On March 31, we will launch Arborithms, the 6th collection of NFTs from the [aside] project created by Primavera De Filippi, in collaboration with Gazelli Art House & GAZELL.iO. Arborithms is a generative art project that operates on the principle of algorithmic tree generation to create lifeforms with encoded DNA, evolving lineages, and species dynamics.

This drop will release the very first trees of the Arborithm protocol and all purchased NFTs will be locked at mint time and will be unlocked only if they are used as a “parent” to generate other NFTs. In other words, there will be no possibility of commercializing the works without their prior reproduction.

Arborithms: Digital Forests Growing on the Blockchain

Arborithms take root in the space where blockchain code meets generative art. Arborithms aren't just digital representations of a tree—they're blockchain-based lifeforms with encoded DNA, family lineages, and the ability to evolve as a species.

Each Arborithm is an NFT whose digital manifestation is determined by the Arborithm’s DNA, materialised as a unique genetic sequence compressed into the token-ID. This digital DNA is translated, through on-chain JavaScript code, into a 3D representation of a tree blossoming into distinctive visual traits: the sweep of branches, the thickness of trunks, the flutter of leaves—each characteristic determined by the tree's genetic makeup.

Like their earthly counterparts, Arborithms yearn to reproduce. When two trees intertwine their code, they create a new Arborithm NFT, an offspring bearing traits from both parents, sometimes with unexpected mutations that introduce entirely new features to the digital forest. This digital pollination requires human cultivators—collectors who recognize beauty and potential in these algorithmic organisms.

Bound by their genetic impetus towards reproduction, Arborithms remain rooted to their initial collectors until they've participated in the cycle of evolution. Each tree must reproduce—contributing to the digital forest's growth—before it can be transferred to new collectors. This logic encoded in their smart contracts ensures that collectors become true cultivators rather than mere speculators, nurturing the ecosystem before harvesting its value.

As in nature's own economy, reproduction carries both cost and reward. Minting a new tree requires an offering of 0.03 ETH to the Arborithms ecosystem (fee for the arborithms smart contract). Besides, when an Arborithm is used for reproduction, the collector who stewards that tree receives an initial tribute of 0.01 ETH, which increases by 0.01 ETH with each subsequent reproduction. In other words, tributes to the parent trees are based on their reproductive history—more beloved parents commanding higher tributes for their genetic gifts—reflecting the Arborithm’s growing influence on the forest's genetic landscape.

Each time a cultivator wants to create a new Arborithm (from two parent trees), they must pay:

• 0.03 ETH as a fee to the Arborithms smart contract.

• An individual tribute to each parent, determined by its reproductive history:

  • A tree that has never reproduced has an initial cost of 0.01 ETH.

  • This cost increases by 0.01 ETH with each reproduction (0.02 ETH for the second, 0.03 ETH for the third, etc.).

Through this reproductive system, the Arborithms collection orchestrates its own natural selection. Popular trees with sought-after traits become increasingly valuable for reproduction, while simultaneously becoming more costly to use as parents. This delicate balance encourages explorers to venture into uncharted territories of the digital forest, seeking undiscovered trees with rare genetic potential—trees whose reproductive value has yet to be fully recognized.

A new evolutionary game emerges, transforming the traditional dynamics of digital ownership. Rather than the usual pattern of acquisition and speculation—holding NFTs in anticipation of rising prices—Arborithms introduce a new model based on cultivation and evolution. In order to maximize profits, collectors must act as genetic engineers, breeding Arborithms with the most distinctive (and appealing) characteristics that will likely be the most sought after for reproduction—thereby yielding ongoing rewards for the NFT collectors. Success comes not from merely possessing a digital tree, but from creating it and sharing its genetic code with the world.

The most skilled cultivators will see their lineages flourish, their genetic heritage spreading like roots through the ecosystem, ensuring that their trees are remembered not just for their rarity, but for their impact on the evolving digital forest.

Most importantly, Arborithm’s digital forest nurtures one of its neighboring creations as the money generated by contributions to the Arborithms ecosystem is used to pollinate Plantoids**, thereby actively contributing to their reproduction—allowing one creative ecosystem to nourish another through an on-chain game of cross-pollination.

As such, Arborithms stand at the convergence of generative art, protocol art, and mutualism. They are a living, evolving illustration of how blockchain can be used to create not just economic transactions, but also new forms of life— whether social or synthetic.

Blockchain-based life form.

Blockchain technologies have renewed interest in and expanded a movement within what is often referred to as crypto-art: a strand we might call protocol art. As we have previously noted, there is a distinct aesthetics of protocols—an aesthetics that is no longer entirely centered on the final artistic output but rather on the rules and processes governing the production and circulation of the artwork itself.

In the growing field of protocol art, Primavera De Filippi is a pioneer, and anyone who has taken even a passing interest in the field has likely encountered or heard of her work, Plantoid. A work that should be understood as a collectivizing techno-social technology. Indeed, Plantoids are physical artworks that collect ETH donations, also referred to as "pollination," and when a Plantoid reaches a certain funding threshold, it 'automatically' commissions another artist to create a new version of itself.

Plantoid project therefore explores autonomous and decentralized reproduction, using on-chain mechanisms for collective creation and resource redistribution within the creative ecosystem to which the work itself is connected.

According to Primavera, if Plantoids can be called "life forms," it is precisely because they can:

• Act autonomously

• Be self-sustainable

• Reproduce themselves

With her new project "Arborithm," Primavera continues her exploration of blockchain-based lifeforms, this time applying it to the realm of generative art. Each tree generated by the Arborithm protocol can be used as a seed to create new trees, expanding an ecosystem where art and technology merge to form a self-sustaining, evolving digital forest.

In this vision, Arborithms do not just exist on the blockchain—they live, breathing in algorithmic cycles, growing through human interaction, and ultimately redefining what it means to be an artwork in an age of on-chain digital creation.