Created using the compositor software Flame and the Maya 3-D modeling program,Evolution (Megaplex) presents a scrolling epic of the spectacle of human conflict as recounted by the cinematic lens. It is part of Marco Brambilla’s “Megaplex” series—alongside Civilization (Megaplex), 2008, and Creation (Megaplex), 2012—and each work in the trilogy takes on a world-historical theme worthy of its grandiose title.

Each of the animated sequences within Evolution (Megaplex) is looped, which contributes to the hypnotic circularity of the work and parallels the curve of the trilogy’s narrative. This looping of what are essentially video collages also affords viewers repeated opportunities to parse Brambilla’s dense imagery. In Evolution (Megaplex), elements were sourced from between three and five-hundred mostly B-list films. This celebration of visual excess is also behind Brambilla’s choice to present the work in 3-D, a technology that was once the latest in a long line of Hollywood gimmicks. Evolution (Megaplex) is an exploration of the role that cinematic vision has played and continues to play in reshaping how we visualize our present and remember the past.

Label from Screen Play: Life in an Animated World, June 20–September 13, 2015