new sculptie at black swan..

So.. Have all you sculptie maniacs seen it?

edit: no.. not advertising so bite me.. just wondering what people think about it, speculations on how it was created, etc.. haven't seen anything quite like it before..

A real life art exhibit featuring oversized (ie 3 to 4 or more times) people in everyday poses painted and sculpted to appear photoreal was featured on CNN about a month back. The process of making it for secondlife is not that hard if you can look at a picture, imagine the different sculpty shapes you'd have to produce then sculpt them in whatever 3d application you use. The texturing part, is supposed to be painted (as in the RL exhibit) but the sculpture at Black Swan uses photosourced images to make up the effect.

here's the RL artist who inspired it
http://www.mjlegel.com/Pictures/2006/RonMueckSculptures/

How about some screenshots?

You really have to see it - walk around it to really appreciate it. When I went to see it there were over 20 people walking around it. No one used voice - no one texted. Everyone just looked and moved slowly around it. Take the time to go see it.

Not entirely work safe...
http://npirl.blogspot.com/2009/08/grand-odalisque-sculpture-by-unknown.html

You really should go see it, though. They say Black Swan is closing at the end of the month, too..

edit: tp to http://slurl.com/secondlife/Black%20Swan/210/112/2006/

Your wish is my command. I agree, however, you need to GO there to really appreciate the work, both visually and from a sculptors/builders perspective.

Due to the boards intended 'PG' rating, I'm only showing the backside.





Of course, all of Black Swan is impressive, and all of it is still there to see and walk around in, as well as purchase (For the most part).

ETA: Beat me to it!

It appears to be named after this painting:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grande_Odalisque

I think it's amazingly well done, but the choice of name is what makes it a real work of art.

wonders who the girl is o.O

Thanks for the screenshots, guys. I wanted to get a sense whether or not it would be worth taking the time to go look at the real thing, and it certainly was.

All I can say is the bar has been raised. It's a wonderful piece.

If I had to critique it, I'd have to point out that it's not without its flaws. There are a few areas that could use a little refinement. In particular, some of the more heavily shaded regions are full of artifacting, a few texture seams could have been better healed here and there, and I'm not quite sure the head fits the body as well as it should. But all of that really is nitpicking. On the whole, the work obviously is quite good, without question the best human model SL has yet seen.



On a side note, I am a bit puzzled by the title. While the subject could well be described as "grand", I somehow doubt even the grandest of odalisques could ever look anything like her. Odalisques were the slaves who attended the concubines of Ottoman imperial harems. That would be one well fed slave. I feel like I missed the joke somewhere, whatever it might be.

I think someone needs to go copy that sim and the new sculptures and go rez them on a 3rd party grid with their own name attached.

Rezzable full sim copy tools for the win.

I'd say, the image is a reminiscence of an image from Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres. Here is a neat video about the "original" and hopefully it will not be killed by "violation of terms of usage" as the original image is exposed in the Louvre in Paris :

http://www.smarthistory.org//assets/images/media/Ingres_Odalisque.flv

I think the title is more a reference to this tradition in art:

http://images.google.com/images?q=odalisque&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&ei=V6mRSv_FK5DKsQP2pcQG&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&ct=title&resnum=4

...rather than a description of the literal subject.

To my mind the whole piece is mostly a tremendously impressive tech-demo, but I think there's also some pretty strong challenges to to our current Western cultural notions of 'beauty' and 'realism' in it.

The range of discussions on the blogs and in-world about this piece -- from the standard, mundanely-ugly loathing of 'fat chicks,' to the borderline-PC lauding of the subject's 'true beauty,' and the artist's 'courage' in presenting a body so un-polished -- has been fascinating and revealing, indeed, and is testament to the success of the piece, imho

And I do wonder how people would be reacting if the model in the piece was male, rather than female. Same title, same pose, etc....
Now THERE would be a challenge!

Actually, no, I can imagine pretty clearly the near-universal howls of outrage and disgust, but that's sort of my point...

Err...what? Check out the page linked in the second post, Ron Mueck's sculptures. Both male and female are represented, anatomically correct even, and his art generally does not recieve cries of outrage.

Why, exactly, would you think a male sculpture would be seen any differently? The only real issue would be the title, as I do believe 'odalisque' refers to females exclusively. (Though I could be misled, here.)

Ahh.. The gteam stories I could tell...

Male bits are definitely less 'acceptable' than female ones.

does that mean the "g" stands for "genitalia"?

Um, yes, I'm quite familiar with Ron Mueck's work, but you're flat out wrong if you think that there's no outcry or controversy over his stuff. This article, while mostly framed in terms of 'appreciative public vs. uptight critics,' at least hints at a wide range of opinion on Mueck's work, from adulation to contempt...

http://www.canada.com/cityguides/ottawa/story.html?id=b89260b4-fb19-4732-a190-7744282f3561&k=39770

But Mueck is really only tangentially relevant to 3D Soup's piece in SL, if for no other reason than that I highly doubt Soup's Odalisque is anything more than a one-off: We're not likely to see a whole series of hyper-realistic, oversized nudes in SL from him(/her?), precisely *because* of the obvious influence of Mueck.

Thus what we've got to go on, in terms of 'statement,' is this one piece, depicting this one woman, in a pose and with a title that point to the venerated Art-Historical Tradition of starin' at nekkid ladies while ruminating on various philosophical/social/cultural subjects.

Larger than life, raised up on a pedestal, yet still exquisitely vulnerable, she's presented in the classic manner of an Object of Beauty, posed in a way that pretty brazenly invites the eye to pore over every inch of naked flesh. Hell, she's even ASLEEP, so we don't have to worry about any confrontational eye-contact with her as we ogle.

