Exploring Second Life

Tag: Art Installation

  • Cica’s Happy Planet in Second Life

    Cica’s Happy Planet in Second Life

    A surreal alien landscape with tall, porous, cone‑shaped structures, clusters of glowing blue plants, and thin stalks topped with luminous flower-like shapes. A creature with a cat-like face and long limbs sits on one of the formations. A large cratered planet and smaller spheres float in the dark sky above
    The mysterious extraterrestrial world where strange flora thrives beneath a looming planet at Cica’s Happy Planet, Second Life

    A Thought to Begin

    On the first of April, Cica Ghost opened her newest installation in Second Life, Cica’s Happy Planet. As is often the case with her work, it arrives with a thoughtful quotation, this time from Lynda Barry:

    “We don’t create a fantasy world to escape reality. We create it to be able to stay.”

    It’s a powerful distinction. Barry implies that imagination, art, and fantasy aren’t tools for running away from life, but are instead the coping mechanisms that help us endure and engage with the difficult parts of reality. Perhaps this is exactly why Second Life exists.

    A surreal island with smooth, mound‑like rock formations, teal and brown textures, and giant fantastical creatures climbing and standing on the structures. Sparse alien vegetation grows around the island, and a flying mechanical object hovers over the surrounding water.
    An overhead view of Cica’s Happy Planet, with north at the top. Using midday lighting for clarity

    Before You Visit Cica’s Happy Planet

    Before you begin your exploration, remember to set your lighting to shared environment.. Cica regards the lighting as an essential part of her creation, and it completely transforms the atmosphere.

    A second tip: turn your music on. I rarely listen to region streams, usually preferring ambient sounds, but Cica mentioned to me just yesterday that she hand-picks music to complement the build. She was right, it adds a layer I had been missing. You can even listen to the stream here while you read the rest of this post.

    A surreal digital landscape featuring glowing, translucent tulip‑shaped forms rising from or floating above a reflective pool. Tall, thin stalks support some of the shapes, while others hover freely. In the background, large organic structures resembling alien trees stand beneath a dark sky with a large planet or moon. The word “DANCE” appears faintly on a textured surface.
    Cat’s head shaped blue bubbles rise from the lake at Cica’s Happy Planet

    A Two-Tone Alien Landscape

    Arriving on the planet, your first impression is the darkness of the sky. Below it lies a small lake with bubbles rising from the depths. The scale of everything is massive and the colours are a striking study in contrast: the vibrant cerulean blue of the flora and water set against steep hills of rich, earthy brown.

    The textures here are incredibly tactile and they cover every single surface. As you can see, the brown landscape is striated and deeply ridged, which gives the whole world a hand-sculpted feel. Before you head out, look to your left. There is a sign offering a free flying saucer. It’s a generous gift from Cica. You can use it to fly around, though I chose to explore on foot to catch the smaller details.

    A free alien flying saucer gift at Cica's Happy Planet Second Life
    A free Alien Flying Saucer

    Creatures, Curiosities, and Quiet Surprises

    When exploring a Cica build, I always look for three things: the inhabitants, the flora, and the animations.

    An enormous spider cat watches two aliens at Cica's Happy Planet Second Life
    An enormous spider cat watches two aliens with interest at Cica’s Happy Planet

    While wandering, I found myself thinking of Diomita Maurer, a Second Life resident and blogger who loved Cica’s work and was convinced that Cica hid a cat in every single build. You can see Diomita’s legacy of posts here.

    A whimsical fish-cat at Cica's Happy Planet Second Life
    A whimsical fish-cat next to its home at Cica’s Happy Planet in Second Life

    She would have been delighted with Happy Planet. There is a giant spider cat, and a wonderful fish-cat with shimmering teal scales and a snake-like tail. There is also a very cute, bright blue alien cat with antennae and long black whiskers.

    A bright blue, cat‑like creature with large round eyes, long whiskers, and two antennae stands in a surreal, dimly lit environment filled with abstract plant shapes and textured ground. The scene has a whimsical, dreamlike atmosphere.
    An adorable, whimsical alien cat at Cica’s Happy Planet, Second Life

    This being an alien world, there are also its residents, one-eyed beings who seem perfectly at home among the whimsical oversized plants and strange steep brown hills.

    Three small, cartoon-like alien creatures with textured brown skin, a single large eye, and two antennae stand in a surreal, cratered landscape. Their open mouths give them surprised or startled expressions
    Three whimsical one-eyed aliens with moving eyes at Cica’s Happy Planet Second Life

    Strange Flora and Gentle Imagination

    The plant life is as intriguing as the creatures. There are no obvious flowers, yet there are tall grasses tipped with shapes that resemble iridescent blue butterflies. Perhaps they are flowers, or part of some strange life-cycle.

    In this world, the line between plant and creature feels uncertain. One can easily imagine these delicate forms lifting free and flying away.

    A cluster of glowing, translucent blue butterflies rests on a rough, earthy surface. Their wings have delicate vein patterns and emit a soft, ethereal light, creating a dreamy, otherworldly atmosphere.
    Strange blue grass-like plants with butterflies attached to them. Are they strange flowers, or is this an alien combination of plant and animals?

    Nearby, tree-like structures hold bulbous clusters with a strange, bumpy texture. Are they seed pods, flowers, or perhaps a bizarre virus distorting the stems? Your guess is as good as mine.

