Monster’s Ball/Through The Looking Glass at Burning Life
Me and my friend Penelope Parx are participating in BURN2- Carnival of Mirrors 2015 which is the SecondLife incarnation of BurningMan.
(from the Burn2 – Carnival of Mirrors Website):
BURN2 Carnival of Mirrors Event
BURN2 2015: Carnival of Mirrors will open on Saturday the 17th of October at noon SLT with a procession by the Lamplighters, beginning at their Village which is not far from the Welcome Gate where you arrive. You are all invited to explore, experience and express the joy of the Burn and revel in the music, art and colourful constructions born out of the imaginations of creative Burners. And, of course there will be fire!
More information about the event can be seen via the menu at the left side of the home page here on www.burn2.org.
We invite members of the press to come and visit on Friday, the 16th of October, before the opening of this festival of fire that is an echo of Burning Man in a virtual setting, so they may pass along a teaser of what has been prepared for the celebration of the Burn. With a Press Pass you will be able to visit from 10:00am to 8:00pm SLT. BURN2 Staff and creatives will be on hand to answer questions and share information. Apply for your Press Pass! We look forward to seeing you and saying, “Welcome Home!”
Monster’s Ball/Through The Looking Glass
by Penelope Parx and Miki Bizet
The Monster’s Ball is a “Through the Looking Glass” duality themed dance illustrating the tension between how we view ourselves and how we are viewed by others. Penelope Parx’s sculpture depicts a mirror which, viewed from one side, shows ordinary people viewing themselves as monsters – from the other, monsters who view themselves as quite ordinary. Inside of each of us is a monster,and each of us can be viewed as monstrous by others.
Miki Bizet’s contribution to “The Monster’s Ball takes place in a crazy alternate version of Death Guild’s Thunderdome, a fixture at the real Burning Man. In the Looking Glass world, all of the battles are out on the dancefloor. In the central feature, “Love’s A Crazy Ride,” a spinning carousel invites people to dance in groups and pairs. On the exterior, singles spin on their own rather than in tandem, because even monsters are out seeking kindred spirits.
I have a couple of friends who go to Thunderdome in real life regularly, most notably Marisa Lenhardt, an opera diva 
who (from her website) “has had the honor of appearing at multiple performances with world-famous diva Frederica von Stade, has performed with the Chris Brubeck trio and the Oakland.” My friend Porter Venn also regularly BurningMan and goes there regularly- maybe we can build PlanetEarth, his 80s themed dance club on the Playa, in SecondLife some other year.
Back to the virtual world at hand: the freebies at the Monster’s Ball are plentiful and surreal, mostly wearables: a Sharktopus plushy, a crate of t-shirts (thanks to Hekate Galatea for the “Secret Chicken” ones), a mutant zombie costume, a pet snake, and a pet rat.
I will do my best to stop by during the press junket today, unless life intervenes.
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Burning%20Man-%20Frog%20Pond/60/116/24
Lots of Freebies!
Sumiko Saulson 