you set the trap, you lie and wait till someone trips the wire (part I)

More wandering through SL5B last night, and more puzzlements to show.



I realize that Artfox Daviau was asked to remove the nipples from the prim statue that forms the core of his exhibit. I realize that then he removed both breasts entirely in protest, and offered up a buy-for-0-Linden freebie 'nipple hat' (if you really want the hat, go see his exhibit.

This may well be offensive, it may well be seen as damaging his art as originally conceived. But nothing authorizes him to then sell a "beating heart" sculpture for two hundred and fifty Lindens. Because that's, first, against the policies of SL5B, and two, extremely tacky.



Miss September McKinney--along with many other SL artists throughout the Sculpty sim--is protesting child abuse, apparently, through the "LOVE family" project. When one clicks one of these ubiquitous white boxes, one receives a notecard with these words:

Linden Lab have declined to allow images of child and adult avatars together at these birthday celebrations. Poorly informed media pressure and corporate fear have combined to censor that most precious of human traits - a sense of family and love.

Genuine child abuse will only ever be eradicated when we learn to celebrate and cherish family in all its forms. Then we shall have the courage to face the abuse within our own families, and stop it.

Censorship from fear of the media serves no one but the media.

I have two problems with this. First, using a purely political move by the Lindens to keep certain mouthy and ill-informed Congresscritters off their backs, to showcase the pandemic problem of child abuse is self-serving at best, and specious at worst--because stopping the trauma of child abuse? Will entail a complete reformat of our culture, not simply "embracing" family in "all its forms".

The second problem is the exhibit itself. Featuring eerily glowing, tentacled moving trees, insane whispering, and mad childrens' laughter, along with paintings that shift, turn and twist in the not-wind that sends stormclouds scudding over the virtual sky-ceiling...I mean, really, stop a moment and think--what in this horrorshow environment supports family?!?

Besides that, it's creepy as all get-out, and I'm a horror fan! DO NOT WANT!



In direct contrast is the absolutely marvelous build by Sasaya Kayo of Have a Happy Mood!. It is just wonderful, start to finish--the building is distinctive from the outside, the build inside is charming, there are poses scattered about--Have a Happy Mood! is a pose store, essentially--it's very nearly perfect.



This is me on one of the pose swings at the exhibit. Intriguingly enough, over my shoulder can be seen, through a gap in the build, another blatant violation of the Lindens' PG rating, with a full-build-sized version of da Vinci's Vitruvian Man. While, yes, another classic piece of art, also featuring full frontal nudity.

One does wonder--why is it fine to show fully nude men, and disallow even partially clad women? We do not understand.



Also at this build is a small mini-hunt--six of the viridescent bubbles floating in the warm sleepy summer-space of the interior build contain poses. Find them, buy them for 0, and you'll have six new poses to take home.



I have to say, a build like this? Is exactly what all of SL5B should have been--celebratory, involving, beautiful, a reflection of the best we can be, of the most that we are.

Instead, we have controversy, strange images, flagrant violations of the rules, and growing mistrust. It's not the birthday celebration I imagine the Lindens wanted, and it's not the one I particularly relish, either.



Skycat Ranger also has an intriguing build, and I do believe some intriguing freebies to give away--including, quite possibly, a copy of the Joker picture.

I'm splitting this up in two sections; it's getting long.