North (above)

Above sea level, Syncretia North houses the Citrinitas alchemical power plant which receives the water of the Black Mountain, which has been cycled through the Syncretia/Cappadocia fairy chimneys, and purifies it into gold water.

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The water is transmitted from a great height by means of a number of pipes, to land in the preliminary purification facility at Cappadocia. Here the initial process is undertaken through the entirely natural purifying properties of rocks through which the water is rapid cycled at great speed by means of a complex piping system which connects the fairy chimneys. These chimneys have been inhabited in olden days by ancient virtual tribes. No one knows what happened to these people, however it is believed that their mystical powers are still contained within the golden artifacts that they left on the tops of these bizarre formations and it is this power which gives the chimneys their purifying properties.

Cappadocia, a bolt of lightning strikes through the autumnal sunset illuminating the fairy chimneys.

The water begins its long journey westwards. During these initial stages it is still transparent, invisible inside the wireframe pipes.

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Citrinitas, The Alchemical Power Plant/Refinery: After the preliminary purification the water is piped across the Great Northern Plain of Syncretia through the agency of an elaborate piping system. During its sojourn the water undergoes further cleansing as can be readily observed through the change of density in the pipes themselves. Some of the mystical powers of the lost virtual tribe is carried along, changing the pipes themselves into gilded wireframes, while at other places the alchemical process already kicks in at this interim stage, coloring the water into a muddy yellow. Still at other sections the water is invisible, since it has become too pure to be beheld with the naked eye.

The actual transformation process begins when the water is flown into the conical alchemical vessels, where it is gently heated to a near boiling point. From here the water is piped into two gigantic containers, in which two rusted Hobo trucks undergo a very slow cycle of transformation into gold.

An unexpected by-product of the system is its extraordinary rejuvenation powers. Hence, two spherical treatment terminals have been set up, in which avatars can reap the benefits of alchemical transformation as well.

Further areas of interest on the northern shore include Hack’s antenna, with which we can receive BBC-world and a deadly nuke planted dead center on the concrete halfway between Cappadocia and Citrinitas, the Gothic Thorn Bush plantation, the Cortech Brain Jar, designed by Total Chastity, a steampunk clock designed by Thomus Keen and the Hobo winch at the furthest end of the pier, to the east.

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Please note that the north shore of Syncretia is subject to highly inclement weather conditions, due to the personal proclivities of Alpha Auer, who has a marked preference for rain, storm and snow over sunlight.



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About

Syncretia, an island located in the virtual world of Second Life®, comprises a series of narrative/play installations, which can also be considered as “artistic environments”. Thus, the architecture of Syncretia should be seen as an endeavor for providing a context for play, storytelling and metaphor.

Thus, some of what can be experienced and seen at Syncretia has been added into the environment by friends and such additions have been kept in situ since the island is considered to be a living warm entity that welcomes such interventions. Not an artistic object to be examined as one such, but instead an immersive location for a “Second Life” to fully be lived and participated in. Following up on the theme of the integration of objects created by others, metanomic activity is also brought into play through the integration of objects both found and purchased in Second Life. Thus, Syncretia can also be viewed as a virtual experiment in objet trouvé or readymade art.

A concerned effort has been made by to integrate Syncretia both with the geography as well as the climate of Second Life. Thus, the island has not been conceived of as an artistic abstraction, superimposed in defiance of the virtual terrain upon which it has been rezzed but instead very much as a natural extension of the virtual geography itself. Terraforming, which can be considered as the virtual re-incarnation of Land Art, constitutes the primary tool of a building system which attempts to take advantage of vertical space through the usage of geographical strata. While a considerable part of Syncretia is submerged under the ocean of Second Life, much else makes usage of a steep central mountain as a structural backbone into which huge cantilevered platforms have been embedded, raising some parts of Syncretia high above water levels. There are 4 distinct domains, defined by compass directions, although thought has been given to creating transitional spaces between these as well. Climate is brought into play whereby these domains have their intrinsic climactic properties, created through the implementation of various scripted weather systems.