    A surreal alien landscape with large blue bulbous plant-like structures growing from dark ground. In the distance stand tall brown cone-shaped formations under a dark sky with scattered cloud-like patterns.
    Strange blue trees. Are they seed pods or flowers on top? – Second Life

    Cica’s Happy Planet – A World to Experience

    What I love most is that Cica’s builds aren’t just art galleries to be photographed in silence. They are interactive. Whether you are buzzing around in a saucer or stopping for a dance, the installation really comes alive when people are in it.

    Dancing for joy at Cica's Happy Planet Second Life
    Dancing for joy at Cica’s Happy Planet in Second Life

    There is something wonderful about just standing still and watching other visitors enjoy themselves.

    A small, textured flying saucer with a transparent dome hovers beside a rocky cliff in a dark, surreal environment. A person is visible inside the craft, and glowing circular rings float beneath it. Tall blue plant-like structures with butterfly-shaped leaves rise on the left side of the scene.
    Cica operating a flying saucer at Cica’s Happy Planet in Second Life

    In a world built as a “coping mechanism” to help us stay in reality, seeing people play together is the best part of the experience.

    A whimsical alien landscape featuring a large, cartoonish one‑eyed creature with two antennae emerging from a blue, saucer‑like structure decorated with round orbs. The background includes other small alien creatures, organic rock formations with holes, tall plant‑like stems with blue leaves, and a large planet in the dark sky
    Cheerrful, whimsical, one eyed alien piloting a flying saucer at Cica’s Happy Planet, Second Life

    Useful Links

    Cica’s Inworld Shop
    Cica Ghost on Marketplace
    Cica’s personal Flickr stream
    Cica Ghost Flickr Group

    Cica Ghost at Engine Room – until 20th April
    Find All my latest posts about Cica Ghost here and the older ones here

    Cica Ghost and Madel Solano at Cica's Happy Planet Second Life
    Cica Ghost in conversation with Mandel Solano while I look on

    Exploring Second Life

    If you’d like to see more places like this, follow my blog, Exploring Second Life, where I share both the grand builds and the smaller “quick stops” that make the grid so rewarding.

    Join us in the Second Life Destinations Facebook Group, where bloggers share new finds.
    Photographers: post your snapshots in the Second Life Destinations Flickr Group.

  • The Outer Garden Annex – Lumen Tide – Second Life

    The Outer Garden Annex – Lumen Tide – Second Life

    Sign for The Outer Garden Annex – Lumen Tide Second Life region
    The sign on display at Lumen Tide

    There are places in Second Life that don’t so much exist as they glow — worlds built from imagination and the quiet shimmer of light. Lumen Tide Second Life, created by Bisou Dexler as part of The Outer Garden Annex, is one of those rare creations.

    The name alone hints at its nature: Lumen, the measure of light, and Tide, the rhythmic pulse of water. Together they suggest a sea where light and darkness move as one — and that’s exactly what you find here.

    Colourful paper star lanterns floating on dark water beneath glowing jellyfish at The Outer Garden Annex – Lumen Tide in Second Life.
    Sitting surrounded by the lanterns with giant jellyfish overhead

    A sea of light and darkness

    Lumen Tide is a world of shallow water so dark it’s almost black, yet everywhere touched by colour. Ripples stretch from east to west, their foamy edges tinged with soft blues and reds, like fragments of sunset caught on the surface. Above the water float vast translucent jellyfish — luminous ghosts drifting between sea and sky, sometimes vanishing back into the depths from which they came. Around them rise tiny lanterns and fireflies in gentle motion, each one a moving point of light in the darkness.

    Boat drifting under glowing jellyfish at Lumen Tide in Second Life
    crowds of moving giant jellyfish fill the sky

    The sky itself is part of the story — near black, with a pale band of light along the horizon. Look east and you’ll see a faint cloud of stardust, perhaps drawn from a NASA nebula, suggesting that the sea below might as well be the sky reflected.

    There’s no path, no clear destination. You wander through the water, ankle deep, guided only by curiosity and light. A few small details — a row of fishing chairs, a boat, a pair of geese, whimsical crabs — anchor you just enough to remind you that this is still a dream made by human hands. Sit, and the world continues to move quietly around you.

    Robot avatar fishing in the waters of Lumen Tide Second Life
    Fishing rod and animations are provided

    Bisou has always been a master of mood, and here he offers something simple yet profound: a visual experience meant to evoke wonder. It’s like a firework display without sound — beauty without noise, designed to make you pause, breathe, and see how light itself can feel alive.

    Colourful paper star lanterns floating on dark water beneath glowing jellyfish at The Outer Garden Annex – Lumen Tide in Second Life.

    Lumen Tide is open only for October, a fleeting world that will fade like the moonlight it captures. Visit while you can, and take a moment to stand still as the light moves around you.

    Visit

    The Outer Garden Annex – Lumen Tide
    Created by Bisou Dexler
    Open to visitors during October only.
    Shared environment recommended:
    Transparent water, Ambient Occlusion, Screen Space Reflections, Mirrors, and Sun/Moon + Projector Shadows enabled.

    If you’d like to see more places like this, follow my blog Exploring Second Life, where I share both the grand builds and the smaller “quick stops” that make the grid so rewarding.

    Join us in the Second Life Destinations Facebook Group, where bloggers share new finds.
    Photographers: share your snapshots in the Second Life Destinations Flickr Group