Becoming Gertrude Stein: Producing the Homeling Art Shows
by SealWyf, HSM team writer
It was the night after the Gathering of Glory, and I was furious.
I stood in my Harbour Studio, waving white plastic arms at my Commander. “They’re little boys playing solider!” I shouted. “No creativity! No imagination! When there’s so much else they COULD be doing!” In the dimly-lit room on the other side of the screen, my real-life self was weeping.
So what was an aging ‘sixties radical doing in the Homeling Collective, a group whose highest dream of Glory seemed to be standing at Echochromed attention while Generals in black muscle-armor gave speeches? And why was my human self devastated that I was probably about to be kicked out?
“So what should we be doing?” my Commander asked. This set me back. I knew what I wanted from the Homelings. But I had never, quite, put it into words.
Let me make this clear: I love the Collective. I’ve hung out in virtual communities since before there was an Internet. I know glory when I see it. And this group radiates a glory so intense it sparkles like a “Twilight” glitter-vampire in a cloudless equatorial sunrise. Since the day I was Assimilated, the Collective has eaten up my evenings and given me a whole new set of obsessions, as well as some of the best friends I’ve ever had, in any level of reality.
But there were elements in Homeling culture that rubbed me the wrong way. The military ranks. The scary officers. The rules, the paranoia. The intimidation. I had managed to ignore them for the month since my Assimilation. I had enjoyed the gatherings, the humor, the bubble machines, the endless dancing and my widening circle of Homeling friends.
Then came the Gathering of Glory, an event which, even at this remove, reminds me inescapably of “Triumph of the Will”. As I stood at attention, I muttered darkly that we needed Leni Riefenstahl as our videographer. And I felt my inner radical breaking free.
Later, my friend Labrodent and I ended up in the Mall, where we met a group of beings from Hamsters Freedom. Charmed by their role-play, we started fooling around with hamster heads. And, being in a pissy mood, I combined the Hamster Head with Echochrome, creating a hybrid “Hamling”.
Anyone who knows the Homelings and their obsession with removing fur will realize I was inviting an explosion. Combine this with the newly-created rank of Sentinels, who felt themselves to be charged with Homeling law enforcement, and the blowup was inevitable. Within minutes, Lab and I found ourselves in something very like a trial, in the Anime Style apartment of one of the officers, surrounded by high-ranked Homelings in scary armor.
Now, an hour later, I stood in my Harbour Studio and groped for words.
Lots of things, I said. Poetry and storytelling. What about a Poetry Slam in Central Plaza? Drama, scripted and improv. Interpretive dance, even–hey, if we can do formations, we can dance! And Homeling literature. Fashion shows and book clubs. So many things we could be doing.
Then I mentioned an idea I had been thinking about for some time. “And art. We should have an art show!”
“So organize one,” he said. “You have my full support.”
“But, I’m still a Newling. Well, a Representative since tonight, but…”
“Do it!”
My human self sat up in the dark and gripped the controller. It was a full-blown epiphany: let the little boys play soldier. Rank didn’t matter. Only imagination mattered. In Home, and in the Homelings, I could do whatever I could dream, if the tools were there.
And I knew the tools were there. I had already been thinking about it.
A year before, in June, 2009, Sony had given us picture frames. I turned my Chamber Apartment into a gallery for my own work. I loved pretending it was my personal salon, and that I was Gertrude Stein, holding cultural soireés for the intellectuals of Paris.
Trouble is, I hadn’t actually invited anyone over, except for a few lone friends. I’m not much good at throwing parties–not much of a Gertrude Stein after all. But being in the Homeling Collective gave me a ready-made audience. Some were already on my Friend List. Others could be added. All I needed was a program.
I posted the event on the Fluidic Space website: “The First Homeling Art Show.” On impulse, I added, “and Poetry Reading.” Might as well cover all bases. The date was set; I was committed. Now I needed some artists.
