Design X Motion 2021

NODE FORUM TITLES

NODE Forum is a festival that celebrates culture, arts and technology. It is a place for open-minded exchange and critical discourse on an equal level.

The titles follow a Gestaltian journey of code from its unstructured roots to a place of structured familiarity. The forms combine current day computational aesthetics with archaic data visualisation concepts to become an invitation to imagination. This is a meditation upon the liminal yet limitless nature of code.

In short, this is information in formation.

Process

Data as we know it today is powered by silicon based technologies. It is amazing how the ether of this data is based on something like sand - something that represents time and cannot be contained. It transforms into containers of information that aid our communication. This idea of extracting an element from chaos and encoding it to become something that is greater than the sum of its parts is at the core of the designs. The very early forms of encoding ranging from Jacquard punch cards to Yakama time balls informed the archaic yet manufactured aesthetic. Portraying data in a Rembrandt-esque warmth is a reminder that however binary it might seem today, the roots of this engine are far more human. In the sequence, the totemic molecules come together to lead into the unknown. They are the formation to reveal new knowledge and illuminate the dark.

Explorations

During the initial stages, a lot of forms were explored. These are a few select explorations from the entire process.

EXISTENCE INTERFACE DESIGN

'Existence' is a short film directed by Siddhartha Valluri that explores the process of creation through architectural metaphors. I had the pleasure to help design interfaces that reflect the symbolic narrative and internal processes of the architecture in the film. Combining architectural blueprints and sacred geometry, I designed a 2D-3D hybrid procedural system that took cues from the existing concept design for the film.

LUX LUNARIS

Code named Lux Lunaris, this tribute vignette is inspired from writer Jeff Lemire's best works and dives into its bizarre and fractured mythos. It is a journey through death, doubt and delirium which culminates in symbolic rebirth.