*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

**Nära explores the connections that make us human.**

Nära (close or near in Swedish) is a celebration of friendships and relationships throughout our lives. How some of them are small, fleeting and ephemeral while a select few become lifelong bonds. The work examines the intricate graphs that are formed by these connections. Graphs are all around us and have existed for as long as we have been human. From early settlements of hunter-gatherers and nomadic tribes to the internet of today. It's all graphs.

Nära allows the viewer to explore and experience these graphs as a metaphor for the organic, organised chaos that is life. Shapes connect from one node in a graph to the next, sometimes spilling over, doubling down and creating layers of intricacy. Imperfection is embraced and Nära exposes the chaotic and unpredictable elements of life. 

The artistic vision of Nära is to highlight and expose graphs in a tactile manner that allows the viewer to see the whole graph, but also engage with the details and texture.  In doing this, Nära attempts to bring a novel contribution by pushing the boundaries of graph representation and introducing an emotional dimension to this oftentimes rigid and scientific discipline. By treating graphs as a metaphor for relationships in life, they become an integral part of the concept and an important artistic tool. 

Nära takes inspiration from the De Stijl movement in reducing the world into a deliberate expression in its smallest form and builds upon the use of shapes imbued with meaning in the works of Hilma af Klint. These ideas are expanded on by accepting that what is deliberate must also relinquish some control through the pseudo-randomness of generative art. This invites reflection on the balance of control and chance in our lives. 

_Through Nära, you are invited to reflect on the connections in your own life and on the significance of the relationships that define us as human beings._ 

To interact with the script:
- Press 's' to save.
- Add the following to the URL:
  - pd=x, where x is a number to control the resolution via pixel density (useful for rendering high resolution stills)
  - rs=x, where x is a number to enable and control the rendering buildup animation.

Nära

No special features, just sun-bleached curves in white set on four fresh summer palettes; Miami, Florida, New Orleans, Los Angeles and gradients for days. See the website ☝️ for more details. All Ξ from primary sales will be going to the Women Who Code non-profit organisation.

70s Pop Super Fun Summertime Bonus Pack 🍸

Balletic is a generative art animation created by digital artist Owen McAteer, aka. Motus Art.
In this piece, a grid of rotating blocks move together in a mathematically choreographed dance to reveal hidden patterns, shapes and flowing figures.

Exploring soft fluid motion in a hard fixed grid of blocks to a two-tone minimalist design, the piece comes to life in dance, conducted by the combination of several algorithms, easing curves and timing modifiers all working together.

Balletic

Hyper Drive is based on the mathematics of recursion. Scale symmetry is used to create patterns that repeat at ever-smaller intervals, creating the illusion of infinite depth and complexity.

The rule for the recursive loop is incredibly simple. A box is drawn, then a snapshot of the full canvas is resized to cover the boundary. As this process is repeated, small variations in position create endless fractals.

This project is an experimental cross-chain collection, with a fully-generative A-side published via Art Blocks on Ethereum and an AI-based image composition B-side published via fxhash on Tezos. The artwork symbolizes the great divides we must cross, the connections we make along the way, and the disconnections we feel. We move through the world as the world moves through us.

Art Blocks Presents

Arcadia #239

Zachariah Watson

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