Art Blocks x Pace

196 nations and regions realised as gasoline spills on the world ocean.

Centering on a generative thin film refraction algorithm each country and region in Petro National reflects its per capita annual consumption of petroleum, with low-consumption countries and regions manifesting a very thin spill leaning towards the blue green spectrum to high-consumption countries and regions being thick, lustrous and highly iridescent forms. Society consumes 100 million barrels of oil every day with radically differing patterns between global north and south. 

Each broad consumption category in the works encompasses different atmospheric, wave and sea colour traits which are further affected by the minting seed address.

Petro National is a first webgl piece both online and onchain which extends my sustained work over two decades in game engines. These respond to historic intersections of energy and power. See Western Flag (Spindletop, Texas) 2017 as an example or visit johngerrard.net

Each of the 196 generated worlds runs on local time as dictated by the time zone of its capital city. Night, day and seasonality will be experienced across the year in the work with long days in summer and short in winter. Countries and regions are openly allocated to collectors upon mint. 

These are spatial worlds - click and drag on the scene to look around. Press R on a keyboard to slowly rotate the camera, O / P to zoom. G for full screen in generator mode.  

 For more information see :  https://www.pacegallery.com/journal/john-gerrard-petro-national/ 

Production credits. Producer : Werner Poetzelberger, Programmer : Helmut Bressler.

Petro National #185

Petro National #191

Petro National #192

The first component of a multidisciplinary project by A.A. Murakami, Floating World Genesis comprises 250 unique NFTs, each depicting one of three animated scenes chronicling the origins of life on Earth: a single microbial bubble that may split in two; clusters of self-organizing bubbles that represent the growth of multicellular life; and a single bubble situated on the horizon, signifying the formation of the Earths biosphere.

Inspired by the Miller-Urey experiment of 1953, which simulated conditions of the early Earth to explore how life first formed in the primordial oceans through self-organizing bubbles, the Floating World Genesis NFTs possess tranquil, meditative, hypnotic qualities often associated with minimalist painting and the Light and Space movement. Bubbles have been an enduring source of inspiration for A.A. Murakami, whose seminal work New Spring (2017) is an interactive, multi-sensory installation that produces mist-filled blossoms.

The formal dynamism of Floating World Genesis, which explores the kinetic possibilities of semi-abstracted bubbles, belies the projects technical complexity and its wide range of generative effects. Opacities and diffusions of color vary among the NFTs, as do the shapes and positions of the bubbles. Clear bubbles depicted against gradation backgrounds feature refractions of light and color. Some of the NFTs are stereoscopic, allowing viewers to have a three-dimensional experience and immersing them in a world of buoyant, ethereal bubbles.

A.A. Murakami is known for creating immersive, sensorial installations as part of a long-standing exploration of natural phenomena and systems. With these concerns at the center of the duos practice, A.A. Murakami has pioneered the development of ephemeral tech, or technology that is experienced not through standard interfaces like screens, but through ethereal and shifting matter, facilitating fleeting but deeply meaningful in-person experiences. With the multifaceted Floating World Genesis series, the duo aims to further explore this concept through what it has termed the mataverse, a space between the physical and digital worlds. Through future Floating World Genesis projects, A.A. Murakami will investigate the possibilities of art that lives on the blockchain and engages all the viewers senses in immersive and tactile physical environments.