For BoobieThon, Artists Lay It Bare

I have been privileged to organise and host this year’s SL BoobieThon Art Auction alongside PJ Trenton (always a joy!), and if I may be so bold, we have done a stellar job in getting work donated from 37 of the finest virtual artists on the grid! The auction, opening tonight at RoHaus, is comprised of 40 works; half of which are one-of-a-kind. Most of the remaining selection are limited edition, and we’ve set a very low reserve of $1000L for the unique works, $500L for the limited edition, and $100L for the rest!

The 4th Annual BoobieThon in Second Life started yesterday, October 1st (and in real life, so does the 10th Annual Blogger BoobieThon), both aimed at raising funds for the Susan G. Komen Foundation. Over the years thousands of dollars have been raised in both worlds. In Second Life, the event is spearheaded by Eva Bellambi, who works closely with Winterfell owner Serra Anansi to run a week of educational and charity events. The complete list can be found at Eva’s blogl.

While raising awareness about a serious subject, the Boobiethon itself strives to celebrate life through events which are fun, joyous, and even a little bit saucy! As such, some events are for mature audiences. Luckily, we in the artworld are used to nudity, and many of the artists have embraced the theme to create works that range from whimsical to beautiful. I can’t possibly discuss them all, but I’d like to highlight a few so you can see the range.

First, I must share how generous these artists are – every single one expressed how much they wanted to be part of this. Callipygian Christensen, last year’s highest hammer price, had her work waiting for us when we ask – she’d made it months ago for the purpose. Many went out of their way to make bespoke work – even while some were getting ready for Burn2! Such was the case with Claudia222 Jewell, whose ‘Beegoddess’ (seen above) is a stunning, glowing work of virtual sculpture for your artful garden. Likewise, Maya Paris’ ‘Nipple Trees’ evoke the serenity of Cherry Blossoms, with a surprise touch of whimsy to be found when you lie beneath them.

Speaking of whimsical, it might be unsurprising to know that both Misprint Thursday and Miso Susinowa have made their boobie-inspired work with more than a touch of fun. Miso’s perhaps needs a bit of explanation here – she made her Boobie Chair as a nod to Jeff Koons, an artist we both love to loathe! Hers is not the only art history inspired work though. Trill Zapatero’s ‘venus Bodhisattva’ combines the famous Venus of Willendorf (often the first sculpture found in a classic art history text) with swirling colourful patterns similar to those found on Hindu icons.

Another Venus sits serenely across the way, and it is one of the works I am incredibly excited about for it is a special commission by the talented Pumpkin Tripsa. I’m a huge fan of Pumpkin as, in my snotty opinion, he is one of the only people I’ve seen truly master making a ‘realistic’ prim figure. Now, regular readers know I don’t usually get excited about virtual art that is based heavily on RL work (especially famous ones), but Pumpkin is an exception for me because virtually reproducing a sculpture is a whole other ball of wax, forgive the pun. It takes incredible skill, and is certainly worked and made manifest in the virtual, vs. simply being uploaded as a texture. And he does this with mastery.

He’s now gone to the next level, in my opinion, with his work at the September UWA, a stunningly beautiful sculpture made with mesh! After seeing this, I sent him an IM asking if he would contribute, and I mentioned that I had visions of something like the Medici Venus. Just as a suggestion. He eagerly agreed, and I was delighted when, last night, he dropped just that on me – a mesh Medici Venus!

The original (properly called a Venus Pudica, or a Venus concealing herself, ‘prude’) is a famous and important work from antiquity, once owned by the powerful Medici family and now in the collection of the Uffizi Gallery, Florence. It was particularly celebrated in the 19th century as the ideal of feminine beauty – and interestingly was often cited as a positive example of this in the debate against tight-lacing corsets!

Pumpkin’s is a lovely virtual reproduction of a darker cast marble… but remember, you’ll need a mesh enabled viewer to see it! If you are the lucky winner, you’ll not only have a beautiful artwork (the ONLY one rezzed on the grid, by the way), but you will also have one of the first great works of mesh art as well! Good luck outbidding me on this one!

Again, these are just a few of the incredible works on display, and I do hope you’ll join us tonight. The bidding will be on all week, with a closing event on Thursday the 6th from 6-8pm SLT. Last bid at 8! Will you be a winner?

Thanks to PJ Trenton for the photos, as always!

Complete list of artists:

Alexx Fenstalker • AutopilotPatty Poppy • Bobbi Laval • Callipygian Christensen
Cat Boccaccio • Cee Edman • Chrome Underwood • Claudia222 Jewel
Douglas Story • Elin Egoyan • Eliza Wierwight
Fantasia Habilis * Floraclayflower Beeswing
Fuschia Nightfire • Glyph Graves • GM Nikolaidis • Gracie Kendal
LadyDawn Starbrook • Maya Paris • Miso Susanowa • Misprint Thursday
Monty Streusel • Nino Vichan • PJ Trenton • Pumpkin Tripsa • Ragamuffin Kips
Rowan Derryth • Scottius Polke • Sledge Roffo
soror Nishi • Starlash Sweetwater • Stephen Venkman
T.S. Carson (RL) • Texanna Schumann • Tricia Aferdita
Trill Zapatero • Wildstar Beaumont • Winter Nightfire • Ziki Questi