Interview with Faust Steamer (Walton F. Wainwright), Builder of The SL14B Stage Left

 By Bixyl Shuftan

The Second Life Fourteenth Birthday was known for a number of great builds. Among them was "Stage Left" or "The Guardian," a huge three-headed Chinese-style lion that straddled two sims, carrying the stage where parties were held on it's back. It's size, detail, and moving heads caused numerous onlookers to go "Wow!" and marvel. It's creator was Faust Steamer, also known by his display name of Walton F. Wainwright. Recently, I had a chance to interview him, at the feet of his creation, "so the beast can have a listen in on it too, ha ha!"

"To begin with, how did you first hear about Second Life?" I asked, noting his entry was in February 2009.

Faust thought for a moment, "My memory may be a bit foggy, but I think I found Second Life through an ad online while browsing for comics to read. I saw it once, twice, maybe three times before I gave in to give it a shot. I thought it was some kind of customizable 'freeware' sims game of some sort, but it turned out to be far more complicated than I expected."

"What were you expecting?" I asked.

The builder answered, "I actually just expected some kind of online version of the sims to be honest, and I really wanted to play it, but at the time I couldn't really afford it."

I responded, "So you had no idea every avatar would have a person behind it at first?"
He answered, "At the time, I didn't really think about that. I just thought maybe it was a community game where you build houses with a set of assets, decorate it and show it off to people or something for the sort. I wasn't sure what the system would be like or how it'll happen, but my expectations thought it was a small game, not a creative platform with a vast learning curve."

My next question was, "And how did your view change over the first few days?"

Faust stated, "Yes, quite a bit. I started in Caledon Oxbridge and read over the tutorials and instructions there about how to work the viewer and understand the concept of an open virtual world. The learning curve was intense,and since I had no friends in game  to guide me coupled with a healthy dash of shyness, I isolated myself and eventually understood the idea of 'creating' on Second Life by pulling apart freebies and reading the boards at the place I first rezzed in. Eventually, I just got to building for fun - kind of like being given legos and seeing what I can do with it. I lived in a sandbox with a low return rate and stayed there with little idea on what the community was like."

I then asked, "How long did that last and what got you to change?"

He answered, "A year and a half. It wasn't until late 2010 did I start inviting friends from outside of Second Life to join me in appreciating the very idea that we could put together our roleplay characters and watch them come to life in 3D. One of them was far better at socializing than I will ever be, and discovered that there is a whole wide community out there dedicated to roleplay. My friends dragged me out of the sandbox, kicking and screaming. But we eventually settled in a 'Silent Hill" inspired roleplay sim. From there, I started learning about stores, Second Life shopping, and found a place camping for L$2 an hour so I could buy some neat things. Earning things that aren't freebies, I discovered 'sculpties' and saw how they could be used and looked into how those worked through a store's really detailed tutorial which expanded my interests in content creation. I mainly focused on creating things for my roleplay characters."

"What things did you create for them?" I asked

He told me, "Textured shirts, capes, hats, masks, claws, gloves, armor pieces...accessories, really. I really like plague doctors and at the time, those masks aren't made often so I tried to make my own, for example. When avatars could have alpha layers, I decided to find a way to create big, sharp gnarly teeth that would stretch across the face to work for a character of mine, and it worked out great."

"Plague doctor?" I asked in response, "Isn't that what's on your profile picture?  Or is is something similar?"

" Oh yes," he answered, "that's one of many I've made for myself, though, that one's made in ... 2014? 2015?. I've made sculpted plague doctor masks, beaked bird masks, even prim masks way before that. In general, I just really enjoy making masks and cover my face with them."

"Like the one you're wearing now?" I spoke, referring to his avatar's appearance.

"Yes!" he responded enthusiastically, "This one I made back in ... 2015 for an event, but it's inspired by similar cultures as our dear stage here, so I wore it for the occasion."

"We'll get back to that in a bit," I went on, "When did you start building other things beside masks and other things for you and your roleplay group?"

