Horizontes-Exploration

Horizon(te)s has become one of my very favorite generative art collections on any chain. I was immediately drawn to the head game aspect of it -- two of the top generative artists practicing today, each trying to put themselves in each other's shoes, and then again putting themselves in each other's shoes while trying to emulate how each would see themselves.

And, on top of it, it's Zach Lieberman's first long-form collection, following his announced, much anticipated, and then ultimately cancelled Art Blocks series in late 2021, which I was personally looking forward to. While many place higher value in curated 1/1s, I personally far prefer 1/1/x's, like these, in a situation where they're equally impressive, as I greatly appreciate the broader collection the 1/1/x exists in the context of and in conversation with.

At minimum, it would be a fascinating experiment -- but it winds up as so much more.

Unified around the theme of horizons, each of the 6 "modes" explored in the series both stand on their own as distinct collections and also exist in clear visual dialogue with each other.

These glitched horizons are very similar to some of Zach's 1/1s, and pulling together a full 60+ of them, non-curated, each unique and glorious but also coherent and related to each other, is impressive enough. The detail on these is incredible; check them out on as high a resolution and as big of a screen as possible.

Iskra as me

"“Me as Me” has been like my safe space. I changed easily through more than 5 different systems before getting the right one. The whole project is about Horizons and the idea of divisions, so I decided to focus on the concept of sea. Either a port or a mystic sailing boat, both have some disturbing elements in the scene. Sometimes a mesh –is it possible to reflect this smell of iron? And sometimes an undefined stone cave – is it there to protect us, or to attack us?"

Iskra's "me as me" has two distinct variations -- "The Port and the Iron" and "The Sailboat and the cave." In the images above, the first two are "Port and Iron."

Port and Iron strikes me as a progression from some of the outputs from Iskra's "Uninhabutable" series on FxHash, with more color and different geometry, but still very much cohering with the broader "horizon" theme of the series. The colors of the different variations, while sometimes discordant at first, play well together, and complement the rest of the series.

The Sailboat and the Cave is, to me, a more visually striking set of outputs. They lie very much within Iskra's broader body of work and give a strong sense of light at the horizon. The textures on this output I also find mesmerizing at higher definitions.

Zach me as you

"For me as you, I focused on Iskra’s use of layers and simple geometry for creating compositions that reframe space. I am a huge fan of her work – especially how she elevates and uses simple geometry and creates ambiguous forms that reference architectural structures so I enjoyed exploring what I could do with a constraint of just using rectangles. I see blocks, windows and portals."

I love these outputs -- clearly Zach, not Iskra, but also clearly deeply influenced by Iskra. Architectural like the "port and iron" outputs, colorful like the "sailboat and cave" output, focused on a horizon around which the shapes exist, and visually interesting.

These manage to be a coherent progression from both Zach as me and Iskra as me.

Iskra Me as You

"The most difficult mode for me {was] “Me as you ” (How could I recreate the magic lights of Zach?) After some integration work, I got into something minimal and played with colors, contrast and shadows to recreate this feelight of shine, in my case using just lines."

These are some of my favorite Iskra outputs of the collection, especially the heavy green fields like the second in the group above, and the reds as in the 3rd.

These are all about color and texture to me, still with the unifying theme of the horizon. I'm immediately drawn to the idea of a magical sunrise or sunset with each of these, some otherworldly and some very much of this world.

This also makes clear sense as a progression from both Iskra as me AND Zach as me. In both texture and color, there are strong similarities to Iskra as me outputs, but the strong horizon and luminescence builds from Zach.

Zach me as you as me

"For me as you as me, I explored light. Although Iskra’s compositions often use densely overlapped lines and forms there is often a really luminous and airy quality to her works that I deeply resonate with. She creates curtains and shapes we can see through and I tried to imagine a form of light curtain that Iskra would create to generate my work. In this mode, a set of color bands are organized along a horizon and overlap to create new spaces and forms."

These outputs most fully transport me "over" the horizon. It feels like they're beautiful, luminous portals into another dimension, building on both Iskra's "earlier" versions above and especially on Zach's "me as you". I especially love the two outputs on the right (as of this writing, they both belong to me), but find myself consistently enthralled by the outputs from this variation.

And, tying to the broader horizon theme, all of course emenate from some central x-axis, into which I want nothing more than to dive.

Iskra me as you as me

"For “Me as you as me” I came up immediately with the idea of candies. Not sure why, but somehow I found colors and positive vibes very much associated with Zach’s work and I tried to recreate this idea by playing with sparks, flashes and vivid tones."

These outputs are tricky for me. Personally, it's my least favorite of the 6 "modes" explored in the series.

However, I think it's very successful from the conceptual, me as you as me angle. There's a clear "me" there, building on Iskra's "Hypothetically Macro" and "Hypothetically Micro" series on Feral File from 2021. And there's also the Zach influences that aren't quite there in the Feral File series.

However, I find the "horizon" theme to come out least well in this mode, with just the muted shading to convey it, and the ouputs are less striking to me than those in the other modes (by and large). While I do appreciate this mode in the broader conversation taking place within the collection, it's not where my eye goes naturally.

That said, even with some pieces I have less love for, I think that's true of just about every long-form generative art series.

Horizon(te)s breaks new ground, both as a collab and as Zach Lieberman's first foray into long-form, with splendid results. I truly believe this belongs in the conversation among very top Tez collections, and I look forward to seeing appreciation for it evolve over time.