Visual design for Sufjan Stevens' The Age of Adz, inspired by the late artist and self-proclaimed prophet Royal Robertson. The project featured a monolithic temple-like trapezoid backdrop, a giant diamond, and a translucent scrim, creating a three-dimensional experience with graphics and light enveloping the band. This work brought to life the themes of mythology, UFOs, and space monsters.
We used the game platform Unity for immersive world-building based on Royal's inner universe and Quartz Composer for real-time, audio-reactive elements, enhancing the concert's "liveness." The multi-screen set featured a large, temple-like trapezoid backdrop, a giant diamond, and a translucent scrim. The visuals were mapped and performed live using the VJ platform VDMX, creating an immersive, multi-dimensional, and responsive experience that enveloped the band in graphics and light. This design dynamically illustrated the album's concept and story arc: an apocalyptic space rock opera promising hope and redemption.
A selection of the live visual designs can be seen on Vimeo.
“Immediately this show was a visual spectacle, inspired by and paying homage to the space age folk art of American painter Royal Robertson. But at its heart were the songs from The Age of Adz which, like Dark Side of the Moon, are about the deeply personal — madness, conflict, lunacy — with music that sounds on the verge of a nervous breakdown. And in that chaos, in that conflict, are moments of resolve … in a concert filled with joy, beauty, heart, and triumph — but also beach balls, rousing choreography, some of the best multimedia I’ve seen, and extravagant pageantry.” – Bob Boilen, NPR
Credits:
Creative Direction: Sufjan Stevens
Lead Visual Design and Performance: Deborah Johnson
Unity and VDMX Programming: Brian Chasalow and Anton Martini
Lighting Design: Ben Stanton
Set Design: Adrian Jones
Technical Direction: Josh Higgason
Fabrication: Daedalus