On-chain real-time animation, variable dimension. Kim Asendorf, 2024.

What is this?

This is 6942 characters of highly experimental code.

This is a version of my rayhatcher framework (see https://www.fxhash.xyz/article/rayhatching-evolution) that can do literally everything. Or, at least anything you can do within 512 characters of Javascript code. Which is slightly more than a mortal brain can comprehend.

This is my answer to the question: What is the least restrictive set of parameters for fx(params)?

Should I be minting this?

Depends if you know and like building SDF formulas. Otherwise probably not. Like I said, this is highly experimental code. But it's definitely worth checking the collection and/or secondary for cool stuff that is already minted.

How does it work?

The minter designs an SDF (Signed Distance Function) which is rendered using my rayhatcher algorithm. They then use the SDF formula in the SDF Code parameter. It's not very complicated, just efficient.

You can press "h" to load the documentation and read about how everything works. Or you can press "d" to read the dev docs.

Anything else?

Don't forget that the "Title Seed" param also becomes the "Title" feature of the mint, so make it count.

The params, including the SDF code actually get saved on-chain. Even better, all params and the entire code required to reproduce the image are included in the SVG when saved. See https://twitter.com/piterpasma/status/1649071912742420482 .

(c) 2023 by Piter Pasma // https://piterpasma.nl

A collaboration between the ATP Tour, Art Blocks Engine, and Martin Grasser, LOVE is a collection of unique digital artworks that uses in-match sports data to celebrate impactful moments from the 2022 Nitto ATP Finals in Turin, Italy.

Compression has been the driving force behind the image-based internet since the early 90s. No compression, no Netscape, no social media, no NFTs. The JPEG compression has specifically enabled photography-based imagery on the net. It has always served that purpose and over time become the de facto default for showing high quality imagery online. But compression always leaves a trace, which has become the lens through which the network sees the world of uploaded images.

"A painting is not a picture of an experience, but is the experience." ― Mark Rothko

JPEG tries to create an image programatically fully expressing that signature compression. An image that is like empty made from barely nothing, yet fully present in its blazing appearance. A work deeply material, expressing itself through the language of code and codec only. This is not a JPEG depicting an image. The JPEG is the image itself.

Delving into the depths and peculiarities of the digital, tethered to art history, JPEG found its way to the surface. Generated color fields are utilised to trigger the compressing algorithm, resulting in a world of raw visual entities. Where the abstract expressionists cut out the depiction in painting, aiming to let the artist convey pure emotion, JPEG cuts out the artist's emotion and lets it emerge from within the algorithm. Carefully you could categorize the work as compressionism. An art form where the machine speaks in its own raw language, but nevertheless makes a direct touch to our human heart.

JPEG is a collection of generative images in the JPEG file format. The work tries to break with the idea of the fixed file format, therefor creating the JPEG entirely from code using no image material whatsoever. The individual JPEGs are generated responsively at the moment of viewing based on the token hash as a random seed. You can literally drag the JPEG out from the browser window.

JPEG pays tribute to interface culture, and as such the work is responsive and not scaling. When the work is resized, the work is again rendered and compressed. When viewed smaller, details will disappear, yet the composition stays recognisable. It’s like stepping back to see a work from further away. The choice of color wanders from monochromatic tones to the brutality of complete randomness and everything in between.

In honour of the blockchain and the web, the work is written in vanilla JavaScript, using no dependancies, and generates a standard JPEG. This way the file is downloadable, aiming for a materiality that comes as close as possible to the standard browser.

In 1993, Basque sculptor Eduardo Chillida proposed a project to create an immense void inside Tindaya, the Sacred Mountain of Fuerteventura's indigenous inhabitants. The hollow cube measuring approximately 45 x 50 x 65 meters was conceived as a space for "all the people" to "fully experience the tininess of humankind".

The idea of the project dates back to the 1980s, and it took the artist years of searching for the ideal mountain in different parts of the world. However, what was ideal for Chillida evoked a lot of controversy due to the environmental and social impact of the project. There was uncertainty about Tindaya's structural feasibility and the potential harm to the ancient petroglyphs engraved on its surface. What's more, the financial sustainability of the project's economic model would depend on hundreds of thousands of tourists visiting the site each year, converting a work of art into a holiday attraction.

Chillida called his project the Monument to Tolerance. Although it never came into existence, it has caused division and conflict since it was conceived.

"hollow" is an exploration of 256 voids in nonexistent natural monuments. Made of digital matter instead of stone and lacking cultural charge, its sole purpose is to contemplate the tininess of humankind.

Click on the image to open the menu. You may choose the quality from preview to the resolution of a print of approximately 30cm in height. In live mode, click on PNG to save the rendered image.

Depending on the device and CPU usage, it takes from a few seconds (on fast computers) to a minute (sometimes more) on mid-tier phones to render the image.

Requirements: 1GB of RAM. The system needs up to 200 MB of free RAM for rendering square preview images and up to 400 MB of free RAM for rendering square images at the highest resolution. I tested on Chrome, Safari, Firefox, Edge / Windows, Mac OS, Android, and iPhone, but please make sure it works on your device before minting.

