ellella

Ellella is a fictional multimedia project and the eponymous central figure of a speculative storytelling initiative created in 2017 by the artist collective Lumen & Loom. The project centers on Ellella, a traveler in a near-future urban landscape who seeks to recover memory from scattered digital relics. The work exists as an online interactive narrative, a short graphic novella released in 2018, and an ambient audio score. The narrative unfolds through user choices that influence sequence and pacing, while also presenting non-linear fragments that can be revisited.

Ellella examines themes of memory, language, and identity at the intersection of humanity and technology. Its visual style combines minimal line drawings with atmospheric gradients, and its sound design uses modular synthesis and field recordings to create a sense of immersion and decentering.

Reception and influence: Among circles of digital art and speculative fiction, Ellella is noted for its cross-media approach and emphasis on reader/player autonomy. While not widely marketed, it has been discussed in media arts catalogs and university programs as an example of early practice in interactive graphic narratives. The project has inspired downstream works in zines, student installations, and fan-made extensions.

See also: interactive fiction, multimedia storytelling, graphic novel, digital art.