[Music Videos] Jaw-Dropping Patterns Align in a CGI Fractal Opus

French producer Patrice Olivier, a.k.a., ARCADY, releases a 5-track EP of new songs, each with their own stunning music videos.

by Nathaniel Ainley

August 20, 2015, 6:00pm

GiF by the author, via

A new visual EP by French visual artist and producer, Patrice Olivier, a.k.a., ARCADY, combines CGI with next-level music production. Known as Critical Density, it's five songs, each accompanied by a unique music video. ARCADY programs 2D and 3D fractal animations (see his collaboration with Swedish producer Tove Agelli for a taste). The artist pays particular attention to texture and the crisp intricacy of his subjects' surface in his abstract graphics. Throughout the graphic EP, the camera spins and turns in a way that leaves the viewer discombobulated and unbalanced, not knowing which direction is up. It's though ARCADY has inserted his own sort of vertigo in order to play with viewers' perspectives, and ultimately their experiences with his fractal patterns.

Olivier opens the EP with frenetic, high-pitched synths that muffle and echo over a detailed, white 3D rendition of a dragon in "Ruptur." As the camera circles the digital sculpture, ARCADY shows detailed shots of the dragon’s scales that get more and more rigid, resembling marble or tree bark. "Hain" transports viewers from what looks like the bottom of the ocean to a brightly lit, multicolored coral reef. Again, the video pays close attention to the surface of the coral, rough and scratchy like sandpaper, but softened by a range of hues. The video is accompanied by thunderous and groggy bass synths, and a clacking kicking drum that complements the vivid immersion of it all. As the video progresses, the surface texture of the reef morphs, and the rocks begin to smooth and bubble, becoming what looks like a series of solidified volcanic eruptions at the bottom of the sea.

This aquatic aesthetic continues into the third track, "Extinct": viewers dive into a liquid green cloud that looks a though its been poured into a body of water, maintained some of its structure, and hasn't fully separated yet. This viscous substance is pulled and swayed to create symmetrical abstract designs, creating images of deep sea creatures, illuminated jelly fish, and bioluminescent corals.

The fourth song on the album, "Pr(Meth)," blares drive heavy synth leads while the camera spins around a morphing black sculpture set against a white background. The figure is first depicted as a smiling man in a brimmed hat, but eventually grows and molds into a more intricate creature. This black graphic is smoothed and cut, torn and twisted into different designs, eventually becoming a flaming standing dragon.

If that isn't unsettling enough, ARCADY closes the video suite with eerie close ups of blood transfusions and a human heart. "Core Transplant" is an intimate, intricate look at the vascular system—watch blood go through the motions: traveling through an IV into the chambers of a beating heart.