UWA’s art challenge completes final heat: final on the way

The University of Western Australia have just wrapped up the last heat of their 3D Art & Design Challenge (full info below), and once again the depth and breadth of the work being displayed is impressive.

I feel very privileged and anxious at the same time, to be one of the panel of judges for the Grand Final, which is coming up fairly soon. I’ve said it a few times now, but I’ll repeat it now: UWA are arguably the preeminent virtual worlds art supporter worldwide, and it’s a claim they deserve in the most emphatic way.

We’ll be bringing you a wrap of the final judging when it’s completed.

The full announcement from UWA:

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NISH & HERICK TRUIMPH ONCE MORE – AUGUST WINNERS OF THE UWA 3D ART & DESIGN CHALLENGE

103 entries of the highest quality to the final August round of the UWA 3D Art & Design Challenge, and what happens? Nish Mip’s powerful and enveloping piece, THE LAST OCEAN takes the top prize (L$5,000) making it an unprecedented 3rd time she has won First Prize for the IMAGINE Challenge breaking a tie with Bryn Oh & Igor Ballyhoo, both of whom won the Challenge twice. Lee Supermarine and Eliza Wierwight shared honours in taking 2nd Prize. In the FLAGSHIP Challenge, Herick Straaf narrowly beat 5 time champion Nyx Breen to take the top prize for a 2nd time. Jesse Keyes, Alizarin Goldflake & soror Nishi picked up L$6,000 each in winning Legacy Awards for their work across the year for the IMAGINE Challenge, while Nyx Breen took home the Legacy Award for the FLAGSHIP Challenge.

The final month of this year long L$600,000 challenge, August saw a record shattering 103 submissions to the IMAGINE challenge with 6 Flagship Builds pushing the total across the year to 841 entries from more than 300 artists and builders. 6 of the 7 continents of the world are represented as entrants hailed from Venezuela, Belgium, Mexico, Wales, Canada, the USA, the UK, Uruguay, Scotland,England, Spain, Switzerland, Italy, France, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Denmark, Holland, Ireland, Portugal, Austria, Cuba, Serbia, Tunisia, Germany, Japan, New Zealand and Australia.

Commenting on the win, Nish said, “My thanks go to Jayjay and quad for putting so much work in to organising these competitions. They deserve the biggest round of applause for their efforts and to everyone else involved through support and sponsorship in whatever way and that includes the artists, judges, and the people who come along to look and appreciate this great boost for second life art. I really feel proud to have taken part in these competitions. I only came looking for a sandbox to finish my Butterfly house off, but I think everyone in whatever life they have wants to feel that they have a purpose and I’d like to make a special thank you to JJ for spotting something that I hadn’t realised I had and am still even now finding hard to believe. I can only put my success down to being a bit of a perfectionist and never being satisfied with what I’ve done. Perhaps that helps, I don’t know, but these competitions have definitely paved a way forward for me that I really appreciate. Thank you everyone who’s made that possible. I know with the dedication that the UWA in SL has put in to the virtual art world they will go from strength to strength and I very much look forward to the coming years and to hopefully participating with UWA in making our second lives so much richer. I love you all. ”

In acceptance, Legacy Award winner Jesse Keyes said, “I am honored that i managed to hang on long enough to receive the UWA Legacy prize.
Its been a long year and I look forward to making and entering more contest builds in the up and coming year. I would like to thank all the people that have worked on setting up the contest and to Jay Jay Zifanwe for puting bugs in my ears on when the build is due (they were real bugs). Thanks again UWA for hosting such a geat event”. She emoted, “gets drunk and falls off the podium, waves to every one, uses trophy to crack walnuts.”

soror Nishi, fellow Legacy Award winner, and winner of the Honourable Mention Prize for JOY for August, with ‘Dotty the Dragon’ chimed in, “It’s a great thing to feel that what you try to do as an artist, that what you try to ‘say’ has been understood. An award is like someone saying ‘yes, soror, I agree’..and it makes it possible to go on creating, trying to express difficult ‘stuff’.”

