If you’ve ever taken the time to scroll through the “Explore” tab on OpenSea, you’ll likely come across a series of collections that are unlike the more common NFTs we know — these are generative art NFTs. This genre of NFT showcases an algorithm-driven style that of late, has increasingly gained favor with both digital artists and digital art collectors.
While generative art is an umbrella term that encompasses many types of styles and mediums, there are common characteristics that have come to define the genre, including the repetition of patterns, shapes, colors and motifs; the randomness of composition; the use of an algorithm to generate images; and the use common use of geometric patterns and shapes.
But what is generative art and why does it hold such immense value?
Defining Generative Art
Developed in 1965 by German philosopher Max Bense, generative art arises from algorithms programmed to specific parameters by engineer-artists. The artist defines the general process — what colors, or geometry, might be used, for instance — then feeds into the algorithm random quantities; whatever comes out is the generative artwork. Generative NFTs are much the same, and many include additional components of “randomness” related to the mechanics of the blockchain, smart contracts, and NFT “minting.”
Generative art was ideal for producing large NFT collections, going into the tens of thousands, or even millions, of unique works. Unlike profile picture (PFP) collections like Bored Ape Yacht Club, however, generative art is also better accepted by the art establishment; they are seen as a way to finally make use of the generative works dating back to the 60s, and many have been featured in meatspace galleries.
How Do Generative Art NFTs work?
NFTs are cryptographic tokens used to represent unique digital assets stored on a blockchain. Unless something catastrophic happens and the Internet shuts down, digital assets stored on a blockchain are permanent and immutable. Each token has unique metadata that distinguishes it from other tokens, ensuring it can’t be changed or forged.
Generative art NFTs are created using smart contracts and stored on a blockchain in the form of NFTs. Smart contracts are pieces of code secured on a blockchain that self-execute when certain conditions are met, making them perfect for developing randomized, algorithm-driven art.
As an artist, you don’t need to draw hundreds or thousands of collectibles yourself. Instead, you simply have to devise a series of traits that constitute your NFT, and design one or more variations for each trait.
Once you have all the design assets in place, you must write or copy smart scripts to generate new variations of NFTs accordingly. You must also place a limit on the number of NFTs to be generated.
An example of generative NFT art is Solvency by Ezra Miller. The project incorporates dynamic WebGL simulations to create textured feedback loops drawn from a generative adversarial network (GAN). This GAN is trained on 35 mm photographs and layered colors that rely on information from each NFT’s minting transaction.
Notable Softwares Used to Create Generative Art
As the movement has grown over several decades, so has the list of tutorials, tools and resources that are used by new creators and collectors in the NFT space.
Although the overall process depends on the complexity and functionality of the concept, here are several popular tools used by generative art creators:
- openFrameworks — An open-source C++ toolkit for generative and algorithmic art
- Canvas-sketch — A javascript framework for generative artwork
- C4 — An open-source iOS framework.
- Unity — A cross-platform game engine that can be used for creative coding
- Cinder — An open-source, cross-platform C++ library for creative coding
While most programming languages can be used to create generative art, many artists prefer to use JavaScript and its p5.js creative coding library. Online communities have also sprung up to discuss additional tools that can be added to any generative art toolbox.
Beyond coding, there are also popular resources that use artificial intelligence to help generate art, including:
- Dall•E — An AI image generator created by OpenAI that uses text prompts to generate images
- Midjourney — A self-funded independent research lab that allows people to create images from text-based descriptions
Additionally, Async Art has become a popular tool for artists or musicians looking to create generative art on the Ethereum blockchain without the use of code. The tool allows NFT creators to upload their assets, set rarity percentages and create an entire generative NFT collection, all in one place.
Notable Generative Arts and Artists
Autoglyphs — the first “on-chain” generative art on the Ethereum blockchain, produced by CryptoPunks creators Larva Labs.
Fidenza — a generative art series created by artist Tyler Hobbs; individual works in the series have sold for millions of dollars.
Art Blocks — a generative art marketplace that’s played host to the Fidenza, Ringers and Chromie Squiggle collections.
Lost Poets — Created by the enigmatic persona behind Sotheby’s “The Fungible” collection, Lost Poets is both an NFT collectible and strategy game by digital artist Pak. The collection includes 65,536 obtainable NFTs and 1,024 Origin NFTs.
Chromie Squiggles — Created by Erick Calderon, aka Snowfro, as the genesis project of the on-chain Art Blocks platform, Chromie Squiggles are unique, randomly generated squiggles of colors in nine different style schemes.
Ringers — Created by artist Dmitri Cherniak and generated from a variety of combinations using Javascript, Ringers are a set of 1,000 unique rings based on different combinations of “strings and pegs.”
Robbie Barrat — Robbie Barrat is an artist and graphic designer who works with artificial intelligence. He is known for his use of generative adversarial network (GAN) machine learning models.
Matt Kane — As a self-taught programmer, Matt Kane gained recognition in September 2020 with his Async Art piece “Right Place, Right Time” that sold for 262 ETH (approx. $100,800) in September 2020. His most recent collection, Gazers, on ArtBlocks is a series of 1,000 NFTs based on the cycles of the moon, which evolves over time.
Matt DesLauriers — Matt DesLauriers is a Canadian artist and coder. His long-form generative art project titled Meridian contains an algorithm that creates stratified landforms using “hundreds of thousands of small strokes of color.”
Final Thoughts
Generative art has the potential to be used as an alternative form of monetization for artists and developers alike, allowing them to generate revenue from their creations through non-fungible tokens (NFTs). Generative art has a massive opportunity ahead, it just needs time.
At the moment, we only see generative art as purely visual. But as technology improves, more use-cases for generative art will be explored. We could see the creation of algorithmic architecture, physical products, games, clothing and writing. Imagine reading a book that was co-written by a computer. Or attending a performance where dances were choreographed in collaboration with technology.
If the space continues to expand as quickly as it has in the past six months, we might be looking at a future like this sooner than we can imagine. As it stands, it’s thrilling to see digital artists and creatives given a platform where they can team up with technology to make a living.
