2021
Smart Contract and ERC-721 Non-fungible Token collection
Lossless png files, 4000x4000 pixels
Token tracker: Ideas of Mountains (MOUNTAINS)
Ideas of Mountains are a series of software generated conceptual artworks. Each image depicts a unique generative 3D landscape, with an AI generated phrase, and are minted as tokens on the Ethereum blockchain network.
Available on OpenSea and Nifty GatewayDetails:
Tokens: 210 total, ERC-721, metadata and files on IPFS
Contract Address: 0x9323ae473442102f51d9b9852b6c20f9ac7a86d5
The phrases on the images were created using OpenAI’s GPT3 neural network, a-state-of-the-art language model which can synthesize new writing based on provided examples. My past artwork series ‘NFT Concepts’ were input to GPT3, which then generated thousands of phrases based on my ideas. I carefully sifted through these to find a diverse range of writing from axioms, aphorisms and poetic truths, to crass market statements and bizarre financial propositions.
Because GPT3 is such a large neural network, and was trained on a large corpus of the english language, generating text with it can feel like reaching into the collective mind of the internet and pulling something out. I consider these generated texts like found objects. And I’m fascinated both by the quasi-sentient quality of some phrases, as well as how the system reveals to us who we collectively are. Specifically, having GPT3 speak about NFTs and the art market, is a way of holding up a mirror to this current collision of technology, art, and finance.
The landscapes in Ideas of Mountains draw inspiration from early 3D rendering software from the 90’s and early 00’s, like Bryce3D, as well as from the artist Ed Ruscha’s iconic painted landscapes. The generative system adapts the mountains, sky, cities, and plant life, making them feel like far away alien worlds, as well as transformed sections of earth. They are both sublime and mundane, futuristic and retro, natural and artificial. I’m fascinated by how even a simple digital silhouette of a mountain range can evoke the deep beauty of our shared reality. I’m interested in both celebrating the algorithmic beauty of nature, as well as depicting ideas of ideas of mountains.
Technically speaking, each ERC-721 token has the full AI generated phrase in it's metadata, as well as the generative traits describing what makes that token unique. In total, there are 19 total possible categories of generative traits, with 126 different possible values across all categories. All metadata storage and image storage of Ideas of Mountains is immutable and fully distributed on the InterPlanetary File System (IPFS). The total token supply is limited to 210 and enforced in the smart contract.
Additionally, I personally sorted each NFT into groups based on the sentiment of the AI generated writing, and assigned them a 'Phrase Category'. These categories reflect the overall mood and feeling of the image, without defining a specific meaning or interpretation to the artwork. In Ideas of Mountains, the five possible phrase categories are: Concept, Market, Divinity, Dream, and Future.