The fact that her shape is the type that's considered "fat," "unhealty," "undesirable," by modern mainstream culture (we'll just leave out the far uglier terms for now) is really what gives the piece what it has in terms 'punch,' or maybe 'twist.' Especially in SL, where it's all about hyper-idealized forms and fantasies, and even the basic avatar mesh makes it difficult to look like anything other than atheletes or fashion models, it's quite refreshing to see someone who looks much more like the people we actually know/are (see SLCC 09 on Flickr ) held up as 'beautiful.'

Thing is, WE'RE STILL STANDING THERE STARING AT A NAKED LADY, aren't we? We're not actually having any sort of 'new' artistic experience here, especially if we place this work in the larger historical context (Rubens, anyone?).

And that was the point of my earlier musing: wouldn't it be a bit more provocative (tho certainly no less gimmicky) to put an overweight MALE on that pedestal, in that pose, and yes, with that same title, pointing at the same artistic tradition? Mueck certainly doesn't do this. From what I've seen, his males are most-assuredly NOT layed out on erotic display, the way nearly all the Odalisques in Art History ever have been, including 3D Soup's.

If you don't think people--particularly people on the anonymous internet-- would have a significantly-more-negative reaction to a piece with a gender-switch like I've described, then I contend that you're underestimating the degree to which "women are to be gazed at, men do the gazing" is still a dearly-held assumption in our culture.

Um, yes, I'm quite familiar with Ron Mueck's work, but you're flat out wrong if you think that there's no outcry or controversy over his stuff. This article, while mostly framed in terms of 'appreciative public vs. uptight critics,' at least hints at a wide range of opinion on Mueck's work, from adulation to contempt...

http://www.canada.com/cityguides/ottawa/story.html?id=b89260b4-fb19-4732-a190-7744282f3561&k=39770

But Mueck is really only tangentially relevant to 3D Soup's piece in SL, if for no other reason than that I highly doubt Soup's Odalisque is anything more than a one-off: We're not likely to see a whole series of hyper-realistic, oversized nudes in SL from him(/her?), precisely *because* of the obvious influence of Mueck.

Thus what we've got to go on, in terms of 'statement,' is this one piece, depicting this one woman, in a pose and with a title that point to the venerated Art-Historical Tradition of starin' at nekkid ladies while ruminating on various philosophical/social/cultural subjects.

Larger than life, raised up on a pedestal, yet still exquisitely vulnerable, she's presented in the classic manner of an Object of Beauty, posed in a way that pretty brazenly invites the eye to pore over every inch of naked flesh. Hell, she's even ASLEEP, so we don't have to worry about any confrontational eye-contact with her as we ogle.

The fact that her shape is the type that's considered "fat," "unhealty," "undesirable," by modern mainstream culture (we'll just leave out the far uglier terms for now) is really what gives the piece what it has in terms 'punch,' or maybe 'twist.' Especially in SL, where it's all about hyper-idealized forms and fantasies, and even the basic avatar mesh makes it difficult to look like anything other than atheletes or fashion models, it's quite refreshing to see someone who looks much more like the people we actually know/are (see SLCC 09 on Flickr ) held up as 'beautiful.'

Thing is, WE'RE STILL STANDING THERE STARING AT A NAKED LADY, aren't we? We're not actually having any sort of 'new' artistic experience here, especially if we place this work in the larger historical context (Rubens, anyone?).

And that was the point of my earlier musing: wouldn't it be a bit more provocative (tho certainly no less gimmicky) to put an overweight MALE on that pedestal, in that pose, and yes, with that same title, pointing at the same artistic tradition? Mueck certainly doesn't do this. From what I've seen, his males are most-assuredly NOT layed out on erotic display, the way nearly all the Odalisques in Art History ever have been, including 3D Soup's.

If you don't think people--particularly people on the anonymous internet-- would have a significantly-more-negative reaction to a piece with a gender-switch like I've described, then I contend that you're underestimating the degree to which "women are to be gazed at, men do the gazing" is still a dearly-held assumption in our culture.

A bit big for nibbling.

For nibbling, yes. this is clearly a job for the OMNOMNOM

Of course I have no idea what the artist intended or was trying to convey, but the impression I get is as follows...

The original Grande Odalisque painting was of a woman that was unrealistically tall and slender, exaggerated and idealized... almost like most SL avatars are today. The painting was controversial, and offended critics because of this lack of realism.

The original painting was saying : "Art doesn't have to be about making something entirely realistic, it can be about going beyond that and making something that is more idealized and beautiful."

And now, in SL where so many people want their avatar to be this supposedly "perfect" 10 foot tall airbrushed Ken or Barbie doll... This sculpture with the same name is almost the opposite approach, it says : "Art doesn't have to be just about making this idealized, airbrushed, imaginary construct - it can be about going back to reality - because her size, skin blemishes, and all the things that so many people would airbrush out of her and call "flaws" are precisely what makes her beautiful."

It is indeed a beautiful piece, I have inspected it very closely for quite a while. Techincally though, it's no mystery how it was done. it is a series of carefully modelled and textured sculpts pieced together with fullbright turned on so as to not show the seams between the sculpts and destroy the seamless texture. Seamless texturing like that can be done in any 3d application (such as Zbrush) with a texture projection tool or plugin and some work in photoshop

however, knowing how it was made doesn't diminish it's impressiveness, or take anything from the talent of the artist who created it! It's quite breathtaking.