Generative music in 40-140 bytes on-chain. ByteBeats are miniature functions that synthesize audio (and video) via bitwise operations (&^|<<*+/%>>). Because bits form groups in powers of 2, 4/4 beat-driven music emergently self-organizes. Each function in this drop is itself randomly generated, grouped into six families of composition and four families of visualizers. Some ByteBeats loop, some generate new patterns indefinitely. Some are for headbanging, some are for climbing forever through oceans of phase cancelation. (Instructions: click to play ...)

♫ ByteBeats

Primordial presents forms as diverse as those found in the natural world. The emergent system powering Primordial is capable of generating this diversity but is hard to control. After the initial generation there is a curation step; forms must meet certain criteria or the algorithm replaces them.

The forms produced by Primordial are presented in a triptych, as comparing multiple outputs is fundamental to understanding a generative algorithm. Primordial attempts to generate triptychs where the individual forms are related, and the results can be surprisingly harmonious or discordant.

Once the triptych is finalized, click on one of the forms to redraw a previous image. Press s to save the entire triptych, or 1-3 to save an individual image.

Primordial

Many things in the world are perceptible but not visible. Some things we can only feel, but not understand. Some things touch us and move us deeply, but not physically. We can only confirm some things through experience.

Qi is believed to be part of everything that exists as a "life force" or "spiritual energy" that pervades the natural world. It cannot be seen, but in some paintings, the artist creates the flow of Qi to present a vivid world. Artists use Qi to show the presence of life in their artwork, and it’s also believed to be a metaphor for the energy that powers our body and spirit.

Metaphysics is a generative system to simulate an organic world, to make the audience feel the Qi. Every single object is gradually deformed, shifted, and rotated in an attempt to find a pattern in the chaos that describes the workings of the life force and constitutes a living entity. It is inspired by the fluent Tai Chi movement, Cloud Hand. It develops with organic rotations and movements, like practicing Tai Chi on the canvas which makes the generative system alive.

That movement composes this piece, and once we feel the invisible vital life force by the physics of the algorithm, could we say it is a process of metaphysics?

This project uses p5js.

Press [S] to download a high resolution jpeg.
Press [A] to see the slow animation.
Press [R] to download the animation.
Press [B] to switch border/borderless mode.

Metaphysics

Somewhere between worlds forgotten and worlds not yet discovered, Sisyphus labours tirelessly. At the mercy of the Gods and their disdain for his cunningness, his destiny is bound to his artistry. Rock by rock, trench by trench, on mountaintops and in the pits of the underworld, Sisyphus forges his creations. When will he have bought his freedom? When will he have made his peace? As the Gods keep playing dice and the numbers roll in, Sisyphus toils relentlessly.

The Liths of Sisyphus

Paths is an animated journey across various subterranean and aboveground environments. To fully experience the project, you need to see it in high resolution with a capable GPU. Make sure that your browser uses your dedicated graphics card if any, and that you get a good frame rate. Control keys: 1-4 (change speed), 9 (fill aspect ratio), 0 (original aspect ratio), space-bar (play/pause)

Art Blocks Presents

Paths #30

Darien Brito

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