The Storyfish : A Collaborative Project

D does really apologise to you our faithful fish-fans for taking a gap year between blog posts. D says :" I really am terrible at being consistent but I shall try to make sure that I post a blog at least once a week. However I am still pleased to say that I have for most parts kept to fashioning at least one art thing a day. (Even if that art thing is making a very artistically arranged salad for lunch!)"

So… what has Ourfish been up to?
Apart from being a regular flickerite , D has been trying to start a new collaborative project to create and enact "The Story of O" using second life as a medium.

D 's attempt to search for talent

You might ask why this story in particular…
Written by French author Anne Desclos under the pen name Pauline Réage, The Story of O is an ode to a woman who would do anything to keep the attentions of her lover.

The book was very controversial for its time (1950's) and despite it winning French literature prize Prix des Deux Magots the following year after it was published ; The French authorities still brought charges of obscenity against its publisher which resulted in the book having a publicity ban on it for several years after.

At the beginning of the story, O's lover René brings her to the château of Roissy

D really has a soft spot for  good love story - but not only is the story of O itself rather intriguing, it has also been used as subject matter in some incredible art, such as italian artist, Guido Crepax for his graphic novel of same title in 1975.

From Guido Crepax' Story of O :  O's lover René brings her to the château of Roissy

In 2001, the book was also adapted and interpreted in a series of images by Doris Kloster , a world renowned artist/photographer and curator.

The Illustrated Story of O page 32

D feels that it would be an interesting experience to collaborate with other artists to create an interpretation of this timeless story in second life and to record this efforts in a series of images to be published as an in-world and online book.

The women of the château -  by Dita 2012.

In her website, Doris Kloster writes " … I wanted to photograph the story in locations that evoke the mystery and fantasy that is the Story of O. The novel is set in Paris and its environs, the most romantic locale in the world, and the home of the Marquis de Sade."

The art question here sits in that interesting space of self identity, sexuality and a definition of reality.
The book itself drew inspiration from Desclos's personal letters to her lover who has a keen interest in the writings of De Sade. It was a treatise in her ability to write erotica with the same libertinism as a man. It is a curious question, in an environment such as Second Life , the possibility exists here to create some semblance of a fantasy made virtually real.

Notes :
The setting for this collaboration has been created by the lovely Sugar Bumblefootfor her SIM titled " Roissy Reborn" If you would be interested in collaborating for this project please don't hesitate to get in touch!