Daniel Calderon Arenas (DCA) is an American artist living and working in Houston, Texas. He received his M.F.A. in sculpture from the University of Houston and teaches courses in digital fabrication and creative coding at the Kathrine G. McGovern College of the Arts. We talked about his background in art and having the first projects deployed on Art Blocks.

Jeff Davis: It’s great to finally connect with you! Before we get into Art Blocks, let’s start generally with your background. How did you first get into making art?

Daniel Calderon Arenas: I was lucky to have a computer in my bedroom as a kid. It is hard to pinpoint a specific date, but it was sometime around when AOL was flooding our mailboxes with CD-ROMs and the internet was getting social with IRC chat apps. I had a warez version of a digital modeling program called Lightwave 3D, and that got me interested in 3D computer art.

JD: How did your interest in 3D modeling transition towards generative art?

DCA: I actually hadn't really picked up coding until a few years ago when I discovered two things: Stencyl, a game making platform; and Processing. Stencyl taught me coding in a visual way using code-blocks, and then that made Processing easier for me to learn. Processing was the illuminating software that placed generative art within my reach. Suddenly, I could make cool animations that seemed autonomous, and visually interesting.

JD: So I think I probably have some guesses about this, but how did you discover NFTs/crypto art?

DCA: I was lucky to grow up in a household with all the latest tech gadgets. For example, we had a CD burner before any of the other kids at school. More importantly, my older brother was and still is a computer nerd from before the days of Prodigy and Windows 2.0. Today he is a blockchain enthusiast, NFT collector, Web3 innovator, and an all-around crypto guy. He introduced me to all of the latest crypto trends, NFTs being one of them.

JD: How would you say your creative practice has changed over time?

DCA: My creative processes are becoming simpler and more refined with each passing day. The coronavirus pandemic and quarantine period has helped me slow down a bit and allowed me the time that I needed to reevaluate my creative faculties.

JD: Alright, let’s talk about Genesis. I think the backstory about that project is really interesting.

DCA: Yes, my first Art Blocks project was titled Genesis. It was meant to be the first working proof-of-concept project for the Art Blocks platform. Genesis was actually written in 2017 when Art Blocks was in the early stages of formation. Then it lay dormant for a while until November of last year, when Art Blocks first launched.

JD: What were your expectations heading into the release of Genesis on the opening day of Art Blocks?

DCA: Like I said before, Genesis was in cold-storage for a while. But when the time arrived, it went from deeply frozen, to thawed, to cooked, and to eaten all in a matter of hours. I was shocked and in disbelief, but also humbled and grateful. The project successfully lived up to its purpose.

JD: What else do you have in the works that you’d like to share?

DCA: I have a few active personal projects apart from working on my latest NFT drop. One is an ongoing digital work that plays on the idea of meaning that involves a digitally scanned rock and generated text.

JD: That’s really interesting. Always great to see physical artworks in addition to digital.

DCA: Yes, I also make physical artwork such as paintings and sculptures. Occasionally my digital and physical practices overlap leading to unexpected and interesting results in a generative art sort of way.

JD: Great stuff! Where can people continue to follow your work?

DCA: Finding and following me on Instagram is the best way: @dacaldera. I'll follow you back. You can also find me on Twitter.

First published on 04 February 2021: https://beta.cent.co/artblocks/+iv8dig