Machinima artist Drax has a new episode up in his “World Makers” interview series – I love the visuals he gets with his machinima, and the way he cuts it so that his avatar appears to be interacting with “normal” humans via Skype.
Jo Yardley listens to Marlene Dietrich on a hand crank gramophone because she lives in Weimar era Germany and electricity is rather scarce: oh yes, although Frau Yardley lives in Amsterdam, her house is decorated with original furniture and accessories from the 1920ies and German magazines from the Interbellum Period are everywhere.
This week he talks with Jo Yardley, creator of the amazing 1920s Berlin project in Second Life. My friends and family sometimes wonder why I “play” Second Life; well, this is one of the reasons. Someone has created a way to time travel to 1920s Berlin, during the heady yet troubled period between the wars, and it’s possible to dress “in period” and interact with other people there. It’s always sounded intriguing (I’ve been hearing about it for a while now) but this video of Draxtor’s really makes it look beautiful and interesting.
Jo’s real-life commitment to living as a Berliner of the 20’s is really interesting as well, and I love that she goes about her business in Amsterdam dressed in vintage clothes. Now that’s artistic integrity!
According to the video, she’s planning on creating a Blitz-era London next – a time period that has always fascinated me. I’ve always felt a strong emotional pull to London anyway, and anything to do with the Blitz just… it really gets to my heart, somehow. My parents both lived through WWII though neither of them ever went anywhere near England (though Mom and I traveled there years ago for fun). I’ll be checking back in on Ms Yardley to see if the London Blitz pops onto the Grid, it’s definitely a time and a place I’d love to experience virtually (okay, sure, it’s a lot easier with no real V2s falling from the sky).
