Tears in Rain

In announcing the opening of Noke Yuitza's Tears in Rain, the Linden Endowment for the Arts blog said that the "retrofuturist cyberpunk exploration is ready for your mirrorshaded oculation," which sort of hit the nail on the head. The installation was inspired by a book of the same name by Spanish author Rosa Montero, in which a "replicant" (a sort of human clone with a maximum ten year lifespan) begins to investigate why other replicants are mysteriously dying throughout a futuristic Madrid in 2109. I haven't read the book, and I sensed as I explored Yuitza's artwork that my experience would be greatly enhanced if I did so.

Even without the literary context (and my inability to decipher the Spanish texts found throughout the space), I still enjoyed viewing the build. Be sure to see all three main levels—I found it a challenge to make sure I had actually visited everything, as the intensity of the material can be a little bewildering and was never certain I had seen all the teleport options. Also, the region doesn't seem to have default windlight settings, so do heed the messages as you arrive on the appropriate basic settings for viewing the installation.

Tears in Rain actually extends beyond the boundaries of LEA10 (with LEA10 being the "neural center") to other areas of the Second Life grid—you can read more about the concept on the artist's blog.