What's Real?

The "Treachery of Images" by Belgian Surrealist René Magritte, famous for its inscription "Ceci n'est pas une pipe" - "this is not a pipe" raises the question: What is REAL?

Margritte's painting depicts the representation of a pipe but is it REAL? Like Margritte implies in his inscription, the painting is not a pipe, but rather an image of a pipe.
As Magritte himself commented: "Just try to stuff it with tobacco! If I were to have had written on my picture 'This is a pipe' I would have been lying." (Source: www.wikipedia.org).

A few days ago Herman Miller followed in the footsteps of American Apparel, Giorgio Armani and other Real Life corporations seeking to enhance their Brand presence in virtual markets by opening a store in Second Life.

However, in what could be perceived as a smear campaign designed to maliciously inflict damage upon the reputation of avid devotees and proponents of their classic products, like myself and others, Herman Miller has decided that the "Get Real" campaign is the cleverest way to gain attention for a product, which I'm sure many would agree does not need to be marketed in such an underhanded manner, if at all!

The campaign urges Second Life residents to exchange their 'knock-offs' for Herman Miller's "real" sculpties of their collection. That's right, you can buy a Herman Miller classic from anywhere in Second Life and simply exchange it at the Herman Miller store for the REAL thing! So my dear clients I urge you to buy a model of a "pipe" from me, then exchange it for the "real" pipe you can actually smoke from Herman Miller!

But all jokes aside, I strongly urge all of you who know me and how passionate I am about creating beauty at all costs to go and see for yourselves.

If Herman Miller think that success in Second Life happens by ridiculing the very people who have raised their brand's awareness whilst they were still playing on Orientation Island, then good luck to them!

Frankly I am surprised that a multinational company would commence their in-world presence by endorsing such a low-rate advertising campaign that does nothing but antagonise people who make this metaverse a fun place to be! Clearly they have little or no understanding of the virtual communities that make Second Life such an exciting place to be and that Second Lifer's are not your average campers!

I certainly do not operate that way and I look forward to bringing you many more beautiful pieces that will delight you whilst in this crazy, wonderful Second Life!

So Herman Miller, put THAT in your pipe and smoke it!

News

Website changes:
I decided to redesign the content layout of the website to a more generic one, making it easer to update and at the same time providing more general info about what we do at MM.
From now on, I won't post every new release, but make a list with the lates 10 or so items as they are released. In addition I'll provide more information in general apart from being just product related. There will also be more support information, I'll be posting a portfolio covering our custom builds and general news on what's happening.

Metaverse 07

Yours sincerly will be attending the Metaverse 07 in Munich, november 19-20th as speaker at two sessions covering furniture building and interior design in SL. Hope to see you there.
Click here for more information.

Recent releases

• Eames Eliptical Table by Ray and Charles Eames
• ZigZag Chair by Gerrit Rietveld
• Nelson Platform Bench by George Nelson
• Re-released the Ox Chair by Hans J. Wegner
• Coconut chair by George Nelson
• Exceptionally detailed and classy picnic set

Frequently asked questions

Every day we get a lot of requests. We try to be helpful and forthcoming where possible. Please keep in mind this takes a lot of our time and comes at the cost of delivering high quality items to the community. Also this is our full time occupation, you will be treated in a professional manner and we expect the same in return.

Requests/suggestions
We do take suggestions and we already have a long to-do list, but don't commit to a delivery date, it will be released in due time and announced on our VIP group, on our website and in the forums on http://forums.secondlife.com/

Lost items
Please read this before requesting lost objects replacements.
If you are requesting a replacement send me a notecard with the transaction transcript.

There is no refund for:
• Objects purcased more than 1 month ago.
• Non transferable objects .

Copyable items
Unfortunately we don't offer copyable items.

Help with interior design/decorating
We usually don't do interior unless as part of a custom job, but will do our best to put you in contact with an interior designer/decorator.

Textures and scripts
We do not sell our textures or scripts even with limited permissions. We spend a lot of time in the making of the textures we use in our builds and they are part of our signature design. Although some of our scripts are publically available, they are usually modified to better suit our products.

Offers to set up remote point of sale
This is usually very time consuming and takes focus from our main point of sale - therefore we don't it, even if offered for free.

Custom work
We do custom work as long as it's in line with our general style. Either from scratch or modifications of existing products. If we don't feel comfortable doing the job we rather pass than doing something half hearted.
Please keep in mind that this is something we do for a living (as well as fun), custom jobs will therefore be charged accordingly. Further, the cost of a custom build can not be compared that of a publically available prefabricate.
Permissions of delivery: mod/copy/no transfer for builds, or usually mod/no copy/tranfer for furniture.
Textures, scripts, building components or techniques remains our property unless specifically agreed upon in advance.
When requesting a custom, please submit an as detailed as possible notecard with your request , then an IM notifying us of your notecard.

Rates for custom work
Rather than a fixed hourly rate we will give a quote based on your requirements. That way everything is very transparent from the start - no one needs worry about going over budget and we get to spend the time needed. In order to work faster we often recycle existing textures, building components and techniques, leaving more time for actual customizing.
For all custom work we usually require 100% payment up front for smaller jobs. For larger jobs we ask 50% up front and 50% upon delivery, unless otherwise agreed upon in advance.

Contract work
We do NOT do contract work (full permissions) for retail items in competition with our own product line.