“The Festive Dogwood Dream”

Posted on February 27, 2012 by Karima Hoisan

Sometimes, and it seems more so lately to me, real life and Second Life intersect. The borders of these two worlds are coming down, as people in the ‘physical’ world are starting to see and understand that virtual worlds also have their own valid reality.
This is the second project I collaborate on with DB Bailey that spans these two dimensions. The first was a machinima and poem for his build on Stanford University Campus Second Life, commemorating the opening of a new library in real life. The video was entitled“DB Shoots DB” . This time he asked me to write a poem and some music for his latest project that he was building on Kitely -Virtual Worlds on Demand.
DB, known as David Denton in the outer world, is an architect and a Southerner, living in Tennessee. In The Spring they celebrate a big Art festival called The Dogwood Arts Festival in Knoxville, and they have a section which is known as “Art in Public Places” In a conversation with the organizers, DB pointed out that more people spend time in virtual public places nowadays, than the real ones, and that it would be a good idea to include the virtual this year in their celebrations. They agreed, and gave him the green light for his own Art project, to be built on Kitely, and asked for my help, in writing a poem to be played on the installation.
I am not a Southerner, but I do like the music, and its natural beauty, and I tried to compose a piece for the poem, that had a touch of down south with maybe a little twist of “karima” I only needed to give him the poem and the music, but after that was done, it seemed a machinima to show what the poem was describing, would be a good idea..and here it is. I present the short (a little over 2 minutes) poem video to be included on DB’s build on Kitely, “The Dogwood Arts Festival”. I once again enjoyed working with DB, always a pleasure, sometimes a challenge, but I find myself doing things I would have never guessed I could. By the way, I changed my pitch 1 notch up on the recording to sound more…southern? well, just to sound fresher maybe. The Dogwood blooms and The Art is in the air….Enjoy!

This entry was posted in Machinima, Poems and tagged David Denton, DB Bailey, Karima Hoisan, The Dogwood Arts Festival. Bookmark the permalink.

12 Responses to “The Festive Dogwood Dream”

Hoyt Heron says:

February 27, 2012 at 1:46 pm

Karima this is fabulous! Yet again…. you have taken music, film, and your ever-powerful writing and created a delightful depiction of Real Life using Secondlife. The Dogwood Festival will never be the same. “Across the scented fruited plain the hills come running in.” It makes me want to come running in. Dogwood Festival here I come! Your creativity is boundless. Thank you again

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Karima Hoisan says:

February 27, 2012 at 8:37 pm

Thank you Hoyt for your great and fun comment..If anyone could run to Knoxville and get there on time…it’s you;) Well as you know DB’s (David’s) creations are always unexpected and this colorful piece of virtual art work just set my own imagination on fire..So glad you enjoyed the total package..

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Ron Holmes/ Tubeguy says:

February 27, 2012 at 9:21 pm

I second all of Hoyt’s comments. Languid best describes Tennessee, as well as the Gulf Coast along the whole of Gulf of Mexico. the red Dogwood, unbelievable endless rolling hills, the vibrating green everywhere you look….. And as you go southward, add Spanish Moss everywhere. Karima and DB trapped the smooth rythm of living and moving in the South. The endless days and enormous oversize outdoor porches…the pulsing plant life everywhere….fragrant, intoxicating, enchanting….the come-hither of a different time and movement and choreography of time and place. And of being.

Karima feels the South. She catches the slower and complex harmonies of Living South. The kites are a wonderful image. Powered by wind and accident. Much of the South reminded me of a living pastel Impressionist painting. Karima catches this as well. And the real hospitality. The warmth of the “just folks” there. You are always welcome to stop by for a Mason jar full of backyard brew. Trust me-it has a kick! I don’t know how Karima does it so consistently-but the vibe is perfect.
Thanks yet again for such inspired work.

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Kyoko says:

February 27, 2012 at 10:14 pm

Karima, you got your Southern on, girl! What fun and how perfectly you capture the scent of Tennessee spring and the open Southern hospitality, in word and video!

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Menubar says:

February 28, 2012 at 7:26 pm

Needs more banjo, hehe ;-P

Incredible Karima! The colors and prim “effects” are amazing and your cheerful voice lends a happy playfulness to the visuals.

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Karima Hoisan says:

February 28, 2012 at 7:40 pm

Aww Tube thank you so much for your compliments and your generous thoughts on my video. I always love your anecdotes that add so much, like about the South,I have a feeling in some ways it might be a lot like where I live in Costa Rica (in the South too) That easy rolling feeling of life, brought on by an abundance of heat, rain, and the greenest vegetation, and the most luscious flora one can imagine and the varied fauna too. Thank you once again for your inspired and always wonderful feedback.

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Karima Hoisan says:

February 28, 2012 at 7:51 pm

Hi Kyoko, thank you for stopping by, and DB’s build makes me want to go sit down south and watch the dogwood flower. Thanks so much for your positive feedback, your kind words.

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Karima Hoisan says:

February 28, 2012 at 7:52 pm

Yes, Buddeh, you are right, a little Banjo mixed in would have been wonderful..Oh well for next years. DB did it again, he built something so colorful, and so different from his others, I just burst into poetic flower “my ownself”

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DB Bailey/ David Denton says:

February 29, 2012 at 2:41 pm

Thank you for bringing this site to life with your poetry and music. It only took flight with your contribution reminding me again of the importance of using the full multimedia potential of this medium. I only hope that the actual site itself will be as interesting as your video. Fortunately we will have the music and voiceover of your poem to give it more depth. In many ways this is an experiment to find out if people outside of the virtual world will find this entertaining and of value. It will hopefully give us some indication as to the potential advantage of attaching virtual sites to websites.

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- Karima Hoisan says:
  
  February 29, 2012 at 4:40 pm
  
  DB once again a great pleasure to work with you on another project and experiment. Yes, let’s hope this foments interest in the potential of virtual art as parallel projects alongside real life ones. Using all that we have at hand, incorporating multi-media as this one does, can only spark imaginations to visit both…well hopefully..
  
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RAG Randt says:

March 2, 2012 at 10:29 am

1+1=3

The merging of two talented souls equals more than the sum of its parts. We look forward to seeing this project in RL and SL. Congrats.
RAG

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Karima Hoisan says:

March 2, 2012 at 5:56 pm

Big smiles RAG..I love how your arithmetic adds up:) I certainly know , that whatever DB comes up with, will be an exciting and inspiring experiment, and I am happy to jump on board if invited:)
Collaboration is one of the biggest bonuses we have here, as you well know:) Thanks for leaving me this comment

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