This article will introduce you to generative art as a prominent art form in the NFT space as well as go through its current integrations and its potential future.
What is Generative Art?
How Do Generative Art NFTs Work?
The Bull Case for Generative Art
What Are Some Popular Generative Art Collections?
Closing Remarks
Generative art refers to art created with the use of an autonomous system - non-human, typically a machine or computer. For this reason, it is usually considered a collaborative effort between human and machine, where the human artist usually determines and defines the process, and the machine draws the output.
The origins of generative art date back to the 1960s, when a group of notable engineer-artists such as Georg Nees and Frieder Naken began to develop and showcase their generative artwork around Germany.
In 2019, the creators of CryptoPunks, Larva Labs, launched a generative art experiment titled Autoglyphs. The collection had 512 unique glyphs, all created as soon as anyone donated 0.2E to a chosen charity, 350.org (around $35 at the time). Once all 512 glyphs were created, the generator shut itself off forever and glyphs became only available for purchase on the secondary market.
It wasn’t until a few years later, in 2021, that generative art began surging in popularity when auction house Christie’s sold its first NFT artwork, Everydays: The First 5000 Days by Beeple for $69.3 million.
This event pushed NFTs further into the limelight and hit major headlines around the art scene, forcing other auction houses to begin taking generative art NFTs more seriously.
In the world of NFTs, generative art is typically created with the use of smart contracts. Given the nature of the blockchain’s smart contracts - a code that self-executes upon meeting certain external criteria - using them for the basis of generation was a natural fit.
In simple terms, the artist writes the code for the artwork’s generation into a smart contract, then the buyer sends the set amount of cryptocurrency set by the creator to the smart contract. Upon receiving the amount, the code is then activated and the buyer’s wallet is credited back with the generative artwork.
Some collections also make use of the blockchain’s unique features. For example, Art Blocks, a popular generative art NFT marketplace, makes use of the random hash signatures generated (a unique alphanumeric code that serves as an online address for a given asset). This means that neither the buyer nor artist can know how the final artwork NFT will look like exactly until it is minted. They can have an idea of how various original outputs look like, but the newly generated NFT will differ based on the code set by the artist. Examples of variance may include variance in color, scale, turbulence, stroke style, and margin, to name a few. This also means that many generative artworks are generated in real time, during the minting process.
While the majority of the NFT market plunged more than -28% in value since January 2022 according to Nansen, art-related NFTs have managed to maintain their value, with a small increase of +4%. The index points in both of the below charts represent what $1,000 invested in each market would, on average, be worth today.
In fact, art-related NFTs have been one of the best performing genres in the NFT space.
So why is it that art-related NFTs have held up so well against many other NFT genres in the market?
NFTs and cryptocurrencies are both very new markets and technologies. However, art has been around for ages (at least 45,500 years), meaning that while many are unsure about the future of NFTs and their longevity, many people realize that art is likely to remain relevant, regardless of format and medium.
Related to the point above, while the general NFT market continues to struggle to find its right place in the Web3 space (i.e. the right utility to offer investors, the right business models, the right business plans and targets) and while the SEC is probing the Bored Ape Yacht Club creators, Yuga Labs, over unregistered offerings and attempting to figure out whether NFTs are a security, answering questions about the legality of certain collectibles and the offerings tied to them, the generative art market has already found a meaningful product-market fit in the NFT space.
And unlike many other NFT collections, generative art is better accepted by the art establishment, with auction houses such as Christie’s, Sotheby’s, and Phillips embracing the new art medium. This means that there is generally less uncertainty, fear, and risk within the generative art market.
According to COBO, The global art market as of 2022 is valued at $65.1 billion, an increase of 29% from 2020 as the art market continues to grow.
The value of collectibles in the NFT market, on the other hand, is $8.6 billion, equivalent to 13% of the global art market’s value. Of that, $2.6 billion has gone into art-related NFTs, 30% of the entire NFT market’s volume.
Additionally, 88% of high net-worth art collectors looking to buy art in 2022 have also shown interest in acquiring art-based NFTs. A large part of this is attributable to the success seen from traditional art auction houses, such as Christie's, grossing a total of $150 million from its NFT auctions.
With rumors of MoMA’s potential NFTs acquisition circulating, more high net-worth art collectors are likely to begin looking into purchasing a collection of their own.
Since the NFT market’s overall trading volume began trending downwards in February 2022 (with a volume hike in May 2022 following Yuga Labs’ Otherdeed mint), it has become clear that generative art collectors have different timelines than the wider NFT market and are in no rush to sell their collections.
This becomes clear when comparing the performance of some of the top blue chips in the NFT space with the performance of some of the biggest generative art collections.