I had already decided that I would not exhibit my own work, at least not in the first show. I wanted to make it clear that this was not about me. It was about possibilities and community. It was about dragging the Collective (possibly kicking and screaming) toward a more balanced roleplay. And it was about pushing the envelope of Home, using the tools they had given us to do something new and amazing.
Actually, there was very little kicking and screaming. None, in fact. Everyone thought it was a terrific idea. I quickly found four artists, with talents ranging from “promising amateur” to “scarily professional”. They sent me image files attached to PSN notes. I tried them out in picture frames and selected the ones that worked best in the dim lighting of the Chamber.
I redecorated my Chamber Apartment as a gallery, with seating and candles and lots of potted plants, while Labrodent bossed the job. (The man has an uncanny talent for Home interior decoration.) I set up a Poetry area between the two Gallery areas, with carpets for the audience.
Then came the show, and the nightmare of logistics. A private space can only hold twelve people. With me and Labrodent and the four artists, that meant we could only have six guests at a time.
I had imagined being Gertrude Stein–a gracious hostess making clever conversation. Instead, I became a combination doorman and bouncer, constantly checking the room capacity, prioritizing friend and invite requests, and encouraging those who seemed to be loitering to make way for someone else. In the middle of the Poetry Reading, I tried to take a picture and crashed the apartment, ejecting the entire population of the gallery. I cursed, restarted Home, returned to the Chamber, and readmitted the guests.
Labrodent filmed the event, and made a glorious video. It was posted on YouTube, and got some nice publicity for the Collective.
The Homeling leadership loved it. They loved it so much, they wanted to do another one.
Looking back on it, it’s hard to realize it’s only been six months since the First Art Show. In that time, Lab and I have produced three other Art Shows of varying complexity, and created the Homeling Arts Commitee, a group that brainstorms and plans cultural activities as diverse as fashion shows, apartment tours, Homeling radio, and our own Homeling-style horoscopes and tarot deck.
Meanwhile, I have climbed through the Homeling ranks, from Representative to Subcommander, to Commander of my own MotherShip. That’s rapid advancement, and I’m convinced the Art Shows were at least partly responsible.
Along the way, I’ve learned some things about organzing events in Home:
- Plans are your friends. Make detailed schedules and to-do lists. Just don’t expect reality to be bound by them. Flexibility is also your friend, and can help you cope when plans take a hike.
- Events can be coordinated across multiple rooms, using “phone a friend”, XMB chat, Group chat channels or Skype. But it’s never easy.
- Delegation of work–to other people, and to other groups in Home–is desirable and even necessary. But be prepared to pick up the slack if they don’t come through. It’s not their project, and they don’t necessarily share your enthusiasm for it.
- The twelve-person maximum for personal spaces is a miserable limitation. Use clubhouses and public spaces whenever possible, and set up a waiting room for the overflow.
- Sometimes you just have to leap off the cliff, and trust that a parachute will miraculously appear. But, when it doesn’t, and you fall flat on your face, it’s rarely fatal. It’s a learning experience. Dust yourself off, take notes, and don’t do it that way again. (Note to self: under-planned improv comedy in a public space is a seriously bad idea.)
I’ve also learned some things about the Homeling Collective. I’ve come to understand that the group is larger and more complex than the aspects that my Newling self could see. It is a deeply human enterprise, a mirror of society, distilled and transmuted by our shared vision. The dystopic element, the “little boys playing soldier”, is one facet of a roleplay so intense it borders on spirit possession. But it’s just one facet, and it’s not the dominant one. I was never in any danger of being ejected for a dress-code violation.
There was a deep tradition of Homeling art and videography, music and literature and drama, long before I had my epiphany. The Art Shows simply brought these elements back to the front of the group consciousness. That’s why there was no kicking and screaming. I didn’t have to drag the Collective–they were already there.
And I’ve learned that it’s okay to enjoy the dystopic elements of the Homelings, in the same way that it’s fun to pick up a virtual gun and blast the hell out of bunch of virtual soldiers in Central Plaza.
