1 of 1 Art Pieces with Han

Nov 15

Han is most well-known for his early OG generative art NFT collection that was launched in 2020 called CryptoCubes. If you were around back then you would know how collectible and exciting these cubes were. It’s the end of 2023 and Han hasn’t stopped innovating.

Han presents a collection of 1 of 1 art pieces, with the ownership, data, and marketplace functionalities entirely stored on the Ethereum blockchain. Each piece of art exists as a self-executing program, known as a smart contract, making its ownership purchasable directly within the contract itself.

The Artworks

Each piece of art is a unique creative expression by Han, with every piece residing in its own distinct smart contract.

Purchasable Smart Contracts

Each smart contract has built-in functions for ownership acquisition, eliminating the need for external marketplaces.

Immutable

The script of each art piece is embedded in the smart contract source code, which makes it immutable and completely on-chain.

New Approach

No ERC standards, Smart Contract = Artwork

Open Source

We envision a future where any smart contract in the Ethereum ecosystem can be monetized. All files are openly accessible on Github.

You can read our interview with Han below, where we discuss this project and the dynamic technology behind it.

Can you walk through how you began your career as an artist and what brought you to the blockchain?

So my passion to become an artist actually started when I was studying architecture. I attended the 2018 International Venice Architecture Biennale with my video art piece and won several grants and prizes in design and art competitions.

My real career actually started when I found non-fungible tokens, I immediately started to prepare my first project. Actually, my career is a bit new. I would say it is professionally four years old. What brought me to the blockchain was that I became really fascinated with the technology starting in 2016.
I was reading and trying to learn every day, checking out the transactions, trying to understand how everything works basically. Those were the days of exploring and meeting with people in the crypto ecosystem.
I started to think that non-fungible tokens are perfect to use in my creative career because I’ve always been interested in things that are digital, especially permissionless ones.

You studied architecture. I’ve noticed that a lot of your artworks are built upon a structural and technical foundation. Do you think that your background in architecture has informed how you view your artistic practice?

Definitely, because architecture is not only about designing a building, but trying to understand and organize the foundational logic of everything.
The book “Vitruvius: The Ten Books on Architecture” says,
“The architect should be versed in drawing, geometry, optics (lighting), history, philosophy, music, theater, medicine, and law.”
So, what he described in the book was that an architect should have knowledge about many things because they are designing the organization of everything in a harmonious way.
So architecture definitely affected my views. My definition of art became: Art is an act. It is not only the final output, it involves the tools you use, the process, and what you are expressing with them.

The real value stands in how you are expressing yourself using your tools. I think an artist needs to push the boundaries of the tools they are using because art always comes after technology. Every time you see a new disruptive art piece, it also brings a new perspective to the newest technology.
So I think the process and the tool have the same importance as the final piece. It is really important to express my idea in a beautiful way, but also how I express that idea by creating a new perspective with my tools and medium.

Are there any architectural themes or frameworks that have carried over into your visual art practice?

Actually, yes. I would say Peter Zumthor and Tadao Ando. They were both trained as carpenters. Neither studied architecture, but they understood the logic of things. Ando created his own recipe for concrete and it became his signature in architecture. Zumthor focused on experiences and it became his artistic style. So, there are different ways of understanding architecture.
Personally, I think art is not a noun. Art is the act. An engineer can be an artist with a beautiful bridge that is constructed with precise calculations. A doctor can be an artist doing a surgery that has never been done. A programmer can be an artist writing beautiful software that runs efficiently. This is why we have art of science, art of engineering, art of everything. What matters is the craft, the expressions and the meaning.

Does the way you approach a work vary from project to project or do you have a standard practice that you follow across your body of work?

Actually, I don't. It is always about having an idea and exploring it. For example, right now I'm creating an art piece that I was brainstorming on two years ago.
So I'm always exposing myself to those tools, ideas, and writings, and in some way in the journey, I think I'm meeting with them again.

Can you give some insight into the tools, whether it be programming languages or types of software, that you currently use to bring your artwork to life?

The tools that I use commonly are Blender and Adobe Suite. For the art pieces, OpenGL Shading Language (GLSL), is the real-time graphic language that we see mostly in games and browsers.
I'm creating the art pieces in GLSL and after that converting it to JavaScript to put it inside the smart contract. And of course, the smart contract has been written in Solidity and is also part of the art piece, because writing the logic of functions is part of the artistic act.

