Our studio, Aranda\Lasch, was formed in the early 2000s to explore algorithmic systems and generative processes as a means to understand the world around us and make things within it. Whether encapsulated in physical or computational techniques, these processes act with their own degree of autonomy from our own biases and as a result, open up new ideas and sensibilities while dismantling traditional notions of authorship. They allow one to code the possibility of discovery and surprise into the creative process in a manner that can be widely shared and because of this transmissibility, algorithms frustrate the idea of a single author, inviting speculation on the shared nature of creativity. For this reason we have always understood our work to be a collaboration between each other, those who share with us and those who inspire us. 

Over the years, the studio has indulged in a number of obsessions. One is the conviction that history is a generative source with which to constantly entangle. Whether it is through stories, characters, techniques, or events, history acts as a medium active with properties that constantly reshape and transform our concept of the present. We look back to move forward, like hitching a ride. It is here that we encounter Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528) and his masterpiece Melancholia I (1514) to inspire a deep dive into the process of engraving as a representational technique reinterpreted through the contemporary medium of code. By scratching metal away from a plate, an inversion of conventional drawing, engraving allowed a work of art to be reproduced and disseminated widely. In addition to the piece’s masterful delineation, its allegory resonates with us as well. In Dürer’s time melancholy was associated with insanity but also with creativity. In the engraving, the winged personification of melancholy -- the work is widely regarded to be a self-portrait of the artist -- is surrounded by the tools and elements of geometry. For Dürer, as for a handful of others who came before and after, who test the porous borders between art, science and religion, geometry is a vehicle for imagination, a shadow of the divine and a portal to the infinite. 

This work Primitives is a kindred meditation on infinity through an exploration of a novel geometric structure using algorithm and code, the tools of today's geometers and mystics, made visible through the anachronism of the engravers trade translated into pure 1’s and 0’s. Primitives grows through a single shape that can repeat and scale in specific ways that are never random, but rather tightly governed by geometric logics. It is about drawing infinity through a radical modularity; ordered but aperiodic. Unlike a regular crystal, whose molecular pattern is periodic (or repetitive in all directions), the distinctive quality of this quasicrystal is that its structural pattern never repeats the same way twice. Endless and uneven in aggregate, Primitive clusters can be described by the precise arrangement of a single modular part. As these small units aggregate together they form larger figures that themselves combine into ever larger movements, always a little bit different from any other. In this sense, quasicrystalline patterns have an infinite capacity to create and carry information. 

We are here because this is a medium for sharing in perpetuity. In the last couple of years, on the cusp of our third decade of practice, we have watched with awe and delight a renaissance in generative work as it's adopted by an entirely new generation around blockchain technologies. This inspired us to enter this new space with our own enduring questions of form and geometry, modularity and variability, historical continuity, and the thirst for endlessness. Primitives is what we selected as our primer into generative art on-chain because both the work and the medium grapple with these questions. 

Some Notes:
On the screen, Primitives is represented as a two-dimensional projection of a three-dimensional figure. Each invocation comes with a sequence of projections, or rotations, around this object. As Primitives spins, there are moments when its blocks snap into alignment with other blocks  revealing its underlying lattice and crystalline nature. Each projection can be saved as a high resolution image for printing. Primitives can also be saved in three dimensions as an .obj file for a variety of uses including the creation of a physical object through 3-d printing or fabrication. Below is a list of interface instructions:

'left' + 'right' arrow keys to rotate 
'up' + 'down' arrow keys to zoom in 
'g' regrows geometry 
'i' saves image 
'o' saves .obj

Thank you,
Aranda\Lasch
2022

Primitives

This edition of video artworks is the result of my research in video art from the 60s and 70s, especially early analog video synthesizers. These were heavy hardware machines capable of generating shapes and patterns from the ground up, with no external visual input. How could these machines generate such complexity by just manipulating electronic voltage? I decided to investigate this process. Although with modern technologies, Spectron shares the procedural logic with its analog ancestors.

Spectron

There are an almost infinite number of ways to wrap a string around a set of pegs. On the surface it may seem like a simple concept but prepare to be surprised and delighted at the variety of combinations the algorithm can produce. Each output from 'Ringers' is derived from a unique transaction hash and generated in Javascript in the browser. Feature variations include peg count, sizing, layout, wrap orientation, and a few colorful flourishes for good measure.

Ringers

▶
CS/TR-86 Bootstrap Loader. . .

Starting COLORSPACE v1.0
=
╔══════════════════════════╗
1.      View Fullscreen
1.     Click **[X]** w/ mouse to hide UI
1.     CRITICAL ERROR!

╚══════════════════════════╝

    loading...
▓░░░░░░░░░ - 10%

Colorspace is a tribute to creating on the computer.
An animated painting with programed brushes, erasers, and accents.
Based on the gestures of classic screensavers and operating system UI elements.

▓▓▓▓░░░░░░ -40%

I was inspired by the file size limits of storing on Ethereum.
Cutting edge technology meets a floppy disc.
It reminded me of my original software tools: 
MacPaint, Kid Pix, HyperCard, on a black and white Mac Classic II.
Colliding with a decked out gaming computer, running an arsenal of software, in millions of colors.

▓▓▓▓▓▓░░░░ -60%

I hope Colorspace evokes the fun of learning new software, 
the trance like state of a late night coding session, 
and the anxiety of a HDD failure at a critical deadline.

▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓░ -99%
 

**`C:\> start selfPromotion.exe`**
==
 > Hi, my name is Tabor Robak.
 > I've been making art on the computer my whole life.
 > My work is collected by institutions like The MET, MoMA, and the Whitney.
 > I'm a Forbes 30 Under 30 honoree.
 > I've collabed with brands like Balenciaga and Microsoft.
 > I've taught at NYU and lectured at Yale.
 > 
 > This is my first NFT project.

  
╔════════════════════════╗

    Controls
=
1.    **[ESC]** to shutdown*
1.    Click **[X]** w/ mouse to hide UI
1.    **[SHIFT]** to restore UI
1.    **[◄ or ►]** adjust speed
1.    Draw with **[Mouse 1]**

 Shutdown only while UI is active.
 Keyboard controls will activate
 after clicking once within canvas.

╚════════════════════════╝
  

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Colorspace

A collection of on-chain, generative cumulonimbus buddies. Created using vanilla javascript, each unique NimBud features random wires, colors, eyes, mouths, cloud bodies, and more. Each with their own personality.

Art Blocks Curated

Primitives #395

Aranda\Lasch

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