The Machine

Now open and continuing through the month of November, as part of the LEA Full Sim Art Series, is The Machine by Lilia Artis and Moeuhane Sandalwood. Visitors enter a space in which the inhabitants believe they have created the perfect world:

    We have solved all our problems. Thanks to our ingenuity.
    We have cured all illnesses. Thanks to our technical savvy.
    We have cheated death. Thanks to our code.
    We invented the machine.
    The only thing left to do:
    Keep the machine running that keeps us running.

As the creators explain, "The creatures have created a perfectly functioning world. They live in the ever present. As a sound community. With joined minds and spirits. Interconnected. Completely. They run the machine – and are run by the machine. They are the machine. The peak of innovation. The end of evolution. Their creation. They are a society without memory. Their history a mere shadow. Because there is no need to remember. Why remember what is of no value. They are perfect." The top level of the build, where visitors arrive (top image), represents this utopian environment, where the citizens and the machine are interconnected. But underneath this (subsequent images, going down) lies a past, and visitors can head below to discover what it is and how it relates to this new civilization. (Some of the entrances to the three levels below aren't easy to spot at first—just look for openings in the floor.)

Lurking at the bottom of it all is a dark, abandoned world (lowest image), and one that we might recognize as our own, although in great decay. "What if a society sets progress through technology as their top priority? Perfection above everything else?" pose Lilia and Moeuhane. Lilia tells me, "We did the planning together, the idea, then Moe set up the grand layout and I concentrated on making the textures, but of course it also was a mix, meaning him doing textures too and me building up things. We really collaborated with every step." The notecard you'll receive as you arrive will guide you through the build with additional information.