High heart: Robin Moore

I have seen men in real life who so long deceived others
that at last their true nature could not reveal itself
In every man there is something which to a certain degree
prevents him from becoming perfectly transparent to himself;
and this may be the case in so high a degree,
he may be so inexplicably woven into relationships of life
which extend far beyond himself that he almost cannot reveal himself.
But he who cannot reveal himself cannot love,
and he who cannot love is the most unhappy man of all.

The Seriousness of Making Choices,  Soren Kierkegaard

Worthwhile things are always difficult, aren't they? Or - not difficult. Hard work. Fun, rewarding, absorbing, but distinctly work, not play. A serious, if joyful, business.

Relationships fall into those two categories, and as ever, SL heightens the gulf between. 

To play In SL - with reality, identity, other people's feelings - is so easy most of us have done it one way or another. To make something really work in SL takes quite the opposite.  Uneasiness?

Robin Moore's new sculpture, due to be unveiled at the Nordan Gallery next month, is a symphony to The Relationship. He developed it in a LEA sandbox; after many happy months working on the IBM sims, I wondered how his relations with his new neighbours are working out. Buddies, or budding rivals?

Robin Moore: I think it´s almost the same as before but it´s like here, or now, we are being taken more serious. I have learned from many great people or builders. I haven't done anything together with any of them yet, but I have learned form some and been inspired of some too. There will always be some rivalry but I make my ideas, and I try to stay out of competitions.

Relation Tower is, well, a towering stack of Lincoln Logs, if only you could only get those pesky Lincoln Logs to stand vertical without resorting to superglue. *shakes fist at gravity and small boys*
The tower is deceptively simple from a distance. Just like other people's partnerships.
Get a bit closer.

There is no superglue holding this thing together. Far from it. many of the joints are 'tension points' - classic argument-starters, like too many shoes, and an empty cash register.

At ground level, one of the tower's feet rests on a carrot, tantalizingly placed in a rabbit cage. ; on the opposite site, a cannon sits primed and ready to blow it all away,


 ...while another corner of the foundation sits in a bath where pirhanas jump after dollar bills. The sand dune doesn't inspire a lot of confidence, either.

Risk and trust and adventure. Sound familiar?
Perhaps from the top, you can see what's coming. Perhaps it affords a sense of security that those milling around the base, contemplating the plunge, will never experience. A chance to see the bigger picture. There's a ladder that animates the visitor to the top, but one look at that soapy bath, and the hungry rabbit, makes me think twice before setting out - what if I should fall?
Robin Moore: I will catch you :-)

Who wouldn't take a chance on that.
The top of the tower, like a shipwreck's raft, balances perilously on balloons. If you think you can cope with this fragile but level playing field, think again. A rusty nail swings around the deck, ready to crash the party.

At ground level, in the crazy outbuilding (a man's shed is his castle) you can see a line drawing of the build, which has been more than a year in the making. Hugging the heart at the pinnacle of the build, Robin described the concept.

Robin Moore: The question is will love last? will it fly away or collapse? can you balance forever? There are stones on the road - traps, like the baby trap, the hats and shoes, the cash register is empty, there is a piranha. But if we hold together to the all enveloping love, we will hold stand.

Back on the relative terra firma of the LEA sandbox, Robin mused on the number of 'relationship builds' he's made, like Playground of Love.
Robin Moore: Yeah, lately the last two years it has been a theme, I don´t know why. I have a wonderful RL relation, but that´s maybe because we have worked on it. I just love to think that even though many things can make your relation tough, from the inside and also from the outside, if you stick to the real love you can make it stand :-).
The Relation Tower opens at Nordan at the end of November.