CODE

CODE 04, THE QUANTI·VERSE In a dream, the wolf moves. Through tunnels and in mirrors. In amplitudes and circuitry, and everywhere within or without a mind. She collapses the tunnel. She bites down and changes the world. However we dream it. However her pieces move. This issue of CODE is the result of our team’s yearlong research and exploration of the quantum universe—a heady and transformative look at simultaneity and the spooky action we affect on each other across time and distances. Drawing on widely ranging topics — from chess and the poetics of anguish and love; to wave function collapse and neural media architecture; to the mysteriously universal nature and origins of consciousness itself — and with shoots from L.A. to Morocco, this is our boldest effort yet. Featuring contributions from: Mowalola, Dylan Van Roost, Federico Campagna, Dr. Stuart Hameroff, Meriem Bennani, Arcin Sagdic, Dr. Aneil Mallavarapu, Hendrik Schneider, Ariana Reines, Melanie Glück, Jesse Seegers, Club Chess, Karl Felix, Vanessa Barros Andrade, Pierre Podevyn, Kynan Puru Watt, Jessica Mitrani Cover 04a @mowalola photographed by @hendrik.schneider and styled by @vvutura @grailed Archive Special Editor in Chief & Creative Director @mharieberger Art Director @mariefaass Managing Editor Natalie Mariko Concept & Research @deviantarthaute Fashion Editors @vvutura @intl_4evr @_nicowalker_ @aaaeeeffflll Writers Natalie Mariko @deviantarthaute @j3ss3s33g3rs @ellena.basada @mharieberger Editors @cinderella_exit @deviantarthaute Photographers @dylanvanroost @arcinsagdic @hendrik.schneider @ynaalem @aaaeeeffflll @pierrepodevyn @karlfelix__ Photo Editing @mariefaass Advertising @mharieberger Print  @gutenbergbeuys Web @scissor_cloud Cusp Publishing

CODE 04, THE QUANTI·VERSE In a dream, the wolf moves. Through tunnels and in mirrors. In amplitudes and circuitry, and everywhere within or without a mind. She collapses the tunnel. She bites down and changes the world. However we dream it. However her pieces move. This issue of CODE is the result of our team’s yearlong research and exploration of the quantum universe—a heady and transformative look at simultaneity and the spooky action we affect on each other across time and distances. Drawing on widely ranging topics — from chess and the poetics of anguish and love; to wave function collapse and neural media architecture; to the mysteriously universal nature and origins of consciousness itself — and with shoots from L.A. to Morocco, this is our boldest effort yet. Featuring contributions from: Mowalola, Dylan Van Roost, Federico Campagna, Dr. Stuart Hameroff, Meriem Bennani, Arcin Sagdic, Dr. Aneil Mallavarapu, Hendrik Schneider, Ariana Reines, Melanie Glück, Jesse Seegers, Club Chess, Karl Felix, Vanessa Barros Andrade, Pierre Podevyn, Kynan Puru Watt, Jessica Mitrani Cover 04b 16-4529 TPG by @arcinsagdic Editor in Chief & Creative Director @mharieberger Art Director @mariefaass Managing Editor Natalie Mariko Concept & Research @deviantarthaute Fashion Editors @vvutura @intl_4evr @_nicowalker_ @aaaeeeffflll Writers Natalie Mariko @deviantarthaute @j3ss3s33g3rs @ellena.basada @mharieberger Editors @cinderella_exit @deviantarthaute Photographers @dylanvanroost @arcinsagdic @hendrik.schneider @ynaalem @aaaeeeffflll @pierrepodevyn @karlfelix__ Photo Editing @mariefaass Advertising @mharieberger Print  @gutenbergbeuys Web @scissor_cloud Cusp Publishing

Excerpt from White Light—A letter from the editor Seeing is believing, right? Maybe, we’ll see. The Quanti·verse has been an exploration, an investigation into the history and present of quantum theory that led our team through a cyclical labyrinth of sensemaking. What I came to realise through this winding descent was how much I relied on the certainty of clarity, and how my insistence on definite answers may have been preventing me from finding truth altogether. There are meanings for which language is inadequate. In this issue, we enter such a place, a plane where the literal and the empirical cannot be trusted. The year 2025 marked a century since the emergence of modern quantum mechanics. While the theory’s technological impact is undeniable, many foundational assumptions remain conceptually unresolved. In retrospect, aspects of early quantum theory appear not only incomplete but potentially misleading. Quantum reality and classical reality are not the same. Classical reality describes a cup visible to the naked eye resting on a table. Quantum reality refers to the underlying field of possibilities that precedes it, and we lack the tools to experience or describe that reality. It’s the exhaustion of both language and of the eye—of having to see something to believe it, to measure something for it to be true or having to name something in order for it to be. In the words of the famous physicist Werner Heisenberg, what we observe is not nature herself, but nature exposed to our method of questioning. And nature does not follow a binary system. It’s not 0s or 1s, not an either/or, it’s in the tension of the and. The mystery and the understanding. The distinction between mind and matter, body and soul, is only literal. It all exists in superposition at once. Everything psychological has a purpose, and the spiritual reality of man is what colours are to white light.

