RANDOM SEED is a new Art Collection of 40 unique works that I released on the Tezos blockchain on 03/29/2024. It can be found here https://objkt.com/collections/KT1K8xkKdCdcqoJcY4HcMswQcZ4h1wSwPxWK

It started with a poem I wrote about a random seed influencing the generation of everything in a universe until it peaks and then collapses back in on itself until only the seed remains. I was training a checkpoint model using Stable Diffusion around the same time that I wrote the poem and accidentally overfit the model. The results were broken, but in a way that was very appealing to me. It reminded me of 80's retro PC gaming graphics from my childhood. It was REALLY temperamental though and only worked with certain prompts. Here's a sample of what it was spitting out.

I decided to add some 80's video game screenshots to my dataset and continue training. I started getting more consistent results at this point, but there was too much realism and not enough retro video game vibe.

After a lot of trying to further train the model, I ended up getting a few interesting results, but ultimately never got where I wanted. So, I started experimenting with other checkpoint models and combinations of LoRas with careful prompting to achieve the right look.

That's more like what I was looking for!

Random seed,

Birthed in the quietude of cosmic whispers,

Cascades through the tapestry of existence,

Each ripple a testament to its genesis.

Across the boundless void, the universe breathes,

Expanding, unfurling with silent majesty,

Yet within its vastness, a singular truth endures—

The seed's echo, a voice immortal, shapes the cosmos.

In every star's glow, in every planet's dance,

The voice resonates, a timeless symphony,

Crafting destinies, weaving fates,

Proof that from the minimal, the infinite emerges.

A cosmic dance, once boundless, now turns inward,

Paths that once reached out to the infinite start their retreat,

Galaxies, their arms once wide open, begin their silent, slow embrace,

Drawing back to that initial whisper, the core of all existence.

From the vast expanse, where stars journeyed without end,

To the quiet places where destiny is woven in silence,

Every step taken back is a layer unveiled,

Revealing truths that speak only in the quietest moments.

Amidst the fading splendor of what once was,

A clarity emerges, stark against the vast backdrop,

The journey from sprawling infinities narrows,

Seed alone.

I then decided that the best way to express the original poem would be to start by breaking the poem up into token names. Commas, periods, and hyphens became token separators. Here is the list of tokens:

0101 - RANDOM SEED

0102 - BIRTHED IN THE QUIETUDE OF COSMIC WHISPERS

0103 - CASCADES THROUGH THE TAPESTRY OF EXISTENCE

0104 - EACH RIPPLE A TESTAMENT TO ITS GENESIS

0201 - ACROSS THE BOUNDLESS VOID

0202 - THE UNIVERSE BREATHES

0203 - EXPANDING

0204 - UNFURLING WITH SILENT MAJESTY

0205 - YET WITHIN ITS VASTNESS

0206 - A SINGULAR TRUTH ENDURES

0207 - THE SEED'S ECHO

0208 - A VOICE IMMORTAL

0209 - SHAPES THE COSMOS

0301 - IN EVERY STAR'S GLOW

0302 - IN EVERY PLANET'S DANCE

0303 - THE VOICE RESONATES

0304 - A TIMELESS SYMPHONY

0305 - CRAFTING DESTINIES

0306 - WEAVING FATES

0307 - PROOF THAT FROM THE MINIMAL

0308 - THE INFINITE EMERGES

0401 - A COSMIC DANCE

0402 - ONCE BOUNDLESS

0403 - NOW TURNS INWARD

0404 - PATHS THAT ONCE REACHED OUT TO THE INFINITE START THEIR RETREAT

0405 - GALAXIES

0406 - THEIR ARMS ONCE WIDE OPEN

0407 - BEGIN THEIR SILENT SLOW EMBRACE

0408 - DRAWING BACK TO THAT INITIAL WHISPER

0409 - THE CORE OF ALL EXISTENCE

0501 - FROM THE VAST EXPANSE

0502 - WHERE STARS JOURNEYED WITHOUT END

0503 - TO THE QUIET PLACES WHERE DESTINY IS WOVEN IN SILENCE

0504 - EVERY STEP TAKEN BACK IS A LAYER UNVEILED

0505 - REVEALING TRUTHS THAT SPEAK ONLY IN THE QUIETEST MOMENTS

0601 - AMIDST THE FADING SPLENDOR OF WHAT ONCE WAS

0602 - A CLARITY EMERGES

0603 - STARK AGAINST THE VAST BACKDROP

0604 - THE JOURNEY FROM SPRAWLING INFINITIES NARROWS

0605 - SEED ALONE

The plan was now to use the first token name as the first part of my prompt. RANDOM SEED generated this image:

I then put this image through an Img2Img workflow with the same prompt as before, but with the second token name used instead of the first. I did this for each subsequent image using the previous image as the input and the token name in the prompt. I experimented from image to image with the denoising strength to vary the amount of influence the previous image had on the next. I would generate hundreds of variations of an image until I found one I was happy with and then that would get passed on as the influence for the next image. Every single image in the series is mathematically influenced in some way by the previous image. This creates a chain reaction of influence from the first image through the last.

Here's what the second image looked like:

In the end, there are 40 images in the series. Each one has 15 editions that were minted on the Tezos blockchain. The primary sale price for each is 10 Tezos. Below is several of the final images for you to check out. To see the full series, visit the collection page on Objkt at https://objkt.com/collections/KT1K8xkKdCdcqoJcY4HcMswQcZ4h1wSwPxWK