To wander the subconscious in Second Life
This article comes with an apology. A couple of months ago, Selen Minotaur invited me to pay a visit to to her latest endeavour, located in a small (4080 sq meter) parcel tucked into the corner of a Full region. Entitled SenKonscia, the parcel was introduced to me by Selen as “a place for photographers, dreamers, lovers of 3D art and surreal environments. It is unfinished – and will always remain unfinished, because I intend to add and change things regularly”.
Senkonscia is the Esperanto for “unconscious”, and is here used in the psychological definition of the word, rather than the medical, referencing that part of the mind said to lie beneath the subconscious; the home to the darker aspects of our personalities and the place where fears, feelings, and so on are repressed in an attempt to contain them, as well being as the repository of subliminal perceptions and automatic reactions. It’s the part of the mind we’re never directly aware of, but which (it is believe) manifests itself through our dreams, which can be a mix of the attractive, the surreal and the frightening.
Thus the parcel presents a multi-level setting, from the ground through a set of three sky platforms – Water, Sky and Desert – Selen presents a series of minimalist settings in which 3D art from her personal collection is set out. Multiple artists are presented, including Cherry Manga (whose work can be seen throughout, but receives special attention in the Water platform), x1XDanteX4x, Eupalinos Ugajin, Eric Bloodrose, Harry Cover (impossibleisnotfrench), Willem Koba (willem Koba), Noke Yuitza, Bryn Oh, Stabitha (What88 Zond), Haveit Neox, and Keira Blackthorne.
Movement between the ground and the sky platforms is achieved via a “trapdoor” teleport network: left-click on a trapdoor to display a dialogue box of destination options. Click the name of the desired destination and then wait for the the hover text above the trapdoor to update, then click it again to display the World Map, and use that to teleport.
Each of the levels from the ground up offers a minimalist setting that uses its own environment settings and lighting, so it is important you have your viewer set to Use Shared Environment (World → Environment and check Use Shared Environment) and that Advanced Lighting Model is active (Preferences → Graphics and make sure Advanced Lighting Model is checked).
All of the levels present surreal settings in which the art has been laid out in a seemingly random manner, and where visitors can wander as they chose to witness it. In this, the settings add to the idea that SenKonscia is a trip through a state of dream, individual pieces of art a flash of an image conjured by the the unconscious and pushed into the conscious mind unbidden.
Intriguing, surreal, perhaps in places a little disturbing – again like the very nature of our unconscious rearing up through our dreams or in times when primal instincts (“fight or flight”, etc.), take a hold – and sent to constantly evolve through changes to the art on display, SenKonscia is a fascinating trip through art into the landscape of the mind.
SLurl Details
- Senkonscia (Realm, rated Moderate)
Have a great week from all of us at Zoha Islands and Fruit Islands
And a HUGE thanks to Inara Pey for giving all of us great content and keep us exploring Second life.