Choices - An Immersive Art Installation at UWA

Earlier this evening I arrived at the site of the immersive installation "Choices", created by June Clavenham. It is one of a trinity of creations now at the Virtlantis. As I waited to fully rezz into the site, I clicked to open a notecard and read about this and the other two installations. This trio appears to be, judging from from JJ's notecard the last of the UWA Full SIM Art Series. He goes on to explain that, "All of this could disappear anytime after the 18th of August, as the SIM hosting the art series, will, like the isle of legend it is named after, disappear off the face of the multiverse." 

Second Life being second life, the site took an inordinate amount of time to rezz full and when it did, I found the virtual me standing inside a dark and large rectangular room. Directly in front me at the point of arrival is a set of immense doors with the word "Resistance" emblazoned on the floor in front of it. I used the right arrow key to spin my view and found three more doors. The next is labeled "Dreams" and then "Fears", with the last doorway called "Memories". 

Before I made a choice, I re-read June's statement about the installation in which she tells us that she believes, "Our choices are sometimes not the most wise, but they are the best we can do at a given moment, and at the end we will be able to find what brings kindness and peace to our hearts."  The statement brought a smile to my face and I decided that I would explore dreams first. So I started the virtual me off in that direction.

Before I clicked on the door however I released the arrow key and my avatar came to halt. "Maybe I should start with fears", I thought. Being the pragmatic kind of guy that I am, I'd generally thought that one should confront one's fears head on … the wrestling with demons that we all do, some more frequently  then others, but it is a shared human affliction.  So I spun around and started in the opposite track. As I neared that door however, out of the corner of my eye I spotted the word resistance and once again, my finger tip was raised from the arrow key as my avatar began it's iteration through the cycle of poses in the animation over rider.

"It is something that has taken many forms in my life … some of which had an external source but most often it appears to come from with in me", I thought. It was than that a memory popped into my mind of when I'd begun writing Lane's List nearly four years ago.  I had resisted writing for most of my adult life. It was a fear of not being good enough to be read … this is the devil I wrestle with most often.  I had prior to my arrival in Second Life, conveniently used that as my resistance to put my thought to paper. The memory of that first post I wrote came to mind. Not the subject, but the after I wrote it. I had clicked the button to post and then copied the link. Before I sent it out to my friends in second life, I put the virtual me at the bottom of the deep end of a virtual swimming pool where I hoped the water over and around me would cushion me from the criticism. As I started to receive instant messages from my readers, the resistance seemed to melt away rather quickly, they liked it.

Since then, I've written many posts for Lane's List, along with articles for the SL Newspaper, Avenue Magazine, Second Arts and one or two other publications. Many fond memories of the people and places the virtual me has met and seen.  The ding of an instant message arrived and took me out my reverie. I glanced at the clock and realized that I'd spent nearly thirty minutes here and all that I'd done is spin the virtual me around in a circle. With pleasant memories fresh in mind, I approached that door and raised a virtual hand to click on the door to enter.

Beside June's installation at Virtlantis, one can also see, "Immanentize The Eschaton" by CHUCKMATRIX Clip and "CHILDHOOD" by Silene Christen. But hurry before it vanishes  after the 18th of August.