Fontana is Latin for fountain. 

This project is a playful attempt at abstractly capturing the flowing movement of a fountain using precisely drawn elements that evoke a static and considered rendering of a subject that is in constant flux. The visual language is reminiscent of hand-draughted technical drawing, a precise and methodical practice that progresses at a radically different pace to the flowing and capricious movement of water. To increase this tension between dynamic motion and static mechanical process I wanted the surface textures to appear worn and aged like a drawing that has spent its life in the bottom of a mechanics drawer. This process of abrasion and discoloration is occurring on yet another scale of time adding complexity to the references of time passing. 

Woven into the very fabric of Fontana is a fully generative solution for creating color expression. This means there is no reliance on preset palettes with every output being an entirely unique color articulation of the color story I want the project to reveal as a whole. Far from being random I attempted to create an approach which produces colors that evoke early 20th Century art and design media. With this intention I wanted  outputs to look like they could be working drawing artifacts from this period of time.

Fontana

The *Muttenz* series is an exploration of the intersection between mathematical precision and artistic expression. Driven by the desire to discover the extent to which a rigid system could be used as the foundation for captivating and aesthetic artworks, this journey delves into the realm of complex grid formulas and color palette algorithms, and how to break them.

I have always been attracted to simple shapes and minimalism, and as computers get more and more successful at imitating organic and analog mediums, I am even more interested in the bare-bones approach of examining basic building blocks of various systems, as in my previous series [The Primitive Trilogy](https://wuwa.org/primitives/) where I examined the basic primitives of 3D CGI systems. As my creative foundations are rooted in the modernist movement of the Bauhaus and The International Style, I love grids and in this series I turned to focus on them. 

Grids are a fundamental element in design, architecture, and the visual arts. They are used as a structuring tool to create order, balance, and harmony in compositions. In the visual arts, grids serve as the underlying framework for a work, dictating the placement and proportion of elements within the composition and in digital art even more so - the pixels are an extension of the traditional grid system, and everything must be plotted along these grids.

At its core, *Muttenz* constructs precise grids and distributes simple graphic shapes along them. Through a vast set of parameters, the algorithm generates images that range from organized to chaotic. Initially, the journey focused on grids, but soon evolved into a search for harmony, color, rhythm, and balance and emergence of traits that were not strictly planned for. The complexity and variance that the computer offers took this in a whole new direction - showcasing the beauty of random chance within a very strict system, displaying surprising and sometimes 'beautifully flawed' results. *A work about grids, that started to look nothing like grids...  a surprising outcome of my dialogue with the machine.*

Since we are dealing with grids for the screen, it became obviously necessary to deal with the fluidity of screens - not only different resolutions but different aspect ratios as well. The grid mathematics proved to be a good tool to deal with this, making the work fully responsive and it will adapt to any screen aspect ratio or size.

However, this work is breaking some new ground as some will look similar across the various ratios while others transform significantly, revealing some of the grid structures that enable them to exist, and actually allowing endless sub-variations of works to be derived from each single mint.

Use the following keyboard keys to control the aspect ratio:
[1] - Portrait 9:16
[2] - Portrait 2:3
[3] - Square 1:1
[4] - Landscape 3:2
[5] - Landscape 16:9
[r] - Go fully responsive (works in fullscreen mode)

Muttenz

phenomena

An evolving generative art project, inspired by the longing to connect with nature. It explores the relationship between art, code and nature. - "Becoming the Mountains and Rivers". 
The series explores the mythic idea of a time that came before, when we were one with nature and ourselves. This landscape refuses to hold still. Instead, the viewer is asked to contemplate about being the constant in this ever changing space. They are the only thing that can create a true moment in an otherwise fluid and dynamic world. The piece invites viewers to become fully immersed in the landscape, to contemplate their own inner zen and to feel a sense of calm and peace as they watch the land, water, and sky move and flow. It is an invitation to appreciate the beauty of nature and to reflect on the endless yearning for completeness that we all experience at some point in our lives. Like a postcard that transports us to another time, or a memory that provokes feelings of longing and missing, "Longing" invites us to reconnect with ourselves and to find peace in the ever-flowing river of life in the current moment.

The piece uses generative code to create a space where one can appreciate the beauty of nature while gaining a new perspective on how we perceive art. Instead of presenting viewers with the conventional form of a painting’s static view-through-the-window, Longing takes viewers into a living and breathing artwork. Just as nature moves in patterns that we know how to anticipate but can’t predict, Longing also moves in ever-evolving patterns that are both comforting and surprising. In this way, Longing challenges the static nature of painting while testing out where digital art can take us—is this a form of art that is in sync with nature? Or does it take us further away by inserting additional layers of mediation? Longing does not answer these questions, but it helps us contemplate possible responses, and pushes us to reconsider the nature and purpose of art in the 21st century.

Technical details
Immersive~ The artwork would fit any format ratio and resolution, hit full screen to widen the view and experience the work in landscape formats.

Evolving~ Movement: Time lapse after draw starting at the featured time and transitioning to the local time of the work, when local time is settled the work will display the current time and evolve the sky with it. Accompanied with the slow movement of colors ramps in the landscape, and water rippling.

Output~ 
~Press "s" to save a .PNG file at any stage at current resolution. 
~Press "p" to render and save a high resolution .PNG file for print x3 current resolution.

Created and developed by Ronen Tanchum and Ori Ben Shabat

Longing

ÂPEX ~ is a generative landscape art project responding to the conditions of the Anthropocene, where the lines between what is possible and what is only imagined are constantly shifting.  Simplified circles give way to hyperreal spaces. It is unclear if at any point they resemble a landscape that one could actually inhabit.

At what point do abstract shapes start to resemble believable environments? Each viewer may experience this work differently, depending on where they draw the line between realism and abstraction, natural form, reality and fantasy.

While landscape art is traditionally understood to represent natural forms, it has become increasingly difficult to distinguish between the natural and manufactured. When the code runs its course and a static picture emerges, a thin barrier seems to be crossed.

The work tests out the limits between reality and hyperrealism, between abstraction and surrealism, blurring distinctions between them.

Created by Ori Ben Shabat & Ronen Tanchum

APEX

The Curated Collection includes projects that have been selected by Art Blocks’ Curation Board for their world-class innovation, technical rigor, and aesthetic beauty.

curated

This collection comprises projects screened and selected by Art Blocks and embodies our standards for artistic creativity, conceptual rigor, and technical achievement.

presents

This is the place where we tinker. What lives here is free of theme or architecture but the one common strand is that these projects all grant us delight.

explorations

The Art Blocks × Pace collection includes boundary-pushing generative projects by select Pace artists developed in partnership with Pace Verso.

artblocksxpace

Through an exhibition program that extends across galleries globally, Art Blocks × Bright Moments showcases and launches the work of acclaimed natively generative artists.

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