Words, images, music: a story speaks in Second Life

Coma: I Can’t Speak!, is a collaborative installation now open at the Black Label Exhibitions Corner. Conceived and produced by Storie’S Helendale (GlitterPrincess Destiny) with the support of Kristine Blackladder, AnnaFrancesca, Monique Helendale and models  Fritz Citron, Aleks Piers and  Terrygold, coma: I Can’t Speak! uses images and a poem, read out over the audio stream, to convey a story.

The arrival point offers instructions on how to enjoy the exhibition to the fullest. first among these is the suggestion you run the viewer with the graphics quality slider set to Ultra; however, I’d respectfully suggest that it’s more important that you are able to have ALM enabled, and Shadows set to Sun/Moon + Projectors, so I’d suggest adjusting your viewer to whatever settings work best for you to achieve the latter (including cutting back on the draw distance, if this further helps with frame rates). Do make sure you enable the audio stream as well, this is an essential part of the piece.

Once you’re set, step through the scrolling image to enter the installation proper – preferably during the break between playbacks of the music. This will allow you time to collect a copy of the poem from jut inside the entrance.

The poem is read by Storie’S Helendale over a soulful, piano / cello piece, the story unfolding in images around the walls, running from the left as you enter. The images are beautifully presented; muted tones set against a black background, projected lighting framing them perfectly.

To fully appreciate both poem and images, they must be taken together; their relationship entirely symbiotic, flowing and intertwined, emotional resonance ebbing and flowing between them and, ultimately, surrounding the observer.

And what is the story being told? That is something I’m not about to reveal; spoilers never sit well. All I will say is that the story here – to me at least – is layered, and you might find your interpretation flexing and changing as the poem unfolds and you move from image to image, or as you examine the images sans words while the music plays on, or again while the poem is again read. Love, loss, hope, regret, fear, longing, all seem to be threads of narrative waiting for the listener / observer to catch.

And I do recommend remaining to hear the poem at least twice, and taking the time to appreciate the images whilst just the music is playing. You might be surprised at how your interpretation might reshape itself as you follow the various threads of narrative.

I’m not sure how long Coma: I Can’t Speak! will run, although it only opened on December 23rd, 2015, so I would anticipate it being available for a while. And I most certainly do recommend it for viewing.

SLurl Details

• Coma: I Can’t Speak! Black Label Exhibitions Corner (Rated: Moderate)