Participants in Second Life — a large, user-built, 3D online society — created a virtual "Burning Man" that existed concurrently with the real-world event:
All the freeform creativity and dreamy partying — just without the sunburns, or long lines at the portapotty. In an online tribute to the legendary Burning Man arts festival held every Labor Day weekend in the Black Rock desert, Second Life opened up two new simulators (about 32 acres of virtual land), and let the residents go wild.[R]esidents immediately converged on Burning Life, held in the Mauve and Chartreuse simulators, throwing up fantastic sculptures and structures. Pyramids of giant monkeys! The statue of a torch-bearing goddess! An electronica-themed nightclub for raving into the wee hours! Elf-bearing dirigibles, pagan art shrines, kinetic horse sculptures, solar system mobiles, and of course, the bonfire incineration of the Burning Life effigy itself. Everything seemed possible, and usually was — right up until September 2nd, that is, when the simulator territories were returned to normal use.
Link, Discuss (thanks, Charlie O'Donovan!)
