A Ripple in Second Life

I received an invitation from Douglas Story to go visit the new build he and his partner Desdemona Enfield have created with the music of March MacBain (real life composer Emily Wilkins), so I did (and dragged Ahuva along with me). You might remember Douglas and Desdemona from the fabulous DynaFleur installation they created with Dizzy Banjo and Poid Mahovlich.

I'll let Douglas' words give a brief explanation of Ripple:

Ripple is composed of approximately 600 primitive objects orderly arranged in an architectural fashion, which are coated in moving video; video that changes in a fluid, rippling fashion in response to the visitor's touch, accompanied by a wave of specially crafted audio.

When you arrive at Ripple you are presented with a selection of panels to touch - your selection will alter the landscape around you. Walking through this landscape triggers something special so try to keep your eyes on the tower without tripping. :) Inside the tower you'll find a control panel which allows you to design the visual effects around you. You can just click on the walls which will change the display as well, the control panel makes it possible for you to change a number of other variables. We also found floating poses, a dance ball and seating around the perimeter.

This is a V1 build so even though we're talking streaming media you don't have to be in V2 to see it. If you have any difficulty seeing the videos just make sure your "Streaming Video" is enabled and turn your sound up so that the "sonic environment" has the prominence it deserves.

I enjoyed Ripple a lot but I kept thinking how wonderful a venue it would be for musicians such as Fricker Fracker, Cypress Rosewood or MoShang Zhao. If I'm offending the artists I apologize but I can imagine Cypress doing an improvised composition while the audience contributed with changes to the videos. Ahuva would be comfortable on the couch during that concert. :)

There will be an opening reception with the artists on Saturday July 3 at 10:00 SLT. I encourage you to go explore another terrific addition to the Second Life landscape.