HAPPY BIRTHDAY KJETIL GOLID!
Bazaar by Kjetil Golid
Edition 1 of 1, available as unique NFT on SuperRare and as unique fine art print signed by the artist
Simple shapes create ambiguous perspectives and repetitious patterns are short-lived. \\\\\\\\
Bazaar is part of a two-piece set and is generated by a custom cellular automata from rule 171-132-110.
Kjetil’s latest drop on SuperRare include this unique two-piece set composed by works ‘Aula’ and ‘Bazaar’. Simple shapes create ambiguous perspectives and repetitious patterns are short-lived. Aula is generated by a custom cellular automata from rule 176-25-104 while Bazaar from rule 171-132-110.
Kate Vass Galerie has been proudly featuring Kjetil Golid artworks within the ‘Game of Life - Emergence in Generative Art’ exhibition, hosted here.
The show was is in part a tribute to the mathematician John Horton Conway who recently passed away from COVID-19. Among Conway’s many gifts to the world was his famous “Game of Life” popularized in a 1970 article in Scientific American. The game uses four simple rules to create a seemingly infinite amount of complex behavior and visual patterns. Conway’s work on cellular automata along with others like Stephen Wolfram has been inspirational for many of this generation’s most talented Generative Artists. The exhibition explored how complex visual systems can emerge from relatively simple algorithms to create art than can reframe the way we see the world.
Today we want to wish a very happy birthday to dear artist Kjetil Golid!
Kjetil is a generative artist and system developer from Norway, with a keen interest in algorithms and data structures.
It was this interest that kickstarted his endeavours within generative art, originally using visualization as a tool for understanding various algorithms. These visualization exercises gradually shifted their focus from being pure, "correct" implementations of well-known algorithms, into a more esoteric realm where the underlying structures mostly serve the purpose of making intricate and aesthetic visuals.
Today, Kjetil's projects are often initiated by the question "What would it look like if ..."; an unfinished idea of a home-grown algorithm together with a visual translation, where it is unclear how the end result will look.
Kjetil wants to share his mindset that programming is a wonderful platform for creative expression and, as such, large parts of his code is open for anyone to explore and manipulate. In addition to making static pieces, he also makes interactive tools for generating visuals without the prerequisite of knowing how to code. https://generated.space/
Aula by Kjetil Golid
Edition 1 of 1, available as unique NFT on SuperRare and as unique fine art print signed by the artist
Simple shapes create ambiguous perspectives and repetitious patterns are short-lived. \\\\\\\\
Aula is part of a two-piece set and is generated by a custom cellular automata from rule 176-25-104.
Golid has been developing a series of artworks inspired by one-dimensional cellular automata and noise fields. His process results in bold works with basket weave-like patterns that resemble graphic pixelated flags or banners. These works recall computing origins in the Jacquard loom, a device that employed punch cards to simplify the intricate weaving process of 18th-century textiles. The artist explains his process:
‘It's based on this traditional variant where pixels can be alive or dead on a 2D grid. I thought, ‘What if you don't change the rules, but instead, you change the visualization?’ Instead of using black and white pixels, I use lines that can go in different directions. While a 'standard' one-dimensional cellular automata gets a pixel value from its three northern neighbors, this one is a hexagonal grid with lines in three directions. The existence of a specific line is dependent on the existence of its three 'preceding' lines. The lines split up the whole area into separate spaces, and I proceed to fill these spaces with colors. The colors are selected using a one-dimensional cellular automata, with the color of each space being based on the left and upper neighboring spaces.
It turned out quite nice. It seems so random, but it is actually based on strict rules. The only seed for this randomness is the number you give it. So whenever you give it the number 120, you get exactly the same output. But it seems so random because it turns so complex so fast. The noise part comes from another piece I made, more of a tool really, that can distort any image. ‘
The exhibition and Kjetil Golid artworks were featured in The New York Times.
In February 2021the artist has been dropping the successful "Archetype” piece on artblocks.io and for the ones who became the tokens’ owners we offered the great opportunity to get a unique print 25 x 25 cm signed by the artist to combine with the NFTs.
The max number of iterations/editions for this project have been minted. You can still visit the project on OpenSea to see what is available on the secondary market!
’Archetype explores the use of repetition as a counterweight to unruly, random structures. As each single component look chaotic alone, the repetition brings along a sense of intentionality, ultimately resulting in a complex, yet satisfying expression.’
Selected ‘Archetypes’ have been additionally showcased on the ZKM Cube as part of their exhibition CryptoArt It’s Not About Money alongside CryptoPunks, Cryptokitties and many other relevant NFT artworks.
Last but not least we want to congratulate Kjetil for being one of the artists featured in the recent Sotheby’s June auction Natively Digital: A Curated NFT Sale with one of his Archetype work! You can explore the (sold) lot here.
