theme concepts

Cha • me • le • on
– Any of numerous Old World lizards of the family Chamaeleontidae,
characterized by the ability to change the color of their skin, very slow locomotion, and a projectile tongue.
– Any of several American lizards capable of changing the color of the skin, esp. Anolis carolinensis (American chameleon), of the southeastern U.S.
– A changeable, fickle, or inconstant person.

Despite popular belief, chameleons do not, in fact, generally change their colour to match their background or camoflage themselves – rather, the response is one related largely to mood, health, and certain environmental factors, and serves as a communication device.

Artificial Heart houses creative works based around Asian Ball-Joint Dolls. Resin chameleons, these posable, completely-customizable figures can have their appearance adjusted with little effort through the use of interchangeable eyes and wigs, and with a bit more time and work, recreated entirely with make-up and modding.

Ei • do • lon
– A phantom, ghost, or elusive entity. The spirit double of a living being.
– A representation of an idea or an idealized form.

The associated storyline, Exiles of Eidolon, follows its cast through the universe of the Countless Worlds. Some were forced into their journey, while others undertook it in pursuit of a goal. Most are changelings, fleeing the ravage of their homeland through a bordering spirit world. Foremost among them is Malachaim Luphase – self-created, immortal, and betrayed by a false god who denied his kind true life and condemned his lover to inevitable death. Intermingled with a chase that takes him across the outskirts of heaven and earth is the search for a process that can return a soul to its body and, ultimately, the dead to life. Religion having failed him, he turns to scientific magic and the realm of alchemy.

Tran • sub • stan • ti • a • tion
– Conversion of one substance into another.
– In many Christian churches, the doctrine holding that the bread and wine of the Eucharist are transformed into the body and blood of Jesus, although their appearances remain the same.

Trans • mu • ta • tion
– A change. Transformation.
– The act or an instance of transmuting: as the evolutionary change of one
species into another.
– The state of being transmuted.
– The supposed conversion of base metals into gold or silver in alchemy.

Part magic and part science, the mystical concepts of alchemy married astrology to earthly elements and chemical processes. To keep their secrets from nonbelievers, alchemists made use of a code that used exotic or mythological beings to represent the physical components of their work. References to more mundane creatures, plants, planets, and even gods could be implemented as substitite instructions. Actions, colours, and numbers all had particular associations and meanings that could only be interpreted by those versed in alchemical lore.

The core of alchemy, transmutation was difficult to acheive, but thought to be worth the effort to create a thing of value and beauty. Its Holy Grail was the Philosopher’s Stone, an object that embodied ultimate equilibrium: Day and Night, Sun and Moon, Silver and Gold, Male and Female. The power of this perfection, it was believed, could convert base metals to gold, heal the sick, and grant eternal life – either through the stone’s direct use, or by eating from plates and utensils made from the gold it produced. Similarly, the Elixir Vital (Elixir of Life) was purported to heal, return youth, and render the drinker immortal. A powdered version of the Stone, which may have been the most sought after, was said to be red and glittering, to lack smoke when heated to its melting point, and to create gold when mixed one part powder to one-hundred parts silver.

For an entity whose very makeup is change unchanging, alchemy was but a natural progression. Unable to throw down his challenge without physical form, Luphase’s first task was to perfect the creation of artificial bodies and the investment of souls in the same. Fascimiles of flesh, his results could walk, talk, and even feel, but lacked the breath and warmth of true humanity – a hollow compromise. Born not of genetic chance but directed plan, the body at least remained subject to its master’s whim – as mutable as Luphase himself, capable of taking on whatever shape best suited the moment. At once White Queen and Blood-Red King, the fruit of forbidden knowledge eaten from plates of alchemist’s gold, Luphase and his allies embody perfection’s potential – the transmutability of Asian BJD.