“Crystalline Work” is a new generative, on-chain art series by Irish contemporary artist John Gerrard that will produce new pieces every hour for a year. The series focuses on environmental activism, with a robot at a digital North Pole creating intricate crystal bar lattice designs inspired by ice formations. Utilizing the WebGL browser API, each piece’s creation is brought to life with immersive 3D graphics. Every hour, a new design will be minted into an NFT on the Ethereum blockchain, with proceeds supporting a rainforest restoration project in Ireland.
Unlike Gerrard’s past projects, which critiqued the failure of existing systems to address climate change, “Crystalline Work” presents a positive vision of humanity’s potential to create beauty. Gerrard aims to move away from art that observes and comments on the world, towards a more optimistic approach. The series, premiering on the summer solstice and lasting until next year’s solstice, focuses on the sun as central to the artwork’s theme. Planting trees in Ireland will help protect the Earth from the sun’s rays and allow ice crystals to repopulate the planet’s poles.
Gerrard views “Crystalline Work” as a piece of positive, optimistic action in the face of climate change, rather than a piece of ecological protest. Ethereum was chosen as the on-chain platform for the project due to its environmentally friendly proof of stake consensus mechanism. Gerrard believes that data is a critical contemporary art language and that artists need to engage with data to reflect the changing world. By embracing data and technology in his artwork, Gerrard hopes to inspire a new perspective on environmental activism and human potential.
Overall, “Crystalline Work” represents a departure for Gerrard from his previous works, as he moves towards a more optimistic and proactive approach to addressing climate change. The series blends art, technology, and environmental activism to create a visually stunning and immersive experience for viewers. Through this project, Gerrard aims to encourage positivity, action, and hope in the face of a changing climate and environmental challenges. With each new design minted on the blockchain, “Crystalline Work” serves as a reminder of the power of art to inspire change and reflection on our relationship with the natural world.