The biggest winner on the night in terms of the number of awards won was Eliza Wierwight, whose cleverly named entry, THE SATIRICAL POLEMICIST won the 2nd overall IMAGINE prize (L$3,000), 2nd Prize in the People’s Choice Award (L$500) as well as the Rain Prize (L$1,000). “What an interesting journey from working in isolation for such a long time, then the genuine feeling that I am a part of the Arts Community family in Second Life as I do now. I’m smitten. While I’ll know I will always seek time to get delightfully lost in the process of creation in seclusion, it’s a reaffirming joy when I head back to shore to find such warm welcome as has been expressed in these awards I’ve been honored with today. If I was to say that a position in the People’s Choice is like an embrace, then the Imagine Challenge Prize and the Rain Prize on top of that had me floored with delight. My huge and genuine thanks to the SL Community , the University of Western Australia, my precious friends, my muse , the delightful Miss Q (quadrapop Lane) and the genuine and astounding Jayjay Zifanwe whom I am still honing an ever developing artistic temperament on just for the sheer amusment of it. Again, for everything , my sincere thanks.”

The Non-Scripted IMAGINE prize was won back to back for the first time every, by prim wizard nessuno Myoo with THE UNICORN WOOD EDITION. “I’m really happy and I want thank all for the great opportunity to show my works alongside all this masterpieces. For me it is a great honor.” Only he and soror Nishi have more than one piece in the reckoning for the Non-Scripted Grand Prize.

Corcosman Voom, who wan an Honourable Mention for the Legacy Award (L$4,500), also took the Bohemian Ghost Prize (L$1,000 + 600 prims on the Summerland SIM). “I was very pleased to have been awarded an Honourable Mention UWA Legacy prize and The Bohemina Ghost prize in this, the final round, of the UWA 3D Art & Design Challenge. It has been my pleasure to be able to exhibit my art this past year in the company of work by so many talented artists. I am very grateful to UWA and everyone associated with the Challenge for the opportunity it has given to so many people. Most of all, I appreciate the dedication and hard work Jayjay and quadrapop have put into making this project a success. Thank you both for making this a great year.”

A paradigm breaking piece called ‘ANTARCTICA – AN INDIVIDUAL EXISTENCE’ by Glyph Graves won the Honourable Mention Prize for Second Life Wizardry. This must see work, uses real time data from weather stations in Antarctica to create an enchanting symphony of sound and light. The technical expertise required to create such a work is mind-boggling.

Gleman Jun was also a multiple award winner as his ‘STOP FEAR’ won the People’s Choice Award as well as the Honourable Mention (HM) Prize for Emotion. Other award winners included Oberon Onmura (Legacy Award HM), Oldoak Merlin (Casey Prize & FLAGSHIP HM), Blue Tsuki (HM Prize for Immersion), Gingered Alsop (HM Prize for Scripting Magic), Pinkpink Sorbet (Anton Mesmer HM Prize).

Joining the extended judging panel for the Grand Prize are art philanthropist & founding patron of UWA-BOSL Amphitheatre, Phillip Vought, Paisley Beebe, CEO of Perfect World Productions TV and Jopsy Pendragon, creator of the Particle Laboratory Learning Centerhave who have all stepped in to take the place vacated by M Linden. They will have the entire month of September to make their decisions.

UWA is grateful to Bohemian Ghost and the Summerland Estate for raising L$33,000 which was put toward the Legacy Awards. Bohemian Ghost will also be part sponsoring the People’s Choice Award for the Grand Finale, along with the Residents of Artemesia who have been sponsoring the monthly People’s Choice Awards.

