Generative
Ensō
In Zen, ensō is a circular symbol that represents elegance and enlightenment. It is typically painted by hand in an uninhibited way, allowing for unexpected and beautiful results.
Ensō #0 (live render)
Inspiration and Creation
Art and code have been part of who I am for over 25 years: I’ve been an artist and a programmer since I could draw and use my high-school’s computers. In college, I became interested in Chinese martial arts and Eastern spirituality, and while these also became core to who I was, I never imagined a scenario where my philosophical and spiritual beliefs would merge with my art and programming skills.
For a long time, they never crossed paths…the closest was that I used sumi-e (ink wash painting) as a meditative practice.
I watched the NFT scene back in 2017 and even taught myself solidity to try and mint my own artwork, but I didn’t feel like I had the skills to achieve my vision. I taught myself python, processing, ruby, HTML, p5.js, and finally, vanilla JavaScript.
After trials and a ton of errors (I can be very stubborn) Ensō, and Zenerative were born.
The Generative Program
This project mimics the practice of painting an ensō in ink by utilizing p5.js. Each generated image uses values from a unique transaction hash provided by the platform (artblocks.io) to determine paper, brush, ink, the quantity of ink held by each bristle, how quickly the ink flows, and more—all with the goal of creating a simple yet serendipitous painting.
The source code is on-chain, on mainnet Ethereum. It is over 200 lines long and 5.75 Kilobytes of data, which took .75 Eth in gas to deploy (don’t worry, I offset the environemtal impact). Each NFT image can be rendered directly in the browser, utilizing only standardized JavaScript and the official JavaScript library from the Processing foundation. Ensō images are fully deterministic and resolution-agnostic.
Additionally, when rendered live, the NFTs have interactivity: clicking on the image will show or hide the signature stamp.
Ensō NFTs #0 – #8
These were the first Ensōs created by the algorithm; notice how different each one is! As soon as a purchase confirms, the token is made and the design is set into the blockchain. Only then does the buyer see the beautiful painting that the program generated for them.
You can see these (and all the others that have been created) in the gallery views at Artblocks.io and at Sansa.xyz.
Ensō Water Paintings
Ensō Water Painting #3. See the full video loop on Opensea.
100 Ensō Water Paintings were created to reward lucky buyers of my Art Blocks project Ensō.
Dice was rolled and recorded, paintings were made with water, video recorded each painting’s creation and evaporation.
I rolled a set of dice 100 times to determine each painting’s features and to determine which Art Blocks Ensō mint numbers should receive a free token airdropped to their wallet. For the first 10 (Ensō mints 0-9), I rolled a 7, and Ensō #7 is a winner. For the next ten mints (10-19) I rolled a 5, so Ensō 15 is the winner. Get it?
To ensure that a person would receive one, they’d have to buy 10 Ensōs in a row starting at #xx0 (ex 0-9 or 540-549 or 870-879). Because of that, I value each of these at a minimum of 1.08 Eth, but these are gifts that I’m sending out for free.
Technical info: metadata & files on Arweave.
Environmental info: 12 MWh of Renewable Energy Credits were purchased to more than offset the climate impact of the gas required to create and send these NFTs.
Ensō Print Giveaway
I gave away 10, 12×12 inch prints (13×13 inch paper) to lucky folks who entered a giveaway on my discord. Winners did not need to own an Ensō token in order to win. The prints were all of Ensō #139 which is owned by the Zenerative artist address / Matto. Each came with a signed certificate of authenticity. Prints were sent all across the globe, including Taiwan, Australia, Canada, and the US!
Ensō Prints!
I offer prints that I stamp by hand with my hand-carved stone chop, but you can also feel free to print these yourself! Follow the links below to get more info on ordering a print or rendering one in super high resolution.