Tati Bruening Is Stepping Out From Behind the Screen
From llumitati to Contact Sports, the creative director made a name for herself building a world with uncanny visuals as much digital as they are analog. Now, a self-titled album is next.
Tati Bruening first went viral as Illumitati, the Internet-native behind some of the most addictive visuals online—from personal video art to campaigns for A24 and Snapchat. Think a fem-bot-meets-statue-of-liberty adorned in nothing but pale green bodypaint and an outfit fashioned from Arizona Iced Tea. Or a young woman in office-wear swinging a baseball bat at a ChatGPT logo piñata. Old desktops sit in riverbeds, and fidget spinners are repurposed as a barely there bikini. There’s something refreshing and inspired about her analog response. It’s an instinct for world-building that carries over into Contact Sports, her electronic music project. Below, ahead of releasing her single “Me & My Machine” from her forthcoming debut album, she talks digital origin stories, machine romance, and why the internet still feels like home.
How has your relationship with the Internet changed over the years?
Absolutely. The Internet is a lot like my hometown [Newport Beach], in the sense that a lot of the culture in my surroundings—in both virtual and physical space—has had an undeniable influence on me as a person, and as a result, my art as well.
Are there Internet rabbit holes that stuck with you?
I grew up on YouTube almost entirely! I didn’t watch T.V., movies, or play many video games aside from Minecraft. If it wasn’t Internet culture that I was consuming, it was nature. I grew up pretty granola and used nature as an escape.
“There is not much of a method to my madness other than actioning whatever comes to mind as quickly as possible before I get bored of it.”
What excites you most about electronic music right now?
I am super excited about seeing the merge of underground rap and E.D.M. It reminds me of when A$AP Rocky collaborated with Mura Masa and the whole era of music I loved when I was in middle school. I hope to see more cross-genre collabs and unexpected features like that in the future.
What made you want to release your own album?
I actually started my career in the underground electronic music scene in high school, as a rave photographer. It’s been a lifelong dream of mine to pursue music and D.J.ing, but I never had the confidence. After producing some of the music that was in the background of my video works, it just kind of took on a life of its own.
Why the name Contact Sports?
My parents met playing professional basketball, so naturally, I grew up playing lots of contact sports. The phrase was always something I heard and thought to myself: What an odd and sterile way to describe touch. Ironically, I never really enjoyed sports, although I was very good.
Does your brain work differently when you make music versus visuals, or do the two feed each other?
I think my process is generally the same for both. Which is uh…whatever it feels like that day. There is not much of a method to my madness other than actioning whatever comes to mind as quickly as possible before I get bored of it.
“Me & My Machine” feels so current. What was your inspiration for the song?
It’s about this ideal world where there is symbiosis between nature, technology, and the self. The idea came to me when I was probably experiencing mild psychosis after spending several days in a forest by myself with no cell service. The only company I had alongside me was my car, which is my muse, “the machine” in the track.
Was there a moment while making the single’s music video that just clicked?
It was a world that I’ve been creating for a long time, but didn’t really have the resources to execute, so this was a super easy and clear-cut process, to be honest. I was able to work with [Creative Director] Kurt Johnson who helped me to really build my ideas into something bigger than the video projects that I’ve been creating for social media, which was such a dream.