Possible features:

color scheme: cairngorm, alborz, bardenas, atlas, bieszczady, watkins

proportions: square, wide, standard, narrow

frame: none, vignette, bright, dark, bright with vignette, dark with vignette

visitors: tourists, tourists and birds, solitary flock of birds, only light

"Garden, Monoliths" is the result of an algorithm that started in April 2021. It was called "Grass.js". Spring was blooming all around the house, taking over the stones and remnants of ancient battles that stood here. Inspiration was everywhere. The initial goal was to use mathematical formulas for creating patterns inspired by the density of nature, that could be used by a pen plotter, so it kept focusing on outputting vector lines. This history and practice produced a graphical style based on line strokes, plus occasionally some transparent, filled shapes. Each artwork will be either "Garden" or "Monolith", for they are variations of two existing designs from the workshop.

Solace is an algorithm that generates artworks of sand dunes. It draws hundreds of thousands of tiny points according to a probability distribution calculated from the positions of the dunes.

The logic to divide the dunes into light and dark sides is simple, but produces some interesting chaotic behaviour. These are details that weren't hard-coded but emerge organically, such as the patterns on the spines of the dunes or the stripes around their bases.

Please note that the algorithm can take some time to run, especially when the number of dunes is high.

Created by lunarean.

ZENTRUM is a dynamic, endlessly running abstract animation made of structural elements and random codes. The random generator ensures that each endless loop is unique. For ZENTRUM, Franke had to make do with the limited computing capacity that a home computer offered at the time. Despite this limitation, it was important to him to develop moving sequences even in his first programs for the Apple II. He considered the movement to be a pioneering digital innovation. The combination of dynamic image sequences and music, as well as the interactivity, were already groundbreaking in his MONDRIAN program code, developed in 1979 for the Texas Instruments home computer. License: https://quantum.mypinata.cloud/ipfs/QmUnSepLccUajd2kJi3hX7bFvzUuFHr39UUP1TTk9yHaaq

Acequia (“ah-seh-kee-uh”) - a Spanish adaptation of the Arabic word as-sāqiya, meaning “water carrier”.

In our second collaboration, Rich and Rick are back with our blend of generative code, intricate design, attention to detail, and a splash of charm.


Acequias are traditional irrigation canals used to distribute rainwater and snowmelt along a complex network of narrow channels. They are found in Spain, the American Southwest, and northern Mexico, where they are essential for sustaining fields, orchards, and gardens in semi-arid regions. 

 Our aim in this series is to capture the essence of these waterways in bold geometric designs. Each piece is inspired by a mountain village or town in Andalusia (southern Spain).

The location determines the cube designs and construction rules that are used to build the final output. These are combined with striking day/night palettes, outline styles, scales, climates, and a few surprises of course!

Controls (in live view):

• Press [p] to pause water animation
• Press [e] to complete water animation
• Press [r] to reset water animation
• Press [s] to save the current image
• Press [h] for a high-res output suitable for printing
• Press [b] to toggle the border

NFT from Virga collection

“Take Wing” is a generative art collection depicting the hope, optimism, and thrilling excitement of a person taking off, gaining traction, and soaring to new heights and off into the great unknown.

The algorithm behind the piece stems from an attempt to go back to art fundamentals and codify composition rules and painterly techniques into a generative form - taking into account focal points, contrast, eye movement, and color theory while still giving the algorithm freedom to explore random color palettes, random flow field movement, random brush strokes, and many other degrees of freedom.

The collection is made in pure code with p5.js and a few GLSL fragment shaders.

The piece has been created to be exhibited at "In Touch" with VerticalCryptoArt in Berlin in September 2022, curated by Anika Meier.

To get a (somewhat) high-resolution output, open the live view of your token, and then edit the URL adding &h=5400 at the end of it. 5400 is the tallest you can go, but you can also put a smaller number if you desire. Be aware that this will only work on a machine with a very beefy GPU, and even then may take a bit, so please be patient!

A grid of many lines forming a dragon crafted on paper. They all have their own personality... Be sure to name and take care of them.

tw: williamapan

Solar Transits is a procedural exploration of the origins of astrophotography. Each image in this series depicts a randomly generated astronomical event but viewed through the lens of mid-to-late 19th century image capture techniques. The collection features a variety of rare alignments of stars, planets and moons, and are rendered in the spirit of the daguerreotype.

In June of 2012, I took a trip to Minneapolis to speak at the Eyeo Festival. Venus was going to transit while I was there. I was curious. I had not seen a transit before. At 5:09 pm on June 5th, a nearly imperceptible black circle began its march across the sun. Were it not a predicted mathematical certainty, it is doubtful anyone would have noticed. For six minutes, the light from the sun was 0.087% dimmer.

It is a significant thing to see an object silhouetted against the sun. We are so accustom to seeing our perfect circle of pure light that we can't help but to celebrate the occasions where something blocks the view. I still feel a little more excitement when a slight shadow shoots across the landscape on a cloudless day, the source being an extremely rare transit of a commercial jet liner.

