“The Rings: Homo Sapiens V2.0″ is a virtual protest-rock-opera, currently being staged in Second Life. I went to check it out on Friday, and left suitably impressed by the huge amount of work that has obviously gone into this project. Musicians, builders and performers from all over the world have come together under the banner of the Cybernetic Art Research Project (C.A.R.P) for this exploration of some of our world’s most pressing social issues: poverty, homelessness, war and environmental degredation, through a series of spectacularly illustrated musical tableaux.

The idea is that faced with multiple crises, the cultural exchange of the metaverse (the international network open to all) represents a possible way to come together to develop shared solutions. As Junivers Stockholm, composer and director, says: “For a long time I have believed in the potential of the Metaverse to connect people in new and powerful ways: to take humanity to a future of cooperation instead of competition. Music has the power to draw people in to work on the answers to the major questions of our time.”

Go see for yourself if you can. The rapid scene and costume changes hammered my modest NVIDIA 8500GT and wireless connection down to the minimum graphics settings, but it was a very interesting and enjoyable experience nonetheless. You can catch it on Fridays and Sundays at 2pm SLT (10pm GMT or 11pm CET). After Sunday performances there will also be discussion circles available on some of the issues raised, with campaign groups active in Second Life.

The Rings is staged at Artspace Diabolus, NMC Labs. SLURL: http://slurl.com/secondlife/NMC Labs/110/109/663/