmed with these thoughts. Trying to make some sense.

I’d love your comments, advice and help, since most of you can understand where I am coming from.

Thank you so so much.

I look forward to hearing from you ))

WOW 2009 Already!!!???

Well, I decided to check out my blog here, and I totally didn’t realize I havent updated it on over a year. WOW!!!

I can’t believe it. Time does go by sooo fast, doesn’t it?

And honestly, I can’t even remember everything that has happened this year.

Even more honestly, I am kinda glad its over, and a new year has come upon us. Phew!!!

I am definitely going to make an effort to keep it updated.

I have heard there are a few people, I think I can count them on one hand, who want to read it, so that is very cool. hehehe

I have been in Second Life over 2 years now, and it has been very very good to me. I have made the most amazing friends, gone to wonderful concerts and art events and have grown as a person, because of my experiences here. I look forward to challenging myself and growing even more over the next year.

Over this past year, I have sold my first RL paintings through people I have met in Second Life. That was sooo amazing to me. I love the crossover that SL allows. My art is able to reach a worldwide audience which is most exhilirating I definitely look forward to blurring the boundary between RL and SL even more this next year.

At the beginning of 2008, I was working on my Masters Degree in Art History. Over the summer, I made the important decision to change my objective to Painting. I think this was the best decision I could have ever made. Over the fall semester at California State University Northridge, I have been thriving in my painting class. I have been pushing and challenging myself to find my contemporary and more specifically Postmodern voice. I was officially accepted into the Masters program in Painting on December 5th, after an official portfolio review. That was soooo great. I was thrilled. On Feb 5th, I am applying for the MFA program in painting. We shall see what happens.

Thank you so so much for all of your support.

I look forward to hearing from you and chatting with you more in the future

Please check out my other sites…

www.kristineschomaker.net

www.kristineschomaker.blogspot.com

twitter: Graciekendal

Facebook: Gracie Kendal

A look back on 2008…

Second Life: A Global Art Community….

Hi my friends. Wanted to Say Happy New Years!!!

Wanted to run something by you and see if I can get some helpful advice. I am going to be writing my Masters Thesis in Art History, on Art in Second Life. I would love some feedback. Here is a brief explanation of what I am thinking….

This study examines the global online art community of Second Life and discusses the diverse artists and artwork as a motivating force in todays postmodern artworld. This art community shares many similar traits with 1920’s behemian Paris, where artists converged in collaborative art scene….
Whether Second Life thrives and evolves or has a virtual death, the here and now of these artists is real. They strive to create, to collaborate, to experience, and explore. As Artists have done for centuries, they continue to use the tools that are available, technology that pushed boundaries.

Charity, Experience, Ireland and Greenies…what more could you ask for in SL!!!!!

Hi friends,

Trying to stay up later…its 1123pm sltime…  cuz I have been going to bed awfully damn early lately. Like 9pm…Geez Louise!!!!! Just wanted to toss some more of my snapshots from the flip side for all my friends to see. Not sure if there is any traffic here…but oh well. Its fun writing…anways.

Just added my art to a couple more galleries and donated some pieces to Africa and Ireland for charity events…yay!!!!!

Still looking for artists to show at Diegoland Artists Cooperative. So if you know anyone…Let me know!!!!!

OK…off to write my thesis….. WOW who am I kidding..I’m getting to bed….LOL

Have a great day and catch ya in the flip side!!!!!

Big Hugs!!!!  Gracie

Just remembering my early days in SL. This is Thalassa, where my aunt and uncle and I bought our first Island. You should see it now. Jordan owns it, and boy, has it change. But she is happy, and we are happy with our new Island…Or older Island…I guess we have been there more than a few months now.

More Shameless Self Promotion. Jordan made this amazing screen/poster for me for my space at Skyline Art Experience in Bellatrix. Just IM me if you want a landmark. Id be happy to send you one. Its an incredible space with 10 artists creating their own immersive atmospheres. Very Very Cool!!!! 

 My new friend Dickson and I dancing at Artisan Galleria sculpture garden. I am so lucky to have met him. A great singer/songwriter.. ‘an old soul’ he said he’s been called, so intelligent, funny… and a wonderful friend. Thank you so much. I am really looking forward to getting to know you better

This one speaks for itself!!!!!

Beautiful coral..under the dance floor… Can’t go wrong there….

This is ‘Out of Africa.’ One of my favorite movies…and there is a great African Sim too boot. I just donated some art for their auction on November 5, to help fight AIDS and poverty. Woooooo!!!!!!!!

OMG OMG OMG…. If you havent been here yet, you have got to go. This is called “The Far Away.” An art piece created by AM Radio. Let me know if you want a landmark. Sooo beautiful, surreal, amazing….all in the same breath…Just check it out..you won’t be sorry.

Ok…this is one of my best freinds in SL. Abel. What can I say…. Thank you so much for a great couple of weeks. Keep Blunting my freind, I don’t want to see No Bravery. It has been a great pleasure hanging out with you, getting to know you and dancing with you. I am looking forward to many more concerts together!!!!!

 

Ok…If you guys havent been here either….YOU HAVE GOT TO GO….This place is called Greenies….and if you don’t get it by looking at it here….You just don’t get it. Imagine..this picture takes up a whole Sim. Yep. You got it… Just IM me inworld for a landmark.

See ya soon!!!!!

A few snapshots with the friends :D

Just a few snapshots from Second Life. Enjoy!!!!

It’s only 830pm SLT

And yes…I am logging off SL. Can you believe how early it is??? Yea… It’s better that way. I can actually do something productive in RL, like read for my thesis, or wait, even write it. Wow…what a concept.  Another day almost gone, and not much accomplished.

Ok….well..depends on who you ask. My boys at Cedars got a lesson in Art History. Yep.. I showed them images by DaVinci, Caravaggio and their friend Mapplethorpe. we even analyzed the punched hole in the Monet.

Yep, you heard it…some drunk punks broke into the Musee D’Orsay and punched a hole in a Monet. How sad is that

Anyways…It was a fun night. Hanging with the boys. I love you guys!!!! 

Greg said to me before I logged off, “You make Sl interesting.” Awwwww…How sweet is that. Thanks so much you guys.

You make my whole life interesting. And as i have said before, you are my family.  

Have a great Night…Ciao Bellas~~

Shameless Self Promotion

Hi Friends…

This is gonna be short and sweet, as I have a thesis to write.

Oh, darn, who am I kidding…I can put it off till tomorrow. hahaha

Hopefully, when I get more time, I’ll start writing about the art and artists that make up this beautiful place we ‘live’ called secondlife.

Just wanted to say, thanks to all my friends and family in SL…you are so real and special and I cherish each and every one of you. (ok maybe not each and every one. hmmm..ok maybe only 1 of you…hehehe)  (And no not you Esch!!!!)

 I would totally add the links to all my friends wordpress blogs, but havent figured that part out yet. So help??

Have a great inworld day, and catch ya on the flip side.

Oh..and since as Erik says, I am still shamelessly self promoting myself… be sure to check out my website:  www.kristineschomaker.net

And BUY MY ART!!!!!!

hehehe

Ciao!!!