Wrong term ... More like repeating the circles a lot in a grid (the term is
escaping me the moment). I'd use tile clone in inkscape to achieve this. I
agree the brush strokes would be reproducible.
A technology *feel* could join the circles. I've been working on this type
of concept for a while. Here's one iteration:
https://68.media.tumblr.com/8b0841d2655de4c032005082e459e7bb/tumblr_ohji5...
Another idea I've been working on is a constellation-type effect:
https://68.media.tumblr.com/1affc371387a6db3c2ea8072fb55c6fa/tumblr_ohji5...