Originally Circles of Rhythm was designed for the Commercial Travellers’ Association Club in Martin Place, Sydney. The ‘mushroom building’ as it’s known, is part of the iconic Australia Square and MLC centre. Designed by Harry Seidler, it was completed in 1978 and like its contemporary, The Opera House, was optimistic and visionary. The Australia Hotel, stood on the site and was demolished for Seidler’s vision - iconic in its own right, it had been the epicentre of Sydney’s social and cultural life for 8 decades. A bold move by Sydney’s urban planners, showing belief in design as central to place and human experience. This ‘design optimism’ was the underlying theme of the project.
However, the building was not available and the curatorial process, saw this move across 3 different buildings before arriving at the ASN building. Never the less, the pure design and the radiating optimism of the ‘mushroom building’ lived on.
Circles of Rhythm, is digitally made, but handcrafted. AI wasn’t used in any part of the process and rather than the common 3D software approach to projections, it’s entirely designed in 2D and animated in 2D. The project is a bespoke creation referring to the building structure, layering subtext, meaning and other design elements together eg. a reoccurring weave motif represents the often overlooked women of the Bauhaus, who were considered better suited to ‘craft’ and confined to the textiles department.
Progressive integration of design, shape, colour, directional animation and music is designed for audiences to feel a live experiential peak or intended flow state.
The intention of Circles of Rhythm is not a message or a story but a feeling - an embodiment and opportunity for the audience to feel a present moment.