It’s called “gaming”; it’s what we gamers do, and roleplay is part of it. I can channel my inner Leni Riefenstahl, as well as my inner Sixties radical. As one of my colleagues once remarked, “Sometimes it’s fun to creep out the hooms.” And it’s okay, as long as it’s bounded by the Second Homeling Rule: respect for others.
It’s been a heck of a ride, and a detailed description of the four Homeling Art Shows (with the Fifth in planning) would take a whole series of articles, or perhaps a serialized soap opera. But, for me, it all boils down to a comment made by one of the visitors at the Third Art Show, our most heroic effort to date, which included 24 images from three Home groups, as well as the associated Poetry Reading.
I had just come up for air from the PDA, taking a few moments’ rest in the storm of invites, friend list and club membership management, and frantic messages from my colleagues in the other rooms. A group of visitors from Hamsters Freedom was standing in front of one of the paintings. And one of them typed, “This makes me want to visit a real gallery.”
On the other side of the screen, in a darkened room, my real-life self said “Yes!” and punched the air.
And Commander SealWyf high-fived Gertrude Stein.
February 9th, 2011 by SealWyf | 22 comments
SealWyf is a museum database programmer by day, and an officer in the Homeling Collective by night. She has been active in online communities since before the Internet, and in console gaming since the PS1. In games, she prefers the beautiful and quirky, and anything with a strong storyline. She is utterly addicted to PlayStation Home.
I loved reading your article, it makes me want to understand the collective more, it reminds me so much of a ‘family’ rather than a group.
And I would love to be at your fifth ‘Homeling’ Art exhibition
Fifth Art Show is this Saturday, Cheeky, at 10 PM EST. Send me a friend request and I’ll make sure you’re invited. (And, if you wish to join us, I still have some room in MotherShip 16. Just saying…)
Glorious read, Seal!
Even though bias may come into play somewhat, and even though your article sometimes borders on suggestion of certain stuffs which personally am not keen to (real life? Gah. Role play? More gah!), reading your writings of Homeling happenings and your personal interactions and thoughts, offers a view into the Collective rarely glimpsed by others, or pondered by yours truly. Run on sentence much?
Am proud to share with you in the Homeling Collective, and am humbled to be your friend.
bows
And I am honored to be allowed to participate. I do apologize for the “Triumph of the Will” reference. It is NOT an implication of the nature and character of our glorious non-Leader. All patriotic-type spectacle affects me like that. That’s just me, and my generation.
(Stands on barricade waving red flag and singing chorus from “Les Miz”.)
Just to clarify (some already know this) -- am personally VERY against anything military in the stoopid real world. In fact, am against all current forms of practicing governments, economics, and “world leaderships” of that particular realm.
Venus Project.
Wonderful article Seal. We have definitely come along way since that day we met the Hamsters in the mall. They are a glorious group as well, wish I had more time so I could spend some with them. But the Collective keeps us very busy. Not that I’m complaining. Been alot of fun. Am anxious for this weekends Poetry Reading and Art Show.
Great article Seal. I am looking forward to this weekends art show as well. I will come a bit later to allow others in first, as I have a big thing going on with the B&W ball at 8pm which you already know about. I want the Grey Gamers to do a talent show as well so this will give me some ideas about how to organize such things. Thanks for the insight.
As a hippie-holdover (who was also a ’60’s radical), I was ecstatic to find this article in the magazine this morning! I was awed by the last Art Show and can hardly wait to see the next one.
If u want 2 creep ppl out channeling your inner fanatical nazi,as Leni Riefenstahl was,and your inner 60s radical,im assuming left-wing,is 1 sure way 2 do it.Having these 2 far differing viewpoints is sure 2 make a few eyebrows rise but is a good example of the complexity of the human mind.
This article left tears in my eyes Seal. Such a personal view of such a public event and well known Collective, but you dig deep and find the complexities of each. I am truly humbled and honored beyond words to be a part of the Homelings as well as the Homeling Arts Committee. I only wish I had a thumbnail of the talent I’ve seen displayed over the past few Art Shows and Poetry Readings.
