Burnal Equinox: Eyes To The Skies

By Marcel Mosswood

One big event in Second Life has about to begin: The Burnal Equinox. What is Burnal Equinox and how is it held? To know about that I interviewed iSkye Silverweb, Communications Lead at Burn2 and Co-Event Lead for Burnal Equinox. Here is our conversation:

Marcel: What is the Burnal Equinox mission and vision?

iSkye Silverweb: BURN2 is an extension of the Burning Man culture and community into the world of Second Life. It is an officially sanctioned Burning Man Regional, and the only virtual world Regional out of more than 100 Regional groups worldwide.

This unique virtual Regional spreads the culture and Ten Principles of Burning Man year-round in Second Life by holding several events during the year and culminating in an annual major festival of community, art, and fire in the fall, nicknamed "Octoburn," which is a virtual echo of Burning Man itself.

Marcel: What is the aim of this event?

iSkye Silverweb: The aim of the Burnal Equinox event is to bring together creatives to build and create music around a specific theme. This year's Burnal Equinox theme is "Eyes to the Skies", a looking up to the stars - what is out there? Friday we celebrate Yuri's Night, the anniversary of the first human launch into space. The builds you will see around the playa on Deep Hole will reflect various artists' interpretations of this theme.

Marcel: Who is the avatar behind the idea of Burnal Equinox?

iSkye Silverweb: Burnal Equinox was originated organically by the Burn2 planning committee - it was a collective decision, not one of any single avatar. The theme was selected by the committee and then three posters were chosen by the BurningMan 2.0 community to represent the event. The posters are embedded here:

Marcel: Is there a real-life event or history inspiring you to organize this event on SL?

iSkye Silverweb: Burning Man started in 1986 with a group of friends burning a stick man on Baker Beach in San Francisco. Soon after, this became an annual tradition attracting large crowds, and the event was moved to the Black Rock Desert in Nevada.

Today, tens of thousands trek to the dry lake bed and set up camps in a temporary city that disappears without a trace after a week.

The Burn2 community centers all its activities around the Ten Principles of Burning Man.
All events are temporary, and at the end of each event, creatives leave no trace on the virtual playa; everything is cleared off and the playa is back to its pristine dry lake bed state.

Marcel: What is the website of Burn2 in SL?
iSkye Silverweb: Our website is at https://www.burn2.org
The Ten Principles of Burning Man can be found on this page:  https://www.burn2.org/about/the-ten-principles/

Burnal Equinox will be held on 12-14 April 2019
LM: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Burning%20Man-%20Deep%20Hole/143/73/55

Marcel Mosswood

Press Day At Burn2

By Gemma Cleanslate

 I had a wonderful time at Press Day at the Burn2 sims. I met my friend Leondra Larsson, a Ranger and builder  at the entrance and was greeted also by Molly Nakamori, one of the official greeters. The theme this year is Davinci’s Workshop. 

This event is described, ”BURN2 is an extension of the Burning Man festival and community into the world of Second Life. It is an officially sanctioned Burning Man Regional, the only virtual world Regional out of more than 100 Regional groups worldwide, and the only Regional to burn the Man! This unique virtual Regional spreads the culture and Ten Principles of Burning Man year-round in Second Life, culminating in an annual major festival of community, art and fire in the fall - a virtual echo of Burning Man itself.” Many volunteers work year long to put on this event. 

The area in the center this year is filled with the Center Camp which remains mostly in its usual form but is surrounded by the “Man” by Pygar Bu,’‘ The Temple’ by Toady Nakamura, and a lovely home for the Lamplighters. I visited with the Lamplighters for a while and watched them perform before I joined in. iSkye Silverweb, who is a lead for the event distracted me from my purpose and I spent time there playing instead of working! LOL .I did find out that the Lamplighters will be doing two processions a day after the opening Saturday morning at 10am slt where you will see them perform. They will be at the burning of the Man and the next day, The Temple next weekend.

I was able to take a tour of the sims in a flying machine. As I flew over in a device that is reminiscent of Davinci’s famous drawing I saw so many marvelous plots that made me feel I was back in the day of the artist. You can catch this traveling machine near the Deparment of Mutant Vehicles where you can also find some fun machines to travel along the roadways. I visited the DJ Stage where there will be parties every day during the event. I did see Toady sitting in the temple enjoying her work. She was happy to build the temple but told me that iSkye made the Da Vinci Printing Press/Censer where you can leave messages to be read while the temple burns. iSkye spent many hours preparing it Toady said. 

