The
Last Forever is a new sim, completed March 29th, 2017 by Kraftwork
(Nodnol Jameson and Oobleck Allagash) also creators of the sim West of the
Rain, along with a very creative team consisting of; Kai Mannequin, Brooke Barmy, Rooky Yootz
,Triin. Misty and Jack Hanby. The Last
Forever is actually the recreation of the real life town of Marfa. located in west Texas U.S.A., on the Chihuahuan Desert plateau. It
is a small ranching town and trendy tourist destination with a present day
population of 2,316 .
The real life Marfa has quite a few famous
and popular spots such as the mystery
lights of Marfa, and the fact that it was used as the location for the 1956
movie classic Giant , starring Elizabeth Taylor , Rock Hudson and James
Dean. Marfa was also used as a U.S.
military base during World War two and many of the buildings are former army
buildings. Marfa is also a great fashion
and shopping place , it even has a Prada store.
This Prada location though, is not a working store and is actually an
art instalment. You can gaze through the window at the purses and shoes but the
door does not actually work . At any
other place this would be an oddity , but in Marfa it just seems to fit.
The main reason that Marfa is an important
destination is because it is the home of the Chinati Foundation and the Judd
Foundation. For anyone who has ever
studied art , they will know the name of Donald Judd.
Donald
Judd
Donald Judd is one of the most influential and famous minimalist
American artists of the 20th century(1928 to 1994). Although Donald disavowed minimalism, saying
he “sought
autonomy and clarity for the constructed object and the space created by it,
ultimately achieving a rigorously democratic presentation without compositional
hierarchy” he later wrote volumes supporting minimalism and is largely
associated with it.
Donald Judd started out in NYC creating
works that spread from floor to ceiling then all five floors of his
building. In the 1970's Judd moved to Marfa, rented a house and began
large scale works . Later , Judd bought
a ranch just outside Marfa and continued to build massive structures. Judd's
works were done in metal, concrete, plexiglass and wood.
Donald Judd wrote, taught and lectured in
the U.S. , Europe and Asia. In his later
years , he produced furniture that was purely functional . At first glance, it reminds one of Asian design or Scandinavian design.
Today the Judd Foundation in Marfa is the
home to many of Judd's works as well as other artists and is one of the main
reasons people visit.
SecondLife
Marfa
Arriving
in Marfa SL. after the dust settles, proves to be an astonishing moment . It is
Marfa. A small desert town with cracked
pavement, tumbleweeds and surrounded by desert and mountains. There are scrub bushes, cacti and wind bent
trees. The town buildings are a mixture of new buildings and refurbished
army ones. Right away ,some of the more
famous buildings stand out, The Marfa Contemporary Gallery , Building 98 (also
known as the Ballroom), The Palace movie theatre and even the Food Shark truck
(offering free burgers).
Walking
around the sim I headed towards the open desert plateau and there in plain
sight are Donald Judd's Boxes. Framed
against the desert sky and parched earth, they are part of the landscape of the plateau.
There
are numerous references to Judd's work in the sim. Even the furniture ,similar to which Judd
designed in the latter part of his career . is for sale on the sim at Kraftwork.
Over
at the Marfa Contemporary Gallery is another exhibit featuring works by
Melusina Parkin. The show is titled “ Americana-American Icons in
SecondLife”.
“Americana
exhibit aims to show how American pop culture is reflected in Second Life.
Since SL is a world made by residents, the choice of things they reproduced in
this world looks like a catalogue of that can be called "icons". That
includes typical landscapes, historical symbols, daily life objects and places,
architectural styles, vintage objects and much more.”
Melusina is the CEO of MEB as well as a
multi-talented artist in design, photography and building objects. She has won various awards for her works and
designs, and gives talks on her work in Art Deco. Melusina is also Chief Editor of Esselle
Movie Magazine. Complete information
about Melusina Parkin is given out at the exhibit and it will also provide you
with her links to her store and other works .
It is a beautiful exhibit, with many stunning photographs and it is
suited to Marfa in its minimalist style.
Art is everywhere in Marfa and not just in galleries. There are sculptures on the streets ,
photographs, paintings, graffiti and even the remnants of old planes and
vintage cars. Absolutely nothing is
random, everything is placed in exactly the right way in the exact right spot.
The entire sim is a work of art, the desert, the buildings, the streets and the
mountains.
It is no surprise that the creators of
the sim all have home bases for their stores here . Kraftwork has a main store in a building that
looks remarkably like the Chinati Foundation building . Big Bully and Powder
Pack are in equally impressive structures that blend in beautifully with the
sim and the streets are named after the creators. The Last Forever is an incredible feat of design, art and
creativity that pays homage to Donald Judd.
Truly an enjoyable trip through Marfa .
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