Obliqua

We have an impossible plan:
To negate any plan.
Let ideas drop, and bloom
and their fruits, crystalize.

Feel the call of intention,
laser focus on this, not that;
Or let it dilute in randomness,
a liberated slide left and right.

Stacking sketches and notes
we look at a mirror as we type,
are we looking for something
or has something already found us?

We move in oblique patterns,
finding meaning in the fray.
If our art takes on a life of its own,
do we simply guide it on its way?

Concept:

Obliqua is a visual meditation on a generative artist's dilemma, the tension between conscious search and fortuitous find. And a question for both artist and observer: What is "meaning", if there's any, and who is in charge of that? By evoking (apparent?) dualities such as incipient/completed, natural/artificial, flat/volumetric, and outdated/advanced..., the piece welcomes ambiguity as a dear and helpful friend.

Minting Params:

Some parameters define geometric structure and layout while others control more stylistic or expressive features. Color palettes have been composed and chosen as they are presented, but they can be slightly adjusted with contrast, saturate and brightness params. Some style options can be toggled on/off with your keyboard (i.e. you may want to toggle grain off for printing). Please read below.

Live mode controls:

Press the following keys to download the artwork at different sizes:

• S: Current size (default 2100 x 2970 px)
• 1: Small, 2100 x 2970 px
• 2: Medium, 4200 x 5940 px
• 3: Large, 6300 x 8910 px
• 4: Largest, 8400 x 11880 px
• V: SVG (multiple-file download)

And these other ones for toggling style options:

• L: Toggle Glow
• R: Toggle Grain
• H: Toggle Shadow
• W: Toggle Worn
• F: Toggle Frame

Notes:

• Some outputs can be quite intensive in terms of computation, especially at higher resolutions, so they require a capable, relatively modern computer and browser. Best viewed in Chrome. Firefox and Edge should work too, although slower. Safari is not supported. Please make sure the artwork is rendered properly on your device and browser before minting.
• SVG can be downloaded for plotting. For convenience, the download is split into different files for lines and fills. Fills will always be exported as solid colors.

Acknowledgments:

Thanks everyone who provided help directly or indirectly by publishing useful articles, online-forums threads, and giving support and feedback on Twitter, Discord, and elsewhere. Special thanks to the authors of some code libraries included in this project:

• p5.js
• p5.grain
• svgcanvas
• quadtree-ts

Daniel Aguilar, April 2023
Twitter: @protozoo
Instagram: @prtzart
Website: https://protozoo.xyz

NFT License 2.0

Signed prints:

• Unique, signed high-quality prints are available for this project (1 for iteration)
• Collectors minting at the Dutch Auction's start price (highest) are entitled to their iteration's print at no additional cost
• Collectors minting at lower prices can order their print for 120€ (EUR and XTZ welcome)
• Print requests/orders can be made within one month after auction date.