Colosseum

The Colosseum is one of the well-preserved monument of the ancient Rome.

Colosseum

The Colosseum or Roman Coliseum, originally the Flavian Amphitheatre, is an amphitheatre in the center of the city of Rome, Italy, the largest ever built in the Roman Empire.

Occupying a site just east of the Roman Forum, its construction started between 70 and 72 AD under the emperor Vespasian and was completed in 80 AD under Titus, with further modifications being made during Domitian’s reign (81–96). The name “Amphitheatrum Flavium” derives from both Vespasian’s and Titus’s family name (Flavius, from the gens Flavia).

The Colosseum was used for gladiatorial contests and public spectacles. Other public spectacles were held there, such as mock sea battles, animal hunts, executions, re-enactments of famous battles, and dramas based on Classical mythology.

Jacob de HEUSCH, Rome: A View of the Forum Romanum, 1694
Oil on canvas, 54 x 77 cm, private collection

Map of Rome

The Grand Tour stops at the Monastery

The Monastery opens traditionally an exhibition for the Valentine’s Day. This year, the title of the exhibition is “romantic. ruins paintings in Rom in 17th and 18th centuries”.

romantic. ruins paintings

This exhibition is designed by Ulysse Alexandre, archaeologist. It presents some examples of paintings of archaelogical remains in Rom, made by painters in the 17th and 18th centuries. Ruins was a popular topic in this period. The link between the term romantic and Rome antique (in french) is not clear. Despite the fact that the etymological link is not testified, the similarity between the two words has probably played a role. The ruins are also part of the romantic imagination, as there are some in landscape painting. Alle the paintings presented in this exhibition show remains which are still visible today in a small perimeter of the town of Rom: Coliseum, Titus Arch and Forum Romanum.

The Grand Tour, an event whose goal is to organise visits in different places of Second Life in one day, will stop at the Monastery on Sunday 15th February at 10 am. Visitors will have a guided tour of the exhibition and of the entire building.

Romantic

We are preparing a surprise for you in the Monastery for Valentine Day: an new exhibition intitled “Romantic”. This exhibition will be one of the attractions of CDS for the stop of the Grand Tour in CDS sims.

Audience

In 2008, the Monastery got 1260 unique visitors. This number doesn’t include people who came several times in the Monastery to visit different exhibitions. It’s not bad: 3,4 unique visitors a day. We can nevertheless try to increase the audience of the Monastery.

I have opened a booth in the sim Winterfell whose them is Middle Age. In this booth, people can find some items that we sell for the Monastery and some informations about current activities.

Winterfell booth

I have also bought an add in SL search engine in order to get a better rank in the result of requests.

The time will tell if these actions will show their effects. The best way to keep audience for a place like the Alpine Meadow Monastery is to develop activities. In 2009, we will avoid to have period without any exhibition.

Second Mirror: the newest exhibition of the Monastery

Virtual worlds are pixel worlds. Everything is made with informatic code. Some characteristics of the real world are not integrated in the algorithm, because they were forgetten or too complicate to calculate. For example, metal is not metal, but an image of metal. It is easy to give to this object the right color. But what about some general physical properties, like weight and reflection? Avatars of virtual world can carry any big object in metal, because this object doesn’t have any weight. And metallic surfaces don’t make any reflection. This fact should question us about virtual worlds.

Mirrors and men have a long story, which has begun when someone has realized long time ago that he can see his own face in an untroubled water. All myths and tales show that this story is not easy: men have trouble with their image.

Virtual worlds are maybe the newest chapter of this story. Men are building a reflection of their own world. Why Second Lifes’ mirrors should reflect the faces of the avatars, if Second Life itself is a mirror? A mirror whose image is customable. A mirror we can play with. A mirror that we can enter.

This exhibition will give to the visitors a unique opportunity to explorate relationships between men and mirrors, in real and virtual worlds through several sceneries with animations: what happens when you break a mirror, when you look into a surface of water? Sceneries present tales of reflection as well as mirror in everyday life. Visitors can also see how it is possible to build mirrors in Second Life, with scripts. Finally the Library presents some texts about the topic of the exhibition.

Several people have contributed to this exhibition. We would like to thank them:

* Popea Heron
* Sonja Strom
* Lilith Ivory
* Attika Bekkers
* Ulysse Alexandre

More informations: IM Arria Perreault, Curator of the Monastery

You can visit this exhibition in Internet or in Second Life, in the Alpine Meadow Monastery.

http://be-virtual.ch/mirrors/
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Alpine%20Meadow/198/106/97

The Monastery will stay in Alpine Meadow

Today Linden Lab has announced in its blog a change in price policy regarding void sim (Openspace).

http://blog.secondlife.com/2008/10/27/openspace-pricing-and-policy-changes/

The fee will increase of 67%. This decision makes void sim unsustainable. Infortunately we will have to abandon our project.

The Monastery will continue its activities in Alpine Meadow. A new exhibition is under construction.

Design of the sim of the Monastery

Ulysse Alexandre has designed a proposal for the future sim of the Monastery. Here is the current version of this proposal, which is in discussion in CDS.

Plan of the sim

Design of the relief

The Monastery will be set to the upper flat parcel.

This proposal will be discussed in a work group of the new Guild and then by the Guild and the Representative Assembly. It is still a long process before the achievement of the project.

The Monastery will have its own sim

A very good new: the Representative Assembly of CDS has accepted today to start a project to build its fifth sim. This sim will be a void sim whose main building will be the Monastery. In this place, we will have more rooms around the building, a garden, forests. We will have some neighbours because 6 plots will be available, mostly (but not necessarly) for people who would like to collaborate with the Monastery, to organize exhibitions for example.

The Monastery itself – and it is important – will be in a public land of the Confederation of Democratic Simulators. Virtus, as NGO, will manage its activities.

This is the start of the project. There are still several steps until its achievement.

If you are interested with this project or to collaborate with the Monastery, please contact Arria Perreault.

Mirror, mirror on the wall, who in the land is fairest of all?

The Monastery will explore the theme of the mirror in its next exhibition. There are several reasons to explore this thematic.

As the main sign of mankind is consciousness, that means being aware of self, the reflection of our image on a surface is like a materialisation of this consciousness. It is hard to say when men were able to understand that the image seen on the water is our image. It is probable that the fact that man leaves in society had help: family and friends have realized this fact, before the individual. There are a lot of stories which are showing dialogues between men and their images. Usually these stories show how it is complex to deal with his/her own image.

Narcissus, Caravaggio

There is an othe reason to explore this thematic in the Monastery. As the Monastery is a museal space in Second Life, it cannot present any mirror, water surface or metal which give back an image. Second Life is a pixels world and the objects don’t have the same physical characteristics than in the real world. Virtual Worlds are true only if we decide that they are true. The mirror can help us to think a little more about SL.

Exhibition will open in November.

The Representative Assembly meets at the Monastery

The Representative Assembly (RA), the legislative branch of the Confederation of Democratic Simulators (CDS), appreciates to meet in the different sims of the CDS. It usually have its meeting in the Preatorium of Colonia or in the Rathaus of Neufreistadt. One time per term, it comes also to Alpine Meadow. As this sim does not have a public building, the Monastery is pleased to welcome the RA. It is the second that this Assembly comes to the Monastery. The first time, the meeting happened in the Meeting Room. As it is open to the public, this place was to narrow. This term, the RA meets in the Chapel of the Monastery.