*Arcadia* is a homage to the fridge-worthy landscape art of our youth. Childhood techniques of creating art are re-imagined by the scribbles of a nostalgic, computer-assisted mind.

**Spacebar**: Skip animation and load final image (useful when rendering in high resolutions)
**Up arrow**: Speed scribbles up (default speed is the highest)
**Down arrow**: Slow scribbles down

Arcadia

The Amoeba is a study of repetition, patterns, and harmony. The code repeats simple shapes in different positions and sizes until they build up to form a colorful and lively Amoeba. View in live mode to watch it dance. Press [1] - [4] to adjust rendering quality. Press [s] to take a snapshot of the Amoeba. Charity: 25% of sales for the first 24 hours will be donated to Meals For Unity, a nonprofit grassroots organization dedicated to reducing food insecurity among marginalized communities in the New York City area.

Amoeba

Inspired by Max Tegmark's book Life 3.0, we envisioned what it is going to look like when a general AI starts a media company for the first time. An AI able to create and stream unique content to every human watching. 

Soon though, we realized that there was something else going on.

As the work progressed it became clear that Supermental is a way to question and express much of the friction that we see in NFTs and Web3. Especially around mental health.

While we are firm believers in this new world we do have questions. And we do see red flags.

We often complain that some Web2 companies are causing depression and online addiction. And they are. But while the data and the assets might be free in Web3, are we better off when it comes to our mental health?

In the land of NFTs our online identity now consumes. Not only time, but money and assets. The mimetic status games are no longer confined to likes and followers. Now we deal in tangible value. This expansion of the mimetic scoreboard does not make it easier to live a balanced life. The benefit of being online has just increased dramatically for a lot of people. But it comes at a cost.

How do we ensure that we don’t recreate our mistakes of the past? How do we make sure that online addiction does not become worse? How do we make sure that our mental health is not sacrificed once again.

If we really do own the platforms, the assets, and the memes, it should be in our best interest to create an online environment where proactive mental health is the default UX. 

With Supermental we hope to draw attention to mental health issues in the Web3 and NFT space.

Supermental is made by a duo. My partner wants to stay anon.

Take care,
Jarl Rosenlykke

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Controls

- Click on the animation to change your mental state

- Press space to pause and take a deep breath

Supermental

In Zen, ensō is a symbol that represents elegance and enlightenment. It is typically painted by hand in an uninhibited way, allowing for unexpected and beautiful results. Inspired by sumi-e (ink wash painting), this project mimics the practice of painting an ensō in ink by utilizing p5.js. Each generated image uses values from a unique transaction hash to determine paper, brush, ink, the quantity of ink held by each bristle, how quickly the ink flows, and more—all with the goal of creating a simple yet serendipitous painting.

Ensō

From the Insecta Class and Apidae Family, we find the Species Apis Mellifera: the western honey bee.  One of the more iconic aspects of honey bees is their hive, the hexagonal grid we call honeycomb; an efficient use of resources and space, and a beautiful representation of a geometric shape found in nature.

The humble grid has also been a mainstay of generative art from its earliest days.  Code up a loop or two and see what you can do.  What I've done with grids has been seen in many of my projects over the past year; in *Polka*, *Over the Air*, *Ode to Untitled*, and now *Mellifera*.  Breaking from the rectangular and square grid, and embracing the complexities of the hexagonal grid, *Mellifera* creates patterns working within the points and sides of a hexagon while laying out those patterns across a honeycomb like structure.

While working through this series of grid based projects, one main area of study has been finding ways to move off the grid, at least in appearance.  A recent move to a rural home has left me much more off the grid, and there's been a parallel through my projects.  Increasingly, I've explored ways to make the overall aesthetic not appear grid-like, to have a more organic feel, all the while though still centering elements perfectly in their place across the grid.  *Mellifera*, with its use of hexagons, imperfections, unique symbols, rotation, and negative space, is another step in this evolution, and the largest one yet.

While most of my work has embraced the digital and machine-like feel that computers and code are so easily capable of (again influenced from my appreciation of Roy), *Mellifera* moves in a new direction, introducing a more imperfect and human feel to the lines, shapes, and symbols.  These imperfections change the overall aesthetic drastically and are a main component in helping break away from the grid, visually.  While honey bees are incredible in their ability to create beautiful hexagonal geometric patterns, there's still a natural, lived-in feel to their creations, and *Mellifera* uses this organic quality as inspiration.

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Art Blocks Presents

Arcadia #125

Zachariah Watson

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