Editing Generative art (section)

=== Blockchain ===
[[File:Chromie Squiggle 7515.png|thumb|Chromie Squiggle #7515, from the first generative art collection of Art Blocks]]

In 2020, Erick "Snowfro" Calderon launched the Art Blocks platform<ref>{{Cite web |last=Escalante-De Mattei |first=Shanti |title=Meet Erick Calderon, Founder of Art Blocks |date=17 September 2021 |url=https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/erick-calderon-art-blocks-1234604108/}}</ref> for combining the ideas of generative art and the [[blockchain]], with resulting artworks created as [[Non-fungible token|NFTs]] on the [[Ethereum]] blockchain. One of the key innovations with the generative art created in this way is that all the source code and algorithm for creating the art has to be finalized and put on the blockchain permanently, without any ability to alter it further. Only when the artwork is sold ("minted"), the artwork is generated; the result is random yet should reflect the overall aesthetic defined by the artist. Calderon argues that this process forces the artist to be very thoughtful of the algorithm behind the art:<blockquote>Until today, a [generative] artist would create an algorithm, press the spacebar 100 times, pick five of the best ones and print them in high quality. Then they would frame them, and put them in a gallery. ''Maybe.'' Because Art Blocks forces the artist to accept every single output of the algorithm as their signed piece, the artist has to go back and tweak the algorithm until it's perfect. They can't just cherry pick the good outputs. That elevates the level of algorithmic execution because the artist is creating something that they know they're proud of before they even know what's going to come out on the other side.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Escalante-De Mattei |first=Shanti |title=Algorithm-Generated NFTs Are Quickly Rising in Value. Can Art Blocks Up the Quality? |date=13 September 2021 |url=https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/algorithm-generated-nfts-art-blocks-1234603548/}}</ref></blockquote>