Faust answered, "I think when I started opening my store in 2011. It took a year's worth of encouragement, but once I got it going I needed to build myself a store building and other assets that would give my shop a certain look and theme I wanted at the time. I liked to make small things for a while, and I dabbled in larger builds, but often canceled or deleted them because they weren't good enough. I played around with furniture and decorations like interactive automatons and music boxes after seeing how far LSL (Linden script language) can get from a few amazing and intuitive stores I admire."

"Sounds interesting," I told him, "What kinds of larger builds were you making?"

The masked man answered, "I tried to find ways to make airships, better store builds, buildings. Especially after mesh came out,however, I couldn't quite wrap my head around the land impact puzzle so I tend to trash them all. When SL12B came around, I think that was when I started to make use of the 'freedom' I was given: to make an art piece within the theme and make it functional for what it needs to do for visitors. With a whole sim, I was able to experiment more. I learned a lot since then, though I still dislike building large things."

I then asked, "What happened between the SL12B and SL13B that got you noticed by the Birthday organizers?"

His answer was, "For Sl12B, I was invited to do the welcome area by someone in the works who was a collector of my musical machines. Between SL12B and SL13B...I have no idea. One day I was invited and was recommended to do stage left, so I took it up and just went to work."

I brought up, "As I understand, that got quite a bit of attention."

"Surprisingly so," Faust responded, "and I'm quite happy that it did. It was the largest piece I've built at the time. I think when I was brainstorming on it, I was just thinking, 'I want to build a really big music box'. I was also testing some new techniques with it as well."

"Yes," I told him, "I kept hearing "Oh my gosh, it moves!" from the people there."

"Ah yes," Faust seemed to smile underneath his mask, "our brand's specialty apart from the accessories are its interactive, moving machines, so we had to at least make the Storyteller stage move as well. Experimental, but turned out quite interesting."

I then asked him, "I take it you had your share of complements during and after the SL13B?"

"I suppose so," the builder answered, "I learned a lot while building the stage during SL13B, and there are a good number of mistakes from that too, which I've considered and brought over for SL14B.

Going back to subject of his current build, "When were you asked to be a part of the SL14B, and what gave you the idea for the Chinese lion?"

He answered, "I was asked to be part of SL14B late January or February -- somewhere around there, I don't remember exactly. I was very interested in southeast Asian culture and Indonesian styled beasts with their wild faces and did a series of illustrations based that for finals in college. I thought back on my research about it when the theme of SL14B was released, and wanted to do something inspired by the style of it. Originally the stage's name was 'Dance of the Demon', but I really didn't think the beast was all that much of a demon itself, so I called it the 'Guardian'."

I brought up the highlighted title over his avatar, "I take it that's what your title 'Guardian's Keeper' refers to?"

"Yes," Faust answered, "the sim's name is called 'The Guardian', and the title is just a cute little theme thing I wanted to keep up. I kind of like making characters or avatars that relate to the setting."

"So this is the Guardian of the SL14B?" I asked.

The builder responded, "I'd say he's the Guardian of the forest who came out from where he came to see the festivities and celebrate SL14B, yes. He's a bit scary, but he's a gentle creature, I assure you!"

I gave a short chuckle, then brought up, "I notice in one hand of his there's a flower, and then there's that the stage itself is on his back."

"Indeed," Faust described, "he's a gentle creature that only wishes to tend to the forest and let flourish. He can be quite frightening when his domain is under fire though, but that is not what he emerged out into SL14B for!"

My next question was, "Does 'The Guardian' have a future of any kind after the SL14B?"

The builder told me, "I've been told numerous times to make a miniature version of The Guardian. Other than that, I don't know if he will be rezzed out in full ever again after SL14B, since he would need two sims to be rezzed down. He will likely be put in a little folder within the depths of my inventory along side with The Station and The Storyteller."

I then asked, "Did you have any plans if you get asked to take part in another SLB?"

Faust answer was, "I won't know until the next theme's released, unfortunately. Whatever theme and what area I handle greatly affects what I end up wanting to do for the event. So that's a bit of a mystery for now, even on my part!"

