Artist notes: the halving ceremony is the most unusual part of modern bitcoin production in which the owners bet on how efficiently an alpha can inseminate the market.

By OthersideDeployer

The Meebits are 20,000 unique 3D voxel characters, created by a custom generative algorithm, then registered on the Ethereum blockchain.

Since founding Art Blocks in 2020, artist Erick Calderon (a.k.a. Snowfro) has been intrigued by the idea of representing digital artwork in the physical world in the form of an ephemeral physical object with meaning, but with no inherent value. Donald Judd has long been an inspiration for Art Blocks. One aspect we admire most about Judd’s artistic practice is the elegance of design he effortlessly paired with the accessibility of materials that could be found at a hardware store. With Judd as inspiration, we hatched a plan to create a unique generative art friendship bracelet that includes instructions to make, in minutes, a simple bracelet using a few dollars’ worth of embroidery floss. Donald Judd believed that what surrounds us in our day-to-day life is already so beautiful, and that ultimately the experience of creating art is as important as owning it. Erick was incredibly excited to collaborate with renowned artist Alexis André (a.k.a. MacTuitui) to bring generative art and ephemeral physical objects together in the form of friendship bracelets. Conceptualized by Erick and aesthetically and programmatically designed by Alexis, this project pairs creative coding with a beautiful spectrum of embroidery floss colors. The project was a true team effort, as each member of the Art Blocks team designed and named their own color palette! The project is a token of our appreciation to the creators, makers, builders, and collectors who have all contributed to making the Art Blocks community what it is today. Participating in this project is a signal, both online and IRL, that you’re a participant in this evolution of art + community. You are pushing the best ideas forward. You are the reason all of these imaginative projects come to life. Our community is what makes all of this possible. So, to say it plainly, we appreciate you, and we hope that you’ll accept this bracelet as a token of our special friendship! The owner of any wallet with an Art Blocks piece at the time of snapshot (October 26, 2022, at 3pm US Central time) is eligible to claim two mints from this special generative art project. We would love to see you keep one bracelet and share your love for generative art by gifting your second mint! These mints are free to claim (you pay only the gas) and exist on L1 Ethereum. Please note that we may in the future release additional modified iterations of the Friendship Bracelets project, ideally on an L2 scaling solution, that may substantially increase the total supply of tokens related to the project, with the intent of being a more accessible entry point to a larger audience. But this version is what we're here to celebrate today, and this gift is for you in gratitude for your support along the way. Please enjoy this token of our friendship and explore the wonderful artwork created by Alexis André. Then, let's all make bracelets together! Warmly, Alexis + Erick + the Art Blocks team The claim window expires on January 10, 2023, at noon US Central time. Click into the Display Notes for information about making your bracelet.

"Who is Satoshi Nakamoto?" is dedicated to the mysterious creation of Bitcoin, and acts as the showcase artwork within Javier Arrés’ exploratory series "Bitcoin, The Origin". "Who is the creator of Bitcoin?" The artist, Arrés, explores this question, and the feelings of doubt and mystery that accompany it, through his unique artistic language. An unknown, an enigma. It should be remembered that the name Satoshi Nakamoto is a pseudonym of Bitcoin's author or authors and gives us little insight into its true creator. For this Visual Toy, Arrés uses the signature claw machine, his famous half-operation, to symbolize our collective ignorance and unconfirmed belief: As soon as it has the stuffed animal within its grasp and appears to have solved the puzzle, the animal escapes again, and again. At present, there are three more public and studied possibilities who are either believed to be the creators of the currency or who directly claim the creation of it. It may be all or none of them, yet these three personalities leave us clues which are an important part of this interesting enigma. For this moment, it will remain unknown... In this artwork, Arrés elevates the claw machine from the apparatus, to an iconic pop art object serving as an important element to the Bitcoin creation narrative. Action is everywhere, with each movement serving an iconographical or metaphorical purpose related directly to cryptocurrency: Various ups and downs, roller coasters, mining points, robot, coins and more speak to a sense of hope, risk, mystery, randomness and possibility of pay out. Hundreds of manically thought out details make this creation one of the artist’s most complex Visual Toys to date. ------- "Bitcoin, The Origin" is a set of two Visual Toys, titled "Who is Satoshi Nakamoto" and "It’s Alive!" which reflect and explore the mystery and enigmas behind the creation of Bitcoin. Arrés presents these proposals to us in his signature style, full of iconography, fantasy, maniacal animations and a panoply of details (both subtle and overt) which simultaneously fascinate, hypnotize, and narrate this historical milestone through the singular vision of the artist. Through this series, Arrés freezes a crucial moment of cryptocurrency history, taking a still photo under his vision and turning it into two unique crypto artworks. ---- More info about Javier Arrés: https://javierarres.com/about.html