Thank you for writing this.
.
bows
You are most welcome, Eli.
I am amazed and humbled at the depth of talent embodied in the Collective. To date, I have never had to include my Dread Provence Watercolors in any Homeling Art Show — the Collective always comes up with more than enough material to fill every frame with glory. And Saturday’s show looks no different. We are likely to have enough overflow material to get a good start on the Sixth Homeling Art Show.
What I enjoy about this article is threefold:
1. It can be held up to hoomans as an example of the level of culture the Homelings enjoy;
2. If you don’t know who Leni Riefenstahl, Getrude Stein, Jean Valjean or Mario Savio are, you might want to expand your brain by joining the Homelings and finding out;
3. If you’re still so young that you take Riefenstahl’s message seriously, go back to watching Star Wars instead. Oh, wait…
I imagine the death camp inmates she used in her last film 4 the 3rd reich as extras found her message quite serious.Its kinda hard 2 know 4 sure how serious a nazi she was,she denied making that film til a copy turned up in 1972 and changed her story about what she thought a couple times.However being a close personal friend of hitlers and not repudiating him til waaaay after his death is tellingclaiming she had no idea what was going on in these places then saying she was afraid of being sent there if she didn’t comply begs the question”y b afraid of being sent there if u had no idea”.Im not disputing her talent,many think shes the greatest women filmaker of the 20 cen. and i wouldn’t disagree.Instead of whitewashing and downplaying these things i think it would b better 2 discuss how there r some good things in things termed evil and some evil in things termed good,in relation 2 the deeds of humans.Are we seriously disputing Lenis participation in war crimes?just wikipedia her name if u have any doubts about how serious these things were,and btw im probably older than u think not every1 that has a year in there name was born in it,although that is the most common reason.
The “Triumph of the Will” reference was the one thing I seriously debated while I was writing this piece. In the end, I left it in. It’s the association I was making at the time, and Riefenstahl’s work is the best shorthand we have for what I would term “the pornography of patriotism” — a representation not of actual love of country, but a glorification of power that plays to all the cheap emotions.
I get the same inner cringing when the Blue Angels fly in formation over the National Mall. You do NOT turn war, and its instruments, into a thing of beauty.
In all fairness,Leni is far from the only person 2 have been seduced by the”beauty”of national socialism.No 1 knew in the beginning that hitler meant every word he said,who really expects the truth from politicians?And i was being serious in my 1st statement about how complex the human mind is in that it is able 2 take elements of such far differing philosophies and blend them into something far,far different than either 1.It was a compliment to your imaginative use and description of these elements and not meant 2 imply that u agreed 100% with either 1.As horrible as the nazis were they accomplished some good,ending the great depression in germany,the autobahn,ending the more draconian clauses of the treaty that ended ww1,2 name a few.So believe me when i say that by writing”channeling your inner fanatical nazi”i wasn’t implying u were using the more horrific aspects of nazi policy,but the nazi were an extremely right-wing philosophy and most 60s radicals were left-wing so i was merely saying the combo was unusual.Its combos like this that i find the most fascinating,blending of opposites 2 get something totally different from either original.
I’ll bring the brownies,
Love to all,
Alice B.
It’s beautiful Seal; pure glory!
.
bows
Thank you, sir. And thank you for not giving up on a troublesome Newling that night, and encouraging me to chase my dreams. What makes Homelings great is the people in it.
Very nice seal
The Fifth Homeling Art Show was held last night. It was utter glory, except for the part where I tried to take a picture and crashed the apartment. No more in-show documentation from the apartment owner! I have learned my lesson.
Many thanks to our four artists (kozfear, PoisonPreed, IceandSpice and Nosdrugis) and to our attendees for making this a glorious Homeling evening.
If you missed this show, you missed some outstanding pieces of art! Several were definitely museum quality. I did not know those four were the artists. Congratulations on some awesome talent, Kozfear, Preed, Nos, and IceandSpice.