I also ran into some friends whose parcels I will be visiting during the week and will write about. I stopped to pick up some gifts at the gift area you will see near the entrance so don’t miss those. The greeters have a whole backpack of goodies for you too. Here is the entrance to get you started. Have fun and plan to visit often during the week.

 http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Burning%20Man-%20Deep%20Hole/164/33/25

 Gemma Cleanslate

Press Day at Burn2 "Carnival of Mirrors"

By Gemma Cleanslate

The Burn2 Carnival of Mirrors opened its doors to the press Friday and I was glad to get a preview of it. Burn2 is always a busy Second Life event and very crowded at times. So it is a treat be able to dash around to see all the marvelous builds that creators have been working on for weeks. There will be parties all day at the stages too starting from the opening October 17. 

Since I used to be a ranger I know all the work that goes into the preparation . The sims must be set up with the roads and plots. The Man has to be created to be seen from all sides so the burning will be visible from a distance in case the nearby sims are full as they usually are. The Temple also takes precedence over other plots and burns the day after the Man. 

To really understand this event, it is good to check out the website that will tell you the history of the real Burning Man every year in Nevada USA. http://burningman.org/  It is a huge event drawing visitors from all over the country and the world. Burn2 has a history in Second Life too for the past years involving many Lindens http://burn2.org/burn2-history . “This year’s theme is about mirrors and masks, mazes and merger. It will be a kind of magic show that takes the form of an old-­fashioned carnival. This Carnival of Mirrors asks three essential questions: within our media­-saturated world, where products and people, consumption and communion morph into an endlessly diverting spectacle, who is the trickster, who is being tricked, and how might we discover who we really are? “ Those words were for the creators and their designs. 

 On arrival I was greeted at the entrance and offered my press kit of information. I picked up some nice freebies just outside the tent. Don’t miss them. I took off to view the Man and there he was tall and straight waiting to burn. My next visit was to the Temple which is absolutely gorgeous. It was built by Toady Nakamura and so fits the theme. I checked out the Center Camp where many events and parties take place and it looks very comfortable as usual. There is another stage also where parties will take place .

I ran into Yman Juran riding through. Her CHANGHIGH SISTERS FIRESHOW of Light, Life and Love will be performing Saturday the 17th at 1:00pm slt and again at the same time on saturday the 24th. The show fits the theme so well,Carnival of Mirrors .Try to see it. There are invited and juried artists who have lovely plots and I will write about them during the week.here is the list Juried and Invited Artists: Johannes1977 Resident, Ilianexsi Sojourner, Marianne McCann, Daark Gothly, Kerrryth Tarantal, Caro Fayray, Galatea Gothly, Secret  Rage, emilia Avindar, Attica Bekkers ,Veleda Lorakeet, Alesha Hax, Jce Emoto, Leondra Larsson, iSkye Silverweb, Quinny Placebo...Some familiar names and some new. 

The Playa looks wonderful from all directions. The street signs are topped by jaunty top hats or masks . The Lamplighters will pass along the roads daily to light the lamps and  Skye Silverweb told me “ and something special this year with Lamplighters:  I should mention...on the 25th which is Temple Burn day, the Lamplighters will have a special procession 3 times that day, 1 hour before each burn, and we will feature a Fire Dance in Center Camp for about 10 minutes as part of our processions.  Processions at 5am, 11am and 5pm.” I am glad to hear that . I could never seem to make the lamplighters procession  last year because of the time it was held and it is a favorite of mine. 

A wonderful way to get an overview of the Playa, all six sims, is to hop on the balloon tour that starts not too far from the entrance and is visible . I stopped and looked at the cute circus tent of Coяᴘᴛєᴅᴅʏ Aяᴀωɴ (corpteddy) who is in the burn2 for the first time. Make sure you look around for gifts as you pass through the builds. Many of the artists leave items for you . I picked up a windturbine at corpteddy’s site . The greeters at the gate have a whole back pack of goodies . The BURN2 Carnival of Mirrors opens to the public at 12:00pm SLT  October 17 and will be kicked off by a Lamplighters procession. You have a whole a whole week to visit and enjoy before the Man burns and the next day the temple. The schedule will be found on the website above . Here is the gate.  More to come.

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Burning%20Man-%20Deep%20Hole/153/245

 
Gemma Cleanslate