Heligoland
/ˈhɛlɪɡoʊˌlænd/ from German Helgoland (earlier Heiligeland), “holy land.” As a tribute to one of the founding fathers of quantum mechanics, we traveled to the island of Helgoland, where the German physicist Werner Heisenberg developed the mathematical framework behind the uncertainty principle. He had retreated to the island to escape his severe pollen allergies — Helgoland’s stark, treeless landscape offered a rare refuge where he could work uninterrupted. It is said that, in his solitude, Heisenberg passed the time reciting Goethe’s West–östlicher Divan, immersed in ideas that would become one of the defining breakthroughs in the development of quantum physics as we know it today. Stills by @dylanvanroost

Product shots from Issue 04

NAIMA meets CODE. Ahmed Alramly, editor-in-chief, asked Marie Berger, editor-in-chief, (@mharieberger ) for 10 books that have shaped CODE’s research. The selection reflects CODE’s broader intention: closing gaps between communities and fostering meaningful exchange. CODE’s aim is to bring together musicians, artists, scientists, and cultural thinkers at the intersection of art, technology, spirituality, and science.

@skipfame special for CODE 04 Photographer @ynaalem Stylist @intlcolor Talent Antonio Casting @ledixieme @ld_casting Hair @liv_gate Fashion Assistant @gearupkyto @sofietche_ Producers @sofietche_ @mharieberger @sibelhuz

“I See Me, in You, in Chess” A conversation with Club Chess and Vanessa Barros Andrade from CODE 04, available now ♟️ @clubchess.club @deviantarthaute Chessboard Concept @deviantarthaute Talents @corrineciani & @quietluke Photographer @thejoaquincastillo Art Direction @mariefaass Makeup @sophie_hartnett Hair @mharieberger Camera Assistant @itsemmanuelec Photo Assistants @sqliff & @trashbunnii lighting Assistant @shannadeneux Producer @miasframes PA @leinamisaki

MAYBE WE’LL SEE Stills from CODE 04: THE QUANTI·VERSE Art by Kynan Puru Watt @wifiovermybody

THE SELF  CODE 04 @grailed Archive Special Video Excerpts by @7.9999a Talent @mowalola Stylist @vvutura Models @chi @anncekora Storm at Storm Mgmt, @iammijon at Storm Mgmt, @raven.schexnayder Casting @____dax______ Hair @unclelee Hair Assist @so_phiaflores @stephanie.aldana @glenda_hairandbeauty Make-Up @zaheersyn Make-Up Assist @lilynalbandyan Photo Assist @tsantana.photo Styling Assist @error404priestess , Celeste Caceu, Crystal Okonkwo, Tatianna Hechavarria Executive Producer @chris.yellen Producer @carlo.p Production Coordinator @srrytodisappoint PA @andytangent Production Assist Josh Alarcon Special Thank you @everythingihatee @willnoyce @bigkid.tv @agnes.azria

At CODE, we believe the most insightful and compelling conversations emerge in the space between disciplines. Whether through a shared language, a craft, or a curiosity that pushes beyond the boundaries of individual fields, we seek to connect the forces at play—bridging perspectives, practices, and strands of interdisciplinary research. This reflects our broader intention: to close the gaps between communities and foster meaningful exchange. Our aim is to bring together musicians, artists, scientists, and cultural thinkers at the intersections of art, technology, spirituality, and the sciences.

Projective Geometry is the ur-technology at the root of today’s AI-pilled-consciousness-questioning moment, yet it originated in the 1500s. Billion-dimensional token embeddings simulate language as a skeuomorph of human consciousness. What can we learn from 500 years ago to help us make sense of today? ‘Neural Media Literacy’ is an attempt at making sense of the media environment and creative landscape that new neural media technologies (AI, LLMs, Agents) have thrust upon us. Answers to the “is it conscious” question are made irrelevant in favor of reorienting the discussion towards “what effects can it have anyway?” Learning from reading topologies of network media structures, we can glimpse a new type of literacy emerging in the age of neural media. Connecting the theoretical and mythological dots between Robin Evans’ architectural theory, the Orchestrated Objective Reduction Theory of Quantum Consciousness proposed by Roger Penrose and Stuart Hameroff (also in CODE issue 04), K Allado MacDowell’s history of neural media, Deadalus/Icarus Labyrinth myth, and recent video work by Freeka Tet and Amnesia Scanner, this essay is a critical meditation on emerging forms of media literacy today. View the full essay and simulations by @j3ss3s33g3rs @spatialculturesthinkingpartner on CODE Archive — link in bio. Slideshow: 01 LLM token embedding simulation 02 “Chapel d’Anet” (1547-52), designed by architect Philibert de l’Orme. Section perspective drawing by Jacques Androuet Du Cerceau, ca. 1570 03 Various network topologies / Network Media simulation 04-05 Rafaello, “School of Athens” (1509-1511) as schools of thought vectors, diagram by author 06 Outtake CODE 04 ‘Neural Media Literacy’ 07 Decentralized topology / Network Media simulation 08 Still from music video for “AS Over” by @amnesiascanner , Directed by @freekatet 09 Distributed topology / Network Media simulation 10 Trainium GPU chip, Spencer Lowell for The New York Times 11 Centralized topology / Network Media simulation Web Design @scissor_cloud