Timepiece is an exploration in objective and subjective time. Each Timepiece is a dynamic figure with different graphic and kinetic characteristics that give it a unique personality — from calm and subtle to fast and playful. The piece is a clock that runs in real-time, and the form is generated by the positions of the clock hands, which appear when clicked and reveal the underlying mechanics of the piece. The thumbnail of each piece reflects the time it was minted (in UTC). 

Timepiece

An unknown illness has struck the world and is spreading rapidly. Humanity enters quarantine while the world's greatest scientists get to work on finding a cure. As you look upon samples through the microscope glass, you can't help but wonder what horrors you're about to witness. What is it? Where did it come from? How far has it progressed? Do we even have a chance?

Quarantine

Exhibit 3291 is an ode to the Bauhaus art and design philosophy and style. The Bauhaus design movement started in the early 20th century by Walter Gropius. Bauhaus art and design is recognized by its unique approach to architecture and design noted especially for a program that synthesizes technology, craftsmanship, and design aesthetics. The Bauhaus style is recognized by it's simplicity, pure lines, and geometric shapes, combined with primary-colored chromatic palettes. 

Exhibit 3291 (E.3291) humbly and with honor continues in this timeless tradition. Each mint embraces “ little ornamentation and focuses on balanced forms and abstract shapes ', Exhibit 3291 takes its cue from the classic 1923 Bauhaus Exhibition poster. Using this composition as a template, E.3291 generates unique pieces of art steeped in the Bauhaus tradition. Each E.3291 has a color scheme and variations on the template, including additional lines, shapes and outlines. 

It is my hope that as a collector you feel part of this historic art and design movement.

To request a print, please visit https://www.cryptobauhaus.com/exhibit-3291

Exhibition: 3291

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.

Through Curved Air

In 2022, as I was experiencing my first year as a father, I was often asking myself what impact I would have on my son, and how much my actions will be part of what will make him “him”. I started a slow introspection on the subject, and at the end of the year, I released “Foundations”, a series that focuses on the origins of our identity.

“Tout tracé” is the second act, and its direct continuity. 
In French, it means *“All mapped out”*, referring to the idea of an all planned future or *“a ready made path”.*

This series is the counterpoint of this vision. 

Life is full of surprises, good or bad, and each moment will have an impact on us, creating our set of experiences, many of them involuntary and embedded in our existence.
As humans, we are in constant evolution and therefore, on a quest of identity; of who we really are.
We are surrounded by expectations : from society, culture, religion, parents, friends, family… A list of rules that need to be followed and lived by; but, at the end of the day, I believe that only our choices matter.

Like “Foundations”, the composition of “Tout tracé” is grid based: full of boxes expected to be filled.
But this series is about growth, evolution, expression and re-definition. It’s about fighting against the structure in place, finding our own voice and re-shaping our reality.
It is finding its uniqueness and identity that will be revealed through the millions of lines drawing each artwork, technically signing the idea of “Tout tracé”, that comes with a double meaning: *“All drawn”*.


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- **Press ‘S’** to export a still image.
- **Press ‘H’** to open a new tab of the artwork in HD (A3 format).

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Opening one output in fullscreen or in live view will run an animation revealing the artwork.

Art Blocks Presents

Timepiece #286

WAWAA

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