Sim Deathwatch: Island for Second Life Artist AM Radio Gone in 6 Months (But His Work May Be Moved Elsewhere)

AM Radio's Superdyne -- for the next 6 months. [Click here to teleport to location in IDIA Laboratories]

The acclaimed Second Life-based artist known only by his avatar name, AM Radio, who was featured in a 2009 New York Times Magazine profile of Second Life artists, just announced that his profoundly beautiful metaverse installations will be leaving Second Life in six months -- at least from the sim where they're currently hosted, IDIA Laboratories, owned by Ball State's Institute for Digital Intermedia Arts. That sim is leaving Second Life, IDIA's John Fillwalk just confirmed to me, another victim of Linden Lab's pricing changes announced last year, which removed a sim discount for educational and non-profit organizations:

"[W]e have been hosting artist AM Radio on a solo island where he has installed his sim-wide landscape-based work," John told me in an email. "Late last year, after the announcement by Linden Lab to restructure the rates for non-profit and education islands has caused us -- alongside the SL arts, academic and non-profit communities -- to re-evaluate our overall resources committed across several virtual environments."

For AM Radio's many fans, however, there is a ray of good news:

 

While the sim where AM's work is now hosted will be taken down in 6 months, some of it will live on in the other IDIA sims in Second Life and/or OpenSim:

"IDIA Lab is committed to the ongoing and continued hosting of virtual world artists in Second Life -- including the works of AM Radio," Fillwalk told me. "[We] will maintain our campus, prototyping, instruction and IDIA Lab spaces and will continue to host artworks by our own lab as well as SL artists." So some of AM's works may migrate to the IDIA sims that still exist in Second Life, or may move to IDIA's OpenSimulator-based exhibition sims.

Related to that, John Fillwalk called for broader collaboration, to preserve and foster works of art in Second Life and beyond, to OpenSim, Unity3D, and Blue Mars:

"As the virtual worlds communities, designers and organizations look for footholds in a rapidly shifting landscape," as he put it, "the need for partnerships, exchanges and collaboratives are increasingly important as a strategy. We would welcome being part of process in finding viable solutions and support structures in sponsoring the independent creation of art and discovery in virtual worlds."

I'd welcome that too. For now and the next six months, in any case, be sure to experience AM Radio's works in their original habitat -- they're starkly powerful, evoking bygone ages and dreamscapes, and represent some of the best Second Life has to offer. At least, that is, for now.

[Click here to teleport to AM Radio's work in IDIA Laboratories]

The PrimPerfect blog, by the way, has a full list of AM Radio sites on IDIA Laboratories (bottom of the post.)

Comments

[Bettina Tizzy]

The real news for me is that AM Radio is leaving ALL virtual worlds in 6 months. That means no new work. The end.

[Arcadia Codesmith]

Who would be an artist if you had to pay a monthly rental for each canvas?

[Ann Otoole InSL]

How many "sims on a stick" can run on a $300 dedicated host?

[Ann Otoole InSL]

The reason I ask is because art installations don't need that much processing power.

[John Lopez]

"Who would be an artist if you had to pay a monthly rental for each canvas?"

Quoted for truth. There are plenty of havens for other types of independent art on the Internet (images, music, video, animation and games) where you can host your work for free or even make a bit of money off of them by advertising or prints or micro-transactions.

3D immersive art has Open Sim grids as options now at $10-$60 a month, but that still is upside down from all the other mediums.

[Nyoko Salome]

:\ it sucks to see more people downsizing/leaving the main grid. the recession keeps tramping downward upon the poor. :\

[Pathfinder]

The entire region of AM Radio's "The Far Away" is available as a downloadable OAR file here: http://bit.ly/hzujSB

[Ignatius Onomatopoeia]

While I was not paying attention, "Sim Deathwatch" has become a regular feature here at NWN.

April is the cruelest month.

