What is 100 PRINT?
My latest long-form generative art series is called 100 PRINT. It is an Art Blocks Playground project consisting of 100 algorithmically generated NFTs. I worked with Bright Moments to display the full set as framed prints in their New York gallery in May 2022.
With most Art Blocks projects, buyers mint a randomly generated NFT. Nobody, including the artist, knows what they're going to get when they hit the mint button. 100 PRINT took a different approach to the drop which puts more power in the hands of the buyers.
An overview of the work
I began working on 100 PRINT in November 2021. I was digging deep into M.C. Escher's sketches and generally thinking a lot about perspective trickery, which I had begun exploring with Edifice's "weird" dimensions trait.
100 PRINT uses the principles of constructing 3D scenes - like 3 point perspective, for example - to create nonfigurative imagery. On top of that, each one mixes at least two different perspectives, leading to emergent mixed-perspective spaces that make it hard to ground yourself in the work. It is a maximal mish-mash of patterns in a confusing world that viewers can lose themselves in.
Why a draft?
In order to avoid gas wars, Art Blocks projects typically take the approach of running Dutch auctions. In a Dutch auction, the price to mint gradually decreases to a final resting price over time, and participants can buy in when they are comfortable. If you really want a piece from a set, it may make sense to spend a premium to guarantee that you don't miss the mint. However, you may end up paying several times the auction's sellout price in order to do so. You may mint a so-called “grail” early - or you may not mind spending a relative premium on a project from an artist you love - but in the average case, there will be people who get burnt.
Thinking about this, I came up with a different approach. Instead of running a Dutch auction for randomly generated mints, what if I ran a Dutch auction for choices? In this model, higher bids get to choose from the full set of NFTs earlier, and thus have more control over what they end up getting from the set. There's still an element of mystery associated with buying in (which is part of what makes collecting on Art Blocks fun), but the buyer is given some power over what piece they end up with. This just felt fair to me from a collector's standpoint, so I wanted to give it a try.
Why print and hang them all?
Many early Art Blocks collections hovered around 1000 mints. In contrast, my largest series to date before Edifice was 8 works. I am still discovering and re-discovering my own artwork from Edifice 6+ months after its release - it’s just a ton of art, and it’s hard to grasp that scale.
In the first week after accepting Edifice print orders, I received 13 orders. That may not sound like much, but preparing them kept me busy for a few days. It's a surprising amount of art. One key goal behind 100 PRINT was to emphasize the sheer size of these projects. 100 PRINT is a collection of 100, a full order of magnitude smaller than Edifice. And yet, the prints cover a massive gallery wall stacked 3 high. The result is a huge space where the viewer is completely immersed in art. It’s hard to look away.
When I started making generative art in 2017, I focused on prints. 1/1 prints from lots of my early work are floating around. Since then, I have learned a lot about what makes art print well and what sorts of things to avoid to retain print quality. Prints are also much more dense than screens, making small details come alive, and can be comfortably viewed for long periods of time without eye strain. They are a fantastic medium for generative art, and I wanted to present this to my audience.
Set engagement
Say you're making pick on draft day. Which one do you choose?
Many participants took this way more seriously than I ever would have guessed. The level of analysis of the 100 PRINT set, especially from people with early picks, was just off the charts. I think there are at least a dozen people who understand the full set even better than I do.
Between rarity rankings, aesthetic choice, inter- and intra-set pairings, talking with me, talking with other collectors, and myriad other statistics, there was just so much to consider with each pick. This led to an extremely vibrant atmosphere around the work. One buyer recalls spending hours analyzing every aspect of their top 20 picks only to make an unranked, emotional choice when the time came. I couldn’t be happier to have facilitated that kind of experience.
Personal attachment
When I released Edifice, it felt a little weird, almost like the work didn't originate from me. Rather, it felt like they were created out of thin air and appeared in collectors' wallets without me being in the mix. Over time, I got a handle on the set and formed an attachment to it, but I missed the experience of living with an object before eventually sending it off to its buyer.
100 PRINT gave me that experience back. I felt a sense of calm spending 10 days with the mints before they went to their owners, and 3 days in a space with the prints. I feel comfortable sending them to their ultimate homes, and that brings me peace.
Derivatives
The original, framed prints from the 100 PRINT collection are labeled as first editions. When an NFT from the 100 PRINT collection trades hands, the next edition of its print will be available for purchase by the owner. Please contact me for inquiries.
All in all, 100 PRINT was a successful experiment and an absolute blast. A massive thank you to everyone who supported the project.