Coalition

Departing from generative art’s focus on the size and variety of algorithmic outputs, Coalition contains just 36 geometric creations. Every mint is composed of unique combinations of line, shape, and color, making them artworks unto themselves. However, just as significant as the individual mints is the larger series of which they are each a part. When viewed collectively as a 6x6 grid, the 36 tokens make up a larger, single artwork, the titular Coalition. Patterns and palettes that exist across different tokens come together seamlessly in the Coalition, allowing users to recognize their mint as an indispensable element of the coherent whole.

By highlighting the inextricable relationship between the single set and its 36 components, Coalition suggests that storytelling must play a vital role in the future of generative art. The medium’s current emphasis on long-form algorithmic exploration has come at the expense of narrative craft. While long-form algorithmic exploration has produced groundbreaking artwork and will continue to do so, our project urges practitioners and collectors to consider generative art’s capabilities outside of replicating the look of analog media. Instead of attempting a mimesis of old modes of production, Coalition foregrounds the stories about human experience that emerge when artists free their code from the burden of replicating paint and paper. We ask, does the “art” in generative art refer to the algorithm, or the outputs?

To encourage artists and collectors to value storytelling and limitation in their NFTs, Coalition doubles as performance art. While the set is limited to 36 mints, a 37th is available for purchase. The collector who buys the final token will find only an error message. The algorithm self-destructs after mint #35. Read about why we chose to do this here.

There can be no avant-garde because everything has been done. —Pedro Friedeberg