12-BIT ALCHEMY
The project 12-BIT ALCHEMY deals with the ongoing transformation and evolution of digital matter. At its core, it investigates the demand to adapt to existing configurations based upon an ever-changing subjective need, which seems to be an exclusive and necessary element of creative exploration. In order to explore and represent this phenomenon in the form of a creative as well as visual process, 12-BIT ALCHEMY evolved into new shapes and colors, combining real-time procedures and pre-rendered computer graphics and forming them into ever-changing landscapes.
The design process behind 12-BIT ALCHEMY aims to create chain reactions of different data containers, which were generated across multiple production steps. The corresponding method is called deferred simulation in reference to the advanced technology of deferred rendering. By merging diverse digital procedures, this project continuously aims to portray the desire for computational, yet visual revelations. Commissioned by Fiber Festival 2017 and exhibited at Prima Materia,
12-BIT ALCHEMY shows a process of adjustment and iteration, which is woven into every form of creation. To investigate a material that primarily resonates within the researcher himself seems to be a highly intrinsic feature of human behavior. Thus, the work shows a different kind of reflection on the matter in a visual language.
SOFTWARE
12-BIT ALCHEMY was defined by using more than sixty different materials and a substance designer in order to develop a surreal mixture of stone, snow like surface and ice. Those materials were then applied to different crystals and rendered in C4D eac. By using Octane as a primary renderer, image data could be generated that describes the geometric and material attributes of the object – such as UV coordinates, 3D positions, normals, ambient occlusion or material ID. By loading those data sets into a realtime vvvv application, Studio Christian Mio Loclair was able to distort and deconstruct the rendered images based upon their physical characteristics. Therefore, through 12-BIT ALCHEMY, a digital pseudo simulation of chemical reactions for each pixel could be developed.
The software used in this process was vvvv, C4D, Octane, Substance Designer as well as HoudinI.
COLLABORATORS
Design: Waltz Binaire
Artistic Direction: Christian Mio Loclair
3D Artist: Remo Gambacciani
Sound Design: kling klang klong
Commisionened: Fiber Festival 2017
Exhibition: Prima Materia
