Opening to the Light of Art

Sedja stands on the wall at Nautius before another of Alia Baroque's fascinating buildings.

The way is now open to further the light of art at Nautilus, with the purchase of a second building from Fallen Gods, also created by Alia Baroque, to serve as the entrance to an art gallery located in a sky box above.

Art will be displayed at ground, with sculpture in the park beneath the trees.

The gallery building is within sight of the studio, on the high ground, where once a villa may have stood, before the people of Nautilus mysteriously vanished, leaving evidence of their world across the whole island, including some ships on the coast.

The gallery will compliment the studio delightfully in the creation of high quality art to share with all who love the dance of light in the visual element ~ the play of ideas that tumble like clowns through the mind ~ the lightning bolts of inspiration that reveal hidden meanings.

The immediate task is to capture images of interest to an artist's eye and set these out in the studio, as stepping-stones toward the more considered gallery creations.

Why is Nautilus different?

Nautilus is quite unlike much of Second Life, where there may be a main road running across the continent, but blocks are jammed in and may be subdivided down to a couple of square metres and where development can extends across the water where the sea floor has been sold.

Often the result of this ad hoc development is absolute chaos and frequently quite ugly, where out-of-control terraforming can leave landscapes looking like a well-bombed world.

At Nautilus there is a protected coastline and large areas of protected public land and buildings.

All lots are 32 by 32 metres in various configurations ~ sometimes 2, 3, or 4 in a row ~ sometimes 4 in a square ~ with access ways running around the blocks.

Land on Nautilus can be sold and purchased, but never subdivided or the ground terraformed.

This limits the forms of development to a consistent pattern of smaller shops and private projects, like as a house.

It is impossible to have any building project happen on Nautilus larger than 64 by 64 metres, which limits the scale of development, but not too much.

In this way the created classical character of Nautilus is essentially maintained, along with it's interesting environment, as if it is a protected heritage site.

At the western end of Nautilus, by the docks there is a free store, where buildings, objects and even clothing in the style of old Nautilus can be obtained, which some residents make use.

The result of this mix is a swing through time from historic origins, to modern development and then a return to more historic styles, depending entirely on the choice of the landowner, or those who rent.

All in all, Nautilus is a fascinating project in managing the virtual life environment, using controlled development that offers freedom of choice, but limiting excesses.

This is often the way good environments are maintained in the real world.

Another boon for Nautilus, is being entirely surrounded by ocean, including the very expansive Blake Sea, which is used extensively for sailing, has many islands to explore and treasures beneath the waves to explore.

A test of the success of Nautilus is the release of land at auction by Governor Linden (Second Life) ~ which ever results in a frenzy of fierce bidding, especially by real estate agents.

And after the hammer falls, Nautilus returns to its sleepy mist of a place lost in time.