I would like to revisit your most notable project to date, Cryptocubes briefly. It was one of the first projects I remember seeing on Rarible in late 2020. What does this project mean to you and how has your practice evolved since then?

The initial version of the Cryptocube script was created for my architecture graduation project. I was creating generative spaces. I was always interested in those kinds of unconventional ideas.

It was the time I started to learn creative coding. I updated the script and it became the algorithm that created CryptoCubes as we know it today.
They are digital objects where you can use them in virtual lands. Some people were using them as a gallery. Some of them were used as a building or statue in the metaverse. Then there is CryptoCubesCreators, where each artist uses a specific CryptoCube in their art piece.
Collaborated with over 100 pioneering artists and it will continue until we reach 256. The journey of CryptoCubes definitely sparked my career. Met with lots of people around the world and shared meaningful moments. It has a special place in my heart.

I initially thought it could be interesting if CryptoCubes had been released on Art Blocks. Adding that generative script to Artblocks and making a CryptoCube collection there. But the CryptoCubes collection was actually one or two months before Artblocks, so we didn't have a chance for it. The script is very simple.
It is not a complex algorithm like the Tyler Hobbs’ project, Fidenza. I was trying to create my best practice while I was learning.

As an early Cryptopunk, you have spoken about how fellow punks embraced you; do you find that this sense of comradery has helped influence the Cryptocube community you have built since?

Yes, definitely. Everything started for me in the Cryptopunks Discord channel. The people that I met are still good friends. Some of them became good collectors, and some of them became founders. I learned a lot from them. Everyone was supporting and educating each other.
It definitely impressed me when I saw the way LarvaLabs created such a sophisticated art project, CryptoPunks. It is not only those beautifully designed pixel characters but the idea of verifying and transacting these digital personas/digital identities in a permissionless way. The characters, the marketplace, the community, all of them came together in a beautiful way.
Actually, I am still influenced by CryptoPunks, from the founders, and the community as well. I want to create things that can add value to this ecosystem. The early punk channel sparked so many important projects: Erick “Snowfro” an early Cryptopunk collector who then started Art Blocks.

From Erick “Snowfro”:

“I remember having that conversation with him early on. I felt like CryptoCubes could have been on-chain from the very beginning. I think when he and I finally started talking more regularly, it was, you know, they had already released, so it was too late. So, getting those things on-chain was really cool to see. It’s something that I’ve seen happen now with many projects that start with algorithms instead of with photography or, you know, like digital art. And you know, just the joy in his eyes when he was explaining it and how excited he was about it. It’s crazy. I mean, it just reminds me of a more youthful version of myself.”

Then we have Justin Trimble who co-founded Braindrops , and NiftyNaut who founded SwapKiwi. There are many examples like these. Cryptopunks were also the spark for me to start my project, so yes the whole community had a big impact on me.

For your new project, you are investigating two distinct problems that arise for contemporary blockchain artists: on-chain 3D graphics and the traditional NFT mental model. Can you dive deeper into this concept in your own words?

So, non-fungible tokens mainly use two standards.
One of them is ERC721, the most used one. The second one is ERC1155, which we can say is half-fungible. An NFT collection is actually a smart contract and inside this smart contract, we have different tokens. Those tokens have a tokenURI meaning the metadata of the token and the tokenID meaning the number of the token.
Most of the actual images of non-fungible tokens are stored in external services such as IPFS, and Arweave, and their image links are referenced in the tokenURI. In general, the tokens using external services are called off-chain because they include the link of the image, not the actual image.
On-chain art is an interesting step forward. The first on-chain art was again from LarvaLabs with the Autoglyphs project.
A very innovative approach that inspired me in particular. It was based on the ASCII format. Then we have ArtBlocks, where you can write JavaScript code to create on-chain art pieces and randomize the generating process using the transaction hashes.
Then we have Terraforms, Deafbeef, Avastars, I do like and respect all of these projects and their 2D on-chain graphic explorations.
In my project, I am mainly focused on creating on-chain 3D graphics. To explain, I am approaching the idea of owning a digital asset with a simple but different idea. Each 1of1 art piece is a self-executing program, known as smart contracts, and these smart contracts have their own internal market mechanisms. Since this smart contract does not use any ERC standards, the art piece script can be inside the smart contract source code, on-chain, eliminating the need for tokenID and tokenURI logic and it won’t be available in any external marketplaces because it has its own standard. Inside this smart contract, the marketplace logic facilitates the buying, selling, and bidding.
The standard non-fungible tokens don't have their own built-in functions for buying and selling. So basically, you're approving your token on a marketplace platform’s smart contract and the marketplace facilitates those transactions. This is also an efficient way because creating a trusted smart contract is important, but it also comes with disadvantages as big marketplaces started to make the decisions on royalties.
Because of this, we embedded the marketplace logic inside the smart contract source code. So if you want to buy or sell the art piece, you are actually connecting to the art piece itself.
This internal market mechanism created a path to implement royalty logic to enforce a fixed percentage which guarantees the creator royalty will be paid. I also want to mention, that the wrapper contracts can be a possible threat to trade them in other places so this is why we are working on unwrappable smart contracts.

