Studio brasch on recreating lucid dreams with 3D rendering

Interview by Charmaine Li

After working in the graphic design and advertising industry for more than a decade, Danish 3D designer and art director Anders Brasch-Willumsem founded Studio Brasch to explore how 3D rendering and moving images could be seamlessly integrated into brand campaigns. Anders first used 3D images in his graphic design and illustration work while developing a perfume bottle concept for Givenchy and the idea was so well-received that he began incorporating 3D elements into more and more of his projects. With Studio Brasch, he creates multidimensional tableaus that combine fragments of reality with shape-shifting configurations and lighting that follows the logic of dreams. Since its founding in 2017, the Stockholm-based creative studio has worked on concepts and set designs for brands such as Apple, Nike, Byredo and Rimowa among others. Here we discuss how Anders rendered his lucid dreams in 3D for a series of personal artworks, what initially sparked his interest in dreams and the role of sound in the dream world.

CHARMAINE LI : In your personal project ‘A Lucid Dream in Pink Sleep Cycle No 1-7,’ you used 3D rendering to visualize your dreams. How did the idea for the series come about?

ANDERS BRASCH-WILLUMSEN : I’ve always had sort of a hyper-sensitive relationship to sleep and dreaming. Every time I recalled a dream, I would think about how amazing it would be if you could set a recorder to your dreams or remember it in very fine detail and then turn it into a film. It’s something I had been thinking about for many years, so when I started working in 3D, I thought, ‘Whoa, it’s almost becoming a reality.’

At the time, I was also thinking about how many photorealistic works have a dreamy feeling to them because viewers know they’re not 100% realistic but still very close to reality, which is similar to the nature of dreams. So, while thinking about these two things and connecting them to one another, the idea for this personal project was born. On a side note, personal projects are really important to the studio because they allow us to rapidly develop as artists and to inspire our clients and colleagues.

Are your dream images exclusively used as inspiration for your personal projects? Or do they make their work into commercial work as well?

In terms of dreams, I haven’t incorporated this specifically into a concept for any clients so far, but our personal work is very much related to our commercial work. By that, I mean each time we do a personal project and release it into the cosmos, people from the media write about it and then clients approach us saying they’re inspired by what they’ve seen and want something similar created for their brand.

What did the process look like when creating these works?

It was an intense process—I worked on it every single day, nearly full-time. Basically, I’d wake up, immediately make quick sketches in my notebook so I could memorize the images and then I’d visualize them in 3D.

How amazing it must be to have the skills—and a medium—to be able to recreate these scenes and atmospheres from your dreams in such exquisite detail. These images seem to be heavily informed by architecture and reminded me of ‘The Poetics of Space’ by Gaston Bachelard, which explores how our perception of spaces and homes can shape our memories, dreams and thoughts. Are buildings or interior spaces a recurring element in your dreams?

It's interesting you mention that book because I actually read it at university. Although I haven’t read it for many years, I thought the book was absolutely amazing back then. In terms of the subject matter of my dreams, I guess it’s a combination of reasons why these kinds of images appear. First, architecture is an interest of mine personally. Second, virtual interiors are part of what we offer to brands here at Studio Brasch.

When you’re 3D rendering, is it more about trying to recreate what you saw in the dream or more about trying to capture an abstract feeling that was present in the dream?

It’s a little bit of both. All the objects that you see in the series are pretty much all objects I’ve dreamed about, probably because I’m really into product design as well. Even though I don’t produce physical products, I create virtual products that are heavily inspired by something I’ve seen in my mind.

What initially sparked your interest in dreams and lucid dreaming?

I guess it’s something I experience almost daily. Typically, when I get home from work, I’ll put on some music, relax and sometimes take a nap. I think it’s fascinating how a certain piece of music might not speak to you in a waking state, but by the time you slide into slumber or a lucid dream, the music seems to be transformed. In a dream state, the music might have a different emotional effect or remind you of a past experience.

It’s interesting that you say that because I’ve only recently become more aware of the nuances of sound in my dreams. Was this series the first time you began incorporating your dream images into your artistic practice?

Before this, I did a photo series about daydreaming that was very different from this project in that it was made up of abstract representations of dreams, which is probably how many people think of dreams. A blurry thing, a feeling, or flashes of images. I might be going on a tangent now, but I think that sound and music is vital in portraying dream experiences. If I were to do a part two of ‘A Lucid Dream in Pink Sleep Cycle’ series, I would definitely include sound in one form or another. Not necessarily music, but some kind of background sound design that could animate the experience.

THE INTERVIEW HAS BEEN EDITED AND CONDENSED. ALL IMAGES BY STUDIO BRASCH / ANDERS BRASCH-WILLUMSEN.

Appendix

- ‘The Poetics of Space’ by Gaston Bachelard