RFL Walk: The Really Wild West Exhibit

By Bixyl Shuftan

With so many exhibits on the Relay for Life walk, there just isn’t the time and space to write in detail on each of them. But I did get a sneak peak at one, the “Really Wild West” by the Passionate Redheads.

The exhibit was set in the Old West themed area of the Relay for Life Walk in the southwest corner of the RFL Endure sim (the other west sim was RFL Courage just to the east), the road just on the edge of the RFL Advocacy sim to the south. The place looked like it was set in some mountainous desert, with Native American music in the background. Just behind and to the right of the sign over the entrance was the main building, a two-story adobe structure that served partially as a store, offering a number of items for sale for charity. But the place also had some messages of inspiration. Nearby next to the road were some whimsical “Armadillo Crossing” signs, with armadillo nearby.

Paths and bridges helped one up the mountains. One could walk around to the various sights, but there were also teleports to the more notable ones. There was a mine in which one could hop on a cart and ride down the tracks. There was a river rafting ride, in which one could make their way down the twisting mountain waters. There was an Indian Circle, in which one could sit on a blanket, get a drum and a stick, and beat in rhythm.

The completion of the exhibit was announced in a few group chats a couple nights before the Relay for Life Walk officially started. People headed over, gathering at the adobe building, and having a party around the hot tub. When this reporter checked a few days after the Linden lease ended on Tuesday, it was still up.

Most of the work on the exhibit was done by Lomgren Smalls. Of the theme of the exhibit, “We found out we were on the ‘western’ themed sim already,” he explained, “I thought blending in with what was already there was a good idea.” Others had told me Lomgren had spent so much time on the place, he got only a few nights sleep in the days just before it was finished, “If you count actual hours ... I put in around a day, to a day and a half of work. Others did more as well, with the river, the detailing, the plants, etc. If you count real-life time... it was done in... 4-5 days.” Of the various attractions, “We all contributed toward the ideas. Daaneth loved the mine idea. We were all just spouting out ideas quickly.” Lomgren had no idea how many stepped off the track to look around, but he had a good idea what they felt, “Everyone's loved it.” Although pleased to hear it was still up, he felt it wouldn’t me much longer before it would vanish into the blue, “Anything after (Tuesday) is a bonus.” Despite the temporary results, Lomgren was still happy to have built the place, “That Relay is awesome, and more people should try to get involved. And that building it was fun, if exhausting.”

For his work, the Passionate Readheads awarded him, along with Dusk Griswold, the first Annual Fimi Awards, named after the late Artistic Fimicloud.

On July 21, Daaneth Kivioq announced the Passionate Redheads had raised 2,425,968 L, or over $9,300.

Bixyl Shuftan

Addition: This would be the first Relay track camp of the Passionate Redheads team I would see. It was part of a great introduction for me to the Redheads. The team would do other exhibits in the future, but this was among the most detailed and interactive by it. Despite all of Lomgen's work, and that of those helping him such as Alleara Snoodle, he never did win an official Relay award for the build. Sadly, the team would fold in 2013, but many of the members would come together again under a new team: the Sunbeamers.

The Rabbicorn

  
I was in the audience at an event when a friend told me about something in the IBM 3 sim that she told me was must-see, “I don’t usually recommend places, but this ... “ So I decided to check it out.

I teleported over, and found myself in a room that looked like it was surrounded by television static, with a couple pages explaining how to get about. But with no portal to the exhibit, the only way to go was down a road, my vision around me obscured by the visual equivalent of white noise. Eventually, it cleared on the road itself, and I soon noticed a room through the static that was brighter than the rest and had some color. I could also make out some people inside. So I went inside.

And there was Bryn Oh, the artist behind the exhibit in her gray, ghostlike avatar. She was looking at some notes on the floor with someone. The room itself had a dark steampunkish feel to it with a phonograph in one corner and some sparking equipment around. Two others came into the room to congratulate Bryn on her exhibit. After that, Byrn turned to me, and after greetings she explained the area, “This is a story that is told in stages, through poems. It is about the character behind me.” She turned to a bronze mechanical form behind her on a table lit by a spotlight, part rabbit part unicorn, “The Rabbicorn.”

Bryn went on, “This is the first part (of the story) here. In the hand of the creator is a poem.” She told me I could zoom in on the poems, or “you can click on it to see it on screen. It’s easier that way. When you have looked at the scene, there is a teleport to the next one.” The teleports looked like black magnifying glasses with white sparkles around them. “Oh, one more thing, there is a machinima ... on top of a tower, there will be a TV there. Click on it. That tells more of the story.”

And so clicking on the first teleport took me to the first part of the story, the place showing a tinkerer having just built the Rabbicorn, and having to make a decision about the creation. Further teleports lead one further into the story, each place a work of art, and soft music in the background adding to the beautifully surreal atmosphere. At one point, the teleports lead to a climb up a debris-filled tower. Although one could just fly up with a flight feather, it’s better to try to walk and jump your way up as much as you can. It is around here one finds a link to the machinima Bryn mentioned. Watching it isn't necessary for the story, but does help add to it. It is not much longer when one gets to the end and the fate of the Rabbicorn.

