Silicon Dreams

Silicon Dreams refers to the surreal visuals seen in early CGI animations / art from the 1980s and 1990s.
== History ==
Computer-generated imagery (or CGI for short) and its origin can be traced back to the Late 1950s and 60s, when computers were able to render lines and patterns. But the conventional idea of "CGI" as we know today wouldn't start until the 1970s, were they started to generate 3D models for the first time. A notable example from the time being "Computer Animated Hand" from 1972, which is considered the first 3D computer animation to be ever created.
By the 1980s, CGI began to technologically evolve at a faster rate and slowly being introduced to the mass public through advertisements and TV bumpers. It was also during this time when the common attributes associated with Silicon Dreams start to become a lot more apparent, with demos like Quest (1985), Brilliance (1985), Mental Images (1987), Deja Vu (1987), Polly Gone (1988), and the first Pixar shorts like Luxo Jr. (1986), Tim Toy (1988), and Knick Knack (1989).
During the following decade, the 1990s, CGI starts to get into the mainstream media, with new blockbuster movies and TV shows beginning to adopt these technologies, since it was starting to get more commercially viable then ever before. All of that led to the release of the first CGI feature-length animated film Toy Story in 1995, and Cassiopeia in 1996, which contributed to the steady decline of the aesthetic, as well as the advancements in CGI that were happening in the 90s. Silicon Dream went to a complete halt in the Early 2000s when CGI and 3D animated movies became advanced enough and the norm of the industry.
Despite the leaps in CGI technology between the 80s and 90s, there was a consistent visual identity that was present in 3D animation. It was characterized by sparse landscapes or architecture, low-resolution textures, simple visual effects and objects, in situations, environments, and 3D models that are surreal and "out of this world" in nature, like something that came out of a dream.
Although the aesthetic ended in the early 2000s, it was brought to the internet by the rise of aesthetics like Vaporwave and Seapunk, which ended up being used as a tool to complement the visuals of these aesthetics or to create a sense of nostalgia of a bygone time.
== Visuals ==
Silicon Dreams often includes images, artwork, and shorts made with early CGI from the 80s to 90s, a majority of them being either space or technologically-themed, landscapes or even CGI architecture. A lot of imagery included simplistic polygons, textures, and lighting, due to the technical limitations of the time.
The Silicon Dreams aesthetic was also commonly seen in Trapper Keepers of the 90s; loose-leaf binders made by the stationary company Mead that were used for the sake of organizing school supplies for students. This could also be seen as the connecting tissue between it and more modern-ish aesthetics such as Vaporwave, Seapunk, Icepunk, Slimepunk, and ironically Cybercore.
== Technology ==
At the time when Silicon Dreams started, many people used computers to generate imagery.
* Macintosh 128K (1984)
* Windows 1.0 (1985)
* Macintosh Plus (1986)
* PlayStation (1994)
* Sega Saturn (1994)
* Windows 95 (1995)
* Nintendo 64 (1996)
* Sega Dreamcast (1998)
== Music ==
Several Intelligent Drum and Bass/Jungle albums and YouTube mixes feature CGI by this aesthetic, most notably, the Peshay Studio Set (1996), but in recent years, it's also come to be utilized as an element in Vaporwave aesthetics, be it from Oneohtrix Point Never's music video for Nobody Here (which some pinpoint as the very first example of Vaporwave music put out into the wild) as well as the music video for Macintosh Plus's Lisa Frank 420. The Vaporwave connection could be considered a carryover from when the Seapunk community gravitated towards Vaporwave after its decline in popularity, where Seapunk was heavily inspired by many early works within the Silicon Dreams style of aesthetics (due to many members of the community being children at the time Silicon Dreams was first conceived) which added to the sense of nostalgia that both Seapunk and Vaporwave evoke.
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The music video for Dire Strait's Money for Nothing included early CGI animation in it, as well as Miley Cyrus's music video for We Can't Stop also utilizing clips from the earliest known example of CGI animation (a simple talking face attempting to show emotion and "talk" that was made all the way back in 1974). Many Seapunk music videos (specifically from the likes of Ultrademon) utilize a more "high definition" variation of the early Silicon Dreams works of the 1990s.
== Media ==
In terms of its usage in early media of the 90s, there was a certain level of what could be described as "janky" in this particular era of CGI animation, due to the technology still being extremely new and, as such, still in an extremely primitive state.
=== Movies ===
* TRON (1982)
* The Adventures of André & Wally B. (1984)
* Luxo Jr. (1986)
* Red's Dream (1987)
* Tin Toy (1988)
* Knick Knack (1989)
* Mind's Eye film series (1990-1996)
* The Lawnmower Man (1992)
* Toy Story (1995)
* Cassiopeia (1996)
* A Bug's Life (1998)
* Foodfight! (2012)
* The Star Trek film series 
=== TV Shows ===
* Les Fables géométriques (1989-1992)
* Quarxs (1990-1993)
* The Moxy Show (1993-1995)
* VeggieTales (1993-present)
* The Incredible Crash Dummies (1993)
* BattleTech (1994)
* Insektors (1994-1995)
* ReBoot (1994-2001)
* Cyber Weapon Z (1995)
* Beast Wars: Transformers (1996-1999)
* The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest (1996-1997)
* Donkey Kong Country (1997-2000)
* Weird-Ohs (1999-2000)
* Butt-Ugly Martians (2001-2003)
* The Amazing Digital Circus (2023-present)
=== Video Games ===
Because CGI was fairly new in video games in the 90's, 3D video games have low-poly graphics, meaning that the meshes in games do not have many polygons to create a smoother model.
