加密艺术 新的可能性

数字艺术语言

数字绘画的发展在20年间经历了从鼠标绘画,到专业硬件绘画,再到今天的数字综合造型。目前的发展阶段已经非常成熟。绝大多数能够被想象出来的效果,都可以用多种软件和思路达成。

然而美术技术的突飞猛进并没有转化为当代艺术的充足营养。这让人感到可惜。尤其是在当代艺术面对着感受创新和价值观创新困境的历史时期。

《数字巴别图书馆》中会大量使用架上绘画无法使用的技术,而不只是用PS和手绘板替代画笔画布。这些技术包含但不限于数字拼贴、算法滤镜、AI辅助成像、3D技术。视觉再造巴别图书馆的过程,即寻找数字造型独特审美品位的过程。

—— 王兴 《数字巴别图书馆白皮书》

加密艺术仅仅是“古典”艺术的形式更新吗?还是为艺术引入了新的技术工具和可能性?我一直对这个问题感到好奇。除了王兴在《巴别图书馆》中提到的那些“架上绘画无法使用的技术”,还有什么东西是属于加密艺术的独特技法?

金色传说上线后不久,有一位叫猫猫乐园的用户创作了一个叫做随机猫猫卡的NFT。这个NFT和之前其他NFT的区别在于,NFT的图片链接指向一个随机返回不同图片的服务器地址,而不是一个特定图片。如果你拥有这个NFT,在每次打开猫猫卡欣赏的时候将会看到一只不同的猫猫。

KittyFT

虽然形式并没有逃出“随机播放的相册”的窠臼,随机猫猫卡却是将图片与技术结合的一次有意思的尝试。web uri 链接加上能随机返回图片的服务器,与写在区块链上的NFT元信息共同构成了一个动态的作品。由此出发,我们似乎能创造出更有意思的作品。于是在随机猫猫卡之后,还出现了This Person Does Not Exist关于NFTs的一些想法.

或许还有更好玩的。

区块链(尤其是PoW链)本身是一枚时间之箭,将时间与规则结合,我们可以创作出自行生长的作品。例如元胞自动机就是这样一种完全由初始规则和时间定义的游戏。我们可以先实现一个元胞自动机引擎,创作NFT时将特定的规则写入,从NFT创建的区块开始,每新增一个块演化一步,持续观赏作品,将会看到一个世界不停演化的样子。

Game of Life 是 zero player game. 如果我们再将区块链的随机性(例如 block hash)引入作品,就可以把任意的 1-player game 变成一个作品。例如我们可以定义一个生成函数,输入是block hash,函数以 block hash 作为随机种子,输出 LOGO 小海龟接下来N步的方向和长度,NFT创建时的block hash就决定了这幅作品的模样,每一个不同的生成函数和NFT创建时所在的区块都会生成一幅不同的作品。也可以让作品根据当前最高区块的block hash来渲染,产生一幅不停变幻的作品。如果将区块链随机数与更复杂的 Algorithmic art 引擎结合则可以生成更复杂的作品。

以上是完全由算法生成的作品。我们也可以将链上随机性与人工创作结合,产生一种动静结合的 GIF。加密画家可以为作品定下框架与基调,由算法和区块链来填充细节。我们也可以将渲染引擎从视觉扩展到听觉,产生由作曲家和区块链共同创作的音乐。


(作品来自 James R. Eads & Chris Mcdaniel)

更进一步,我们还可以将智能合约引入,用户可以藉由智能合约与创作者与作品产生交互,形成一个群体创作不停演变的作品。每一个人都可以在作品上留下痕迹,每一个人都可以是作品的一部分。作品是否会成为群体的意识或者无意识体现?

这些新的可能性在CKB上都可以实现。渲染引擎可以放在单独的Cell中由NFT Cell引用,NFT Cell指明需要使用的引擎以及渲染算法,渲染引擎可以使用区块链提供的随机性和其他上下文信息。这样的每一个 NFT Cell 都是一个包含所有作品信息的单元,任何能够运行渲染引擎和理解NFT标准的客户端都能够将作品呈现出来。

这些新的表现技术,是否会成为加密艺术家的必修课?这些能够永久流传、拥有时间感和生命感的作品,是否会成为最有价值的加密艺术品?很期待它们出现的那一天。

Update 2021/06/01

这样一种信息完全上链,与链绑定的NFT,将会是真正的加密原生 作品,Crypto Native Art . 原生/Native的意义在于,该作品不仅完全存在于链上,而且其唯一性/uniqueness是由链保证的,不可复制。不可复制的地方在于作品引入了链的随机性,而链的随机性是无法预测无法复制的。即使是原作者也没有办法创造出一幅复制品。

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支持支持,期待期待

再加上NFT的时序,可以做到多人互动。有点像reddit上的r/place

什么时候什么方式能让文中提到的工具变得像ps中的功能模块一样好用?一个很困难的现实是艺术家要自由驾驭代码很难,程序员要补足艺术知识修养很难。

其实只需要有开发者发现这个方向,然后开发一套引擎和工具给艺术家用。开发者可以通过这个工具获得收入。

一个更容易启动的方式可能是艺术家找到开发者合作,约定好某种未来使用这个新工具创作NFT的收入分成方式,共同创造这个新工具。这种更紧密的合作方式也许更有利于做出好用的工具。

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这样一种信息完全上链,与链绑定的NFT,将会是真正的加密原生作品,Crypto Native Art. 原生/Native的意义在于,该作品不仅完全存在于链上,而且其唯一性/uniqueness是由链保证的,不可复制。不可复制的地方在于作品引入了链的随机性,而链的随机性是无法预测无法复制的。即使是原作者也没有办法创造出一幅复制品。

