*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

Contrast Agent is a collaboration between artist Tim Richardson and creative technologist Sean Zellmer. The title refers to chemical agents used in CT scans that make soft tissue visible in x-ray imaging. We were inspired by the ways this process reveals our interior physiology, making the connection between our exterior and interior bodies transparent. 

Drawing on CT imaging, we explored fractal geometry as a visualization of human physiology. The geometry is constructed with cylindrical orbit traps that possess an inherent self-similarity. Much like the vascular system of the body, the orbit traps have a nested symmetric structure with finer details mirroring the overall structure. 

This symmetric structure became the core motif for the edition and is embodied as an infinite visual loop. Each unique artwork is bound to this temporal cycle, creating an animated ‘liquid physiology’ emblematic of the shifting realities we engage with on a daily basis.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Artist - Tim Richardson 
https://www.instagram.com/timrichardsontv
Richardson's work has been exhibited internationally and is in the Collections of Deutsche Bank and Sir Elton John. Three books have been published on his work, most recently the monograph Spiritual Machine by Prestel UK.

Creative Technologist - Sean Zellmer
https://www.instagram.com/lejeunerenard/
Sean Zellmer has made a piece everyday for 5+ years focusing on shaders. His work has been exhibited in Times Square as part of Decode Experiential and in São Paulo for FILE Festival 2018. He has collaborated with brands such as Lush and Vans.

Contrast Agent

AlphaModica explores the nature of our reality, helping us ground ourselves at a time when the answers aren’t so clear. The primary shapes in this work are known as Modica bands and are inspired by particle physics and string theory. Each mint produces a completely unique form for the bands drawn from several possible types, each with a deeper meaning. The bands are further customized by dozens of parameters that are uniquely derived from the token hash making each mint 100% unique. 

The background is a tangent field computed from angles in the foreground shapes. It represents an energy field permeating the universe. This unusual arrangement -- a background created by the foreground was done to hint at questions of causality. 

Colors for the foreground shapes are selected from twenty hand tuned color palettes. The background palette is seeded by the foreground but also has elements that are produced by the field itself. This combination of hand selection and random generation speaks to questions of choice in the universe and asks the question of how even under high randomness there can be symmetry, and connectedness.

Danooka, the artist behind AlphaModica is a technologist and metaverse based artist. Danooka’s previous NFT projects includes the successful RIBONZ trilogy. 

A portion of the mint proceeds will be allocated to support Girls Who Code.


AlphaModica

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

Liquid Ruminations is an algorithm inspired by the contemplative effect of moving water.

Unique invocations of this algorithm consist of any number of several core components including waves that rise and fall, a flow field powered mist, and droplet shapes arranged in a dancing field that are distorted in a rhythmic, sometimes stormy animation.

These effects are combined and brought to life with mathematical wave functions in order to create movement that is ideally conducive to a meditative state. Viewers are encouraged to take the opportunity to reflect on precious things that we tend to take for granted, primarily easy access to clean water.

The outputs of this algorithm are interactive:

You may toggle a "Liquify" mode on and off by double-clicking the invocations.

Spacebar pauses the animation.

's' key saves a local screenshot.

'r' key reloads the piece.

Please note: This project is very CPU intensive and performs best at moderate resolutions on modern desktop devices. Chrome will provide the best experience. Full screen recommended.

Primary and secondary sales proceeds from this project will be donated to Water.org - an important organization with the critical mission of providing affordable access to safe water to people around the globe.

Art Blocks Presents

Arcadia #183

Zachariah Watson

More in Art Blocks Presents

Contrast Agent

Tim Richardson + Sean Zellmer

AlphaModica

Danooka

Masonry

Eric Davidson

Liquid Ruminations

Eliya Stein

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