Generative film takes an abstract look at global events

From the revolution that swept across the Arab world to the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan, culminating with the riots on the streets of London. Energy Flow is an ambitious new project from art and design studio FIELD, which translates the tumultuous real-life events of 2011 into a metaphorical and abstract animation.

The result, a generative film that's different each time it's played, suggests all 10 of its separate story lines are inextricably linked.

“Energy Flow reflects the complexity of how things are connected in our lives today, " says Vera-Maria Glahn, "the fragile equilibrium, the dependencies between economic, political, geographical and cultural factors.”

Glahn and Marcus Wendt set up FIELD in 2009, after the pair graduated art school in Germany together.

"What we're really interested in," says Glahn, "is the pursuit of the new, finding new aesthetics and new kinds of images in every project that we do, rather than repeating something that we're already familiar with.

"We really love to work in both arts and design, and on the intersection of the applied and artistic field, because the two are always reaffirming each other very strongly in our work. We're producing artwork to really try and push the boundaries and find new looks and new aesthetics."

Glahn believes the decision to set up their studio in northeast London has had big affect on their output.

"Being here in Dalston, Hackney, has certainly had a big influence on us in the last couple of years," she says, speaking in a behind the scenes look at the film. "From all the different nationalities that come together here, all the different cultures.

"There's always impressions on your mind, you can't really switch it off, it's all around you and that certainly has influenced the multiplicity of the storytelling that we chose for Energy Flow."

With support coming from the Creators Project, Energy Flow launches on iOS and Android in December 2012.

The trailer can be found below: