A Different Light - Opened!

Jaid at the opening of "A Different Light"

Wow, what an adrenalin rush. I love show openings.

Yesterday, at the Cannery Gallery, Vint Falken and I opened a new show called "A Different Light". What you will see there is but a fraction of the awesome art that was submitted. We wanted to show you a different view of Second Life.

Imagine that the world is a rabbit. A Great Magician pulls the rabbit out of a hat now and then, and the rabbit sees the world. Now, imagine you are a flea on the rabbit. You live in the deepest part of the hairs of the rabbit, close to the skin where it is warm. You don't need to see the universe that is beyond the rabbit, that you can never reach and have no interest in. It is comfortable where you are.

Now, imagine that you are an adventurous flea. You want to see the universe on those rare occasions when the Magician pulls the rabbit out of the hat. You climb up the rabbit hairs and wait there, poised, waiting for a bit of the universe to be revealed to you. *

The concept behind the show is this: There are many different types of people in Second Life. Some people are into being "furry" or mechs; some are into re-experiencing their childhood; some are into slavery; some are into making new friends. Do I want to do some of those things, experience what it is like to be adored or spurned because of my appearance? No. I have a lovely avatar for a reason. However, imagine what it would be like to be a child again .... you see a firefly for the 10th time and you are filled with wonder. It is at that moment that you see the universe that the Great Magician is presenting for us.

So, take off your comfortable skin and come wander down the paths. Come see the universe through someone else's eyes.

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* Note: Special thanks to Jostein Gaarder for his outstanding book of juvenile fiction: Sophie's World, originally published in Norwegian in 1991.