Dead Fall

 Three days in Autumn throw up some contrasting ways to think about the spirit world. Halloween kicks things off - it is the most widely publicized and also perhaps the most disagreeable of the three events, having been reduced by its secular, money-making possibilities to a world-wide rigmarole of ghoulish gore, with a lot of sugar and spite thrown into the mix. In Catholic countries, the morning after has a very different feel.  November 1 is the day when the cemeteries are bright with potted plants and bouquets, as people remember their loved ones en masse. The atmosphere in the graveyards of Europe where this holiday persists is generally serene, neither somber nor spectacular, just a time of quiet recollection and resignation, with flowers - and like Mother's Day, it's the time when florists finally get back into the black. 

But then comes November 2, the Day of the Dead. Not to be confused with either of the other two events, The Day of the Dead has its origins in Aztec traditions, particularly the figure of Chicunamictlan, the Aztec queen of the underworld. Its trappings are unique, and beautifully portrayed by Nyx Breen in Opensim.

Hectic, optimistic, passionate and wildly colorful, this is the festival that Nyx Breen has brought to life with the installation called 'Dreams of the Dead - Suenos de Muertos' on his new region, Immersive,  which is part of the Pangea Festival of Art and Culture.

Opening party at 'Dreams of the Dead' on Pangea grid

The relationship between artists and the Day of the Dead is a long, fraught, and fruitful one. Made of paint and plastic and papier mache, the elegant skull or  'calavera catrina'  - the name was coined by Diego Rivera - is central to the visual identity of the Día de los Muertos in Mexico and around the world. It traces its modern origins back to this drawing by Jose Guadalupe Posada, an illustrator and engraver living at the turn of the 20th Century.  

'calavera catrina' from c. 1910

It was a dig at his wealthy co-nationals who affected European fashions, while buying into the the underlying national treasure-house of pre-Columbian tradition. Though Posada died in obscurity his influence on the culture lives on, thanks to a long line of scholarly works and millions of skully masks and painted faces.

Devolucion

Move around the build if you dare! and experience the full effect of Nyx's vision. At ground level you will find 'Devolucion'. Return with refund?  Watch out, things get hot down here, not to mention the encompassing spheres that will run you down if you aren't careful. 

Paseo

Jump on the teleport pad and move over to Paseo where the skulls - stacked into something between an altar and a tower  - peer down over a vertical cityscape. Ghostly shapes float by, formed of a confetti-like texture, a symbol of purity and grief. 

But grief is probably the smallest sensation in this overwhelming composition of color and movement. Everything from fireworks to tickertape to chocolate fountains seems to be going on in one place. Vibrant to the point of bursting, this is a journey into a world that is far from dead, and celebrates eternal circle of life in the wildest possible terms.

Immersive opened on November 11, 2022, but will remain open for several more months, enjoy it for yourself.

HG Address pangeagrid.de:8002:Immersive