* Myst (1993)
* Star Fox (1993)
* The 7th Guest (1993)
* Virtua Fighter (1993)
* Donkey Kong Country (1994)
* Geograph Seal (1994)
* Killer Instinct (1994)
* Tekken (1994)
* Tempest 2000 (1994)
* Rise of the Robots (1994-1995)
* Air Combat/Ace Combat (1995)
* FX Fighter (1995)
* Jumping Flash! (1995)
* Wipeout (1995)
* Worlds.com (1995)
* Vectorman 1 & 2 (1995-1996)
* Resident Evil (1996)
* Diablo (1996)
* Sonic 3D Blast (1996)
* Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars (1996)
* Super Mario 64 (1996)
* Time Commando (1996)
* Wipeout 2097/Wipeout XL (1996)/Wipeout 64 (1998)
* Cyber Troopers Virtual-On (1996)
* Final Fantasy VII (1997)
* LSD: Dream Emulator (1998)
* Half-Life (1998)
* Buck Bumble (1998)
* Old School Runescape (2001-present)
* The Utility Room (2023)
=== Webfiction ===
* Orion's Arm (2000-present)
== Gallery ==
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File:Tumblr 243abfb584463eb076deff01975df687 34b98610 1280.jpg|https://y2kaestheticinstitute.tumblr.com/post/623999407028862976/collection-of-works-by-digital-artist-paul-wiley
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File:The Mind's Eye (1990) - Early Computer Animation Music Video
File:Jan Hammer - Beyond The Mind's Eye (Complete Film) -OFFICIAL-
File:Computer Animated Hand (1972) - First polygonal 3D animation
File:Early CGI Facial Animation (1974)
File:MAGI-SynthaVision Sampler (1974)
File:The Compleat Angler (1978)
File:Blobby Man (1979) - Advanced body movement computer animation
File:Peak (~1980)
File:Carla's Island (1981)
File:Adam Powers, The Juggler (1981) - First motion capture CGI animation
File:MAGI Synthavision Demo Reel 1982
File:When Mandrills Ruled the Heavens|(~1983)
File:Ohio State University CG demo 1983
File:Pacific Data Images 1983 Demo Reel
File:High Fidelity (1984)
File:Snoot and Muttly (1984)
File:First Flight (1984)
File:Digital Productions 1984 Demo Reel
File:MAGI Synthavision 1984 Demo Reel
File:Martian Magnolia (1984)
File:Robert Abel & Associates - CFIC Brilliance (1985) (LaserDisc 1080p rip)
File:Tony de Peltrie (1985) - Longest CGI animated film with speech (at the time)
File:Botco (1985) - Pacific Data Images
File:Chromosaurus (1985) - Pacific Data Images
File:Tuber's Two Step (1985) - Chris Wedge
File:Quest (1985)
File:Rigid Body Dynamics Simulations (1987)
File:Hawaiian Punch (1987) - Mark Mothersbaugh
File:Fabricated Rhythm (1987)
File:Stanley & Stella in Breaking the Ice (1987)
File:Mental Images (1987)
File:Balloon Guy (1987) - Chris Wedge
File:Locomotion Studies - MIT - Karl Sims (1987)
File:Silicon Graphics Promo (1987)
File:Benson & Hedges - The Wave Commercials (1987)
File:Deja Vu (1987)
File:Polly Gone (1988)
File:Natural Phenomena (1988)
File:Particle Dreams (1988)
File:Dinosaur Stuff (1988)
File:JabJab Land - Computer Animation (1988)
File:Bio-Sensor (1984) - Sio-Benbor (1988)
File:The Little Death (1989)
File:Locomotion (1989) - Pacific Data Images (2001 remaster) MOST FAVORITE COMPUTER ANIMATED PRODUCTION
File:Peedee Meets the Dragon (1989)
File:Megacycles (1989)
File:Don't Touch Me (1989)
File:Eurythmy (1989)
File:Tipsy Turvy (1989)
File:Les fables geometriques (1989) - First CGI TV series
File:More Bells and Whistles (Before Animusic)|(1990)
File:Panspermia (1990) - First Artificial plants evolution
File:Stegosaurus- The Roof Lizard (1990) - First realistic dinosaur CGI animation
File:Virtually Yours (1991) - Advanced CGI facial animation
File:Dino Tours (1992) - Advanced CGI dinosaurs animation
File:Data Driven- The Story of Franz K (1993) - Advanced facial CGI animation
File:Gribouille - Softimage Demo (1994) - Advanced human body CGI animation
File:Big Bang (1994) - Advanced action CGI animation
File:Abertura do Fantástico - 1994
File:Outside In|(1994)
File:Smart as You|(1997)
File:Yr So Wet 3.0 - Ultrademon + Dj Kiff - "Bubbles" SPLASH008-2|(2012) Modern example of this aesthetic in use to create a sense of nostalgia, most notably in Vaporwave and Seapunk.
File:Orion's Arm Democracy.jpg|The image for the Orion's Arm page about democratic politics, 2000
File:Residents gingerbread.webp|The album cover for the 1995 album 'Gingerbread Man' by experimental rock group The Residents
== References ==
* https://www.are.na/consumer-aesthetics-research-institute/silicon-dreams-ybyjv3yipdm
* https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XyGfxCxnZW0
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_computer_animation_in_film_and_television
Category:1980s
Category:1990s
Category:CGI
Category:Visual
Category:Music
Category:Electronic
Category:Internet Aesthetics
Category:Rainbow
Category:Nostalgia/Nostalgic