Exponentially more rare is the planetary transit. When Venus hangs on the horizon, glowing against the night sky, it is all too easy to think it another star. Only when it is viewed in silhouette can its position in our universe be fully appreciated: orbitally locked like us, and forever drawing it's path around the sun. That tiny black circle effected me in a big way. The scale of the cosmos shifted into perspective. That doesn’t happen often. I was incredibly moved. It was an experience I will never forget. This project is an homage to that strange once-in-a-lifetime event.

As it turns out, I was very lucky to have seen it at all. In the time since my birth in 1972, a Venus transit has only happened twice. The 1st time was in 2004 but I lived in a part of the world where it was not visible. The 2nd time was in 2012. Unless I live to be 145 years old, there won’t be a 3rd time. There are a couple silver linings: the Great American solar eclipse is on April 8 2024, and Mercury will transit in 2032.

The first 10 sales will have the option to purchase their output in the form of a framed daguerreotype.

“𝙸 𝚊𝚖 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚞𝚎𝚍 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚎𝚜 𝚙𝚎𝚘𝚙𝚕𝚎 𝚌𝚑𝚘𝚘𝚜𝚎 𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚜𝚢𝚖𝚋𝚘𝚕𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚎 𝚕𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚞𝚊𝚐𝚎. 𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚒𝚜 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚖𝚜 𝚊 𝚋𝚊𝚜𝚒𝚌 𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚞𝚌𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚎, 𝚊𝚗 𝚒𝚗𝚍𝚒𝚌𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚛𝚎 𝚘𝚋𝚓𝚎𝚌𝚝 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚊 𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚒𝚖𝚞𝚖 𝚘𝚏 𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚜, 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚋𝚎𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚜 𝚊 𝚜𝚢𝚖𝚋𝚘𝚕. 𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚒𝚜 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚖𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚘 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚕𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚞𝚊𝚐𝚎𝚜, 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚙𝚎𝚘𝚙𝚕𝚎, 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎𝚜.”

'Automatism' is inspired by the practice of artists where they are given a writing implement and a blank surface, and they go freestyle, almost mindlessly filling up the space with whatever comes to their minds and out of their hands. I've often wondered where a machine's mind and "hand" would wander given the same opportunity.

This project explores the age-old computer art phenomenon of inviting the viewer to actively participate in the interpretation of the visual output. The way "Sharp-E" draws the strokes is through a mix of various movements — irregular curves, straight lines, sudden changes in direction — in a classic random walk algorithm, while avoiding overlaps with previously drawn strokes. There are no pre-programmed forms per se, but nevertheless it can be common for the viewer to perceive images, symbols, meaning in the generated output.

So where does your mind wander? What forms, symbols, and meaning do you see?

Controls: • 'D' toggles pausing/drawing or continues space-filling after the first stop (if available) • 'R' reassembles the piece (This automatically happens every minute) • 'S' saves the output

Himinn is a painterly cloud study exploring light, color, and the generative composition of clouds in the sky. The algorithm creates natural forms and the illusion of ever-changing atmosphere through carefully structured layers of color and shape. Himinn means “a sky”, and it has been incredibly fun to paint the skies with code.

I brought flowers for Algernon, but some are lost to time When logic gives way to emotions and order surrenders to entropy For lost youths and forgotten dreams Someday there may be flowers for me

This work is inspired by the brilliant short story Flowers for Algernon. I read the story for the first time last year, cried, then immediately started working on this series. The initial painting process cannot be paused; this is my intention and not an oversight. You may watch the perfect moment slip by, but I hope that you’ll come to love the end result as well. There is beauty in imperfection, and everything that is remembered is not entirely lost. After the initial painting is complete, you can press [p] to watch it continuously evolve.

I developed two new original algorithms for this work. First, a method to draw flowers by rotating and layering sine waves at varying amplitudes and wavelengths to create a variety of colored petals. Second, a real-time painting method with multisampling to blend and generate new colors on the fly. The first method represents order, logic and the intellect, while the second represents entropy, chance, and emotions. Together, this is a study of generative flowers under entropy, where strokes are allowed to wander and colors to mix freely. I didn’t set out to emulate any traditional media, but the outputs of this algorithm often resemble acrylic paintings at first glance. Upon closer inspection you will discover that each painting is entirely made of opaque geometric strokes that are distinctly digital.

This work is best viewed in a Chrome or Edge browser on a desktop machine, where the initial painting process only takes a few seconds. The rendering in Safari and Firefox is significantly slower as of January 2023. Made with p5js and the canvas API.

Keyboard controls: [p] Play/pause painting after the initial rendering is completed. [f] Fill the current window (press ‘f’ again to get back to the original aspect ratio). [g] Toggle the background texture. [m] Change the margin amount. [s] Saves a PNG image of the live view, default resolution is 1600x2000px. [1]-[6] Change the output resolution, up to 9600x12000px.

URL parameters: &aspect=[an aspect ratio between 0.25 and 4, default is 0.8] &texture=[a roughness value greater than or equal to 0, default is 1] &margin=[the amount of margin around the painting (try 20 to 150), default is 0] &fill=[true/false, whether to fill the window]

Created by Elsif, 2023.01.

P.S. Someday I may no longer understand all the code I wrote, but there will always be an impression of colors, and a memory of flowers.