Paleoalto – Marpi Studio

Commissioned by the City of Palo Alto Public Art Program, Paleoalto was the anchor artwork for Code:ART2 in downtown Palo Alto.

Code: Marpi

Production design: Will Clark

System architecture: Kevin Colorado

Audio: Bent Stamnes

Producer: Jay Chen

Curation: Elise DeMarzo, Nadya Chuprina

Documentation: Loli Peiyun

Photography: Benny Villarreal

In collaboration with: Colour Feeders

Programmed for both day and night, the installation was part portal and part time machine. It imagined an ancient world of marine animals and new vertebrates on an interactive canvas of LEDs and LCDs.

Visitors could enter the digital space through their abstract avatars, generate and interact with the creatures that are spawned inside, and even glimpse the shapes of people on the other side. Segmented walkers, tendrilled creatures, and neon arthropods danced with human-controlled avatars, creating an artwork within the artwork.

Paleoalto appeared during Code:ART festival in Palo Alto, US, in October 2021. A collaboration with Colour Feeders, made possible with help from Robert Domin from InSync Show Productions and Toshi Hoo from Institute for the Future.