Art Blocks: True Onchain Artwork

When Art Blocks launched in 2020, we made a commitment: every artwork's code would live on the blockchain. Not in cloud storage, not on servers, but directly on Ethereum. In our early days, the core code was onchain but artists still relied on offchain tools and libraries to create their art. We were careful about this—limiting artists to a few widely used, well-preserved coding libraries. But as the artworks released through our platform became increasingly important to art history, we realized we needed to facilitate true independence.

In 2024, we launched new technology, our onchain generator and dependency registry smart contracts. Those contracts made all Art Blocks works accessible directly from the Ethereum blockchain. The logic stitched together artist scripts, token seeds, and libraries, encoding everything on the blockchain. At launch, most projects were compatible with the system. 

Now, 100% of the Art Blocks 500 permanent collections are compatible, making them all entirely accessible onchain, free and independent from any centralized platform, forever.

Why This is Important

Artists

Your work is accessible as long as access to the Ethereum blockchain exists. Everything that makes your creation unique lives securely onchain. Your code will remain as you intended, accessible to future generations through the same tools used to create it.

Collectors

You own more than just a token—you have everything needed to generate and experience your art. While we'll continue providing a convenient way to view and interact with your collection, you're never dependent on Art Blocks or any other platform.

Institutions

We're providing everything needed to pull the code that is used to render Art Blocks works independently. Run your own systems, host your own interfaces, or build your own tools—the code that renders these works in a web browser will always be accessible onchain, ensuring these pieces can be studied and experienced for generations to come.

Building on Our Foundation

While there will continue to be work to do to address the many facets of software art preservation in the face of ongoing technological change, we are proud of our contribution toward ensuring permanence. We are excited to continue building the future of generative art and the infrastructure for a new chapter in art history. Follow along with us on X for updates. Join our community if you haven’t already to support our efforts. 

The Art Blocks Team