Chilbo Museum: A Non-elitist Haven for People of the Arts -- Troy Aristocarnas Reporting

Second Life as a medium of artistic expression flourishes thanks to efforts and venues like those of the Chilbo Museum.

Now close to completing five years of showcasing works of in-world artists and treasured portfolios of art collectors, the museum ushered in its 2012 season in the Winter/Spring exhibit, Clarity of Vision, featuring the output from the creative lens of the award-winning photographer, Jewel Appletor.

A seasoned RL photo-artist based in British Columbia, Canada, Jewel declares that photography is her passion. “Loving everything and everyone around me is my life,” she confesses. And this devotion very much shows in her Chilbo exhibit which is an eclectic mix of what can be appreciated best in the kaleidoscopic metaverse that is SL.

One critic-collector commented that Appletor’s presentation can be dark and gloomy, such as how she captured one build in a trilogy of photographs, Piece of Nemo 1, 2, and 3. Nevertheless, she can be dexterous at playing colors as well just like how she brought life to some of her exhibited opus entitled Soft Petals, Orchid, and Garden of Dreams. At times, she can be whimsical too and challenge the imagination of the viewer with her abstractions such as in her Twisted, Parallel Worlds, Forever a Memory, Bubbles and Graffiti.

Her works of some twenty photographs at Chilbo are by no means all abstractive. There are still-life presentations and portraiture in Jewel’s opus, manifested in her masterful renditions called Keep it Cool, Waterdrop, and Windy. Jewel avers that, through photographs such as these, she gets to share with the world the beauty of every day that too often gets taken for granted.

   

Expect the Chilbo Museum to share more of such an avatar’s artistry as this facility of the six-year-old Chilbo Community is by no means elitist. Corcosman Voom, museum curator, reveals that membership in this group established in October 2006 isn’t necessary to have one’s work featured at the museum, which is but one of the many public spaces in the sim. “I generally try to bring in exhibits that I think will interest not only the Chilbo Group but also the general SL population,” Voom reveals. 

The curator himself maintains a gallery at Chilbo called Corcosmian. Voom certainly enjoys the artistic side of Second Life and the wide variety of people and talents that he has met. He established the Corcosmian art gallery initially with the idea of promoting the watercolor works of two friends, which soon graduated to showing more paintings and photographs for the pleasure of casual visitors of Chilbo. He usually has one or two of his own opus out for display, but Voom focuses mostly on other people’s work that he appreciates and enjoys. He also often provides LMs to interesting exhibits by other artists. 

“The people are definitely what make Second Life a valuable experience for me,” said Corcosman. “On any given day you can meet anyone from a scientist to the most casual tourist, sometimes in the same group of people chatting away amiably.” 

To visit Chilbo Museum, follow this SLurl.