Mourningstar

Now open at LEA11 is Mourningstar, an immersive installation by Anahera (Fox Nacht), that, as she says, is an "exploration of the ideas of the fallen angel, the vengeful god, and the diverse perceptions of Lucifer in various religious and social traditions ... A virtual pilgrimage, proposing an alternate mythology." The artwork was inspired in large part by John Milton's Paradise Lost and Gustave Doré's illustrations, and the sim's engraving-influenced textures spring to life more vividly without advanced lighting model enabled.

Visitors begin their journey by traveling along a long celestial walkway, and will then find themselves abruptly cast to the ground by the hand of God (look overhead at the end of the walkway), plummeting far below to the main part of the build. There, one lands amid a circle of broken angel wings, and can then set out on two different paths that lead to four destinations. Coupled with the artwork in this hazy, monochromatic world is a good deal of educational material around the Victorian notion of a romanticized Lucifer, a heroic figure who had championed free will against despotic power.

One will find quotes (and even links to entire books) by William Godwin, William Blake, John Milton, Lord Byron, Ruben Van Luijk, and images of other writers, including John Keats, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Mary Shelley and Percy Blake Shelley. It's best explored on foot, and it all inspires further reading and intellectual investigation. Mourningstar will remain on display through June.