It’s sort of a cross between an illustrated storybook and Disneyworld without the crowds, noise, and vendors. It’s a story you can literally immerse yourself in. And it’s something you’ll find only in a virtual world like Second Life.
I love discovering ways in which writers use the 3D elements of Second Life to create work unlike anything in first life, and that’s what artist/writer Bryn Oh has done with her beautiful and haunting immersive story “The Rabbicorn.”
“Quite some time ago I thought up a character called the Rabbicorn.” Bryn writes on her blog. “Part rabbit part unicorn. I built up this whole story in my mind about where she came from and how. I sketched it out wrote down the story and then I promptly put it on the shelf.”
One reason she put it on the shelf is that she didn’t have enough prims (SL building blocks) to spare at her own SL gallery, Immersiva. But she took it off the shelf when IBM offered the use of one of their sims.
And so this Toronto, Canada,-based oil painter in first life created the amazing artwork and story-in-a-poem to build this remarkable 3D storybook.
When you go to “The Rabbicorn,” you’ll land in an eerie, static-filled environment with ambient sounds and some haunting melodies that further bring the story to life. From there, you are teleported in sequence to each of the story’s 10 scenes, where you’ll find a old book pages containing the words of the story.
The story tells about the escape from a mechanistic environment and the loss and rediscovery of love.
I was moved by the depth of feeling contained in those words and 3D scenes, and I lingered long in each scene, contemplating the themes it raised about the human condition. The first time I went through this immersive story, I had a hard time leaving – so I went through it again. Each time I revisit it, I discover more details I hadn’t noticed before.
An installation like “The Rabbicorn” requires a highly skilled artist, as well as a writer and Second Life builder. Bryn Oh is all three – an incredibly talented woman. There’s no way I could pull off what she did. And yet this 3D story experience she’s created has opened my mind to other unique ways writers can bring their work to life in a virtual world. Stayed tuned to this blog for more about those ideas.
The Rabbicorn exhibit just opened July 10, with an unspecified ending date. To teleport directly to The Rabbicorn on the IBM 3 sim, click this link: http://slurl.com/secondlife/IBM%203/56/50/23
Fellow SL explorers, I’d love to hear what you’ve found in Second Life that brings an added dimension to creative writing. If you know such places, please add a comment and include the SLURL if you can.
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
I heard a lot about Second Life but I didn’t know that SL can be that intricate. I am curious about that 3D storybook, so perhaps, I should try peeking in the SL virtual community one of these days.
This is simply a fabulous idea and production. As well as immersing, It makes for a good video script. When it becomes one, please let me know. Would love to create a writers Station and channel on the AviewTV site.
You have a little typo there, should be IBM, not IMB. Love to know who the contact person was on that decision. This is fantastic.
Mo Hax´s last blog ..IBM Second Life Mentors Community, Virtual Universe Community Fieldtrip
@Luca: There are a lot of amazing things like this in Second Life, and it seems it gets better every day. Do check it out! You might want to take a look at my Learning Second Life series for tips on exploring it.
Thanks for the comment!
@LaPiscean: Thanks for your comment — I agree, this would make a great video script. Thanks, too, for introducing me to Aview TV. What a neat site — and I love the idea of a writers’ channel there — and there’s lots of possibilities in SL for that!
@Mo: Oops!!! Thanks so much for pointing out the typo — got it fixed. As for the IBM contact person, you should check with Bryn Oh — that would be good to know. Thanks for the comment.
The IBM Exhibition Space is currently curated by Tezcatlipoca Bisiani – for details of this and future exhibitions see his blog andrewsempere.org/secondlife_ibm.cfm and the Flickr group http://www.flickr.com/groups/ibmexhibition/