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(more than) Just Two Dots

Taking inspiration from social fragmentation, classic science fiction and the mobile game Two Dots this piece seeks to express a kind of evolution through minimalist form, the tragedy of relationships and the desire for connection amongst all beings.

produced by: Rob Homewood

Inspiration
Visually I was inspired by the abstract and almost child-like works of Joan Miro which I viewed recently at the Es Baluard Museu d'Art Modern i Contemporani in Palma de Mallorca. His 1965 piece “Cercle Rouge Etolie” (Red Circle at Night) in particular served to inspire a sense of stellar and dreamlike wonder. I wanted to create a piece that had a sense of narrative. I have always been fascinated by the epic stories of Arthur C. Clarke, specifically ‘Childhood's End,’ ‘2001: A Space Oddessy', and ‘Against the Fall of Night’ all explore themes involving the evolution of consciousness over massive time scales

Scene 1 
The dots make smooth rapid motions, all rushing in their own direction without concern for the others around them. As the scene progresses however, an awareness of the other dots slowly unfolds and they begin to share their colours with one another. The combined signals being passed between the little dots form constellation like pattens, becoming greater than the sum of their parts.. Their connections continue to grow.

Scene 2
The dots are thrown into chaos as the forces of gravity and inertia are thrust upon them by some cruel and unseen god, like a vicious awakening. Their beautiful constellations shatter and fall. As the poor dots clamour to retain their connection, their vision becomes blurred and stained. Slowly but surely, one by one, they all let go and fall.

Scene 3
A massive explosion erupts, throwing the pained and exhausted dots into disarray! For some dots, the change is too much and they lie weakened and powerless, never to move again. However, for the lucky few who rise out of the miasma, great journeys await them. Rocketing into the blackened sky they race, clamouring to regain their connection. This time however they have something new.. some fortitude which previously had eluded them. In a desperate bid to not only survive but also to evolve, the little dots cling to one another, holding themselves in the sky, forming crystalline structures of magnificent colour.

Scene 4
Time passes, millennia slip by and soon enough the suns of this universe expand and engulf. All that's left behind is a heartbeat of love, a pulsing connection to the rhythm of a forbidden star people, spanning dimensions and expanding the envelope of consciousness. These perfect beings, once ensconced in such little dot bodies, have grown into something other and gently explore the edges of the universe.

Summation
The ever increasing symbiosis between humanity and technology has engendered in me a fascination for the minutiae of digital experience, seen or unseen. Though the solipsist may question the validity of something that cannot be seen, this piece posits that all these unseen and unmonitored points and nodes may just have a life of their own.

References:

Code was borrowed from these websites:

    •    https://forum.openframeworks.cc/t/calculate-difference-between-two-points/2789/2

    •    https://sites.google.com/site/ofauckland/examples/1-bouncing-balls/01c-ten-bouncing-balls

Sources of Inspiration

    •    Miro, Cercle Rouge Etolie (1965) http://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-cercle-rouge-etolie-red-circle-at-night-by-joan-miro-1965-at-fundacio-29781164.html

    •    Two Dots - https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/two-dots/id880178264?mt=8

    •    Arthur C. Clarke (Childhood's End, 2001: A Space Oddessy, Against the Fall of Night)

    •    This youtube post - https://youtu.be/-APsczys168