Ringers #109
On-chain algorithm, NFT, and Ethereum blockchain, 2021
Private collection
Ringers explores the vast creative potential of a simple concept: how a string can be wrapped around a set of pegs to produce new shapes and forms. Inspired by Swiss graphic designer Armin Hoffman’s experiments with grids and geometric abstraction, Dmitri Cherniak designed an algorithm to generate 1,000 unique compositions, each stemming from this fundamental set of rules.
Cherniak’s algorithm changes key variables such as the number, size, and placement of pegs, the string’s wrapping path, and the color scheme, producing endlessly novel forms. Working with code, Cherniak was able to greatly expand Hoffman’s original visual system and explore far more variations than could be designed manually.
For Ringers, as for other long-form generative art, the algorithm executes in real time, producing outcomes that neither the creator nor the collector can predict in advance. For Cherniak, this lets him experiment with “automation as an artistic medium.”
Artwork series
A step-by-step set of instructions or rules for solving a problem or completing a task. A recipe is an algorithm, as is a computer program.
A term coined by artist Tyler Hobbs to describe a new style of generative art associated withthe blockchain. In long-form generative art, the artist typically encodes their algorithm directly onto the blockchain and the work is generated at the time of minting (the moment when it is collected). This means that neither the artist nor the collector knows what the work will look like in advance. To achieve this, the artist must fine-tune an algorithm capable of producing hundreds or thousands of iterations that are visually distinct from one another yet maintain a collective coherence and quality.