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Collector's Notes, Volume 2. October 2022
GrailersDAO, Grailers. Grailer #756, 2022. DAO Membership Token.
Designed by Stefano Contiero, the membership these tokens represent has changed my course as someone who's interested in NFTs and Internet art.
Put succinctly: I've found my tribe. I feel a sense of belonging, in a discord server, among people I've mostly never met... and that gives me hope for the online communities of tomorrow.
Golid and Deca, Decagon. Decagon #525, 2022. Open Membership Token.
The Decagon is the open membership token for the Decaverse. Its infinitely evolving, and an exceptionally addictive experience, as one "upgrades" it over time. The outputs are striking too, but that's unsurprising as it was designed by Kjetil Golid.
I love what Deca is doing, and no one in the Web3 space ships faster. Hell, we're on Deca right now. Isn't it great?
Mathias Isaksen & gmDAO, Factura. Factura #673, 2022. Long-Form Generative Art.
Factura was the first gmDAO drop that I really lusted after. The pieces were varied, mesmerising, new.
I minted my DAO whitelisted factura (#30), but was not satisfied. After a few days trawling through the entire output space, I found #673. I do not think there are any other facturas like it. Why?
The rare "Directional Shading" off feature, coupled with the Utopia palette, creates something brighter than any other output. Utopias don't have dark hues in the colourscheme like some of the other palettes. There are no shadows cast anywhere and because of this, I've called the piece "Noontide".
Dmitri Cherniak, Dead Ringers: Edition. Dead Ringers: Edition, 2022. Open Edition.
Every day in January 2022 the artist behind the well known Ringers series, Dmitri Cherniak, sent a random ringer to a random wallet on Ethereum. On January 31st, all the previous Dead Ringers were placed in a 5 by 6 grid and made mintable as the open edition you see here.
I like this work for multiple reasons: Firstly, the open edition format meant that Dmitri's work was accessible to a much larger collector base than before. This piece is affordable, and means that anyone can own some ringers.
It also has a pedagogical aspect, showcasing the probabilistic enormity of the Ethereum address space. By sending each Ringer to a random address, they were effectively being "burned", as the odds of someone having the private keys to that dress are vanishingly small (16 to power of 40 available addresses).
Sarah Ridgley, Himinn. Himinn #136, 2021. Long-Form Generative Art.
These ethereal clouds have grown on me over time. Reflecting one day on why, I realised some of the outputs remind me of J. M. W. Turner's paintings. There is an interplay of the colours that approaches abstract and impressionist paintings.
ART AI, Eponym. time will tell, 2021. Prompt-input AI Generated Art.
These AI generated paintings are gorgeous, and are one of our first collective forays into AI generated art as a community. There are earlier and better known works in this vein (such as Robbie Barrat's Lost Robbies and DeepBlack).
Unfortunately, I wasn't the original prompter who created this, but seeing it on OpenSea I immediately thought of Arnold Böcklin's famous painting, Isle of the Dead.
mpkoz, Chimera (Art Blocks Curated). Chimera #875, 2022. Long-Form Generative Art.
mpkoz's Chimeras are windows into a living still life, and thus are an old tradition from classical art reimagined anew. We watch as flowers come into being, and fade back into nothingness. This may spur us to reflect on our own transience.
The work is interactive, giving an almost infinite set of possible perspectives. For me, the chimeras with skulls are the most interesting, resonating with the great "Vanitas" paintings like those done by Philippe de Champaigne and 17th century flemish painters.
DCA, Really Random Rock. Really Random Rock #306, 2022. Long-Form Generative Plottable Art.
I see plottable work playing into the broader theme of how NFTs and Web3 are a democratising access to Art in general. With things like plotters, a wider audience can experience and make art at home.
One could imagine a movement like this as analogous to homebrew beer entusiasts, 3D printer makerspaces, and other DIY-style hobbies. Plot an NFT you've made or purchased, mount/frame it, and hang it on the wall.
I also enjoy the uses of colours and textures behind DCA's work, and the common threads between East Asian stone collecting and Generative Art.
r0zk0, Avalon (Art Blocks Factory). Avalon #192, 2022. Long-Form Generative Art.
These maps, like others before them, contain hints and secrets that can lead to hidden treasure.
In this vein, #192 is special. It was used as part of a treasure hunt, constructed by the artist, in September 2022. Specifically, this map references William Kidd, a privateer and pirate from the 17th century. Whoever solved the mystery was awarded a token that gave the holder access to every single subsequent piece of Generative art r0zk0 would ever release in future...
Michael Connolly, Divisions (Art Blocks Factory). Divisions #495, 2021. Long-Form Generative Art.
A well known and appreciated series by man collectors, Divisions is one of the AB Factory drops that I think will endure.
This piece came into my hands from a negotiation to trade for the ENS name fiji.eth. A buyer dm'd me over twitter, offering 7.5 ETH for it. I saw this piece in their collection, and agreed contingent upon this Division being part of the deal.
Emily Xie, Memories of Qilin (Art Blocks Curated). Memories of Qilin #573, 2022. Long-Form Generative Art.
The Qilin is a chimera-like beast found throughout East Asian mythology. In this series, Xie brings us an aesthetic of ukiyo-e woodblock prints, and flowing shapes. Matisse's Cut-Outs are in there too.
Of the various possibilities, I find outputs with a "focal" composition to be the most balanced, exuding a refinement that matches the philosophical roots of sophisticated east asian art.
Many collectors have "seen" into these random collections of shapes; discovering lions, birds, spaceships, and other forms. For me, this piece looks like a full-face spartan helmet.
Philip Bell. Formless Freedom, 2022. 1/1 Generative piece.
Formless Freedom is a generative system of decaying organization, and was released by the artist shortly before the launch of his "Staccato" series on Art Blocks.
I see this piece as a compliment to that series, riffing on the composition, palette, and motion of Staccato. This piece is co-owned with fellow Grailer, Artoria.
Mathcastles, Terraforms. Level 14 at {39, 39}, 2022. Onchain land art.
If standard NFTs were esoteric and intimidating to the uninitiated, then Terraforms take that to a new level. Each of these parcels represent a parcel of "land" in a dynamically generated onchain 3D world. It is an expression of on-chain maximalism, relying solely upon the Ethereum blockchain to maintain the work.
As a total work of Art, Terraforms could be looked at as one enormous virtual structure, colloquially known as the "hypercastle".
This piece is a rare "Origin Daydream". These few pieces, as I understand it, played a role in instantiating the hypercastle when it was first created.
More info here and
Visualize Value (Jack Butcher). Truth, Perception, 2022. 1/1 NFT.
Jack Butcher's minimal, clean, and extremely information-dense aesthetic is well known to those who spend time in the Web3 and crypto subcultures. Sometimes profound, sometimes playful, they are always recognisable.
This particular piece encapsulates a brief dm conversation I had with Jack on twitter. I wanted to discuss how something "true" can look totally different depending on one's perspective, in the same way two shadows cast from the same object can look completely different depending on where the light source is. This piece was a partial result of that conversation.
Matto, FOCUS (Art Blocks Factory). FOCUS #199, 2022. Long-Form Generative Art.
I remember seeing this output on my twitter feed when it was minted. Immediately, I wanted it, as the sun is a personal symbol and motif... I've embroidered it on my clothes, drawn it in letters and journals.
Unable to buy this specific output, I minted a spree of FOCUS pieces, but none approached this one. Then it was listed on Opensea, and now, it is mine.
"Quand le soleil se leve, il se leve pour tous." This translates to "When the sun rises, it rises for everyone."
Fin. Volume 3 coming soon.