Primitive shapes generate complex and chaotic snapshots of a larger form, still images with a sense of rapid motion, going through repetitive sequencing of parametrized mathematical functions, rotations and placement of objects. Augmented Sequence is a project by Joonas Toivonen, building upon work on audiovisual installations and electronic music performances. The parameters for sequence attributes, shapes, lighting, materials and colors are driven by the hash of the minting transaction, producing unique and surprising results. 


Augmented Sequence

Inspired by the physics behind electrical motors and alternators, Rotor projects varied shapes in circular motions to convey the ever turning, invisible magnetic fields that make elements go around. At a more basic level the work also explores how polygonal shapes can morph into circular sections and vice-versa.

With a subtle hint to information theory, the animation automatically pauses at a very specific moment (depending on traits) whereas the evolution thus far is condensed and captured into the still thumbnail. While the thumbnail possesses lower entropy than the full animation, studying it can reveal many of the traits a mint has and, once familiar with the collection, enable imagining its plausible history and future.

After clicking on the artwork, the following commands are available:

* Press 'p' to resume the animation after automatic pause (there's more coming!). Press again to pause / resume.
* Press 'a' / 's' to alter depth perception
* Press 'z' / 'x' to bring elements closer or farther
* Press 'c' to constrain the work
* Press 'r' to restart

Bonus: put on some tunes, hit different patterns of a, s, z, x to the beats, and allow yourself to envision the rotor become vinyl.

Rotor

**Avalon is a series of generative maps to imaginary places.** 

Visually inspired by vintage textbooks and map collections, Avalon takes a purely aesthetical perspective on the land drop hype and the mythical realm that is the metaverse. 

The practice of mapping the imaginary reaches back to the middle ages and has been particularly popular in the renaissance era. It has always been used as tool to visualize allegories and manifest a sense of longing. In that sense, Avalon can be interpreted as a visualization of a machines wanderlust.

The series is named after the place where, according to legend, King Arthur is buried. Avalon is referred to in literary sources as an island, valley or field.

**Avalon is a dynamic collection.** Each map is positioned on a virtual globe and will go through 12.5 hour tidal cycles based on a virtual moon orbit. Maps will update every two minutes and to reflect the changing tides. 

Map labels show some basic information about each map. They include the map coordinates, maximum elevation and maximum sea depth, a topographic profile of the map and an indication of the current tidal level.

**Avalon is interactive.** Collectors can interact with and customize their maps by using a series of commands that will change some of the basic visual traits of their maps. Maps can be downloaded both as high and low resolution images directly from the art blocks preview.

**Basic commands:**
‘s’ - save image
‘i’ - toggle label on or off
‘m’ - switch between colored and monochrome versions
‘h’ - render high resolution image
'r' - refresh image in its original state

**Please make sure the map is active by clicking it before you interact.**

Avalon is limited to 208 mints, one for every sovereign state (based on [this list](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_sovereign_states))

Avalon

Dragons have been present in myths and legends across many different cultures, and have captured people's imagination for centuries.

There are different shapes and variations of these mythological creatures, with different names. 

Dragons typically have four legs and wings, Wyverns have only two legs and wings, and Drakes have no wings and four legs.  undead wyverns explores the procedural generation of skeletal versions of these different kinds of creatures.

undead wyverns

How can intent be communicated when ideas are filtered through a pseudorandom number generator? Simply looking at the output does not make it clear whether a stroke is placed on the canvas because of a decision by the artist or by a roll of the dice. The artist’s hand is more present in the process than the result; they choose the algorithms, tune the parameters, and prune the features. As I experimented with my code, I held a particular idea in mind, but I was uncertain how it would finally manifest. I pursued a visual composition that made me feel a certain way, and the visuals I landed on communicate my feeling better than anything I can put into words. Through Curved Air is about the challenge of communication. Regardless of the medium, I can never be certain that the message I intend to send is the message that is received.

Through Curved Air takes inspiration from musical minimalism, where repetition is used to highlight changes in rhythm and harmony. Every output is created by repeatedly copying a single shape. Each copy only has meaning in relation to the other shapes nearby, and that meaning changes with the context around it. Delicate structures form and are subsequently obscured by further layers, and though they may be hidden, they still affect the perception of the final image. Clicking on the canvas will start or stop the looping mode, where the image is recreated in a slightly different way. New facets are exposed as the composition changes yet remains the same. Just as I spend my days trying to share my inner experience through my art, Through Curved Air uses each shape and each loop and each token hash to attempt to create a common feeling between myself and the viewer.

Through Curved Air also takes inspiration from the paintings of Joan Mitchell. I was drawn to her expressive strokes, vibrant colors, and use of negative space, all of which come together to give a more intense feeling of looking at a landscape than just looking at a painting of a landscape. Her energetic marks clearly communicate that there is a human being behind the art. The marks of generative works are often similarly representative of the underlying process, but instead of drawing focus to the artist behind the piece, they draw attention to the algorithm. To convey human emotion in the way I intended, I had to use a subtler algorithm.

The technical tools to convey this emotion are tools I have been consistently developing in my practice. I love making generative art because I can design a system where I understand how all the components work, but they can still come together to produce a result that surprises me. The algorithm behind the compositional variation in my earlier works Coquina and Primordial is one I continued to evolve, and it rests at the heart of Through Curved Air. In fact, I pushed it further than ever, using it to create the individual shapes that form the building block of each output. This emergent variation permeates the work and results in surprising images that more closely resemble paintings than anything I made previously. I believe the potential for surprise is key to conveying emotion through code. When the possibility space of the algorithm grows too large to understand, the mind wanders to the person behind the algorithm. Perhaps the human element is the struggle to understand, or the struggle to be understood.

Art Blocks Presents

Through Curved Air #77

Jacob Gold

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Sebastián Brocher (CryptoArte)

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