Djehan Kidd outside a Hangars Liquides apartment - available for a year with a $112 donation
Click here to consider helping save Hangars Liquides, Second Life's legendary cyberpunk city which is set to disappear at the end of this month. In a last gasp effort to preserve the metropolis, lead creator Djehan Kidd launched this Indiegogo campaign, which would cover the costs of the underlying sims for a year. Fittingly, the perks for donating are parts of Hangars Liquides to call your virtual home -- for a $112 donation (above), you get a Hangars Liquides apartment for a year; for $1,121 USD donation, you get a premium rooftop loft (below) which Ms. Kidd can customize for you by request.
Djehan Kidd is doing this crowdfunder because Linden Lab does not allow non-profit organizations like hers to rent out land -- which is what led to Hangars' imminent demise in the first place -- while donations are permitted. And there's no other way for her to save it in its existing form. As her crowdfunder explains:
Platinum Rooftop Loft in Hangars Liquides, yours for 12 months for an Indiegogo donation of $1121
It is currently impossible for the artists to get a private copy of the entire composition forming Hangars Liquides VR city to preserve it, due to the immense scale of the work and many other factors, the only way to save our artwork from destruction is to pay for the servers to keep running, our next due payment is on August 1st 2019.
"I have to [do] everything I can to save it from destruction," Djehan tells me. "Imagine if the artwork was paintings, and there is a flood in my studio space, I have to go and get the artwork to save it if I can, because otherwise I am losing what my work, and who can lose their work?"
In this case, however, it's as if a private company owns the underlying canvas to the paintings, and can have them removed if rental for the canvas is not paid:
"The fact that I don't own the means of production is also a question," as Ms. Kidd puts. "I am a builder using Linden Lab's means of production to work with. I believe I add value to the virtual world by building; in a very concrete way, this raises the question of the value of human labor too."
Hangars Liquides as featured by the UK Guardian
Linden Lab has discussed preserving Hangars Liquides with her, and if that happens at the very last moment, she would return these Indiegogo donations: "I would give it all back, I am not here to make profit and I have never been."
If I had the means. In a heart beat I’d save it. It’s one of the most breath taking builds in Second Life and truly a testament at what can be created. It’s pure art.
Can Linden Lab not consider this as something of real value they can preserve . Something like this is outstanding and shows that with a vision you can create something extraordinary.
If I can help just shout and I’ll do what I can. Financially I’m not great but happy to film again this weekend and put it out
Posted by: Isabelle Cheren | Wednesday, July 17, 2019 at 02:57 PM
This issue forces a rethink in strategy for how VR funding works. The current capitalist model makes it unstable for artists to get into it in the first place. This is to the detriment of art and VR. Were LL to reduce their sim rates would be a step in the right direction. As Djehan Kidd says: it is the artists who add value to VR. Simply by hosting Hangars Liquides at all SecondLife goes up in value. Many of us are hoping Miss Kidd moves forward from this experience to learn Unity or Unreal game engines for her own private commercial product for cross-platform consoles so her genius and the atmosphere of Hangers can reach a wider audience.
Posted by: snakeappletree | Wednesday, July 17, 2019 at 04:42 PM
Even if she is successful, LL will change their policy to screw her (and other artists and NPs) over once again.
It's their history after all.
Posted by: Namor | Wednesday, July 17, 2019 at 05:19 PM
@Isabelle Cheren spreading the word will make a difference anyway! Thanks
Posted by: Lawrence Celestalis | Thursday, July 18, 2019 at 06:35 AM
I hope they contacted a lawyer before pulling this stunt. It is still a kind of rental and they might get patted hard on their fingers if this is deemed circumventing the "no subletting for non-profits" rules by the Lab.
Posted by: Fionalein | Thursday, July 18, 2019 at 06:43 AM
i like this
Posted by: irihapeti | Thursday, July 18, 2019 at 06:43 AM
Before August 31st I can and will rake up 10% of the cost that is needed to keep the sim up and running this year.
If all fails my Second Life will be permanently over as well.
If all beauty like this just fades into oblivion in SL, there's nothing to look forward to in there for me anymore.
Posted by: TDD123 | Thursday, July 18, 2019 at 07:01 AM
@Fionalein happy to see you contributing here too to the salvation of Hangars Liquides! The Hangars Liquides non profit is accepting donations as the French national law prescribes. Donors will receive a free gift in exchange.
Posted by: Lawrence Celestalis | Thursday, July 18, 2019 at 08:36 AM
TDD123 I have received so many messages of people who had in visiting Hangars Liquides their sole reason to visit Second Life, that's really amazing and honours the builder's efforts!
Posted by: Lawrence Celestalis | Thursday, July 18, 2019 at 08:38 AM
“Sansar is just VRChat for boomers.” - random VRChat Guy.
Oof.
Posted by: Adeon Writer | Thursday, July 18, 2019 at 11:52 AM
Anonymous petty virtual landbarons are actually trying to kill off someone which has been ,repeatedly, called a real life artist and the work she created within.
Ununderdandable.Any real life game company would love to hire an artist like that and in here she it pettied by the game.
How horrendous.
And that's coming from a common plebian.
Posted by: TDD123 | Thursday, July 18, 2019 at 12:55 PM
For anyone interested in seeing another side of the picture - see the behaviour of their "spokesman" on the official LindenLab forums:
https://community.secondlife.com/forums/topic/439936-hangars-liquides-is-closing/
Judge for yourselves.
Posted by: Fionalein | Friday, July 19, 2019 at 03:49 AM
The spokesman seems rather genuine while you on the other hand, is somebody LL would love to keep in their peanut gallery.
Posted by: Gomer | Friday, July 19, 2019 at 04:19 AM
This sim was created in another time, long ago when the west was wild and free. Sometimes you have to just let go and move on to …......
Posted by: JohnC | Saturday, July 20, 2019 at 01:54 PM
@Fionalein thank you for sharing the link, people will see how some forum participants tried to smear Djehan, a honest, true artist who is trying to save her sim. I am sure people will judge for themselves.
Posted by: Lawrence Celestalis | Monday, July 22, 2019 at 07:33 PM
@Lawrence Celestalis you are involved too much into this to see the horrible picture you painted of yourself over there. I hope the Hangars crew will remember you as "the dude who (almost) ruined Djehan's project with his ego trip" and react accordingly...
Posted by: Fionalein | Tuesday, July 23, 2019 at 06:52 AM