Documenting Dreamscapes: A Conversation with pxlshrd

Listen to the playlist for Oneiric Places here.

Tell us about yourself. What brought you to generative art?

For the past 15 years, I've been freelancing as a recording/sound engineer, graphic designer, and portrait photographer.

I remember the first time listening to "Music Has The Right To Children" by Boards of Canada, and that really kicked things off for me. I’ve never heard and felt anything like it before. Right away, it became clear that this album and the entire "BoC aesthetic" would be a lifelong companion to me.

My passion for visual art started when I came across an old Minolta camera set at my grandparents’ house. Around the same time, my parents gifted me a Korg Kaoss Pad, and I began to create some kind of ambient music using the KP as an fx unit for my mother’s old Yamaha Keyboard.

I used to be heavily involved in skateboarding, which introduced me to a vibrant community of like-minded people who were also passionate about music, photography, and art in general. Being a part of this scene was incredibly motivating, not only did skateboarding become a major passion of mine, but I also joined bands, worked on my photography skills, and discovered filmmaking. These different areas merged together to form a unified entity, and they all had this kinda DIY, non-academic approach in common.

Almost two decades later, I stumbled upon Hic Et Nunc. Under the moniker "Headphaser", I've released 3D stills and seamless animations I’ve composed in Blender. pxlshrd actually started as a not-so-serious side outlet for flashy gifs, until I saw a tweet from ciphrd about a new generative art platform. That's when I got into coding, and during that time, I was thinking about a way to release the countless musical vignettes I'd recorded on tape throughout the years. Due to its inclusive and experimental nature, fxhash appeared to be the perfect place to share those sketches alongside generative visuals.

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Due to its inclusive and experimental nature, fxhash appeared to be the perfect place to share those sketches alongside generative visuals. - pxlshrd

Having released some of these audio-visual experiments, I very quickly realized that it no longer satisfied me. The combination of sound and visuals had a clear lack of focus, as there was an unmistakable and predetermined relationship between the two. Somehow, blending audio and animation together started to feel too obvious, if that makes any sense. I believe that giving the work more space by focusing on the still image and introducing musicality in a different way creates a more organic feel.

For example, translating the unique rhythm of a specific track or the texture of a particular album into visual forms and movements without having a direct auditory reference in the work itself makes it more intriguing to me. This way, the origins of those visual attributes remain mysterious and allow for a broader interpretation. I realized that by creating static pieces, I can prevent the work from becoming trapped in its own clichés.

Furthermore, I think that “static” doesn’t imply a sense of permanence. In fact, everything is constantly changing, including a static artwork when experienced from different perspectives. People evolve their opinions, gain new insights about the ideas that manifest in the artwork, and be influenced by their current mood. Thus, the artwork evolves alongside them, adapting and transforming according to their perspectives.

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How often are you surprised by your code and its creative possibilities? Is there anything you feel is entirely unique to your approach to generative art?

Most of my works derive from intuition and irrationality. Surprise and unpredictability are at the core of what I’m doing. No matter if it’s code-based art, music, or painting. I want to be surprised by things beyond my control that I can’t explain exactly or understand why they happened. Anything is possible, and no idea should be suffocated in its infancy.

This openness is only possible when I act detached from external expectations and make decisions that seem right to me in a given moment. It would be a disservice to the work if I attempted to modify it based on a presumed demand from the audience or what has previously been deemed “successful.” Trying to forcefully push something in a specific direction feels unnatural to me and results in false expectations.

I don’t feel a real obligation to stick to the past, so I’m always experimenting, and that’s what moves me forward and excites me. In code-based art, there are so many possibilities, and I feel like we’re just touching the surface.

I want to be surprised by things beyond my control that I can’t explain exactly or understand why they happened. Anything is possible, and no idea should be suffocated in its infancy. - pxlshrd

Can you elaborate on the concept behind your fxhash 2.0 release, Oneiric Places?

Over the past few months, I have been fascinated by the psychedelic nature of dreams and how they can shift reality. A majority of my projects begin with an initial question, and over time they evolve into a journey of self-discovery and extensive research, leading to more questions arising along that path.

Why do we have to experience our dreams? Why do certain dreams evoke strong emotions that persist upon waking? Does it matter to make a distinction between dreams and reality, and how are the boundaries defined?

