What is Art Blocks?

Art Blocks is a generative art creation platform where artists can create and sell on-demand generative art that is stored as NFTs on the Ethereum blockchain. Artists can upload their algorithms to the Art Blocks platform and set the maximum number of editions to be minted. Each artwork is minted in real-time, meaning that a person who is buying a brand new Art Block does not know what the end result would be before it is algorithmically generated. Random factors are introduced into the code to ensure that no two works from a collection are the same. The output of this generative process is stored as an NFT and sent directly to the collector’s wallet.

Who founded Art Blocks?

Erick Calderon (SnowFro), launched Art Blocks in November 2020 after his experience with minting Cryptopunks in 2017. At the time, Erick was able to manipulate the minting process to acquire the CryptoPunks with the rarest attributes (the Zombies) still displayed as his profile picture on Twitter. This inspired him to create a project where the minter could not predict what attributes the generated work would have. In 2020, Snowfro launched the first collection on Art Blocks called the Chromie Squiggle, a collection of 10,000 uniquely generated colorful squiggly lines with varying textures and opacities. The popularity of the platform grew rapidly in 2021 when Tyler Hobb released the Fidenza collection on Art Blocks.

How does the platform work?

Art Blocks currently provides three ways for artists and collectors to use their platform.

Curated: These are projects that are approved by the Art Blocks’ curation board and are presented as official drops by the platform. Curated projects are released quarterly.

Playground: Artists that have been included in the Curated Collection are then allowed to deploy a project of their choice in the Artist Playground. These projects are not "curated" and more experimental in nature but are not treated as official releases by the platform. In order to continue submitting projects for release on the Playground, the previous collection must be completely sold out at its originally advertised price.

Factory: This collection allows artists who were not selected by the Curation board or do not want to go through the approval process to launch their generative art projects. The requirements are not as strict as the Curated drops and the projects showcased are meant to reflect the culture, creativity, and innovation associated with the Art Blocks community. To submit new projects to the Factory, artists must sell out their initial collection and wait for two months in-between project launches.

Stay tuned for future releases...

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