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NFT Collector: William Mapan explains generative art using a crayon and dice

What even is generative art? William Mapan, whose 250-piece Distance collection just sold out at 2ETH each, explains using a crayon and die.
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What even is generative art? William Mapan, whose 250-piece Distance collection just sold out at 2ETH each, explains using a crayon and die.

Generative artist William Mapans latest collection, “Distance,” sold out in less than 24 hours despite launching in the middle of a very weak NFT market.

From his early long-form generative series “Dragons” on the Tezos blockchain to the highly sought-after “Anticyclone ArtBlocks collection that currently commands a 5 ETH floor, Mapan has a unique way of capturing the hearts and minds of collectors.

But many people in the public still dont understand what generative art even is. Mapan has a unique way of explaining the often misunderstood genre by boiling it down to a piece of paper, a crayon and a die.

It can be really hard to explain but usually the way I explain is to put away the code, put away the blockchain, put away everything. Just take a piece of paper, a crayon and dice. Imagine drawing two by two boxes on that paper, so four boxes total. You then throw the dice if the roll shows up as a three or below, you draw a square; if the dice shows four or above, you draw a circle into one of the boxes.

You just made an algorithm; you just made a set of rules and introduced some randomness in there. Thats basically what generative art is, you build a set of rules, an algorithm and then introduce randomness. Then you try to control that part of the space.

Strands of Solitude #010 by William Mapan
Strands of Solitude #010 by William Mapan (OpenSea)

With the grid of two by two, the parameter of space is very reduced, but as soon as you expand to different parameters, you can get many different outputs. Imagine a 10 by 10 box and imagine you have multiple shapes like a circle, triangle, square, star or whatever. You just write down your rules and just follow them, and thats it.

Fine line technique

Mapans work straddles the line between appearing as if its physically or digitally made, a technique other artists such as Tyler Hobbs and Emily Xiu have a reputation for.

I like to activate senses, feelings and memories. My hope is that when you see my work, it sparks curiosity. You might think my art reminds you of something in one way, but in another way, youre thinking there are so many shapes that its impossible that someone made it by hand, says Mapan.

I hope that it connects with people in their memories, especially like the last series that I released last week, “Distance.” I want people to see themselves traveling, and they remember, Oh, I was on this plane when I saw this kind of landscape down there. I like to trigger emotions and curiosity.

Distance by William Mapan
Distance #22 by William Mapan (OpenSea)

Based in France, Mapan credits Matt Deslauriers, the artist behind Meridians and Subscapes, as his introduction to art on the blockchain. Mapans first NFT was minted on 4 March 2021 on Tezos, where he put a lot of his early digital work before launching Anticyclone via ArtBlocks on Ethereum on 23 April 2022.

Matt helped me navigate early on. He kindly explained it all to me, and it started to make sense over time. I started in the Tezos ecosystem, which was a very community art-driven vibe, Mapan says.

It intrigued me that you could put an algorithm on the blockchain, and when people mint it, they buy an iteration that triggers your algorithm on demand. It was a new way to think about your work. Basically, the collector is a triggering point.

Notable Sales

Anticyclone #470 by William Mapan
“Anticyclone #470” by William Mapan sold for 182 ETH ($229,856). (OpenSea)
Anticyclone #743 by William Mapan
“Anticyclone #743” by William Mapan sold for 37 ETH ($50,430). (OpenSea)
Strands of Solitude #253 by William Mapan
“Strands of Solitude #253” by William Mapan sold for 16 ETH ($26,321). (OpenSea)

Rapid-fire Q&A

Are there any up-and-coming artists who you think people should be paying attention to?

Anna Lucia:I definitely love her work. Shes very talented, and I cant wait to see her progress. You need to look her up.

What are the influences on your art career to date?

Abstract expressionism movement and people pushing boundaries in modern-day art.

Who is a notable collector of yours that makes you smile knowing they own one of your pieces?

AC the collector He is one of the most engaging ones. He comes to exhibitions and talks to me. He always tries to reach out to me and to understand the practice behind the work. AC is definitely a great collector. 

