Toppled

About this piece

*This piece has instant visual meaning and a striking minimalist style (in color, shadow, and movement), but each decision was born from technical constraints. The style is an homage to moving neon light signs from 1950s era Americana. Back then, roadside signs had physical constraints that limited the fidelity and style of movement. In an effort to win attention, the sign makers pushed the boundaries of their medium.* *Today, those types of constraints are almost non-existent in the digital art medium. We have super fast processors, 5K displays, and pixel-level control of visuals through advanced applications or the code itself. Blockchains, however, introduce constraints back into digital art. I consider them physical constraints, although of course all blockchain art is digital.* *On the blockchain, block size is limited and block space is scarce. To put digital artwork fully onchain, artists need to wrestle with new constraints that are similar to and echo the physical constraints of neon sign art. Constraints drive my work always, and this collection is no exception. Here, though, the constraints don't only drive the art... the art itself comments on the constraints.* This image of the rook, a castle representing an empire, contains symbolism, meaning, and physical weight. Its image format allows motion where other images can only be still. Yet it's only 5kb, which is less than some text files.