Cajsa Lilliehook covers the best in virtual world screenshot art and digital painting
Magdalena has one of the most amazing streams in which she does what look to be hand-made avatar homages to classic entertainers from the 1920s forward. For example, here is James Dean, the iconic actor who defined cool for more than a generation. She also includes quotes from the artists she presents. She does a good job with Dean. Just think of how jeans, a tee, and a leather motorcycle jacket has been the outfit for cool ever since Dean burned through the screen. He was the epitome of cool and he continues to be.
For more of Magdelena’s homages, click here:
It’s Barbra! OK, it’s hard to create someone with such a distinctive face. She uses a hilarious quote which on the face is not that hilarious. “Love means never having to say you’re sorry.” Why it’s funny is that in the 1970 movie Love Story, Ali MacGraw says that to Ryan O’Neal. Two years later, in Peter Bogdanovich’s What’s Up, Doc? she says the exact same thing to Ryan O’Neal and bats her eyelashes. Since Love Story was such a big hit, everyone knew that quote and was in on the joke. So not only did Magdelena give us Barbra, but one of the funnier “in” jokes in film.
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With several to choose from, from Harrison Ford to Josephine Baker, it was hard to choose just three. I decided to go with Marlene Dietrich as I was listening to her music this week. She was such a marvelous human advocating for refugees. In a 1930 film, she wore a tie and kissed a woman. She also worked with Mischa Spoliansky, a man who wrote such powerful anthems as “The Lavender Song” a 1921 song of gay liberation that says “we’ll love with pride.”. Here is the chorus translated into English. Spoliansky wrote “Love Is Lyrical” for Dietrich. Spolianksy wrote all sorts of cabaret songs and music for movies. He left Germany before the war. To see how bold Spolianksy was, here is the 1920’s song about gender, Masculine and Feminine.
We're not afraid to be queer and different
If that means hell, well hell we'll take the chance
They're all so straight, uptight, upright and rigid
They march in lock-step, we prefer to dance
We see a world of romance and of pleasure
All they can see is sheer banality
Lavender nights our greatest treasure
Where we can be just who we want to be
Lavender nights our greatest treasure
Where we can be just who we want to be
I really love Magdalena’s icons. Not only are they truly icons, they are also people who challenged settled ideas and advocated for equality and personal liberty. Wonderful people.
All images copyright Magdalena
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See all Cajsa's Choices here. Want to recommend an artist to feature? Tag Cajsa with your favorite pics on Flickr, on Primfeed, and Facebook. (Self-promotion welcome!)
Cajsa’s Choices is devoted to unique, artistic, and innovative virtual world-based images and screenshots that showcase the medium as an art form and Second Life as a creative platform. (Generally not images that fit on this Bingo card.)
Cajsa Lilliehook is a 18 year resident of SL. In addition to browsing Flickr for SL artists, she spends a lot of time researching and reporting on Republican sexual predators. In her first life, she is a retired grassroots leader who has worked for economic and social justice issues most of her life. She is also the minion of a cat named Nora.
Wagner James Au / New World Notes 
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