Index is one of many planetarium projection pieces created for a revival of the 1950’s VORTEX show, hosted by The California Academy of Sciences.  I had the pleasure of working with several talented artists on the show, including Conor Grebel, Chase Hochstatter, Can Büyükberber, Chris Bjerre and Obscura Digital.  Together we created a 20 minute audio-visual experience that plunges the audience through a wide gamut of psychedelic environments.  Index focuses primarily on the index of refraction and how it’s applied to simple geometric structures in 3D software to create seemingly advanced formations.  The audience is flown through several fractal forms accompanied with a soundscape created by Enternull.

The California Academy of Sciences hosted our animations in the Morrison Planetarium, originally opened in 1952.  The frame of the 75ft diameter dome supports a NanoSeam projection screen and an audience of 290 people.  Our animations screened 3 times a night during the academy's Nightlife events as a revival of the old Vortex shows of the 1950's.  

The original 'Vortex' shows were the first abstract light performances in a planetarium environment, using special effects, film projection, and multidirectional sound.  Developed in 1957 by Henry Jacobs, Jordan Belson, and David Talcott, it was brought back five times through 1959 and was even performed at the World Fair in Brussels in 1958.  

Animation: Peter Clark
Sound Design: Enternull
Show Directors: Conor Grebel & Peter Arko