In terms of graphics, as I mentioned, I'm creating my art in GLSL, converting it to JavaScript code, and then adding it to the smart contract source code.
Everything happens inside the source code which has an approx 24 kilobytes limit. The marketplace and royalty logics are 8 kilobytes. So, I'm creating my 3D on-chain graphics in 16 kb which is very low-size storage. It brings challenges but also creativity. An optimized render engine that was specifically designed to live on the blockchain.

I'm just curious how do you keep, you know, that, that high-quality resolution without losing, you know, with such a small file size?

So, GLSL is mostly used in games, it's a real-time graphic language. Of course, we have our limitations but I'm going to explore the ways of creating much more complex visuals with low data sizes. I already figured out the ways of creating those complex visuals with higher storage sizes, but the reason I don’t want to do it right now is that I want to put the art piece inside the source code of the smart contract because it is much more beautiful in technical terms.
I am not saying I won’t do it but if I want to do higher data sizes, I will need to send another transaction to add more storage to the contract and then another transaction to lock it, to make it immutable. But the way I am currently doing it is everything is being created in one single transaction. The moment the transaction succeeds, the art piece and all logic become immediately immutable as a technical beauty.

What was the catalyst for this idea?

Influencing from innovative projects and the passion for creating 3D on-chain graphics. I believe there are not many developments going on in that area.
The idea of creating a 3D representation using blockchain technology is really fascinating to me. I'm always interested in those spatial digital worlds because we are going to a future with lots of mixed reality. We are still in the early stages.

What was your process like working through this?

The initial version of the optimized render engine was created when I made CryptoCubes on-chain. So, we evolved the initial script and made it more advanced to create different graphics.
By the way, I was already creating my own art pieces two or three years ago but they were not on a chain. To build this on-chain infrastructure and start from a strong foundation, I bought back my old SuperRare art pieces from my collectors for a higher price than my collectors paid. And I would like to thank them because they believed in my vision.
The whole idea is to create something that will outlive me. A completely independent art piece. It does not need any marketplace. If you want to buy or sell, you will connect to the art piece. The whole idea was shaped by the time.

I notice a similarity here; Like how CryptoPunks influenced the creation of the ERC-721 standard, as an early punk collector, do you feel you’re adding to this story by further innovating on these standards to protect against the rise of third-party marketplaces circumventing artists’ creator fees?

Personally, I'm influenced by many projects. Firstly CryptoPunks marketplace, ArtBlocks infrastructure, Manifold’s empowering tools for the creators, Deafbeef’s unique ideas, Mathcastles innovations, Avastars’s belief in on-chain.
So all of these influences came together to create this infrastructure and I hope it'll be recognized as an interesting idea. A different approach to current ecosystem problems.

Are there any similarities between this infrastructure you’ve created and Manifold.xyz infrastructure?

In Manifold, you can create your own custom non-fungible collections. They have also built different tools to increase creator freedom and creativity.
In our approach, we are also influenced by empowering creators. Creators can create their own art pieces without needing any external parties and those art pieces do not need any external marketplaces. Inside the market functions we have a fixed percentage royalty logic that makes sure creators will be paid.
There are also other issues still to be solved in royalties. One of them is OTC deals, and the other one is the wrapper contracts redirecting the art piece to ERC-based marketplaces.
The way we are currently solving this part is, that as long as these pieces don't use any standards, none of the marketplaces will be able to index and use them. If you are connecting the art piece, you will be sure that the royalties will be paid and when the unwrappable development is finished we will be %100 sure they will be immutable.

