Internationally acclaimed Swiss designer and artist Christian Etter and author and entrepreneur Alexander E. Brunner have joined forces to present a unique hybrid NFT artwork. The official launch of ‘Etter Edition 01‘ took place on October 6th in Zurich, Switzerland, where the artwork was presented for the first time. ‘Etter Edition 01‘ is launched in collaboration with NMKR and the Cardano Foundation.
‘Etter Edition 01’ brings together blockchain-technology and digital interactive art with the physical world, intimately joining generative art with decentralized tokens and expanding the NFT universe into the physical realms. Thanks to his years of experience as a digital art expert and co-founder of the Digital Art Museum in Zurich, Christian Etter was particularly interested in exploring how to make digital art more accessible to experience and to acquire, similar to how we approach physical
artworks and canvases.
The co-creator, Alexander Brunner, as a digital asset and blockchain specialist with a vast knowledge on the subject, put together the framework needed for this project to happen, in an effort to also give collectors the joy of acquiring an ever-changing physical object and the confidence of a digital token that validates ownership.
In terms of its structure, the work comprises a custom-made physical display consisting of ten industrial-grade high-res LED matrixes covered by multiple layers of structural glass and framed by a custom-made maple-wood frame. The frame is designed and manufactured by the artist in his studio in the City of Zurich and the display comes with ten decentralized microprocessor slots for loading the algorithm that was also developed and programmed by the artist.
When the work is activated, the lights create unique colorful forms and shapes escaping through the glass, creating a special lighting effect of higher quality when compared to standard screens used most commonly in digital art. The colorful forms reflected through the glass enhance the physicality of the work in all its dimensions, creating a warm emotional response.
The algorithm generates serendipitous, endless and ever-changing compositions and requires a seed input that is generated by the transaction ID of the token on the Cardano blockchain. The token initializes the algorithm, making each artwork created truly unique, while acting as a sign of authenticity and ownership. Hence, the digital NFT created gives the buyer the certainty ofowning the authentic and unaltered algorithm, making the code an integral part of the art work.
The ten displays with their microprocessors communicate in a decentralized fashion in order to align. This process can be seen when the flickering of individual LED pixels disappears after a successful synchronization process. Thanks to this unique structure and approach, collectors will have the opportunity to purchase newly created NFTs, actualizing their artwork alongside the progress of Generative Art.
©2022 Christian Etter, Alexander E. Brunner
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