Meet Ding!

When I arrived at the Ding! Designs shop, I didn't really know what to expect and may I say what a pleasant surprise it turned out to be. I was greeted by Zen Paine the CEO of Ding! Designs. Zen also handles all of the marketing effort for this innovative enterprise. Within minutes, I was comfortably seated with Zen and introduced to the creative genius Rue Oh. Together Zen and Rue are a force to be reckoned with.

I was amazed by the versatility of their product line. From lovely hats, to incredible pieces of jewelry to scripted medieval staffs and one-of-a-kind custom statues and sculptures. The MODA Fashion Showcase featured Ding!'s jewelry and hats.

Zen and Rue started their business bases on the premise that so many ugly products existed in SL and they would create high quality items that actually would be appealing to certain market segments of SL. Their first product was a scripted medieval staff which was received with acclaim by the medieval villagers. Over 24 color combinations are now available. There was no stopping the Ding! Designs business.

Rue decided to dabble in jewelry creations and has achieved pieces quite unique in this business segment. She has designed some all sculptie prim necklaces using micro-prims. Every single link of the chains was hand-placed. Some of the most popular designs are the rose (as shown in the picture), the bird pendant, the dragon pendant and the chained heart pendant. During my visit, I was given a tour of their second floor working area where Rue showed me her most prized creation, not yet unveiled to the general public. I don't think that I can do justice to this work-in-progress. It is referred to as an earth model for now with different layers (some rotating) for the cloud map, land and water masses.

Some of Rue's artwork will never even make it to the display shelves of Ding! as unique creations are commissioned by private buyers for their estates or groups. Should you have a very special idea that you would like to see created to give to that special someone, please visit Ding! Designs and they will turn your dream into reality.

Hat As Sculpture

Cyanide Seelowe has a little more than her fair share of creativity. Her whole idea of going wild with hats was such fun and uniquely SL. Wear one of these babies and I guarantee you'll turn virtual heads!

When I go about brainstorming what to exhibit at the Virtual Artist Alliance Gallery (http://slurl.com/secondlife/Chiaksan/23/151/86/), it's usually a quick, dirty, and extremely accidental process. It's a dusty light bulb that turns on in my head with much the same impact that an atomic bomb would have, and the process that goes into gathering works for the shows is often last-minute and chaotic. In fact, the Awesome Hat Show started a few months back when I was constructing a freebie box with some of my members, and it ended up being nothing but silly and creative hats.

This got me to thinking about the Hat's role in society as a garment, as a status symbol and as a practical item to use in everyday tasks. It is often an extremely overlooked garment in Second Life because hats are no more useful than chairs or beds. This is a striking fact to me because fashion is a necessity in Second Life- the uses of chairs and beds do not translate to the virtual world because no one needs to sit or sleep, but nakedness does need to be covered because it is still considered taboo in public. Because of this, I decided to introduce the hat to Second Life not as a garment to proclaim status or to protect our eyes from the virtual sun, but as a piece of sculpture that uses the avatar as a vehicle for exposure- in other words, the hats in this exhibit wear the avatars, not the other way around.

I gave the artists one month to do their research and build their hats, and the results were phenomenal! I was pleased to find out that most of the hats could only be created and worn in Second Life, and others bent the rules on what the definition of what the “hat” was- in real life, it's a garment for the head that includes a brim, but in Second Life, it seems to be simply something that is worn on or floats above the head. Other artists stuck with the conventional definition of “hat” while stretching their imaginations as far out as they could, reaching for the strangest, most fantastic aesthetics that would make anyone the center of attention if they wore them in public.

Not all of the hats have been set for sale for the exhibit, but I would recommend contacting the artists to see if they'll sell their pieces to you or make you a custom piece- many of them would be more than pleased to accept commissions.

For more info about what's going on at the Virtual Artist Alliance Gallery, please join our group in-world and keep an eye on our newsblog at virtualartistsalliance.blogspot.com. We always welcome new members with new ideas, so don't hesitate to join us!