Can you explain the significance of this technology for creator royalties and the concept of granting integrated autonomy to these royalties?

I think royalty payment is one of the important paradigms for creators that made NFTs go mainstream. We are trying to automate this process in our infrastructure since we are eliminating this third-party marketplace idea, an art piece is also its marketplace.
The whole point of blockchain technology is to be permissionless, and borderless, and to transact all your digital assets without depending on third parties. It is really important and I think the real solution will come from the code itself since we are using this infrastructure that is created by code. We need to solve this by more automation without giving any control to others.
The way we did the route in our infrastructure is by setting a one-time royalty by the creator during the art piece creation. The royalty percentage is not updatable. So it is also making collectors sure to always expect the same royalty. It is immutable, no one can change it, even the creator.

I’m curious about the dynamics of this project, can you explain the mechanics of the proposed sales?

Actually, there's not a sales mechanic. The whole idea is based on infrastructure. I'm going to start to create and release my own art pieces. When I feel confident about a piece, I’m going to deploy it to the Ethereum blockchain.
There will be time to wait for bids from collectors, after some time I'm going to accept the highest bid. But of course, I want to make decisions for myself. When there are two high bids, I want to choose between those collectors if the second bidder is much more supportive of my art and career, I want to pass on the first bidder. There’s no structure.

Is there a total number or is it an open-ended project?

I wouldn't say open-ended, because if I create one art piece per month, right, this means 12 art pieces per year, and let's say I'm going to live 30 years more, I think the quantity won’t be high still.
There is no definite answer.

What are the implications of this project outside of your own artistic practice? You have said that you would like to make the underlying technology open source, can you explain why and how you see it being used by others?

The reason I want to open source is because I know this is the way we are going to iterate more efficiently.
Since I'm going to be the one who always uses it first, I'm going to improve and share it with others. Supporting and teaching each other is one of the important aspects of this technology because when you deploy the smart contract, it is already there and anyone can see it. Anyone can use it.
We need many more user-friendly tools to give more power to individuals. Self-sovereignty and decentralization are the ideas of the blockchain. I'm just following this ideology, I'm not thinking anything different.
There are already amazing projects and people who have open-sourced their ideas such as CryptoPunks and I don't see any point in just keeping it to myself.
In the long term, we also want to create a tool for Blender that exports the Blender scene to JavaScript code to create on-chain pieces. Creating on-chain pieces for 2D and 3D artists who are not familiar with coding is a difficult task compared to generative artists who are coding native. They need to work with someone who can code. It takes a lot of time and effort.
One of our long-term goals is to create that Blender tool so artists can create on-chain art pieces, just by exporting it from Blender. All they will need is to put the exported JavaScript file into Algo service and deploy their art piece contract.
The smart contract will be open-source to put the Javascript on the smart contract. We will also open-source some of the services we create, but it is important to remember that creating a service requires effort and time. So this is a much bigger goal and funds will be needed to sustain and develop bigger ideas.

You’ve mentioned gratitude for people in the CryptoPunks discord who helped educate you early on in your NFT journey. Is this project somehow your way of giving back and educating your artist peers?

Definitely, I think I owe this place a lot, it changed my life, to start my artistic journey. I've met lots of amazing people. Supporting each other and trying to innovate on those interesting ideas and also opening those ideas up for others to use because we're now somewhere where we're creating something quite amazing just by using this technology. I don't want to be someone who is blocking those possibilities for the future.
This is the way.

What is your ultimate goal that you hope to achieve with this project?

Basically, a peer-to-peer art piece, like actually one art piece, doesn't need any external things, even any marketplaces to be sold. You can just connect to the art piece directly and everything is there.
Once I deploy it to the blockchain, no one has control over it. I believe it will outlive me, and it is fascinating to think of my artworks appearing in the digital world in this sense.
Completely abstract but verifiable and purely digital.

How do you feel now that the project has launched and it’s out in the world? How has the response been?

Having a completely immutable p2p on-chain art piece out in the world feels good!
But actually, everything started now. I am going to work on my art pieces, and iterate the technical tools and abilities. The response from the people was quite amazing but I do not want to create any expectations because there are so many things to create and share.

Explore the project here.

arltcollector