While collections like Bored Ape Yacht Club (-19%), CryptoPunks (-5%), Mutant Ape Yacht Club (-17%), Clone X (-7%) and Otherdeed for Otherside (-44%) have all gone down in value in the past 90 days, Autoglyphs and Chromie Squiggle have both managed to move up in value 18% and 38% respectively.
The above is important to note, given that a common issue with inexperienced retail investors is their tendency to frequently invest in assets they might not truly understand in the hopes of just riding the wave upwards and profiting (i.e., speculating). However, when the volume and momentum begins to fade, many do end up panic selling. This results in a "rainfall effect," which in turn contributes significantly to the vast majority of volatility in the NFT markets.
This may also point towards a general trend of retail buyers favoring “PFP” - profile picture - and meme collections over generative art ones because of potential hype, while serious long-term investors hedge their bets on the art sector instead.
As previously mentioned, Autoglyphs are the first “on-chain” generative art on the Ethereum blockchain, launched in 2019. They also happen to be created by Larva Labs, the same team behind the famous CryptoPunks collection. They are a completely self-contained mechanism for the creation and ownership of an artwork.
The collection consists of 512 unique glyphs that first started out as an experiment in generative art on the blockchain. A fascinating detail about the Autoglyphs is that the art is inside the contract itself — it is literally “art on the blockchain.” This can be seen when examining any of the glyphs’ creation transactions on the blockchain, as the event data contains the full output of the generator, and hence the artwork itself.
While it doesn’t look like much, it encodes a character art pattern, which can then be drawn to a screen or even on paper by following the written instructions in the comments of the smart contract.
Art Blocks is one of the more known platforms for curating and creating generative art on the Ethereum blockchain. The platform was launched in 2020 by Erick Calderon, also known as Snowfro. The platform vets projects, launches through their platform, and places them within one of the following three categories:
Curated - hand-picked collections by the Art Blocks team
Playground - artists who were previously featured in the Curated collection
Factory - artists who don't want to wait for acceptance into the Curated collection
a/ Chromie Squiggle by Snowfro
The first collection that launched on Art Blocks was Chromie Squiggle, a project created by the platform’s founder, Snowfro. The collection, to this day, has amassed a total of 56,000 ETH in trading volume (an equivalent of $89,600,000 USD), with a floor price of 15.75 ETH (approximately $25,000 USD).
"Simple and easily identifiable, each Squiggle embodies the soul of the Art Blocks platform. Consider each my personal signature as an artist, developer, and tinkerer." - Snowfro
b/ Ringers by Dmitri Cherniak
Created by Dmitri Cherniak in January of 2021, Ringers is a 1,000 piece collection of highly unique NFTs displaying a string wrapped around a set of pegs in an unlimited number of ways.
“There are an almost infinite number of ways to wrap a string around a set of pegs. On the surface it may seem like a simple concept but prepare to be surprised and delighted at the variety of combinations the algorithm can produce. Each output from 'Ringers' is derived from a unique transaction hash and generated in Javascript in the browser. Feature variations include peg count, sizing, layout, wrap orientation, and a few colorful flourishes for good measure.” - Dmitri Cherniak
The collection has seen a total of 28,000 ETH in trading volume to date (approximately $44.8 million USD) with a floor price of 65 ETH (~$104,000 USD).
Dmitri has also recently announced an upcoming project of his that is soon to be released on December 1, 2022 in collaboration with The Estate of László Moholy-Nagy, titled “Light Years.”
c/ Fidenza by Tyler Hobbs
Created by Tyler Hobbs in November of 2021, Fidenza is considered to be among the most famous works of generative art in the NFT space, having amassed 53,000 ETH in secondary trading volume (~$84.4 million USD) and currently sitting at a floor price of 79 ETH (~$126,400 USD).
“Fidenza is by far my most versatile algorithm to date. Although the program stays focused on structured curves and blocks, the varieties of scale, organization, texture, and color usage it can employ create a wide array of generative possibilities. I consider this to be one of the most interesting ways to evaluate the quality of a generative algorithm, and certainly one that is unique to the medium. Striking the right balance of unpredictability and quality is a difficult challenge for even the best artists in this field.” - Tyler Hobbs
QQL is a collaborative generative art experiment between Fidenza’s creator, Tyler Hobbs, co-founder of the generative art platform Archipelago, Dandelion Wist, and holders of the QQL Mint Pass.
QQL launched at the end of September 2022, and despite an overall bearish sentiment in the general cryptocurrency and NFT market, managed to raise nearly $17 million USD.
What is different about QQL from many other generative art projects is that while the algorithm is written by the project’s creators, the final output is in the hands of the mint pass holders.