Whats your favorite NFT in your wallet thats not your own NFT?

“‘Horizon(te)s #5” a collaboration by Iskra Velitchkova and Zach Lieberman.

I dont know why I love this, but I just do. It’s perfect because I love Iskras work and I love Zachs work. Its the perfect combination. I love the light and abstract shapes, its just amazing work.

Who do you listen to when creating art? 

Kendrick Lamar and Sofiane Pamart. I really like classical music, especially when I try to be in the flow state. When I need to crush stuff, its hip hop.

Performers are in another light. They need to go up in front of the public. They have to be fragile and sensible, yet you have to let your shell down. I find that very inspiring.

I try to be more like that. To let my emotions out. Prior, I was basically shutting them down because I wasnt creating art full-time. Now that art is my job, I want to explore expressing myself more. Performers are very inspiring in that regard.

Untitled by William Mapan
“Untitled” by William Mapan (objkt.com)

What’s hot in NFT art markets

Mapans aforementioned “Distance,” a collaboration with Cactoid Labs and LACMA, sold out its 250-piece collection at a 2 ETH mint price per piece. The collection has done close to 185 ETH in secondary sales volume since its 13 September mint.

Below are some of the other top recent digital art sales.

Ringers #343 by Dmitri Cherniak
Ringers #343 by Dmitri Cherniak sold for 39.99 ETH ($65,395). (OpenSea)
Door VII by Matt Kane
Door VII by Matt Kane sold for 22.5 ETH ($36,787). (OpenSea)
Chromie Squiggle #1606 by Snowfro
Chromie Squiggle #1606 by Snowfro sold for 20 ETH ($32,877). (OpenSea)

Cool Cats headed to Macys Thanksgiving Day Parade

Nothing says mainstream more than the iconic Macys Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City, and Cool Cats is set to become the first NFT collection to be featured.

In its 97th annual edition, the parade ran a contest that featured numerous NFT collections, including SupDucks, Boss Beauties and VeeFriends. Cool Cats eventually won out, which means a massive Blue Cat balloon will grace the skies of Manhattan on 23 November.

The lead artist and founder of Cool Cats, Clon, couldnt be more excited for his beloved project.

This is a big moment for me as an artist and as the founder of Cool Cats. Personally, the Macys Thanksgiving Day Parade has always been an important event in my family and it holds a lot of memories. Being able to showcase my artwork alongside some of the worlds most recognizable characters is a dream come true, says Clon.

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Nouns DAO fork finalizes

After a bumpy ride over the past few weeks, the Nouns DAO fork has finished with 472 Nouns NFT holders out of 844 in total opting into the fork that was approved in proposal 356. 

The Nouns holders that opted into the fork will have the opportunity to get approximately 35 ETH back, while Noun holders that voted against proposal 356 will carry on as the DAO had originally been structured, where 1 Noun per day is auctioned, with the proceeds going to fund the treasury of Nouns.

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Ushering in the era of light-powered ‘multi-level memories’

We live in an era of data deluge. The data centers that are operated to store and process this flood of data use a lot of electricity, which has been called…

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October 17, 2023

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We live in an era of data deluge. The data centers that are operated to store and process this flood of data use a lot of electricity, which has been called a major contributor to environmental pollution. To overcome this situation, polygonal computing systems with lower power consumption and higher computation speed are being researched, but they are not able to handle the huge demand for data processing because they operate with electrical signals, just like conventional binary computing systems.

Credit: Korea Institute of Science and Technology

We live in an era of data deluge. The data centers that are operated to store and process this flood of data use a lot of electricity, which has been called a major contributor to environmental pollution. To overcome this situation, polygonal computing systems with lower power consumption and higher computation speed are being researched, but they are not able to handle the huge demand for data processing because they operate with electrical signals, just like conventional binary computing systems.

The Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST, President Seok Jin Yoon) announced that Dr. Do Kyung Hwang of the Center for Opto-Electronic Materials & Devices and Professor Jong-Soo Lee of the Department of Energy Science & Engineering at Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology (DGIST, President Young Kuk) has jointly developed a new zero-dimensional and two-dimensional (2D-0D) semiconductor artificial junction material and observed the effect of a next-generation memory powered by light. Transmitting data between the computing and storage parts of a multi-level computer using light rather than electrical signals can dramatically increase processing speed.

The research team has fabricated a new 2D-0D semiconductor artificial junction material by joining quantum dots in a core-shell structure with zinc sulfide (ZnS) on the surface of cadmium selenide (CdSe) and a molybdenum sulfide (MoS2) semiconductor. The new material enables the storage and manipulation of electronic states within quantum dots measuring 10 nm or less.

When light is applied to the cadmium selenide core, a certain number of electrons flow out of the molybdenum sulfide semiconductor, trapping holes in the core and making it conductive. The electron state inside cadmium selenide is also quantized. Intermittent light pulses trap electrons in the electron band one after the other, inducing a change in the resistance of the molybdenum sulfide through the field effect, and the resistance changes in a cascading manner depending on the number of light pulses. This process makes it possible to divide and maintain more than 0 and 10 states, unlike conventional memory, which has only 0 and 1 states. The zinc sulfide shell also prevents charge leakage between neighboring quantum dots, allowing each single quantum dot to function as a memory.

While quantum dots in conventional 2D-0D semiconductor artificial junction structures simply amplify signals from light sensors, the team’s quantum dot structure perfectly mimics the floating gate memory structure, confirming its potential for use as a next-generation optical memory. The researchers verified the effectiveness of the polynomial memory phenomenon with neural network modeling using the CIFAR-10 dataset and achieved a 91% recognition rate.

Dr. Hwang of KIST said, “The new multi-level optical memory device will contribute to accelerating the industrialization of next-generation system technologies such as artificial intelligence systems, which have been difficult to commercialize due to technical limitations arising from the miniaturization and integration of existing silicon semiconductor devices.”

 

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KIST was established in 1966 as the first government-funded research institute in Korea. KIST now strives to solve national and social challenges and secure growth engines through leading and innovative research. For more information, please visit KIST’s website at https://eng.kist.re.kr/

This research was supported by the Ministry of Science and ICT (Minister Jong-ho Lee) as a mid-career researcher project and a major project of KIST, and the results were published in the international journal Advanced Materials (IF: 29.4).

 

Journal Link: Advanced Materials, Jul-2023

Journal

Advanced Materials

DOI

10.1002/adma.202303664

Article Title

Probing optical multi-level memory effects in single core-shell quantum dots and application through 2D-0D hybrid inverters

Article Publication Date

19-Jul-2023

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FTX customers could get $9B shortfall claim payout by mid-2024

A proposed settlement could see creditors receive a shortfall claim of $8.9 billion for FTX.com and $166 million for FTX US.
Customers…

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October 17, 2023

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A proposed settlement could see creditors receive a shortfall claim of $8.9 billion for FTX.com and $166 million for FTX US.

Customers of bankrupt crypto exchange FTX and FTX US could see over 90% of assets returned to them by the end of the second quarter of 2024 after a proposed settlement was reached between FTX creditors and debtors.

On Oct. 17, FTX debtors said they reached a “major milestone” in their Chapter 11 case after “extensive discussions” with the unsecured creditors' committee, a committee of non-US customers, and class action plaintiffs regarding customer property disputes.

FTX ebtors filed a notice of the proposed settlement to a Delaware-based United States Bankruptcy Court on Oct. 16 (for information purposes). However, they need to submit an official filing by Dec. 16 seeking the court’s approval.

Part of the amended plan consists of the “Shortfall Claim,” in which FTX debtors estimates that customers of FTX.com and FTX US would collectively receive 90% of assets available for distribution.

The Shortfall Claim is estimated to be approximately $8.9 billion for FTX.com and $166 million for FTX US. If approved by the Bankruptcy Court, FTX expects these funds to be disbursed by the end of the second quarter of 2024.