"Did you have any other plans for the future?" I asked him.

"None that I know of," he answered, "I've been focusing a lot on my real life work as of late. I do wish to expand my store a bit and rework all of its contents, however. Other than that, if time permits perhaps I can try building sims and apply for the LEA."

"Oh?" I asked, "Have an art exhibit idea in mind for there?"

The builder pondered, "If I were to do an art exhibit I'd like to do something spooky, maybe involving the occult, or sim telling a story through visual clues littered throughout the place. I don't stick to plans until I end up needing to sit down and think about it proper when everything's ready to go. I do think it should relate to story telling, as you can tell, I'm quite a fan of that."

We were near the end, and to my last question, "Was there anything else you wanted to mention?"

Faust answered, "I'd like to thank everyone for supporting me throughout my journey as an artist in Second Life and all those who have supported my work and store all these years. I really appreciate all of you for keeping my hobby alive and encouraging me to keep it up. Never forget Second Life's supposed to be fun, because that is what we're all here for."

It was then that the builder of The Guardian and I parted ways.

There's little doubt Faust's creation will be a noted part of the Second Life Birthday history as the years go on, and one wonders what the man will build next.

Faust also has his own Flickr page at https://www.flickr.com/people/waltonwainwright/ .

Bixyl Shuftan

Interview with Mikati Slade

By Bixyl Shuftan

For those going to the Second Life Birthday, one build dominates the grounds of the mega-event, the "Cake Stage" which is so big, it takes four sims to hold it. For three of the past five years, the "Baker" of the stage has been builder and artist Mikiati Slade. Recently, the Newser met up with Mikati, and we sat down for an interview.

"For those newcomers who know you just by this year's Cake," I asked her, "how did you find out about Second Life?"

"I am from Japan," Mikati answered, "and I came to Second Life in 2007. SL was hyped even in Japan at that period. Second Life is everything dynamic and on-time for creating, so I thought I can show people (around the) world my creativity."

"How did your first days here go?" I asked.

"In real life, I learned classical sculpture and then worked for commercial graphics," she explained, "So, the first day of Second Life, I searched art galleries in SL and visited. I enjoyed a lot of artworks. Then I (was) amazed with avatar shape edit and I (was) excited that I can use my sculpture skill for avatar designing. That's my first day of SL." "Sounds like from the beginning, you were doing much building and creating." "Yes. I (was) amazed. Second Life is very wonderful world for creators, more serious than what I was guessing before. So I had ideas to create things."

I then brought up, "What were some of the things you built early on?" Mikati thought for a moment, "Can I rez some things what i built on that period? It's chair and shoes." I told her okay, and after some moments, she made appear some items, "These are first buildings of me, chair and sandals. The chair is something like modern Eames chair." Taking a closer look at the footwear, I commented, "The shoes look a bit detailed for a beginner's work." Mikati told me, "Yes, I worked for commercial graphics with 3D an 2D things. So, I already had some skills about it. And SL is very flexible to making shape from regular prims. So, I really enjoyed to create things, like (a) puzzle."

I then asked her, "What were some of the easiest things to learn, and some of the most difficult?" She answered, "On building in SL, most easy thing is making 'big shape' and 'sketch' in world directly and fast, this is very big advantage. And most difficult thing is, more technical thing specific in SL prim building. It is,  alignment of the parts. It need to use numbers and calculations. This is very important to keep the quality."

My next question was, "About what time was your work starting to get noticed by others?" Mikati told me, "I exhibited first time was, 2008 Burning-Life in SL. I created some pop display together my friend, and Molly Linden gave us a trophy. This was the first time of exhibiting." "I'll bet that got you some attention." "Yes, I thought so, and excited that people saw my works. And that's one of big excitement of SL I realized also showing people around the world in real-time, 3D world."