Taking a look at Bryn’s blog, the exhibit opened on Friday July 10. She also stated that it was originally planned that no more than 6 avatars would be allowed in the sim at one time, feeling lag would ruin the experience. It was not an easy decision, as she worried some might get the impression that the small numbers meant their fellow residents had little interest in the finer arts in Second Life, “So if I can't limit the sim to 6 or so, and you find yourself in a laggy mass of people then please come at another time when it is empty. It really is meant to be seen this way. It has a mood brought on by the story, ambient sounds and being alone brings out the quiet mood of the story.”

An exhibit that is well worth the time to go see.

“The Rabbicorn” is at IBM 3 (56, 50, 23). To read more about this exhibit and other projects by Bryn Oh, click here for her blog.

Bixyl Shuftan
 

Berlin Wall Display in Second Life

 
By Bixyl Shuftan

On Veterans Day/Rememberance Day, I heard about a replica of part of the Berlin Wall set up here in Second Life. IMing the man I heard built it, Christo Larsen, we chatted for a couple minutes, then he invited me to his sim Ciel. So I went over.

“A lot of foreign people don’t know much about about the Berlin Wall,” Christo, whom is German, told me, “even th e younger ones. He explained that the New Berlin area also had a replica of the Wall, “It’s very good, sophisticated, but they don’t have any information, ... no displays.”

Christo explained he was aware of the Berlin Wall as a kid, but he lived far away from it, “This whole business didn’t touch me, no connection. I never went to it while it was up. ... But still, I remember the day (when it came down). ... friends and family who couldn’t see each other ... “ His thoughts turned again to how people forgot, “You know how people ... all the things have been better, they don’t understand. ... inside, they didn’t let yo u meet them ... they arrested, they even shot. ... It’s been nineteen years now. Of course people born under a united Germany they don’t know what it was like.”

“I’ve even have someone ask when Hitler built it,” Christo remarked of how little some people knew about it, “I don’t see them as stupid. For instance, North American History, the Civil War, I don’t know what it was about. ... Second Life ... we have plenty of malls and clubs ... we need more educational areas ... debates ... it’s one thing to read a %bout it, but if you see a movie or docudrama ... “ Second Life was in turn a better media, he told, “gives you a chance to walk along it.”

The exhibit itself consisted of the Wall with bare dirt, wire fence, sections of old brick wall (presumably buildings caught in the path of the Wall) and tank barriers on the eastern side. With the western side marked by graffiti, the eastern has information signs and pictures for visitors. In the middle of the Wall Section was a replica of the American Checkpoint - Checkpoint Charlie, “The most famous one, being in the movies.” He mentioned as the entire Berlin Wall was constructed on East German territory, the American soldiers at the checkpoint were technically on the other side of the border, “but no one shot for that.” 

On the East German side were & a couple cars, East German Trabbi, “symbol of the inferiority of the East German economy. ... plastic, not steel, body was a hard plastic shell.” An East German worker often had to wait ten to fifteen years to get one of the “stinky and noisy” vehicles, “But people still love them,” Christo saying they were now a rare collectors item.

We walked along the displays to those of escape attempts across the Wall. One was a picture of the East German soldier who made a break for it, and safely made it without being fired at from either side. Another picture was of a woman who dropped from a high window in a building straddling the Wall zone to reach freedom, later dying from her injuries. Christo talked about what he felt was the most famous death at the Wall, a teenager trying to make a break for it , getting through no-mans-land, and getting shot just before he could get up the West side of the Wall. He bled to death in front of everyone, Christo saying the soldiers on both sides were afraid of starting a fight. 

Then there was the fall of the Berlin Wall, “The border all around was armed, but Berlin was the symbol ... divided streets ... finally people were able to sit on the Wall. No one knew about the soldiers, who still were under orders to secure the border. But none of them fired ... we were very lucky. In 1953, East Germans protested ... Soviets sent troops in, smashed the uprising down violently.” Christo felt the Perestroika movement under Soviet leader Gorbachev helped pave the way for the fall of the Wall, but that it would not have been possible without the lessening tensions between Russia and the West.

Pictures showed the wall coming down, Christo giving Dec 22 as the date. He also put up comparison pictures of how bare places looked just after the wall was torn down, and years later when they were covered with buildings, “Look how it is fifteen years later, it’s amazing. ... Wounds can heal, but scars never go away.”

At the end was a streaming video, pictures related to the wall, with Pink Floyd music, and Regan’s famous phrase, “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!”

Christo says the Berlin Wall will not be permanent, but will be keeping it up for a week or two, depending on how many people visit, “Sometimes you get tired of all the shopping. I’m not saying one should go to a vitural museum every day, but once in a while.”

The Berlin Wall exhibit is at Ciel (60. 50, 24).

“Thank you so much.”

*  *  *  *  *

Addition: The Berlin Wall exhibit (I later found out the Communists called it the "Anti-Fascist Protection Rampart") would go up one more time the following year in 2009. When I went to the location in 2010, it wasn't there. Sad as it was a fitting reminder of the most visible location where Europe was split in two by the Iron Curtain, The Wall dividing not just a city, but people, friends and family whom felt they would never see one another again.

Bixyl Shuftan