So now that it's finally summer, I'm finally getting the last details ready of the three new things I hope to launch through CCLaP this year: an electronic publishing program (starting in three weeks!); a Chicago social-events program (starting next weekend! details tomorrow!); and a virtual photography gallery, hosting a traditional exhibition once a month plus an electronic catalog and physical print-on-demand merchandise, which I hope will finally be finished and open in exactly 15 days from now. (In fact, this is why there's been more gaps in the blog's publishing schedule in the last couple of weeks than normal, because I've been working more than normal behind the scenes on these upcoming new programs.) And as regular readers know, as part of this virtual gallery, I plan mainly on doing a pretty cool special animated Flash interface here at the website (including little 60-second talks between me and artist concerning each and every piece, which you can opt to play while scrolling through, making it feel like you're actually walking through a gallery with the two of us, listening to us talk about the work); but in fact I've also planned this entire time to start up a 3D, "virtual reality" version of the gallery too, specifically within the multiplayer online environment Second Life (SL), mostly because I'm a two-year veteran there and already own land. (Those who would like to know more about SL, and my long history there, can check out the category archive page here.)

For those who don't know, for example, I'm actually a semi-pro virtual architect within SL's pervasive virtual environment, known as the "Grid," and am therefore constructing CCLaP's virtual headquarters myself; and for this newest project of mine, I decided to go ultra-sleek and ultra-minimalist, mostly to save on the amount of so-called "prims" found on my land. (See, each primitive shape in the Grid, like a wall or sphere or cone, is known as a "prim," and only a certain amount of prims are allowed on any given piece of land; it's how Linden Lab, owners of Second Life, ensures that no individual server within their farm blows up from overload. Sheesh, there's always so much to explain when you talk about SL!) Anyway, it's led to the prototype seen above; four glass cubes, basically, each 10 by 10 by 10 meters (or 30 by 30 by 30 feet), just a nice simple layout that will concentrate your focus mostly on the images themselves. As you can tell, in fact, unlike other public projects I've done there, I'm not intending CCLaP's headquarters to necessarily be the focus of a lot of social events this year (mostly because I simply don't have the time); I'm envisioning it for now instead as a simple extra promotion for CCLaP and the gallery, something weird and cool that will hopefully inspire a certain amount of press, just because it exists. And this being a virtual environment, of course, I've also used the opportunity to create a dramatic CCLaP branding on the outside of the building itself; this is one of the coolest things about a virtual environment, after all, and why so many "weekend curators" flock to SL and open galleries, because through a simple digital file in Photoshop, you can virtually recreate the kinds of giant expensive banners that in the real world can only be afforded by museums and the like.

Essentially it gives me 15 big giant blank walls in which to work; with upcoming shows averaging around 20 to 25 images apiece, this will work out quite nicely, along of course with the half-wall at the front door where I'll be able to hang a giant version of each artist statement. And then in that image above, you can see one of the cooler little details of this prototype, that those little balls at each corner are not just decorative but give off light as well; between those and the eventual lights on the pieces, I think that will be more than enough for nighttime CCLaP visiting in the Grid. What I'll be doing later this week, then, is such things as railings around those holes you're currently seeing, and of course stairways to connect the floors.

And finally, what's a building in Second Life without a rooftop helipad? Hey, you gotta be prepared for all those friends arriving by hot-air balloon and rocketship! And me being me, of course, I also used the helipad as a final opportunity to promote CCLaP a little; this is mostly for the benefit of people flying over the area, to tell you the truth.

Anyway, that's it for now from the Grid; and like I said, hopefully over the next two weeks I'll be getting the final details finished of the SL headquarters, Flash layout, electronic book, associated media and physical merchandise, and have something pretty cool to present to all of you not too long from now. See you later!

Already a member of Second LIfe yourself? Visit the gallery under construction at Yongdong [208/168].