I brought up, "I recall in 2011, you had an exhibit at the Second Life Birthday that year." She smiled, "Yes exactly! I exhibited at SL8B, 2011, first time as a regular exhibitor. And SL Newser came to interview with me. This was my first time of having connection with SL media. I still remember it was so cool experience." "Oh yes, Grey Lupindo found you and interviewed you." "Yes!"

"And the next year, you ended up being the designer of the cake stage." I asked, "How did that come about?" Mikati answered, "Yes, I got opportunity to build the cake stage of SL9B. A staff, KT Shakumi, IMed me and she told me. She told me that she already visited my another exhibitions, like 'Kuru Kuru World' at MiC: Museums of Rome Capital, and 'PICO PICO LIFE' at LEA: Linden Endowment for the Arts. They liked my work, I guess."

"What was the inspiration for the cake's design?" I asked. Mikati responded, "About the 9B cake, this year one?" "Well, all of them." "Okay, can I tell you about it one by one?" "All right." "I built SLB Cake Stage three times. And each have different inspirations and concepts. About 9B, it was the first time, and I just tried to make it to express celebration mood using my style. " "How would you describe this style?" "My style is using a lot of retro-console game style pixel icons in 3D. I designed the style because such pixel things can be one of primitive symbols of current digital age. And the 'cubic' shape can be done with perfect shape, even in regular SL prim period. Also, it reflects Japan pop-culture, like Nintendo games. So I thought this is rational style for me."

My next question was, "What were some of the reactions to the first cake stage?" She answered, "About the 9B Cake, people had interest about such pixel 3D things in the huge size. And also the mood was very optimistic and pop, which was not so usual in SL before. So, I think people enjoyed it. ... SL12B Cake Stage, I created a lot of icons for this time and tried to create mood of dreamy. SL13B Cake Stage, the SL13B official theme is 'Shared Adventure.'  For the cake, I defined the Cake Stage is the treasure of the birthday party and 'goal of the adventure.' So I combined a lot of coins, treasure boxes, and jewels with the Cake."

I then brought her attention to the badge she was wearing, "I see that your SLB card says 'Baker.' I take it that's one of a kind?" Mikati told me, "Yes, the badge I wear is an official thing of SLB, and it says 'Baker,' SLB Cake Stage builder called like this. One optional thing I can tell, the role name 'Baker' is not just a 'cool name.' On birthday party, person who make the birthday cake have not to open the 'oven' until done to bake, even if people complain to open it!" "So people were asking you where it was when other builds were going up?" I asked. "Sorry my English," Mikati answered, "You mean, if people wonderd when I finish the cake?" "Yes." "Okay, yes, the SLB cake is the biggest opportunity for Second Life builders, I am thinking. And every time I did all of my best to make good thing seriously. So I spent all of time until the final deadline. And I think many people were getting tired to wait for it, heehee. Some people actually asked me about it. ... I also understand their feelings. So I told the people, 'I am sorry.' But I did not open the oven, heehee."

I chuckled a little at the giggles, then brought up, "And after a couple years, you were asked to do the cake again, and then the year after that." "Yes," she answered, "I think this is pretty rare thing of SLB. Because I heard that every year different builders build it. I think cake builder who built three times, I am the first."

Changing the subject slightly, I asked, "Besides the cake stage, what else have you been working on recently?" Mikati responded, "Recently, I joined an art project of a university teacher from Germany, It is purposed to archiving SL artists works for the future. Virtual world is still early period, I think, And in the future, the Second Life culture would be a great material for researching how virtual world started. So I was interested in it and joined."  "That is interesting. How has this art project gone so far?" "It is managed by a person, Art Blue, in SL. The project already exhibited at LEA semi-official SIM, and in near future, the buildings will go to OpenSIM and bring to real life art biennare."

My next question was, "Of the SL13B, what were some of your favorites among the other builds?" She answered, "All of the buildings at SL13B is a part of the celebration, so I love all of the builds! And this time, I love all the performance stages especially. All the stages did really great job!"