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我接下来的个展可以来做一些协作上的尝试。想到两点:一是PS的很多功能就是adobe和艺术家经年累月的合作共同打磨的。二是现在艺术圈对于创作者署名方面讨论很多,认为艺术越来越走向协作劳动,即使在传统雕塑创作中,也开始有人呼吁要把创作助手、受聘民间艺人这类角色写入作者名单而不是只有一个艺术家署名。署名方面比较好的例子是电影。

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随机性和作者无法复制很棒。我一直想找到一个方式让《数字巴别图书馆》的图像能在一定范围内保持飘忽不定的状态。但又不满足于做个简单的动图。因为动图说到底是一张会动的图而不是多图。我希望飘忽不定里的每个瞬间都是值得凝视的。现阶段只是在图层和滤镜上做文章,CryptoNativeArt这个思路更棒。我会再推进一下这个方向的想法。

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链上的NFT可以只保留算法(比如GitHub地址、Cell Script等等)和参数数据,不再保存多媒体内容(图片、视频等)。
优点:NFT将变得可嵌入(第三方产品可以根据算法和参数数据重新渲染)、可交互。
参考:分享一个有关NFT的想法 #代码艺术 #唯一性

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Digital Art Language

The development of digital painting has gone through 20 years from mouse painting, to professional hardware painting, and to today’s digital integrated modeling. The current stage of development is very mature. The vast majority of effects that can be imagined can be achieved with a wide range of software and ideas.

Yet the sudden advancement of art technology has not translated into sufficient nourishment for contemporary art. This is a pity. Especially at a time in history when contemporary art is faced with the dilemma of feeling innovation and value innovation.

The Digital Library of Babel will make extensive use of techniques that are not available in easel painting, rather than just using PS and hand-painted panels instead of brushes and canvases. These techniques include, but are not limited to, digital collage, algorithmic filters, AI-assisted imaging, and 3D technology. The process of visually recreating the Library of Babel, i.e., the process of finding a unique aesthetic taste for digital modeling.

– Wang Xing, “Digital Library of Babel White Paper” 11

Is encrypted art merely a formal update of “classical” art? Or does it introduce new technical tools and possibilities for art? I have always been curious about this question. Besides the “techniques that are not available for easel painting” that Wang Xing mentions in “The Library of Babel,” what else is unique to crypto art?

Shortly after the launch of Golden Legend 1, a user named Cat Paradise created an NFT called Random Cat Card 7. The difference between this NFT and other NFTs before it is that the NFT links to a server that returns different images at random, rather than a specific image. If you have this NFT, you will see a different cat every time you open the cat card to enjoy it.

image
KittyFT

Although the format does not escape the “randomly played photo album”, the random cat card is an interesting attempt to combine images with technology. web uri links and a server that returns random images, together with the NFT meta information written on the blockchain, make a dynamic work. From there, it seemed like we could create something more interesting. So after the random cat and cat card, there was also This Person Does Not Exist 11 and some ideas about NFTs 11.

And maybe even more fun.

The blockchain (especially the PoW chain) is itself an arrow of time 2, and by combining time with rules, we can create works that grow on their own. Metacellular automata 7, for example, is one such game that is entirely defined by initial rules and time. We can first implement a meta-automaton engine, write specific rules when creating an NFT, and start with the block created by the NFT, evolving one step with each new block, and keep watching the work to see a world evolving.

image

Game of Life is a zero player game. If we then introduce the randomness of the blockchain (e.g. block hash) into the work, we can turn any 1-player game into a work. For example, we can define a generation function with block hash as input, and the function uses block hash as a random seed to output the direction and length of the next N steps of the LOGO 2 turtle, and the block hash at the time of NFT creation determines what this work will look like. generates a different piece of artwork. It is also possible to have the work rendered according to the block hash of the current highest block, producing an ever-changing work. More complex works can be generated by combining blockchain random numbers with the more sophisticated Algorithmic art 4 engine.

image

The above is an entirely algorithmically generated work. We can also combine on-chain randomness with human creation to produce a dynamic GIF, where the crypto-artist sets the frame and tone of the work, and the algorithm and blockchain fill in the details. We can also extend the rendering engine from visual to aural, producing music composed by the composer and the blockchain together.

(Artwork from James R. Eads & Chris Mcdaniel 2)
Taking this a step further, we can also introduce smart contracts, which allow users to interact with the creator and the work, forming a community to create an evolving work. Each person can leave a mark on the work, and each person can be part of the work. Will the work become the conscious or unconscious embodiment of the group?

All these new possibilities are possible with CKB. The rendering engine can be placed in a separate Cell referenced by the NFT Cell, which specifies the engine to be used and the rendering algorithm, and the rendering engine can use the randomness and other contextual information provided by the blockchain. Each such NFT Cell is a unit containing all the information about the work, and any client capable of running a rendering engine and understanding the NFT standard will be able to render the work.

Will these new presentation techniques become mandatory for crypto artists? Will these works, which can be passed down forever and have a sense of time and life, become the most valuable crypto artworks? I am looking forward to the day when they appear.

Update 2021/06/01
Such an NFT, with its information completely on the chain and tied to the chain, will be a true Crypto Native Art . The meaning of Native/Native is that the work not only exists completely on the chain, but its uniqueness/uniqueness is guaranteed by the chain and cannot be copied. The unrepeatable part is that the work introduces the randomness of the chain, which is unpredictable and unrepeatable. Even the original author has no way to create a copy.

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awesome job!

Thanks for translation!