Primera is the genesis project from Andrew Mitchell and Grant Yun written completely in p5.js. Primera, capped at 400 individual pieces generated upon mint, has been a project with years in the making. It is a study and interpretation on the fundamentals of early 20th century art utilizing 21st century blockchain technology.
First and foremost Primera is a study of intention. It is a set of compositions at the crossroads of freedom through the use of abstract art and autonomous algorithmic computations. When approaching our project our first question we asked was, “How can we create a series of generative art that resembles, if not, mimics the human touch that has been the hallmark of ‘Art’ since the dawn of humankind?” Far too often abstract art is riddled with the notion that it is simply a conglomeration of randomly scattered objects on a canvas open to vague unsubstantiated interpretation. When we highlight the idea of intention in abstract generative blockchain art, we mean to emphasize the concept of this “human touch” that has been meticulously crafted. In Primera, as with most true generative art processes, people become the visionaries, but the construction onto canvas is left solely up to randomized autonomous scripts. When you look at Primera, notice the directionality of shapes in each composition and the purposeful use of a limited color palette. Any one of the infinite outputs Primera creates has the appearance that a human being took the time and effort to construct the composition with meaning, purpose, and intention. It is a unique script that focuses on utilizing these individualized factors to convey a message and to create a foundation of relatability between generative art and art painted directly by the human artist. And thus, we are now at a moment in history where synthetically created software derived automation can impact the defining feature of human sentientism: emotion.
We will not explicitly address the motive behind the particular individual shapes, colors, or patterns created by Primera as we hope to give viewers and critics the complete opportunity to interpret compositions as they wish. It should be stated however, every single shape, color, positioning, etc. has all been thoroughly considered.
Why explore art genres derived over a century ago? Apart from our own personal love for early 1900s art genres, while artists such as Malevich, Tatlin, Archipenko, Braque, Kupka, Marc, Kandinsky, etc. have made an indisputable mark on history, we want to continue this visionary path through the utilization of 21st century technology. The onset of blockchain technology has started a revolution in human innovation that many have yet to acknowledge even in 2021. Just as these early artists mentioned above pioneered their art genres in-part as a statement of their sociopolitical conditions at the time, we hope to continue and relay this vision at the status quo of our world today. As mass adoption grows in the coming decades, we hope Primera will contribute to the list of pioneering generative projects that is redefining our understanding of art. Just as Futurism and Vorticism were reflections of growing mechanistic aspects of civilization in the 20th century, Primera is a reflection of developing blockchain utilization in the 21st.
Finally the question exists, how do we build a smart contract that allows the collectors to be part of the vision as well. While asking ourselves this very question, Andrew came up with an ingenious idea to create a script that gives each owner the ability to adjust their piece while being able to divert back to the very original with a single refresh. Because this is done after the mint and also isn’t just simply a repeating .gif or .mp4 file, it truly gives a dynamic interaction for people to create numerous unique compositions off of one. We often think of art as a one sided conversation where the artist speaks to the collector. In Primera however, not only does the algorithm itself speak in place of the artist but also the collector themselves is able to render each composition to their liking.
Primera’s infancy began in 2018, when Grant first began experimenting with several concepts of abstraction inspired by early 1900s art movements. Going through multiple iterations of these ideas, he created two completed projects titled Five Color Study and Two Color Study that explored abstraction through limited color palettes and shapes. It was from a year of focusing on these two projects that enabled Grant to set the artistic foundations for Primera. By this time, Andrew, a graduate of computer science from the University of Virginia, had already created several generative art projects. Having known each other for almost a decade, Grant and Andrew spent prior years mapping out and planning a project that encompassed a vision for abstract generative art. With the onset of popularizing non-fungible tokens in 2021, Grant and Andrew spent several months working to create a concrete project able to be manifested on the blockchain. In October of 2021, Grant minted Foundations of Study — A Study For Primera, an 8 piece study all hand drawn that was used as the blueprints for Primera.
Mint Count: We have finalized the complete potential mint count to 400 mints. We are aware of the issues involving overminting and oversaturating a market. As we plan to continue creating additional generative projects in the years and decades to come, we will stay vigilant of market demands and supplies.
Display/Exhibition Vision: Primera can be exhibited and displayed in any context and form: still or live. For us, Primera is best displayed side by side with other Primeras. Larger the better.
