Sim Deathwatch: Without Funding, Bryn Oh's Landmark Immersiva Art Space to Close Soon

Immersiva, the landmark art space created by a Toronto artist known in SL as Bryn Oh, has lost its former patron, and may be close to leaving Second Life entirely. A last-minute bid to win patronage from Linden Lab has been declined. You can read about it here. I just got word from Bryn, and there may be a patron who can help for six months. Beyond that period, my recommendation to her is to launch a crowdfunder to cover her tier. It would probably cost under $4000 to keep Immersiva open for a year, a quite manageable fee for all its many fans. Will hopefully know more soon.

In her final note, Bryn says something about Linden Lab that needs emphasizing:

I think somewhere inside I had hoped they were aware of what the residents did, but watched from afar. I am a bit naive. There actually were Lindens who did know the community at one time like Pathfinder Linden, Blue Linden, Teagan Linden and so on but they are now long gone.

This is very true, but it was even largely true back in 2006, when SL's userbase became far too large for the staff to maintain as close a contact as they did in the startup days. Now, as Bryn suggests, rounds of layoffs and voluntary departures have almost entirely removed even the few Lindens who tried to keep abreast of SL culture. And while this may seem harsh to say, it's just a bureaucratic and business reality that's important to keep in mind: Do not assume anyone at Linden Lab knows or cares about your SL project, no matter how grand and important it is. For many reasons, some sad, some just part of the natural evolution of things, they probably don't. Best not to hope too much for their patronage; instead, turn to those SLers who do know and support you already.

Hat tip: Bettina Tizzy, Gianna Borgnine.

Comments

[Ann Otoole InSL]

This would be a crowdfunder I could get behind.

However, Sim-on-a-stick is free. The number of art fans is few so would not need a big host server/data pipe. And Byrn could export every build to OAR files for posterity and future mass shows.

Hate to see the arts leave Secondlife but the LL tier model is no longer realistic in the era of open sim and grids like Inworldz.

[Ezra]

Your World, Your Imagination. For $295 a month.

[Ezra]

And wait...did I read that link right? Is MadPea in jeopardy too? Whoa.

A SLURL to Linden Realms with a free vampire get-up is on the frontpage of secondlife.com, but MadPea is in jeopardy?

If this wasn't so sad it'd be funny.

[Ignatius Onomatopoeia]

Cheap at 1/4 the price, Ezra.

As for Immersiva, more beauty goes away from SL...as it always seems to do. But the Lindens cannot carry us, even though they made Svarga into a heritage park (and I'm pleased they did).

As much as I raged about the tier discounts ending, they cannot carry us and stay open. My choice was to move to OpenSim and pay out of pocket, where I can afford to do so.

I don't know if Bryn's artwork would work over there, or whether she trusts a grid-host with her IP, beyond SL. But that's an option. With the hypergrid, we could go see her work again.

[Rowan Derryth]

You need another headline correction: it already closed. Bryn announced this a while ago and has been posting about it on her blog.

I'm glad to hear she may have a patron - THIS is what SL art needs. As much as I love Bryn's work AND Immersiva, under the current circumstances, Linden Labs made the right decision. As Bryn said herself, funding Immersiva would have set a precedent, and it isn't exactly fair to all the other amazing artists out there who have faced similar circumstances.

However, lest people think I am pleased with this, I have been mouthing off in various places about how I REALLY think Linden Labs needs to look at the way in which they are a creative tool, and how much work is being lost. I think they need to consider an archival programme which artists like Bryn (or AM, or on behalf of Sabrinaa Nightfire, etc.) may apply to have their work added to a 'public collection'. Like the National Gallery of SL. And yes, if they did this correctly, this could in fact lead to a tax break for them.

I've been stewing on this idea for a while, and I'm certain I'm not the first to think this way. I just haven't had time to write anything in depth on it. But Bryn's situation is definitely case-in-point on why I think this is so important... and why if the Lindens won't do something, more and more artists will simply leave for other solutions.

They already are.

[Hamlet Au]

Rowan, since it's very likely to be temporarily extended, I prefer to say "to close soon".

[Pussycat Catnap]

She could open up a mall and sell stalls to... oh wait, direct delivery for MP, end of that line...

She could set up rental homes over in a corner and... oh wait, linden homes...

[Chestnut Rau]

LL has donated 20 sims to the LEA. So, yes, LL is supporting the Arts with free land.

Now, as a person who, contributes to the financial support of an Art sim I have a LOT to say about LL giving away something for free that I pay full tier on, oh yes I do. However, that is a different discussion for a different day.

[Ciaran Laval]

Linden Lab need more income streams, tier does throttle creativity but bills need to be paid and Bryn is right about the precedent if this had been subsidised, although the projects seem ripe for LEA involvement, have they had discussions with the LEA?

[Indigo Mertel]

If we could get together 30 people to form a group, each owning a quote of the sim, it would be less than $10/month to keep Immersiva open. Even less if more people joined. I think this would be the best option for Bryn.

[shockwave yareach]

Ciaran: Yes. LL needs to make money and pay its bills too. Not sure they need 100s of millions of dollars in PROFIT though; not for what they are delivering.

SL was unique and bleeding edge in 2003 and the prices were justified then, especially considering we would OWN the virtual property. Now SL is just bleeding and we don't own diddly, and with the lowered pricetags for hardware and much greater computer performance today relative to 8 years back, the costs for everything but yon ether flow (electricity) is less than halved. And SL is no longer the only (or even the best) 3D experience out there. Soooo, when do those lowered costs trickle down to us, hmmm?

As soon as Inworldz gets a money server, the footrace out of SL will be deafening. Face facts -- nobody is going to spend thousands a year to play "House" anymore. Either the price comes down, or the customers will go elsewhere. And as many exSL folks as they have angrily creating the other grids after being screwed over by LL, it's a dangerous mistake to think that SL will always be superior to them.

[Ann Otoole InSL]

@shockwave General purpose computing is being lowered into the grave. There will be nothing but iphones, androids, ipads, and tablets, all with limited apps available that serve the big SOPA corps. This will be the way it is in 2 years. Betting on what we built is an exercise in failure. It is all ending. Which, of course, is why LL is bailing out too.

[Kiana Writer]

I wanted to personally correct, that MadPea is not closing down or leaving Second Life. We still believe in the possibilities it offers us and to our community. We are extremely lucky to have a sponsor for our peapod and while we have to downsize and rearrange the space for our games and activities, we're remaining strong and hopeful.

[Rowan Derryth]

Hamlet, Immersiva is closed now. If it reopens elsewhere, then that is fab. You can say it is reopened. This isn't semantics, it is accurate reporting. You'll have everyone rushing to see a non-existant sim.

Daniel blogged this very well yesterday, too.

[Ziki Questi]

Hamlet, Immersiva closed more than a month ago -- there is no such sim anymore -- it went off the grid on December 11th. There is no likely "temporary extension."

[Cheap Nike Dunks]

Wow!! I can’t believe it took me so long to find you! THANKYOU!

[Valentina Kendal]

if LL would just make all the art for us, and provide all the clothing and accessories like an reasonable virtual world owner, then we wouldn't have to bother worrying about creative people like Bryn and Kiana, and we could all get back to important things like gold farming

this s**ks, Immersiva was one of the places that made my virtual soul sing

[Ezra]

Thanks for chiming in Kiana. I'm glad to hear MadPea will remain in some form.