Don't fight it. Just respect it. Made by Dmitri Cherniak with Javascript and GLSL.

The Eternal Pump

Mind Maze is a contemplative and meditative experience, a wandering above an ever changing labyrinth, a cryptic message scrolling endlessly. Mind Maze explores the relationship between mindset and worldview, drawing parallels between communication and mental health, especially in these troubled times.

With strong references to the labyrinth metaphor, but also borders, cities and calligraphy, Mind Maze plays with shapes, colors and movements to create an infinite space reflecting our need to explore and find answers, but also the endless expanse of our doubts, and the barriers constituted by our language and our cultural constructions.

As often in my work, this piece is inspired by the hypnotizing movements of nature, trying to make an organic feeling emerge from cold geometry shapes. A reflection on how a host of independent, autonomous, different elements can come together to form a whole, a new coherent entity.

Mind Maze is also my genesis piece on the Etherum blockchain, which means it’s my first NFT project offered on this blockchain. It’s written in Javascript using the ThreeJs library. It makes extensive use of GPU instancing, via custom shaders, to be able to draw and animate all the shapes in an optimized way. 

- Move your mouse to interact
- Press “s” key to save a high-resolution still (5760x3240px)

Mind Maze

The mid grey chiseled computer interfaces of 1997 have always reminded me of sculptures created in bas-relief, a technique going back to the stone carved petroglyphs that is as ancient as humankind's first steps in making art. The combination of illusion and tactility found in these interfaces shows our longing to have the computer experience to be part of the material world. Therefore it comes as no surprise that the programming language of Ethereum is named 'Solidity'. The blockchain is software, yet it behaves and feels like hardware.

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Window pays tribute to interface culture, and as such, the work is responsive and not scaling. When the work is viewed on a smaller scale, details will disappear, yet the composition stays recognisable. It is like stepping back to see a work from a distance. The work can also increasingly reveal more details when made larger. As a result Window will keep unfolding in the future as resolutions will grow.

The work follows standard window interactions. Double clicking or tapping the title bar will toggle between full browser and windowed view. On a laptop or desktop in windowed view, you can drag and resize your Window as you please. When made tiny, it makes for a nice profile pic. Clicking or tapping the background will cycle through three different background colours.

Window comes in seven latent colours and both in Windows Classic or Mac Classic style.
With the feature ‘Latent colour’ I look at the invisible steps within the procedure of a generative artwork. I love the idea that the script has chosen to feature a colour, but in a later step could fail to make it to the composition. By showing the colour as a feature, I try to extend the visual work with deeper invisible layers of the generative process.
Check the features to see what colour is seeded.

In honour of the blockchain and the web, the work is written in vanilla JavaScript, using no dependancies, and generates standard HTML DOM aiming for a closer feel of the user interface.

Window

Inspired by observing projections of light through a glass cup, Spotlight is an abstract exploration of how light interacts with various shapes and forms in 2D space. It has a strong focus on texture and the use of real world physics as generative rules.

3000 photons spawn on a blank canvas with set direction and velocity. Hidden on the screen, an arrangement of shapes populate the space. When a photon collides with the edge of a shape, it either reflects off or refracts through its surface, changing the photon's direction and color. These photons leave small circles along their path...the only drawn element in the artwork. This painting of light both reveals the hidden forms below and ties their chaotic arrangement together. The resulting image captures the motion and evolution of the light, generating beautiful gradients and layers, and creating the illusion of depth, shadows, and highlights. 

Press 's' to save a snapshot of the canvas, and 'd' to reveal outlines of the shapes.
This artwork renders live, from a blank screen to a filled screen. It may take a while to fully render. Best viewed in extra high definition.

Spotlight

Informed by the experience of separating after a long marriage, (Dis)entanglement explores the endless ways that relationships intertwine. Each unique generative image represents one of many possible moments across the arc of a relationship, from a couple eagerly pulling taut their new connection, to a union defined solely by knots hardened over time. Whether connecting threads are carefully untied, crumbling from neglect, or snapping from tension, many couples can still safely go separate ways when needed. For some, there is no easy escape. Domestic violence, sexual abuse, financial hardship, and cultural norms can all keep someone bound to a partner against their will. To help those in need, 10% of artist proceeds from each sale will be donated to InterAct of Wake County, a private, nonprofit agency that provides safety, support, and awareness to victims and survivors of domestic violence and rape/sexual assault. InterAct is recognized as a tax-exempt, 501 (c)(3) charity by the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (EIN: 58-1320613).

Art Blocks Presents

The Eternal Pump #14

Dmitri Cherniak

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