So, over the last few months, I started journaling my dreams, reading books about dream research, and trying to get closer to finding answers to those questions. Over time I began to remember a lot of my dreams, and they started to play with my perception of reality. There are occasions when I can't differentiate between a dream memory and something that happened in "reality." This fact has stuck with me, and Oneiric Places was my way of processing these bizarre and otherworldly experiences.

Can you talk us through some aspects of the technical and creative processes used for this work?

I never start off with a preconceived concept or sketch in mind. That goes against the reason why I’m doing all of this in the first place. While creating, I want to feel vulnerable and “exposed” to the things that find their way through my artistic filter.

Sure, there are these initial seeds that kick things off, such as a specific technique I want to explore, the smell of a forest after heavy rain, or a synth line deeply buried in the mix that is only noticeable with a good pair of headphones.

But these initial ideas I'm exploring become heavily distorted and intertwined with other influences as I continue to develop my systems. The work constantly reshapes in ways that would never be possible if I didn't stay aware of my surroundings and find connections to things that I’d already thought about before. It’s a lot about not being afraid to completely throw things off course if they don’t feel right.

However, experiencing the shift in perception that resulted from my dreams becoming increasingly tangible was the catalyst for me to rethink everything all the time.

One of the key elements of Oneiric Places is the integration of the dream recalls I logged during the creation process. So, similar to how the dreaming brain melds memories and events from our waking life, I incorporated encrypted entries from my personal dream journal into the code base. These entries (or numerical values at the code level) act as a dataset and are used to manipulate specific visual elements within the piece. That sounds fancier than it actually is, but I really liked the idea, and it seemed like a logical consequence.

I incorporated encrypted entries from my personal dream journal into the code base. These entries (or numerical values at the code level) act as a dataset and are used to manipulate specific visual elements within the piece. - pxlshrd

Tell us about the choice of colors in this project. The texture of the work is reminiscent of oil on canvas paintings - is that intentional?

Well, nothing really is intentional and everything is. I act based on my intuition in the present moment. Tomorrow, I could feel very differently about it, but that doesn’t really matter.

In the early stages of the project, there were only two colors per palette and a few shades around them. My dreams felt very vague and distant at that time, so I guess those faint and hazy palettes reflected that, in a way. As the dream recalls became more vivid and tangible, the colors started to open up and become more vibrant. To be honest, a few palettes are quite difficult to look at, but similar to some experiences I’ve had during the creation, they can be quite uncomfortable.

How do you see your practice evolving in the context of generative art and NFTs?

I hope I can continue to do what I love and embrace the mistakes that come with it. And I wish to encounter the term "NFT" less frequently in the years to come.

Where do you see this medium going in the next 5, 10, or 20 years? Is institutional acceptance important to you?

I cannot tell what will happen in the future. All I can do is show up every day, do my part, and if others appreciate and enjoy what I’m doing, it brings me immense joy. If people don’t vibe with it, I’m okay with that as well.

For me personally, I find it more fulfilling when someone chooses to hang one of my works in a place where they can appreciate it on a daily basis, rather than having my work accepted by established critics.

While it would be beneficial for the movement as a whole to be broadly accepted by institutions, I personally don’t feel a strong desire to be acknowledged as an active participant in what we call "mainstream adoption."

I find it more fulfilling when someone chooses to hang one of my works in a place where they can appreciate it on a daily basis, rather than having my work accepted by established critics. - pxlshrd

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Do you collect generative art from other artists as well? What do you like, or what types of work appeal to you most?

I’ve been actively collecting pieces from other artists, although I’ve scaled back over the past year. Like many collectors, I’ve become very selective and primarily purchase work from friends or artists I wish to support.

How much do you think about the chain your artwork is minted on? Does it matter to you now, and do you think this will be more or less important in the future as blockchains evolve?

I hope that in the future, it will matter less. Due to the recent developments of fxhash, hopefully, the path to a more chain-agnostic future is paved. However, it's also a matter of how it’s presented in the UI and generally perceived in the space. Maybe “simple” things, like showing prices in USD rather than in a particular cryptocurrency, could help. But what do I know!

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pxlshrd is a recording/sound engineer, graphic designer, and photographer turned generative artist. You can find some of his past works on fxhash, TEIA, and Deca.

Oneiric Places releasing on fxhash on December 19.