niceundergroundgenerative visuals

A modern yin and yang. Two values, nothing else.

click the field to send a wave through ittap the field to send a wave through it

scroll contrasts that swap places, > never merge <

Concept

The system knows two values and nothing else.

Elements enter the scene, attract, exclude each other and leave it, all following the same rule. The character of each configuration never lies in the single signs, but in the way they combine.

A modern yin and yang: a system of contrasts that swap positions and contaminate each other, but never merge. Instead of resting in balance, it keeps rebuilding it from scratch.

Seen from above,
it looks like a society.

Opposing sides that swap positions, contaminate each other and share the same ecosystem. No side wins for long, and neither ever disappears.

One rule,
four verbs.

  1. Enter

    Nothing is created. Cells slide into the frame from its edges, each already carrying one of the two values. There is no third.

  2. Attract

    Similar values look for each other. Lone cells become groups, groups become territories.

  3. Exclude

    Where one value ends, the other begins. Along the border they touch and contaminate each other, but there is no middle ground: they never merge.

  4. Leave

    No configuration lasts. The field moves on: what leaves the frame isn't gone, it's somewhere else, and something new is already coming in.

The alphabet changes,
the rule stays.

Each monitor runs a version with a different pair of signs. Three screens side by side, and none of them borrows the signs of the other two.

monitor 1

Plus and minus

Two opposite charges that never cancel each other out. Their territories are big enough to recognise and small enough to keep changing hands.

signs
+-
colours
red, black
monitor 2

Zero and one

The smallest possible alphabet, the one every other starts from. Here the two sides are mixed almost cell by cell: a crowd, more than a map.

signs
01
colours
black, white
monitor 3

Greater and less than

A comparison missing its second term: each cell says which side it's on, not compared to what. The field is wide and slow, almost a map of two nations.

signs
><
colours
blue, white

Pick two values.
The rule does the rest.

Choose two colours, two signs and the grain of the noise. The rule doesn't change: every cell takes one of your two values, and nothing else.

/ / \live
values
true
false
49
40
30

booleanSequence was part of Trip 2026, the diffuse festival of contemporary art, design and architecture by Barriera Design District, in Turin's Barriera di Milano neighbourhood, on 3 and 4 October. It was shown in the festival's secret location.

The theme of the third edition was Oltre, beyond: past the boundaries between disciplines, spaces and ways of looking. A fair frame for a work that lives entirely on its borders.

Festival
Trip, third edition
Dates
3 and 4 October 2026
Where
Barriera di Milano, Turin
Venue
Secret location
Theme
Oltre
Organised by
Barriera Design District APS
Direction and curation
Lucrezia Nardi
Programme
about 90 artists and designers, 25+ locations
Supported by
Fondazione CRT
The three monitors of booleanSequence seen from the front: blue and white, black and white, red and black
the three alphabets, left to right: greater and less than, zero and one, plus and minus
The three monitors of booleanSequence seen from the side
booleanSequence, Trip 2026
booleanSequence at Trip 2026, wide view of the installation
booleanSequence, Trip 2026
Work
booleanSequence
Artist
niceunderground (Antonio Pezzella)
Medium
generative visuals, real time
Setup
3 monitors
Alphabets
+/-  0/1  >/<
Rule
one
Year
2026
Exhibited at
Trip 2026, Secret location, Turin