Walking by Moonlight in Second Life

And if you’re ever feeling lonely just look at the moon,
Someone, somewhere is looking right at it too.

So goes the little verse which has found its way into all corners of the Internet over the last few years, and now frames Cica Ghost’s latest full region installation, Moonlight, which opened on Thursday, April 14th, replacing Strawberryland (which you can read about here).

This is another wonderfully evocative piece guaranteed to delight the eye and tickle the imagination. Sandwiched between teal sea and sky upon a rocky island thatched with tall stalks of wind-blown grass, sits a quintet of Cica’s quirky narrow houses. Immediately recognisable, they give an instant feeling of familiarity to admirers of Cica’s work, together with a suggestion of continuity with some of her earlier pieces.

This is a place wrapped in magic: a crescent Moon reclines overhead, eyes closed as if asleep, kept company by a little gathering of pulsating stars which add their light to the landscape below.

Nor is the Moon the only one caught in slumber: across the rooftops of the houses stand night-gowned figures, eyes closed, their presence apparently the result of sleepwalking. Below them, stardust drifts over the surrounding grass and between the houses, perhaps the cause of all this slumber.

While the little verse tells us that when lonely, we need only look at the Moon and know we’re sharing the view with another, somewhere, one little girl has taken things a step further. She has managed to cross the gap between her rooftop and the Moon, and now sits upon his chin as he sleeps, her head bowed even as her faithful cat attempts to gain her attention.

The cat appears to be one of only two inhabitants of the island to be awake; the other being a gangly giraffe ambling incongruously allow the shoreline, somnambulant residents oblivious to its presence.

Should you find the stardust drifting through the region causes a little drowsiness, or if exploring the hamlet and the surrounding landscape leaves you a little tired, you can always hop onto one of the beds which drift through the air, some perhaps escaped from the houses after their erstwhile occupants found their way to the rooftops. With both sitting and reclined poses, the beds offer a relaxing way to drift across the landscape and enjoy all it has to offer.

I’ve always enjoyed filming Cica’s work, and while time doesn’t always permit me the luxury of doing so, Moonlight brought to mind the lyrics of Rogers and Hart’s 1934 song Blue Moon, together with Cybill Shepherd’s rendition of the song from 1985. So once that was in my head, I had to put a little film together. I hope you enjoy it :).

SLurl Details

• Moonlight (Rated: Moderate)