Generative Art Is Different.
Historically, people have collected artifacts – the physical output of artists. As a generative artist, I wanted collectors to get closer to the ideas underlying the art.
We created intrinsic.art to embrace and highlight the unique features of natively generative artwork, rather than hide them behind traditional models of buying and selling artifacts. Our design is founded on three key principles.
Generative art is unpredictable. The best work features many paths leading to exciting discoveries. intrinsic.art allows you to fully explore an artist’s generative algorithm and select your desired traits before purchasing the art as an NFT.
On the project minting page, the live preview updates with every choice as you explore an algorithm, so you know in advance what you’re minting.
Generative art is ephemeral. It’s a system that can take on many different forms, creating indefinitely. New structures appear and old structures collapse. intrinsic.art lets you reclaim your traits and recombine them in new ways. Artwork on intrinsic.art can always be reborn.
Traits are tokens that you own.
Generative art is living code. It’s complex and multi-faceted, and it deserves to be enjoyed by many over time, instead of bottled, preserved, and put on a shelf. Traits on intrinsic.art are composable and tradeable on any secondary marketplace, allowing others to continue exploring an algorithm. We choose to store an artist’s code onchain not simply as a static permanent record of provenance, but because the underlying smart contracts allow continued dynamic engagement with an audience.
Anyone can reuse existing traits to explore and mint new artwork.
How It Works
When you explore a project on intrinsic.art, you choose your favorite traits before you purchase the artwork. The artwork is minted to your wallet as a standard Ethereum ERC-721 non-fungible token, which includes:
The artist’s code to render the art.
A unique random seed.
The individual trait tokens that you selected.
When you select traits and mint artwork, the trait tokens are added to the NFT.
Once you own the artwork, you can choose at any time to “reclaim” the underlying traits, which burns the artwork NFT and in its place gives you the individual component traits as ERC-1155 fungible tokens.
If you have trait tokens in your wallet inventory, you can use them at any time towards the purchase of a new artwork from the same project. Because you already own the traits, you don’t have to pay to use them again.
Why Trait Tokens?
Traits are variables chosen by an artist to represent the most important ideas guiding a generative algorithm. Mapping to the words of Sol LeWitt, traits are the ideas, and code is the machine that makes the art.
Ownership allows many people to form a closer, more intimate connection with art. We want collectors to feel emotionally connected not just to artifacts, but also to the ideas behind the art. Trait tokens can help make that possible.
Traditional long-form generative art discourages artists from taking risks. When generative work is released in permanent, fixed editions, artists end up making safer choices with their algorithm to ensure predictable output.
We think predictable is boring. We’re seeking artists eager to take risks, who want their work to be explored and discussed even after the last edition has sold. Composable trait tokens ensure that future generations of collectors can continue discovering and sharing new trait combinations long after the last primary mint.
What’s Next
You can learn more and explore our first project, Metta by Matto, at intrinsic.art. Minting starts on April 30, at 1pm EDT.
For the latest on our upcoming releases and product features, join us on Discord, X, Farcaster, or subscribe via email.
We love talking to generative artists willing to create boldly expansive algorithms. If this sounds like you, get in touch with us at inquiries@intrinsic.art, or strike up a conversation on Discord.
We look forward to exploring generative art together with you!
