I am looking at a website, which I seem to associate with the Earthdream festival. Earthdream is a festival which takes place in the desert each year, and the webpage has a very attractive top banner that matches (a picture of the Australian desert), so for whatever reason I connect the page and the festival together.

I'm taken in by the style of the design. It's a straightforward top block which contains the picture, but the simple separation between different parts of the desert landscape is very powerful. As I watch, I somehow stumble into an animation which is built into the webpage. "Did I click that?" I ask myself.

It seems I launched myself into a more detailed animation. I watch as the "lens" of the animation steps out, a rectangular frame stepping back in small jumps, along a particular angle of observation. This particular technique allows a part of the desert to remain visible, while others lose their focus. I remark that it's a very cool technique, and am surprised to find the animation continuing.

All of a sudden I find that I'm now looking at a desert in South America. I find this very interesting. It seems the page has expanded out to not only focus on the location of the festival (in Australia) but to take in the amazing stories of deserts around the world. Again, the animation shifts, and now I find myself looking at the deserts of Africa from a distance.

The essence of the animation however is the spiralling pattern that begins to form across them. I feel the message - the deserts are a place where creation begins. I watch as the animation continues, sand dancing in the shadows.