sarah 🔥

Today, marks a new chapter for Art Blocks Curated. We are thrilled and proud to present Bokeh by @mpkoz! Back in March, we announced that Art Blocks Curated would be taking a new direction. Our renewed aim is to bridge the gap between algorithmic art and the physical world by meeting collectors and artists where they are today — we want to show how generative art can produce objects to live with and to love, demonstrating that traditional methods of art and design are not at odds with technical innovation. They can, in fact, unite into an exquisite balance, of which mpkoz’s Bokeh is a perfect embodiment. Though Michael Kozlowski’s (mpkoz’s) artistic practice has long explored the landscape of digital media and its interaction with human perception, Bokeh brings the dialog into a physical, even performative, realm. In Kozlowski’s words, the objects that comprise Bokeh are “all part of a larger conversation about light, form, and perception. They’re not just objects. They invite you to interact with them, to move around them, to see them differently depending on where you’re standing. That’s what I think of as true interactivity: creating something that asks you to perform to see it properly. It encourages some type of dialogue that's not just looking at something; it encourages action.” A unique aspect of Bokeh is the shared origin of its digital and physical manifestations — both are created from the same algorithm and comprise four form factors: mural-sized sculptures, lighting, digital tokens, and small sculptures. Every physical piece comes with its digital counterpart, which houses the code-generated fabrication instructions. At the time of purchase, each is minted onchain and transmitted to the artist’s shop and equipment, where the components are hand-fabricated and hand-assembled. Holladay Saltz (@pleasuredoing), Managing Director of Art Blocks Curated, describes “Kozlowski’s sculptures take on the qualities of the Japanese concept of yūgen — they are layered, organic, diffuse, dense and yet alive with the weight of their own disappearance. They are not meant to be understood all at once. Look too closely and you’ll miss them. Like the light through the cedar branches of the Pacific Northwest, these works are best approached obliquely, through circumnavigation, their shapes emerging only as one moves around them.” Bokeh will mark the first time Art Blocks has produced multiple forms of physical and digital art associated with a single artist-designed algorithm. The collection will be released in stages from October 16-23, 2024 and will be exhibited at the Art Blocks Gallery in Marfa, TX in November, 2024. Key exhibition dates: October 2nd, 12pm ET: Bokeh project page launches on Art Blocks Curated. Explore the algorithm, learn more about Mpkoz’s design process, and generate your own customized physical Bokeh lamp (~18 x 14 x 14”) in advance of the October 16th release. October 16th, 12pm ET: Fixed price sale of 20 physical Bokeh lamps (includes claimable digital artwork). Payment via crypto and credit cards available for the first time on Art Blocks. October 21st, 12pm ET – October 23rd, 12pm ET: Onchain Ranked/English Auction of 300 generative artworks, the first ascending auction with Art Blocks. October 24th, 12pm ET: Orders for physical wall sculptures (~18 x 12 x 2”) open for Bokeh NFT collectors. Each sculpture matches the associated digital artwork. Limited to 30 wall sculptures, first come, first served. There will also be an opportunity to purchase two Bokeh wall mural-sized sculptures (~64 x 31 x 2”) through private sale. More details on each phase, pricing, and what’s to come through the next few weeks. We look forward to taking this new step in our journey with you — thank you!