"There was a boat" -- Beautiful Memorial to a Lost Community Site in Second Life

"There was a boat" is a gorgeous and melancholy machinima shot during the closing of a community space in Second Life -- specifically, a large boat in the China sim [SLURL], which had become a hangout for many Residents. When the owner decided to replace the boat with a new build, rather than simply delete it, he opted to set it on fire. One community member, Hooqiqi Luik, who directed this machinima and captured the scene, tells me what happened next:

there was a boat from Hooqiqi Luik on Vimeo

"At first I thought it would be a crazy party, dancing in the fire and laughing on the chaos," as he puts it to me. "But, at the moment I saw the hurting boat falling apart, sinking... tears filled up in my eyes. It was the moment the truth unfolded: it's real. My tears were real, the pain is real, the love is real, and our passion for life is real."

"The boat kept burning for a month before it disappeared under water."

After the boat was gone, Luik and the China community found a new location to call their virtual hearth and third place, but his machinima is testimony to his realization, when the boat began burning.

"We always have to leave the past behind," as Hooqiqi Luik puts it, "keep moving on while carrying everything inside us, but keep moving on."

Comments

[Ignatius Onomatopoeia]

Something struck me while watching this. When Feldspar Epstein first wrote about why those under 25 don't take to SL, we scratched our heads and wondered why. Could one reason be that they don't have a sufficiently tragic view of life?

So much of the best work in SL, like this piece or the work of Bryn Oh, have a sad "edge" to them. My generally perky students don't "get it." Sigh...even an old fart like me, who missed the hippie party and grew up with the Ramones and mid-70s Bowie, "gets it."

Maybe "these kids today" will get it after the first layoff.

[Alicia Chenaux]

Everyday we hear from people who complain constantly about Second Life, Linden Lab, and everything associated with it. They come in and they find nothing but flaws.

Then someone creates art. That is louder to me than a million complaints.

[Astons]

great post! i certainly hope this would drew more attention on the Chinese community within Secondlife.

and a few fact I would like to point out:
Hooqiqi is a female av, and she is the one with a invisible wing in the video..
the SLURL is poining to a cloth shop, the place we working on it to replace the boat at http://slurl.com/secondlife/China/128/128/1994

thx hamlet
: )

[brinda allen]

Thank you...such a beautifull piece.
I've sat in tears through it several times...
maybe because I am old.

[teknoloji]

Awesome post. I watched video.

thank you