The Grand Prize Round is now open, and there is a People’s Choice Vote for this. There has been a beed over the past few weeks to rezz all the past winning flagships across the grid. We would like to acknowledge all those who have given up valuable prims and space to allow UWA to put up these flagships till the end of the voting period which is the 30th of September. They include Caren McCaw & Nyx Breen (of the Annapurna SIM), Dijodi Dubratt (Toor), quadrapop Lane (Poorlatrice), Kip Yellowjacket (Virtlantis), Lilli Field (Mysten), Phillip Vought (Acquitaine), Cuwynne Deerhunter & Eliza Wierwight (Patron) and the Linden Endowment for Arts (LEA).

This is the first time LEA land is being used and opened up to the public. One SIM of the LEA cluster has been opened up for this purpose.

The machinima challenge, MachinimUWA II: Art of the Artists, is ongoing, and closes on the 20th of September. & works have come in thus far from Tutsy Navarathna,spyvspy Aeon, Bryn Oh, Megan Merlin, Missy Restless and Yesikita Coppola. These Machinima feature the works that have been entered across the year to the UWA 3D Art & Design Challenge. They are all linked on the blog http://www.uwainsl.blogspot.com/.

WINNERS OF THE AUGUST ROUND OF THE UWA 3D ART & DESIGN CHALLENGE

IMAGINE CHALLENGE – 3D ART

LEGACY PRIZE (IMAGINE): $L6,000
Alizarin Goldflake
soror Nishi
Jesse Keyes

LEGACY PRIZE (FLAGSHIP): $L6,000
Nyx Breen

LEGACY PRIZE (Hon Mention): L$4,500
Oberon Onmura
Corcosman Voom

Imagine Challenge 1st Prize: ($L5,000 + Custom T-Shirt)
THE LAST OCEAN by Nish Mip

Imagine Challenge 2nd Prize: ($L3,000) JOINT
THE SATIRICAL POLEMICIST by Eliza Wierwigh

WHAT A WONDERFUL WORLD by Lea Supermarine

Best Non-Scripted Entry: ($L3,000 + Custom T-Shirt)
THE UNICORN WOOD EDITION by Nessuno Myoo

FLAGSHIP CHALLENGE – BUILDING DESIGN
Flagship Challenge 1st Prize : ($L5,000)
CONCEPT BUILDING FOR AXS LAB by Herick Straaf

Flagship Challenge 2nd Prize: ($L3,000)
UWA AXS LAB by Nyx Breen

Flagship Honourable Mention Prize: (L$1,000)
Oldoak Merlin

Honourable Mention Prize for EMOTION (L$1,000)
STOP FEAR by Gleman Jun

Honourable Mention Prize for SECOND LIFE WIZARDRY (L$1,000)
ANTARCTICA – AN INDIVIDUAL EXISTENCE by Glyph Graves

Honourable Mention Prize for JOY (L$1,000)
DOTTY THE DRAGON by Soror Nishi

Honourable Mention Prize for IMMERSION (L$1,000)
THE DEEP by Blue Tsuki

Honourable Mention Prize for SCRIPTING MAGIC (L$1,000)
QUANTUM MATRIX by Gingered Alsop

THE ANTON MESMER Honourable Mention Prize (L$1,000)
PARTLY ANTSY CHAMBER by Pinkpink Sorbet

The RAIN PRIZE (L$1,000) – Established for one of the Founding Patron of the UWA 3D Art & Design Challenge
THE SATIRICAL POLEMICIST by Eliza Wierwight

CASEY PRIZE – JULY (L$4,000)
BLACK SWAN by Oldoak Merlin

THE BOHEMIAN GHOST PRIZE (L$1,000 + 600 Prims on the Summerland SIMM for at least 3 months)
THE AERIALIST by Corcosman Voom

PEOPLE’S CHOICE AWARD – 1st prize (L$1,000):
STOP FEAR by Gleman Jun

PEOPLE’S CHOICE AWARD – 2nd prize (L$500):
THE SATIRICAL POLEMICIST by Eliza Wierwight