LA BRINTA, the visual novel, is a story that unites the hardships of growing up and the uncertainties that remain throughout your journey. Follow along in Casca’s wild adventure and put yourself in their shoes as you enter an in-person installation space that transports you towards The World of Scarlet. Three touch-displays that preview the novel are surrounded by a surreal landscape, fabricated by the artist Gabi Lecusay.  

In the spirit of reunion, compassion, and company; each lighted stone is a push-able button that connects to the nearest island. Utilizing a private network, all three stations communicate a wave of rainbow lights that ignite from the location of its signal. Wrapping around the crimson room, guests are invited to intact with one another at either ends of the space.

The story of LA BRINTA sits at the heart of this project as a reflection of the imagination that ignited Gabi's ambition. It is thanks to countless resources, individuals, and communities on the internet that the website could be demoed as an immersive experience. 

*AI has too big of a foothold of Adobe, Github, and most of the internet for me to say with confidence that this was completely made without the use or involvement of it. Personally, I put back on my internet explorer cap and did my best to browse countless corners of the web for human content that an AI would have probably referenced instead. This story, art, and fabrication was from my hands and mind with a passion for whimsical creativity, so please look out for a future dedication site to all of the wonderful people who helped make this possible.

For the installation I used plexiglass acrylic panels, colored with UV Resin and Mica Powder to house the buttons and connections. These Voronoi plateaus were part files I prepared with a CNC router. The hollow rocks are my own models 3D printed to sit on Cherry switches on Neo-key LED boards that utilized a system designed by hand. There are several other printed components, such as the button seat and cylinder spacers, but I am extremely proud of my grass leaflets that cover all of the cables. 

TPU is a material I have been experimenting with for the last three years because I enjoy how many solutions to your average FDM print it brings to the table. Each bunch of grass is individually rolled and glued into shape after being printed as a flat sheet. If I had a small army I could fill a football field with these with how many movies it took to sweatshop through this intense prep.

For the site, I used a 2001 Visual Novel Engine developed by J. David Eisenberg. Each scene collages several images found on pinterest, tumblr, and geocities. I wanted to push myself to work with JavaScript as a beginner developer and to explore the many free online resources that are available, instead of an AI chewing it up for something prettier. Utilizing After Effects, I animated each scene with the help of youtube academy and outsourced my code review, music, and extras to extremely talented friends. 

Casca, as a new parent, is struggling to raise Casper in the industrious city known as Poddertown. This concrete jungle is a tangled mess of highways, overpasses, and countless roads that compete to fit as many Poddercarts on its path as possible. There's hardly enough room to breath to learn how to survive on your own... and to have someone who depends on it..? The humanity that was brought to The World of Scarlet is a plague that the podlets have endured from the very start. 

Scarlet, a magnificent world, is embodied in both dirt and flesh. She is the spirit of the wind, rain, and earth and can control every one of its rhythms. She was alone, without order or inspiration, until a mysterious visitor crash landed through her atmosphere. 

LA BRINTA, the first ever building to be made, houses an energy brought by her visitor that brought evolution and near-instant technological leaps. Transportation, agriculture, and wild communication blossomed around Scarlet with all of its wonderful consequences. The first visitor brought life as he knew it and Scarlet accepted it with open arms. 

With Casper having wandered off, Casca has no choice but to face their bias in order to find him. The world around them all encompasses an understanding that the strength we need to endure things that are out of our control shouldn't be something that we need to find alone.