“This collaboration is intended to provide a new way to mint NFTs that celebrates emergence, unpredictability, and happenstance over forced rarity. We want to encourage collectors to explore the edges of the algorithm, play a role in the output, and take agency to become a co-creator. We want collectors to view their engagement as an adventure and make a creative contribution to the art. Adding a curation step by the collector also allows the generative algorithm to take more risks and explore a more interesting potential output space. We trust collectors to seek out and identify the truly special outputs that emerge. With this approach, the collector is now the curator.” - QQL
The QQL algorithm is open for everyone to use and explore but only mint pass holders will be able to turn their creations into official NFTs in the collection.
Gm.studio is a decentralized generative art platform built by the gmDAO, a community of NFT collectors, artists, and investors launched in September 2021 with a primary goal of fostering and encouraging the development of generative art in the NFT space.
“We’ve developed the studio from the ground up using our experience with existing artistic platforms and the challenges they present to new artists, namely; extremely long application times, poor communication and financial barriers to entry. Our belief is that art should be inclusive & accessible to all, which is why we implemented two practices into our ethos which we understand will allow for equal opportunity for every applicant: A blind curation process;
Artists pay no fees (the studio handles marketing, deployment & rendering costs).” - gm.studio
While gaining entry into the gmDAO requires a gm token NFT, which currently holds a floor price of 3 ETH (~$4,800 USD), the studio has already released a handful of collections.
a/ Mind the Gap by MountVitruvius
Launched in February 2022, Mind the Gap by MountVitruvius is gm.studio’s first collection drop consisting of 999 NFTs. The collection is a generative series inspired by childhood memories, play and exploration as well as the emotions and experiences of the artist in the 6 months prior to the collection’s release.
“I wanted the technical approach to mirror the simplicity and fun that inspired the idea. I wanted these to feel like a pen drawing. As if the algorithm had picked up a pen, and started outlining the shapes while exploring the canvas, unclear on where it would go, but enjoying finding something beautiful and light-hearted in the chaos.
Joyful, playful motion. Create a wide range of movement. Variation and experimentation are all part of the fun.
Hand drawn. Evoke the feeling of a pen drawing. No straight lines, and only subtle use of texture.
Simple, vibrant colors. The palettes should evoke the feeling of childlike play and experimentation.” - MountVitruvius
The collection has seen a total of nearly 2,500 ETH in trading volume (~$4 million USD) and sits at a floor price of 0.69 ETH (~$1,100 USD).
b/ Factura by Mathias Isaksen
Factura by Mathias Isaksen is the 4th collection drop by gm.studio and has so far seen the most trading volume among all other collections with 3,100 ETH in volume ($4.9 million USD) with a current floor price of 0.8 ETH (~$1,280 USD).
“The development of "Factura" can be described as an act of balancing pairs of opposing qualities: Monolithic and minute. Structure and disorder. Intricate and plain. Subtle and explicit. This is a difficult task, with many interconnected parts that interact in unpredictable ways.” - Mathias Isaksen
c/ Catharsis by Dario Lanza
Catharsis by Dario Lanza is the 5th and latest collection drop by gm.studio, released in September 2022 and currently sitting with a total of 600 ETH in trading volume (~$960,000 USD) and a floor price of 0.19 ETH (~$300 USD).
The collection is the first long-structure and evolutive art project on the blockchain. The style of the various outputs in the collection evolves from the beginning of the series all the way to its final output, increasing in energy on a “cathartic” episode. The collection’s primary outputs begin with a less dense and timid mood, and evolve into a more energetic style, involving more paint on the later pieces, applying it with greater ferocity, and with new features and higher densities appearing as the series progresses, making the whole linear progression of the collection into a big artwork itself.
“Catharsis represents the first time an algorithm mutates, changes, evolves on the blockchain while it is being executed, establishing a new dimension to contemporary art production hitherto unexplored.” - Dario Lanza
The entire collection is also long-form and designed around a global structure that allows the pairing of different artworks into diptychs and triptychs. This means that the paint cast in one artwork continues and extends into the next, an endless amount of times. This produces a global rhythm that runs through the entire project, not only with consecutive pieces (i.e. piece #1, #2, and #3), but also with every #51 pieces. Meaning that the artwork on piece #72, for example, will also present continuity with piece #123 and #174, and so on, throughout the entire collection.
Here are the summarized points made throughout this article:
Generative art refers to art created with the use of an autonomous system. For this reason, it is usually considered a collaborative effort between human and machine, where the human artist usually determines and defines the process, and the machine draws the output.
While the majority of the NFT market plunged more than -28% in value since January 2022, art-related NFTs have managed to relatively maintain their value with a small +4% increase.
Unlike the wider NFT market, generative art NFTs have a historical significance, a more established market, a bigger market with deeper pockets, and more convicted buyers.
Autoglyphs, Chromie Squiggle, Ringers, Fidenza, QQL, Mind the Gap, Factura, and Catharsis are all noteworthy generative art collections with a prominent past and a promising future.
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