As mentioned before, from a strictly technical point of view the bas-reliefs are photo-drawings, or simply photographs, although it is (the software of) a computer that operates as the camera. In Hierocodic the term “bas-relief” is used because the 3D label drawings actually resemble bas-reliefs, due to their alternation of filled parts and (shallow) voids.
We should then talk about photographs of digital bas-reliefs (illuminated by a grazing light coming from the left) or even just bas-reliefs. But there is also another (non-technical) reason why the term “bas-relief” is used: the fact that the photo-drawings always have a political character as did the historical bas-reliefs, strong tools of propaganda. The Hierocodic bas-reliefs, however, are not on the side of those who hold power but those who do not.
From an aesthetic point of view, the bas-reliefs may recall some (of the first) electronic games. This connection with video games is not intentional (Hierocodic has nothing to do with the art that is inspired by video games, starting with in-game photography), but it comes in handy to emphasize the massive spread of this type of games (gamification) in all contemporary technological societies.
The aesthetic parallel is therefore not a tribute but a warning. Since most people use their mobile phone to play, digital games provide the opportunity to collect a lot of information about players and people or situations with which they interact or are forced to interact. But the playful or cartoon-like appearance of the Hierocodic bas-reliefs creates above all a short circuit with the seriousness of the themes treated in the bas-reliefs themselves, reminding us how superficial our approach to dealing with them usually is. When we face them, why we hardly ever do.