"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, please go to Participation page.

Monument 08: Lily & Honglei, the new media artist team from Beijing, invites you to experience a unique installation exhibition in Second Life - "Monument 08," a visual meditation upon the past and the new year.
Location: Monument 08 in "Land of Illusion"
Exhibition Dates: Jan.26 (Chinese New Year) - Feb.26, 2009
Opening: 9PM EST or 6PM (SLT) Jan.30, 2009, reception with live dance performance Winter Blossom by Story House group.

[Img]http://lilyhonglei.com/monument08_small1.png[/Img]
[Img]http://lilyhonglei.com/monument08_small2.png[/Img]

Using link provided, audience will find themselves immediately standing inside a giant chariot in ancient Chinese style on the Great Fire Wall; here, it specifically refers to the one driven by Confucius when traveling around China for his political pursuit. From the heaven, Chariots, Cloud Ladders, are falling; under the water, treasure of old-time are sinking … The moment is frozen, in the past or unknown future, shaped into the monument 08 …

In the chariot, touching a "teleporter," a device enables transport between locations in Second Life, one will be suggested to go to the underwater city for visiting a virtual installation. It consists of paintings and the relic of Crystal Palace. The virtual landscape of [em]Crystal Palace[/em] mimics the Three Georges Dams area, where heritage sites have become submerged, lost, just like our old paintings, full of memories, legends of yesterday, scattered, and disappeared under the horizon …

In the States, a new year has come; on lunar calender, the Ox year is falling. What will it imply? We invite you for a visual meditation, to be alert, to access your inner garden.