The Inevitability of Fate

Many Second Life artists have created amazing spaces—places of wonderment that aren't possible in the real world and that could only be conceived in a virtual environment. But few have created artwork as personal and poignant as that of Rose Borchovski, whose recent installation at Two Fish, The Inevitability of Fate, invites us to confront the perils of children and families affected by war.

On the surface, The Inevitability of Fate tells the story of Angry Beth and Lot—a grandmother and her eight year old granddaughter—whose vulnerable lives are shattered by forces beyond their control. Although the artwork invokes a specific time—the sim is wrapped with the names of Dutch children who died in World War II (and about whom you can learn by entering their names at the Joods Monument, a digital monument to the Jewish community in the Netherlands)—there are, as Rose says, many Beths and Lots in other wars, including those ongoing now.

If that all sounds so awfully heavy that you might be disinclined the visit the sim, please don't be. It's a brilliant work that's also filled with touches of humor and playfulness—although these in many ways add to the poignancy of the experience. We do realize that in many cases the lighthearted play is a reflection of an unfulfilled childhood, memories of times gone by that cannot be recaptured, but one cannot help but smile once in a while at the delightful and unexpected results. Click on the yellow tears throughout the sim—they're poseballs—and look out for local teleports as well. You'll pick up some fun little freebie things as you explore, too.

The Inevitability of Fate is a mostly-mesh build, gorgeously rendered, and is imbued with Rose's masterful sense of physical depth that treats the sim almost as a theatrical stage. (Click on these images to zoom in, and I'll post some to my flickr stream.) Kudos are due to Caer Balogh, the brilliant scripter whose work is seen everywhere in the sim. If you'd like to learn more about Rose and her work, I recommend a recent interview by Simba Schumann posted on the Arte Libera blog.