Henge

Henge is an exploration of circular megalithic structures of the prehistoric age. It is a work of historical fiction where these stone assemblies, achieved through herculean efforts of stacking, aligning, and balancing immense chiseled rocks, are reimagined within an alternate universe of algorithmic possibility. Historically, henges share a few qualities that inspired this project. First, they are places of gathering within a loose collection of stones to organize ceremony or worship under celestial alignments. They are also monolithic in their materiality and employ the most elemental techniques of megalithic, or large stone, construction. These particular types of henges, known as cromlechs, are circular spaces fit with purpose and ritual and in this sense, serve as precedents to the great human edifices; charging landscapes with meaning and presence through geometry and order. Finally, henges are a collective language of place-making shared across a range of cultures and ages, from the Mesolithic and Neolithic eras and across territories from modern-day Morocco, Portugal, Brazil, Germany, Scandinavia, to the well-known Stonehenge in Great Britain.

This project is deeply inspired by the timeless and universal narrative created through the thoughtful and deliberate placement of large rocks in a circle. It seems that when confronted with marking a place and communing with nature, human beings like to make circles out of stones. Among all the symbols of place making, the circle is the original and still remains the most universal. Through the use of code to portray these imperfect structures, Henge animates the history of these circles in all their roughness and seemingly endless variation.

Created by Aranda\Lasch @ArandaLasch
Creative collaboration with Tender @tender_art
November 2022

[Interaction instructions]
'left' + 'right' arrow keys to change view
'i' saves a 2048x2048 PNG

[Info]
p5.js
Henge is optimized for Chrome, runs slowly on Firefox (the longer the wait, the more stones and/or grass are being generated)
License: CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
10% of all primary and secondary proceeds donated directly to Girls Who Code