AlphaModica explores the nature of our reality, helping us ground ourselves at a time when the answers aren’t so clear. The primary shapes in this work are known as Modica bands and are inspired by particle physics and string theory. Each mint produces a completely unique form for the bands drawn from several possible types, each with a deeper meaning. The bands are further customized by dozens of parameters that are uniquely derived from the token hash making each mint 100% unique. 

The background is a tangent field computed from angles in the foreground shapes. It represents an energy field permeating the universe. This unusual arrangement -- a background created by the foreground was done to hint at questions of causality. 

Colors for the foreground shapes are selected from twenty hand tuned color palettes. The background palette is seeded by the foreground but also has elements that are produced by the field itself. This combination of hand selection and random generation speaks to questions of choice in the universe and asks the question of how even under high randomness there can be symmetry, and connectedness.

Danooka, the artist behind AlphaModica is a technologist and metaverse based artist. Danooka’s previous NFT projects includes the successful RIBONZ trilogy. 

A portion of the mint proceeds will be allocated to support Girls Who Code.


AlphaModica

"Rotae" explores the vast array of beautiful and unexpected shapes that can appear from the simple process of letting wheels rotate on (many more) wheels. Taking a step beyond what the physical toy could do that many of us have played with (long ago) and stringing together anywhere from three to eight wheels. The algorithm starts by determining the number of wheels and what "m-fold" symmetry to achieve. From there the radii and frequencies are calculated per wheel in such a way as to ensure that the output won't turn into chaos, but an unpredictable, yet fully symmetric path that closes on itself. Giving a seemingly endless variety in the paths that get drawn. After a few seconds you can watch how the line gets drawn, possibly revealing unexpected shapes hidden within.

Rotae

Compression has been the driving force behind the image-based internet since the early 90s. No compression, no Netscape, no social media, no NFTs. The JPEG compression has specifically enabled photography-based imagery on the net. It has always served that purpose and over time become the de facto default for showing high quality imagery online. But compression always leaves a trace, which has become the lens through which the network sees the world of uploaded images.

"A painting is not a picture of an experience, but is the experience." ― Mark Rothko

JPEG tries to create an image programatically fully expressing that signature compression. An image that is like empty made from barely nothing, yet fully present in its blazing appearance. A work deeply material, expressing itself through the language of code and codec only. This is not a JPEG depicting an image. The JPEG is the image itself.

Delving into the depths and peculiarities of the digital, tethered to art history, JPEG found its way to the surface. Generated color fields are utilised to trigger the compressing algorithm, resulting in a world of raw visual entities. Where the abstract expressionists cut out the depiction in painting, aiming to let the artist convey pure emotion, JPEG cuts out the artist's emotion and lets it emerge from within the algorithm. Carefully you could categorize the work as *compressionism*. An art form where the machine speaks in its own raw language, but nevertheless makes a direct touch to our human heart.

JPEG is a collection of generative images in the JPEG file format. The work tries to break with the idea of the fixed file format, therefor creating the JPEG entirely from code using no image material whatsoever. The individual JPEGs are generated responsively at the moment of viewing based on the token hash as a random seed. You can literally drag the JPEG out from the browser window.

JPEG pays tribute to interface culture, and as such the work is responsive and not scaling. When the work is resized, the work is again rendered and compressed. When viewed smaller, details will disappear, yet the composition stays recognisable. It’s like stepping back to see a work from further away. The choice of color wanders from monochromatic tones to the brutality of complete randomness and everything in between.

In honour of the blockchain and the web, the work is written in vanilla JavaScript, using no dependancies, and generates a standard JPEG. This way the file is downloadable, aiming for a materiality that comes as close as possible to the standard browser.

JPEG

Last night I dreamed of Murano and of paperweights... 

"Murano Fantasy" is an tribute to glassmakers who, since Antiquity, have been producing murrines.
Murrines are assembled into paperweights, with different layouts.
The central cane, when present, is often sophisticated, and the paperweight might be signed by the artist.

As with real murrines, a part of the pleasure is to use a magnifying glass: press 'n' (next) or space to automatically focus on noteworthy canes; use 'p' (previous) to go back to previous cane; 'c' (clear) to reset zoom; and click wherever you wish.

Murano Fantasy

Heavenly Bodies is built out of love for the skies and gratitude to the land. The land has always been home to us, steady ground underneath our feet lending itself to finding roots, family, and community. Our homes are as varied as the lands around us, but the common thread of land runs between us, the base need for being grounded. It connects us to each other, and to ourselves. The ground, in its stability, also supports the potential for more: the absence of limits, the open expanse of the possible. The ground gives us a home from which to reach, to strive, to learn to become more than we are. The sky invites us into a future that stands upon the solid shoulders of the past, giving us the tools we need to navigate our way into the unknown. To be human is to love both these things: the steady known, and the uncertain unknown. As we find our footing, the land will always welcome us home, and the sky will always beckon us beyond: to reach, to dare, to go further.

AlphaModica #119
Danooka

features

AlphaModica #119.css-1wclmit{display:none;}@media (min-width: 768px){.css-1wclmit{display:inline;}} • .css-ymsk1t{white-space:nowrap;font-weight:400;}Danooka

features

AlphaModica #119
Danooka