Celebrating Generative Art

This year marked the 3rd edition of Art Blocks’ annual Marfa Weekend. A celebration of the intersection of art, technology, innovation, and community, the event keeps growing in defiance of the current market conditions.

We had the pleasure of attending and contributing to the festivities in collaboration with our partners, SquiggleDAO. 

In this retrospective, we’ll go over a few of the many highlights this extended weekend had to offer.

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SquiggleDAO x Zharta at Glitch Marfa

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We couldn’t be happier with how the event went. Glitch Gallery was packed full, the community practically vibrating from excitement — though maybe part of that was due to all that coffee at Brunch, which was how the Squiggle extravaganza started off.

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As was only appropriate, SquiggleDAO filled the gallery with a selection of their Squiggles for all to enjoy. Besides the exhibition – and a guest appearance by the man himself, Erick “Snowfro” Calderon – attendees were treated to several giveaways, including t-shirts, stickers, Squiggle skateboards signed by Snowfro, and an Infinity Objects frame.

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Last but not least, SquiggleDAO projected our Zharta x SquiggleDAO partnership video, bringing some more Portuguese, skateboarding, and Zharta culture into the Chromie Squiggle mix.

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Collēctīvus: Computation, Consciousness, and Collective Memory

Collēctīvus stood out not only thanks to the art and artists it displayed but also due to how it was curated.

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Voted on by the community from among artworks from 7 projects (themselves chosen by Art Blocks), the final exhibition reflected both what appeals to us as a group and what those preferences say about this specific point in time – and our collective memory of it.

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FEMGEN

A group exhibition spotlighting six notable female and non-binary Generative Artists – Emi Kusano, Emily Edelman, Helena Sarin, Kaoru Tanaka, Lauren Lee McCarthy, and Anna Beller – the second edition of FEMGEN continued the first’s mission: to promote a digital art world defined by inclusivity, diversity, and universal accessibility. 

You can check out art by each of these artists on Vertical’s website and read interviews on Right Click Save magazine – we highly recommend you do both, as I can’t hope to do their work justice by merely including a brief description here.

What we can do, however, is praise the initiative behind the exhibition. As Emi Kusano said in an Instagram post: “Let's work towards a world where labels like 'FEMGEN' are no longer needed.”

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Meaningful Mementos

Some folks make it their mission to collect souvenirs from their most memorable experiences, while others outright dislike the concept. Whichever camp you land on, however, you’d be sure to love Art Blocks’ approach to the idea.

Upon checking in, each attendee received a physical badge linked to on-chain art created by Harvey Rayner and Shane Richardson in collaboration with YYK for the occasion. 

Each social interaction – recorded by touching badges – changed the linked art so that the final piece, which participants could mint after the event, reflected your experiences interacting with the community.

Check out one of our artworks' final form:

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Personal Favorites

Zharta sent three representatives to Marfa: Co-Founders Nuno Cortesão and Pedro Granate, and our Head of Marketing, Gonçalo Silva. I asked them about particularly memorable moments they’d like to share.

After sharing some of their more predictable favorites - like meeting Snowfro, as well as a ton of new interesting people from the community, and even seeing some “internet friends” in person for the first time - I asked them to think of less obvious examples.

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Here are some of the memories they shared:

The Art Blocks Quiz was a fun way to put your Generative Art knowledge to the test while getting to know new folks in a relaxed setting.

They had a blast attending The Grand Tourists and Marijuana Sweet Tooth (both bands local to Marfa) concerts at Planet Marfa.

Finally, they managed to get their own footage of the Marfa lights, which they were excited to share with the rest of the team. Who doesn’t love a good mystery?

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