This work is the product of a project to dwell undeletable souls on the blockchain. A system that generates human faces with different personalities and expressions from a minimum of code. After determining the personality from a hash, the face continues to change into various expressions. It is a living portrait, a fragment of minter's soul, forever adrift in the vast net.

Living organisms are coded by a sequence of the four bases in DNA, and a human DNA is composed of 3 billion base pairs. This is about 750 MB of information. And the difference in code between individual people is only 0.1%, or 750 KB. This slight difference creates all kinds of differences in appearance and physical functions. This is quite astonishing to our ordinary senses.

However, if we are surprised by this fact, we need to suspect our senses.

I was interested in these points and explored what are the elements by which people identify the faces and facial expressions of others, how little code can create personality and emotion, and conversely, to what extent can an observer identify personality and facial expressions. As a result, I succeeded in expressing the personalities, emotions, and complex feelings of various people with 14 KB of code.

We like to think of humans are supernatural and one-of-a-kind. This is a common background to the past, when many people favored the Ptolemaic theory.

However, this work leads us to suspect that we humans are only a program that can be coded.

Then, what is the essential difference between a code written in DNA and a code written in programming language? I believe the only difference is whether the execution space is real or digital space. Is it a prerequisite for the existence of the soul to operate an organic computer in real space? It is merely a medium.

This is not meant to be pessimistic, such as we are mere code, the soul does not exist and is an illusion, a mere electrical signal in the brain.

Rather, the soul, the function that makes us aware of our existence, makes us think, causes us to emotion, and makes us act, certainly dwells in the code.

I store this code on the blockchain, thereby spreading undeletable ghosts on the vast net forever.

In this work, the ghost is output on the net by minting. This act is part of the work. The personality of the ghost is also determined by the hash owned by the minter. In other words, the ghost output by you from the code on the blockchain is a fragment of your soul on the net.


[NOTES]

Press C to turn canvas on/off
Press S to save image

GHOST IN THE CODE

This series is inspired by both net and glitch art.

It represents nostalgia from an era when the Internet was a mystical new space, where computer graphic cards had more limitations than what we know nowadays, where graphical user interfaces were beginning to shape as a result of a steep learning curve for command-line interfaces, and where artists started to test unfamiliar methods to make art.

It’s a juxtaposition of chaos and order. A disarray of colored geometric shapes, wrapped by orderly patterns, trying to find their place in a screenshot. Patterns depicting an intended path or miscalculation in a new domain. Infinite combination of rules within certain parameters creating distinct yet related architectural collages. A real-time static visual memory of what Web3 was in the now.

For interaction and animation please look at the display notes.

👾 ilithya (@ilithya_rocks) is a multidisciplinary artist from México, based in Hamburg, Germany. 
👾 Erin Wajufos (@erinwajufos) is a generative artist, projectionist and curator based in Brooklyn, New York.

Net Net Net

*“As we paint we move along step by step. 
We realize that we are guided in our work by awareness of life.”* 
― Agnes Martin, 1979

Steps is an invitation to slow down in order to explore a subtler dimension of reality,
where we can transcend our human nature,
where two successive moments are never exactly the same,
where we continually feel held and supported,
and where each step, even if insignificant in appearance, can reveal unbounded peace.

**Interaction**
Click or Tap or Space key: Pause / Unpause animation

**Prints**
The first 50 editions minted will come with a free signed print of the token at the size you choose among the 3 available (8.5” x 11”, 13” x 17” or 17” x 22”).
All token holders will be able to purchase a signed print of the Steps mint they currently own. 
For non-holders, a curated selection of unsigned prints outside of the minted set will be available.
More information on prints can be found [here](https://johan.studio/work/steps-prints).

**Thanks**
To my dear mother Colette, for taking me to art exhibitions at a young age and developing my enthusiasm & curiosity for visual art.
To my friend Patricio, for sharing his talent, experience and knowledge with such generosity.
To the Art Blocks team, for believing in this project and creating community & opportunities for artists.

Steps

What would a transaction hash look like in space? This project explores the spatial properties of 32-byte hashes by intertwining bezier curves based on them. Floating on deformed blobs, both the curves and their companions are constructed by mapping parts of the hash to the screen. Forever yours to untie, slowly drifting in aether space - the metaverse is surely tangled. ——— Best enjoyed in live view - touch/click anywhere to stop the animation, press ’s’ to save an image.

Tangled

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).

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