[Metacam Oh]

This 295 a month for 1/8 of a server at the Lab price structure needs to change. I can lease a brand new car for that much.

[Stef Lohnna]

"known only by his avatar name" ... 80% of all RL actors, artists, musicians are "only" known by their "avatar name" ... it's called stage-name or pseudonym ...
i guess AM Radio is one of these guys responsible for SL becoming a niche ...

[Jo yardley]

That is shocking.
His sim is one of the most amazing sims I've seen in 2 years of SL.
I've always felt LL should support those few sims that are so unique and well made that they improve SL in some way and even try to rescue amazing sims to keep them from disappearing.
Especially the AM Radio sims are so lovely they should not be lost.
Aren't they perfect sims that show the world the possibilities of SL, that it is not all just Sex malls, dance clubs and perverts running around?
Isn't the AM sim not a marvelous sim to bring people to who are totally new to SL?

LL should make sure this sim won't dissapear.
There are not many sims in SL that should get the status of a monument, but I think this one should.

[Robustus Hax]

I don't think SL should support any sims in that manner, because it will always be seen as favoritism, for those who are not the chosen ones of the Lab. (Although I am in favor of tier reduction as a method of reviving SL) I think the SL community needs to figure out how to support the arts, musicians, media, public servants etc. They seem to get the raw end of the deal because they are not a tangible "Virtual Good" that you can buy on the marketplace. I am guilty of this as well, exploring SL it is not always on the top of my mind that maybe the sim owner could use a donation (without stumbling across some sort of tip jar) Maybe something actually built into the SL viewer that can be activated by estate owners, perhaps a status bar "Donations until tier is met" that could be turned on as a preference to remind visitors that someone needs to pay the bill for this gorgeous hang out location. Either way, we need to figure out how to support the arts now, and not wait until we are all complaining that they have disappeared.

[Emperor Norton]

Robustus Hax @"I think the SL community needs to figure out how to support the arts, musicians, media, public servants etc."

Why? Linden Lab AKA The pancake breakfast paradise South of Market, is a for profit company. They can eat the cost of something that enhances their product like any other company.

[Robustus Hax]

@Emperor Yes they can do whatever they want, but where do you draw the line? If they pick and choose which sims to save, you will be opening up a whole issue of more select favoritism by the Lab. It's just my opinion, but as operators of the platform "Second Life" they should stay neutral. If sims are disappearing because of the costs, which they are, no doubt, then Linden needs to rethink their prices, not come in and save random sims, choosen by who, and what are the qualifications?

[Emperor Norton]

Robustus Hax @ "If sims are disappearing because of the costs, which they are, no doubt, then Linden needs to rethink their prices, not come in and save random sims, choosen by who, and what are the qualifications?"

Yes, I agree, at 295 a month still LL believes their own hype.

[Pixels Sideways]

RL Museums and galleries pick and choose which artists/works they choose to invest in , collect, promote and exhibit so why not Linden Lab?

[Wordfromthe Wise]

i would glady host (for free) dying art from SL on one of my osgrid islands. i hate to see such amazing Art dying .. just yesterday i loaded the Further Away .oar file so people can enjoy it outside SL.

best regrads
Wordfromthe Wise

[AM Radio]

"If I had a world of my own, everything would be nonsense. Nothing would be what it is, because everything would be what it isn't. And contrary wise, what is, it wouldn't be. And what it wouldn't be, it would. You see?
— The Mad Hatter"

[swannjie]

It takes a lot of time and energy to set up a high quality art piece in sl. Linden Lab could afford to keep these or not as a LL Museum Collection? Would it cost LL a lot of ressources why doesnt LL do it? To support art and creativity? Virtual World art is unique in that we could actually visit it, and not just see some static pictures. AM Radio's sim, Greenies, and Clock Island are amongst the ones I think worth keeping. I heard of Black Swan but never visited. Without high quality sims, SL will become more and more "function" oriented. Boring to visit.