*the spring begins with the first rainstorm* is my merger of earthly patterning and digital dynamics, seeing both organisms as collaborators in an effort to erase the human hand and glimpse into an environmental portal.

My inspiration comes from falling in the fountains of the Louvre as a child and sneaking past the guards to enter the glass temple dripping and squishing with each step – from Sigmar Polke’s dispersion paintings – from Joseph Beuys and Bas Jan Ader – from Aldous Huxley and John Muir – from the plentiful and the barren – from the joy of discovery and the fear of what could unravel.

I started with the pattern variable, this movement was first created by dragging large paintings through the ocean until my brushstrokes disappeared and the earth becomes the composer. The movement that emerged is akin to light fracturing through water, the bark of trees, or the skin of reptiles. When redacted into visible pixels it harkens to traditional screen-printing and a web 1.0 dream. When the patterns start multiplying, they become portals to elsewhere, while also signifying a system trying to ‘learn’ the movements of the earth. I see the ‘hibernal’ as blizzards, ‘maelstrom’ as dreams of the deep water and the ‘arboretum’ as lush gardens. The palette variable is meant to mirror lavish watercolor washes while the smokey ribboning represents the winds. In totality, I hope is to blur many lines – constructed and broken down, calming and fearsome, aspirational and apocalyptic.


*The Genesis Edition*

The first 48 mints shall receive this special edition collection, which includes:

* A unique print of the minter’s piece, printed on archival Hahnemühle German etching paper, mounted on 16” x 12” (40.6 cm x 30.5 cm) maple board, signed and titled on verso.

* A serpentine rock I collected near 34.744145603, -119.98518572 (including a maple presentation stand).

* A limited edition visual compendium chronicling the conceptual theory of the work, signed and numbered.

Please visit the [project website](https://thespringbegins.io/the-genesis-edition) for more details about the Genesis Edition.

Controls:

p - for a high resolution (6000 x 7200 pixels) printable version
s - to save the image as a png file

the spring begins with the first rainstorm

Portal

_Somewhere in a galaxy far away, a multidimensional being is looking at this clock and thinking about the impermanence of existence and the infinity of the universe. This art is endless and deterministic._ 

**Use full screen for total immersion.**

Controls: 

- Click/tap or use keys 1 to 9 to switch speed. 
- s = toggle starts. 
- t = toggle hyperspace. 
- Space = pause.

Alien Clock

Volute is the result of different stages of my experience in Generative Art over many years put together, drawing on early and new techniques plus my recent forays into long form generative art.

I set out to explore the essence of generative art, seeking, discovering, coaxing and exposing the variety of outputs from a simple system.

The soulless algorithm is counterbalanced by the exclusive use of colours from nature as prime sources. Brutal symmetries and complexities are softened by decentring and subtle layer transparencies. Pixel feedback loops generate radial symmetries and spirals, producing a variety of flower structures, volutes and arabesques. And when I view the results - their rhythm, their surprises, their flow - they justify for me my earlier choice of technical process.

My aim in Volute is to create, using gentle spiraling motion, the calming effect of marveling at flowers in nature.

Volute

Dot Matrix Gradient Study takes my approach of splitting the canvas into "patches", which each have their own stipple sizing, density, and layering, and distorts this process to create outputs which blur the lines of recognizable stippling. This piece is an exploration of creating abstract forms with stippling rather than depicting figurative ones. All pieces in this series are composed purely with dots. Some more than others. 50% of sales proceeds from Dot Matrix Gradient Study were donated on-chain at the time of mint to GiveDirectly, where the funds will be directed to helping those in poverty. 

Art Blocks Presents

Dot Matrix Gradient Study #478

Jake Rockland

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