I read an article in The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/may/28/toxic-pesticide-levels-found-in-tampons-40-times-higher-than-legal-limit-for-water?CMP=share_btn_url Writing that toxic pesticide levels have been found in tampons at levels 40 times higher than the legal limit for drinking water; I decided to make a machinima about this deception of period-safe products harbouring potential agents of toxicity that could lead to cancers. I used the Flamingo motif of both lawn ornament and flamingos in general because they symbolize a none threatening vehicle of joy, calm and balance. But armed with machine guns, loaded with chemicals to spray onto the unsuspecting tampons, they work in stealth to exhibit the fact that one of the most personal acts of menstruation can lead to a toxic life. This embodies the paradox of modern consumerism: we are sold comfort, safety, and hygiene, but receive poison wrapped in pink and yellow packaging. It’s not just an ecological or health critique — it’s existential. It asks: how much of what we trust is quietly engineered to harm us, and who benefits from our unawareness?

A few years ago I did a small oil on canvas painting called “Citrus Red 2”, named after the dye used in the USA since 1959, to colour the skin of oranges orange. Citrus Red 2 is listed by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) as a group 2B carcinogen, a substance “possibly carcinogenic to humans”. It is used to colour the peel and can be used when the peel will not be eaten but when the fruit is used for juice, it cannot be used on the peel. However, they have now decided to phase out the use of Citrus Red 2 dye by the end of 2026 because of potential health problems. I put the Ball-and-stick model of Citrus Red 2 molecule on the skin of the painted orange, it is faintly painted on to hardly notice, you would not know if it was there if I would not have told you, perhaps like the Citrus Red 2 dye. I have created the Citrus orange within Second Life, with Ball-and-stick molecule floating around as well as the painting of the Orange floating about. The below link is where you will find the painting Citrus Red 2. Sounds recorded on the sim from the sim land sounds.

Filmed in Second Life at https://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Rafeiraga/32/105/25. Thank you Chris Craft for The Large Amino Acid Molecule Sounds: 0001__mkb__Chipfork_glassrub02_revisited.wav by mentengkoba — https://freesound.org/s/200265/ — License: Creative Commons 0 , Woman Voice Chorus by MayaTakeda — https://freesound.org/s/716430/ — License: Creative Commons 0

Penumbra wearing Old Woman Avatar textured by eMKa.Heart Hand Gesture by: minette.nova ::minette creations:: Hands and Head Bento Animation Gesture – Heart Shape. Hypodermic Heart giver and sounds by Penumbra Carter Filmed in Second Life at https://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Le%20Monde%20Perdu/142/140/21

This film reimagines the moon as a hidden surveillance apparatus whose rupture unleashes tidal catastrophe. Drawing on histories of global espionage, it stages the collapse of technological certainty and the fantasy of machine omniscience. In line with the call to embrace unpredictability in human–machine relations, the work proposes disorder as a form of resistance and a generative force for transformation. “When the Moon bursts open to reveal hidden surveillance machinery, its collapse unleashes a colossal wave that forces humanity to confront the tidal consequences of secrecy and control.” Filmed in Second Life, Coppelia/203/45/656,Proud%20Ferret/109/147/22 Annimations: D9001-Swim.N by daiz Papp, AD-Rocking_Sit by Abramelin Wolfe, Balancing-With-Arms-Out by Abramelin Wolfe, AD-Silly_Crushed_Sit by Abramelin Wolfe, Sounds:The_Dark_Evil_Code.wav by szuhogyisziszi — https://freesound.org/s/57208/ — License: Creative Commons 0, Lost Souls.mp3 by E_Dragon — https://freesound.org/s/149767/ — License: Attribution 3.0, choir HOC EST ENIM CORPUS MEUM.wav by klankbeeld — https://freesound.org/s/193778/ — License: Attribution 4.0. Props and cleaning done by Penumbra Carter