I then asked her about her appearance, "I notice you have a few items on you right now, those gloves, the cake hat, the heart-shaped glasses, and the flower." She smiled, "Oh yes, heehee! The heart sunglasses is what I wear since 2011 or more earlier, my trademark I am thinking. It inspired from a move Lolita by Cublic. The hat is gift of the SL13B cake stage. I made this and I think already 2000 - 3000 people got it."

Another question was about her native language being Japanese, "Earlier you brought up language. You don't seem to be having much trouble with English. Has it been a difficult language for you to learn?" Mikati agreed, "English is my big trouble point, yes. Usually, most Japanese people are not good at English, and me also almost zero skill about English when I came to Second Life. But SL gave me amazing big opportunity to learn English while having communication with western people, and my English skill improved very much. Learning language is very big advantage of SL also I think."

"About how many other Second Life users are Japanese?" I asked. She thought for a moment, "I am not sure the exactly numbers of population about it, but I think Japanese Second Life users are many, like, European countries. Japanese SL users are usually enjoy together, but having communication with Western SL users is not so often." "So interactions between most Japanese and most US and European users are uncommon?" I asked. "Yes, I think so," Mikati answered, "This because wall of language." I then questioned, "In what interactions there are, have there been many misconceptions, mistaken ideas, of Japan and it's people among Westerners?" She answered, "Most of Japanese people is respecting western culture very much, and always interest to have communicate with western people even in SL. But also Japanese people think that making mistake on English can be rude with western, I think. So, usually become shy I feel."

I then asked, "Did you have any other future plans besides the art project you mentioned?" Mikati answered, "I developed my style for everyone even out of Second Life. So my future plan is , showing and making enjoy people out of SL. This is my current plan and dream." Wondering about her noted build, "Might we see another Mikati Cake Stage in the future?" She responded, "I am thinking my style is perfect for SLB cake. so i want to make it in the future again of course. But also the cake is good opportunity for another builders. So, It also nice if another builder will make it, I think."

Mikati offered to show me the scale model of the Cake Stage,  "I can guide you, cake mini scale model, if you like." We went over to a skybox in her sim she which used as a building area, "As we see, this is 1/10 scale model of this year cake. I designed and worked in this scale, then stretch to the real scale. 1/10 scale is easy to see and easy to calculate real size." She then asked me to follow her inside, "Okay, please follow me a little. ... This is interior part of the cake. Now we are 10-times giants, heehee!"

She directed my attention to a small stick several inches tall, "Do you see the red small stick here? This is the avatar size in 1/10 scale." I asked, "So if someone is 1.6 meters high, this would be .16 meters?" "Yes, exactly! But many times, SL avatars are near 2 meters. So i made it as 0.2 meters. Heehee!"

I then asked her if she had seen some giant avatars in the official Cake Stages. She answered, "Oh yes! I have seen once such very large avatar at the cake few days ago! It was nice humor for the cake, because the cake is huge. Heehee!" It did cross her mind that it made everyone else look like her scale model, "The viewing looks similar with real size when you hold your camera to the red small stick."

She then brought me to a platform where there was a model of last year's Cake Stage, the one for the SL12B.  "This themed '12,'" she told me, "The twelve candles have twelve icons." At one point, she compared them to the twelve tribes of ancient Israel.

I then brought her attention to two huge pillars on the other side of the sim. She answered they were for the art archiving project she mentioned earlier, "Oh yes. These are the things of the art project that themed archiving SL arts. The tower shape outside is given parts. Artists build things using their typical style inside it." Of her sim, there was no house or relaxation area, "This sim is just for my private work place ..."

It was about time for the interview to come to a close, "Did you have anything else that you wanted to add?" Mikati's answer to that was, "I just want to add a thing (for the residents), I thank you to have opportunity of featuring the cake, and thank you for contributing for SL culture for long time."

It was about then the interview came to a close. Mikati and I would later meet up again at the "Cake Explosion" in which she brought down her build in a spectacular manner as a public event, as well as her making an appearance at the SL Newser beach party. While it's unclear whether she'll be building another Cake Stage soon, no doubt this cheerful designer is far from finished.

Bixyl Shuftan