Since founding Art Blocks in 2020, artist Erick Calderon (a.k.a. Snowfro) has been intrigued by the idea of representing digital artwork in the physical world in the form of an ephemeral physical object with meaning, but with no inherent value. The Friendship Bracelet Project is how that idea has come to life.

If you have come to the Art Blocks house in Marfa or heard Erick speak it is likely that you will hear some reference to Chinati. Donald Judd has long been an inspiration for Art Blocks. One aspect we admire most about Judd’s artistic practice is the elegance of design he effortlessly paired with the accessibility of materials that could be found at a hardware store. With Judd as inspiration, Erick and Alexis André (a.k.a. MacTuitui) hatched a plan to create a unique generative art friendship bracelet that includes instructions to make, in minutes, a simple bracelet using a few dollars’ worth of embroidery floss. Donald Judd believed that what surrounds us in our day-to-day life is already so beautiful, and that ultimately the experience of creating art is as important as owning it.

“One of the things I admire about the Web3 space are the easy and intense relationships that can form over things like art, tech, and the future.” —Erick Calderon
 

Erick was excited to collaborate with renowned artist Alexis André to bring generative art and ephemeral physical objects together in the form of friendship bracelets. Conceptualized by Erick and aesthetically and programmatically designed by Alexis, this project pairs creative coding with a beautiful spectrum of embroidery floss colors. The project was a true team effort, as each member of the Art Blocks team designed and named their own color palette!

The project is a token of our appreciation to the creators, makers, builders, and collectors who have all contributed to making the Art Blocks community what it is today. Participating in this project is a signal, both online and IRL, that you’re a participant in this evolution of art and community. You are pushing the best ideas forward. You are the reason all of these imaginative projects come to life. Our community is what makes all of this possible. So, to say it plainly, we appreciate you, and we hope that you’ll accept this bracelet as a token of our special friendship!

Claim Information

‍The owner of any wallet with an Art Blocks piece at the time of snapshot (October 26, 2022, at 3pm US Central time) is eligible to claim two NFTs from this special generative art project. We would love to see you keep one bracelet and share your love for generative art by gifting your second claim! These claims are free (you pay only the gas) and exist on L1 Ethereum. Please note that we may in the future release additional modified iterations of the Friendship Bracelets project, ideally on an L2 scaling solution, that may substantially increase the total supply of tokens related to the project, with the intent of being a more accessible entry point to a larger audience. But this version is what we're here to celebrate today, and this gift is for you in gratitude for your support along the way. Please enjoy this token of our friendship and explore the wonderful artwork created by Alexis André. Then, let's all make bracelets together! 

The claim window expires on January 10, 2023, at noon US Central time.

FAQs

• The Friendship Bracelet Project will open up before Marfa, allowing you to claim on Thursday, November 3, 2022.
• Prior to claiming, we will take a snapshot of all the current Art Blocks holder addresses in order to properly capture who should be added to the allowlist for this project.
• Allow listed addresses will be provided with TWO free claims (you just need to pay gas). One is for you, and our hope is that you’ll share the second one with a friend. We would love to see more people get to meaningfully participate in our world, and we are providing an extra bracelet in order to encourage you to share.  
• Animated visual instructions will accompany the NFT itself. Simply click on the artwork for the instructions to appear. Note that each click as you advance through the artwork will represent a step in making the physical bracelet.
• Everyone will have the chance to create a commemorative bracelet in Marfa. It will not correspond with the one that you have claimed. But, it’s something that’s really special to us and we hope that it’ll remind you of your time together with friends in West Texas.
• Art Blocks holders who are not in Marfa will still be able to participate. This project is for ALL Art Blocks holders. We’re excited to celebrate this in Marfa with the folks that come to our festivities.
• There will be 36 pre-determined color palettes created by the Art Blocks team, along with a custom color palette generator designed by Alexis. The color palette for each bracelet will be determined when the NFT is claimed.