You’ve seen Ringers, but can’t understand why the floor is so high. You’ve gazed at Fidenzas, but can’t understand why sales remain in the 100+ ETH range. Why is so much attention focused on this niche sector of crypto art?
It’s because generative art is the beating heart of NFTs and will be one of the defining art movements of the 21st century.
Why is this?
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Generative art, contrary to some misconceptions, existed long before NFTs, crypto, or digital distribution methods. Pioneers like Herbert Franke, Vera Molnar, and Chuck Csari created some of the earliest iterations of generative art in the 1960’s and 1970’s. However, few, if any, mediums existed at the time to distribute and propagate their art.
Distribution was nearly impossible because physically printing or plotting hundreds if not thousands of iterations and shipping them was logistically difficult, if not borderline impossible internationally. Propagation was equally difficult: organic network effects were hard to come by without the internet and major auction houses showed little to no interest in early generative art. Scarcity was nearly impossible to prove. Authentication by honor code is about as good as you’d get. Lastly, trait and output comparison across any given collection was very difficult if not impossible: hanging hundreds of plotter-printed outputs in a gallery was infeasible.
The distinctive value unlock with crypto art is that NFTs actively solve multiple acute pain points present in the traditional art market: permissioned purchasing, pricing opacity, and reliable authentication (to name a few).
Generative art’s value is distinctively unlocked through crypto because of production, distribution, and authentication provided through blockchain infrastructure.
Some art historians speculate that generative art is a natural extension of the geometry, abstraction, and chance initiated in the Analytical Cubist, Futurist, Constructivist, and Bauhaus movements. I won’t even try to pretend like I have a good handle on the puritanic art debate, but would highly recommend reading this deep dive on the generative art movement by Jason Bailey (aka Artnome).
Bailey’s piece puts generative art in a historical perspective while addressing common misconceptions and myths to the art reader far better than I could; however, the piece you are currently reading is intended for the digital-native individual, interested in the distinctive intersection of generative art and crypto.
So generative art’s production, distribution, and randomization make it peanut butter to crypto’s jelly: a match made in heaven.
Production
Production is about the medium in which the art exists: art that is made digitally and exists in a digitally native medium (like a screen). “Dude, that’s stupid - obviously these JPEGs are made digitally, why would that matter?” It matters because for the first time, how the art is created is how the art is displayed.
For example, you obviously know that to see a picture of the Mona Lisa on a website (or in VR!) is not analogous to seeing the Mona Lisa in person. One can easily miss the entrancing eyes which follow you, the soft glow of the skin, etc when viewed through a different medium. Generative art flips this paradigm because when you view a generative art piece digitally, you are seeing it exactly as it is intended to be displayed.
This is the reason I personally don’t like physical prints of generative art pieces - you aren’t presenting the art as it was natively created and intended to be seen. Nothing against those who like them! But, by analogy, it seems a bit odd to get a digital display to…put up a picture of the Mona Lisa? I don’t know.
Distribution
The concept of “long-form” generative art finally became possible through NFTs because artists didn’t need to print hundreds or thousands or iterations physically to distribute them - they just needed to mint! Artists could choose large set sizes (like 10,000 for Chromie Squiggles) down to relatively tiny set sizes (like only 50 for Waiting in Afton), with many sets commonly now falling somewhere in the 252-1000 range.
These larger set sizes also make comparison within sets easier. Comparison is critical because it allows curators and collectors to inspect the “average” quality of the outputs, which elevates the need for the “average” output to be excellent. If errors and unwieldy outputs are relatively common, long-form generative art exposes it whereas previously in short-form generative art, artists could cherry pick poor iterations and toss them before they hit the plotter.
Tyler Hobbs (creator of Fidenza, co-creator of QQL) discussed this in his essay, “The Rise of Long-Form Generative Art”:
“It makes the "average" output from the program crucial. In fact, even the worst outputs are arguably important, because they're just as visible. Before, this bad output could be ignored and discarded. The artist only cared about the top 5% of output, because that's what would make it into the final curated set to be presented to the public. The artist might have been happy to design an algorithm that produced 95% garbage and 5% gems.”
The digital display space of a webpage suddenly makes this process easy and feasible, whereas before you would have had to…hang up hundreds of plotter prints in a gallery? Not logistically pleasant.
One final strength of distribution is the minting experience: the surprise, the joy, the excitement! Generating a “personalized” output on demand creates a unique collector experience. Many NFT collections now merely mix and match traits ahead of the mint, stored off-chain, to be presented to the minter in a randomized fashion. However, the difference in generative art is the initiation of code run in a randomized yet unique iteration, with the results presented to that singular transaction originator (the collector).
The resulting “1 of 1 of X” produced is a novel format. The newly generated art is a 1 of 1: there is nothing else that exists to that specificity in the world. However, the piece is still part of a greater collection (hence “of X”) with recognizable traits, features, palettes, etc. The minter becomes part of the artistic process and is the first to see the artwork produced, even before the artist.
Authentication
The authentication provided through the blockchain unlocked provable digital scarcity and verifiability for the first time. For digital scarcity, generative art iterations can provably be the only one in existence. Additionally, the outputs can be verifiably traced back to the artist’s deployment wallet. No more debate about origination!
Even if some of these points could be argued on the periphery, the combination of all the factors becomes a driving force which explains at a deeper level why generative art as a category is so unbelievably important for the overall cryptoart movement.
Recognize that all of these elements are enabled through crypto. On-chain generative art is produced through the blockchain. Distribution is made possible with wallets, transactions, and hashing functions. Authentication is traceable. This is the marriage that makes for an epic relationship.
As if generative art needed more fuel for the fire, it is also representative of a static NFT. This makes the art expectation resistant and, particularly if the art is on-chain, free of external dependencies. If the art is on-chain, all the code necessary to reproduce the piece lives within the token, making the NFT and overall collection enduring. Short of the whole of Ethereum toppling over, the durability is nearly impeccable.
Generative Art’s Legacy
Lastly, Bailey’s piece includes a fantastic line:
“Every generation claims art is dead, questioning why it has no Michelangelos, no Picassos, only to have their grandchildren point out generations later that the geniuses were among us the whole time.”
If you’ve scoffed in disdain at art critics taking bananas duct taped to walls seriously or perhaps even doubt the value in an expensive Rothko, generative art should satisfy even the most logical and pragmatic amongst us.
The genius comes from the dualistic combination of artistic progress and coding craftsmanship, all coming together and enabled through the blockchain.
So the next time someone says that generative art is hot just because it “looks cool,” feel free to gently nudge them and dive into some deeper water.
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DISCLAIMER: The content posted here does not, and is not intended to, constitute financial advice. Readers should work with a financial advisor to determine whether cryptocurrencies and NFTs are applicable to or appropriate for their particular situation.
Furthermore, there are risks involved in making any investment in cryptocurrencies/NFTs. None of the information presented herein is intended to form the basis of any offer or recommendation or have any regard to the investment objectives, financial situation, or needs of any specific person, and that includes you, my dear reader. Caveat lector!