Dreamline was developed to expand the digital footprint of Chinese artist Yannesi’s installation, Telephone, presented in Tumbalong for Vivid Sydney. Telephone was an interactive art piece, which invited people to dial in and share their dreams. The opportunity was to create a motion piece for the Australian Museum’s William St screen that could capture the imaginations of passersby. The brief called for something evocative and dreamlike—an ambient experience that would draw on the spirit of the original installation while standing alone as a piece of visual storytelling.

The final animation blends blurred, atmospheric footage with a constellation of blinking cursors—suggesting both digital input and starry skies. At different intervals, dream fragments appear, as if typed in by unseen participants. The cursors pulse across the screen like twinkling lights, reinforcing the ephemeral nature of the dreamscape. This typographic reveal mirrors the structure of dreams—disjointed, sudden, and often fleeting—while the composition remains ambient and textural. Parameters of the site were carefully considered, ensuring legibility and rhythm at scale.

Dreamline was developed in collaboration with Studio Dive.