Monument 08 by Lily & Honglei :: January 25 (Chinese New Year Eve) - February 26, 2009 (end of first month on Lunar Calender) :: Opening Reception and Dance Performance (Winter Blossom by Story House): January 30, 2009; 8:00 pm EST (5:00 pm SLT) :: Land of Illusion, Monument 08, Second Life

Lily & Honglei — the new media artist team from Beijing — invites you to experience a unique installation during the first month of Chinese Ox year. Monument 08 is designed as a visual meditation upon the past and the new year. Using the link provided, participants will immediately find themselves standing inside a giant ancient China’s chariot on the Great Fire Wall, and facing an endless long ladder leading to the heaven. Here, the symbolism is obvious: a Confucius’ chariot implies striving in society and hoping to change the world with their idealistic principles, and persistently follow the footprint of Confucius who “knows the impracticable nature of the time, and yet will be doing them.” The ladder in folk culture usually symbolizes high social status. Audiences are suggested to start from the chariot to “climb up - but be careful! ” one may fall from the clouds down to the ground any second!

But not too bad - audience might land down around an underwater “Crystal Palace,” another part of this virtual installation consisting of relics of a heritage site mimicking the Three Georges Dams area, with scattered paintings and digitized Chinese cutting paper, that allow visitors to take copies with them as a “souvenir.” Or, they might land on the other site in “Land of Illusion,” a Chinese court yard and garden indicating the correlative cosmology, and inviting you to access your inner garden.

About “Land of Illusion” Open Space: The virtual installation takes place in “Land of Illusion” in Second Life, which is an open space for artist collaboration and creativity. The founders, Lily & Honglei, invite artist, scholar, educator to present artworks, individually or institutionally, deliver lecture or set up discussion forum, especially those regarding “freethinking” tradition, folklore tradition and Chinese society & history, in “Land of Illusion.” If you are a Second Life user already, visit the space now.

For more information about how to participate, please go here.