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)

Paths

This system represents the love I feel for generative art. It also represents the effort of remembering that the simplest methods produce the most alluring results. Generative programs can give you art if that's what you look for, but they can also give you worlds, and questions about the ones that live in them.

An excerpt from a sailor that saw one of these worlds:

"I looked across the sea and glimpsed a city. An impossible place that just as quickly disappeared, as if it had been plucked from another dimension and placed briefly on the horizon to taunt me. In an instant I knew, or felt, three absolute truths, given to me by whatever force brought the city into sight and took it again. The first was that I could never reach it, and should I dedicate the rest of my life to contesting that fact, I would only ever find the water and land of my own world. The second was that in the city there lived someone I could love for the rest of my days. The third was that this someone had glimpsed out their window a ship unnatural to them, and felt the same three truths as I."

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I feel unmeasurable appreciation to anyone that supports this project. Charitable donations will be made to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital thanks to you.

Each layer is built organically square by square which are then deformed at their corners. There are chances for countless variations through tighter density, symmetry, deformation strength, and color. There is even a chance that the inhabitants will architect the impossible and reach for another canvas, breaking free of their own border.

Masonry

Organic forms gather and intersect to create distinct arrangements. Each one is a captured moment, like a plankton on a microscope slide. Coquina explores the balance between stochasticity and structure in what makes a shape.

Price: 0.1Ξ

25% of primary proceeds will be donated to a donor-advised fund on Endaoment.org, with the first intended grant recipient being the National Women's Law Center.

Coquina

Ecumenopolis focuses on exploration and discovery, generating scenes of cityscapes in unknown worlds. 10% of the minting profits will be donated to the National Alliance to End Homelessness (https://endhomelessness.org/). Created by Joshua Bagley

Ecumenopolis

“𝙸 𝚊𝚖 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚞𝚎𝚍 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚎𝚜 𝚙𝚎𝚘𝚙𝚕𝚎 𝚌𝚑𝚘𝚘𝚜𝚎 𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚜𝚢𝚖𝚋𝚘𝚕𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚎 𝚕𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚞𝚊𝚐𝚎. 𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚒𝚜 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚖𝚜 𝚊 𝚋𝚊𝚜𝚒𝚌 𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚞𝚌𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚎, 𝚊𝚗 𝚒𝚗𝚍𝚒𝚌𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚛𝚎 𝚘𝚋𝚓𝚎𝚌𝚝 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚊 𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚒𝚖𝚞𝚖 𝚘𝚏 𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚜, 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚋𝚎𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚜 𝚊 𝚜𝚢𝚖𝚋𝚘𝚕. 𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚒𝚜 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚖𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚘 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚕𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚞𝚊𝚐𝚎𝚜, 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚙𝚎𝚘𝚙𝚕𝚎, 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎𝚜.”

'Automatism' is inspired by the practice of artists where they are given a writing implement and a blank surface, and they go freestyle, almost mindlessly filling up the space with whatever comes to their minds and out of their hands. I've often wondered where a machine's mind and "hand" would wander given the same opportunity.

This project explores the age-old computer art phenomenon of inviting the viewer to actively participate in the interpretation of the visual output. The way "Sharp-E" draws the strokes is through a mix of various movements — irregular curves, straight lines, sudden changes in direction — in a classic random walk algorithm, while avoiding overlaps with previously drawn strokes. There are no pre-programmed forms per se, but nevertheless it can be common for the viewer to perceive images, symbols, meaning in the generated output.

So where does your mind wander? What forms, symbols, and meaning do you see?

Controls:
• 'D' toggles pausing/drawing or continues space-filling after the first stop (if available)
• 'R' reassembles the piece (This automatically happens every minute)
• 'S' saves the output

Art Blocks Presents

Paths #336

Darien Brito

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Eric Davidson

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Jacob Gold

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