Until Dawn began with a desire to create a low-resolution (pixel art) landscape of a location in Florence that reflects the nostalgic character of pixel art, the Ponte Vecchio. Pixel art has fallen out of fashion as technology has enabled the creation of more realistic digital environments and so this piece uses the simple charm and abstract nature of pixel art to highlight the legacy of the Ponte Vecchio. While working, the influence of old-school pixel-based videogames pushed the piece from a standstill landscape to a functioning videogame created in a Java-script library for creative coding called P5.js.
In
Until Dawn, the viewer plays as a guard on the Ponte Vecchio. With a goal inspired by the peepholes put in the wooden shop covers for guards to check nightly, the player completes the simple task guards in our world have done every night for centuries. This game however compels the viewer to ignore their goal and spend time with the environment, imploring the viewer to consider what else the game may offer outside of such a mundane goal.