John. J. Ray III, CEO and chief restructuring officer of the FTX, was pleased with the terms of the settlement:

"Together, starting in the most challenging financial disaster I have seen, the debtors and their creditors have created enormous value from a situation that easily could have been a near-total loss for customers.”

The amended plan involves FTX dividing the assets into three pools — assets segregated for the benefit of FTX.com customers, U.S. customers and a general pool of other assets. However, only the first two groups are included in the Shortfall Claim.

FTX debtors however anticipate that customers of both exchanges will not be paid in full and that FTX.com would likely see a greater percentage of losses.

FTX customer clawbacks

Meanwhile, observers noted a part of the proposed plan sees to it that customers that withdrew over $250,000 from the exchange within nine days of bankruptcy would have their claim reduced by 15% of the amount.

However, claims under $250,000 wouldn't be subject to a reduction, FTX debtors explained:

"Eligible customers that have a preference settlement amount of less than $250,000 during the nine-day period would be able to accept the settlement without any reduction of claim or payment."

Related: Caroline Ellison wanted to step down but feared a bank run on FTX

However, as part of the amended plan, FTX may exclude from the settlement any insiders, affiliates and customers who may have had knowledge of the commingling and misuse of customer deposits and corporate funds, it said.

Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried is two weeks into his fraud trial on matters relating to his involvement in FTX’s collapse to bankruptcy last November.

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Dev platform Stack Overflow axes 28% of staff as AI competition grows

The technology Q&A forum has seen declines in web traffic since the launch of ChatGPT in 2022.
Developer and programmer platform…

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October 17, 2023

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The technology Q&A forum has seen declines in web traffic since the launch of ChatGPT in 2022.

Developer and programmer platform Stack Overflow is cutting the company’s headcount by approximately 28% amid a rise in the popularity of artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots. 

On Oct. 16, Stack Overflow CEO, Prashanth Chandrasekar, made the announcement citing the challenges of macroeconomic pressures impacting the entire tech industry.

The firm is on a “path to profitability” and “continued product innovation,” said Chandrasekar who added, “This year we took many steps to spend less.”

Stack Overflow is a 15-year-old tech-focused question-and-answer forum for millions of developers, coders, and enthusiasts. It doubled its headcount in 2022 to 540, according to reports, so this week’s layoffs account for around 150 employees.

In August, Stack Overflow noted that its web traffic has seen a small decline compared to 2022, falling by an average of 5%.

"Conversely, in April of this year, we saw an above-average traffic decrease (~14%), which we can likely attribute to developers trying GPT-4 after it was released in March," it added.

The firm also said it expected generative AI to cause "some rises and falls in traditional traffic and engagement over the coming months."

Meanwhile, technology outlets such as Ars Technica have attributed the rise of AI chatbots to declines in the traffic and usage of traditional social knowledge-sharing platforms such as forums.

“Chatbots can offer more specific help than a 5-year-old forum post ever could,” it stated on October 17. ChatGPT and the like can also correct code, provide optimization suggestions, and explain what each line of code is doing.

New York University Leonard N. Stern School of Business Professor Panos Ipeirotis also made a similar suggestion in an X post on Oct. 17. 

Screenshot from X post by professor Panos Ipeirotis on Oct. 17. Source: X/@ipeirotis

However, Stack Overflow is working on its own answer to OpenAI’s ChatGPT in the form of “Overflow AI,” announced in July.

The goal is to introduce new features to leverage Stack Overflow's community knowledge to power AI that provides developers with personalized, trustworthy solutions. Chandrasekar concuded.

“As we refine our focus, priorities, and strategy it's to better meet the demands of our users, customers, and partners as part of this commitment to product innovation and the continued momentum of OverflowAI.”

Cointelegraph contacted Stack Overflow for comment but was referred back to the Oct. 16 announcement.

Related: How AI is changing crypto: Hype vs. reality

In related news, the Coinhouse crypto exchange has also axed 15% of its workforce according to reports.

The 2015-founded French exchange has laid off 10 of its 70 employees citing “reduced enthusiasm for Web3 and a fragile global economic environment.”

Earlier this month French hardware wallet provider announced a 12% staff reduction.

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