MELANCHOLIA is a library of dynamic text-image compositions stored and generated entirely on the blockchain. Each composition reappropriates an historical print from a master of its era and transforms it.
Compositions are recorded in the smart contract as "entries" with the following information.
- ID
- Title
- Artist
- Source
Each entry is accompanied by a set of rendering settings that affect the braille outputs and are displayed on the individual page of each composition.
- Crop (left/right, top/bottom)
- Scale (source and braille grid)
- Contrast
- Brightness
- Gamma
- Threshold
- Blur
- Sharpen
The "source" is an image link found on a public database. The image is fed into the drawing system alongside the settings and the output is rendered as an HTML page. The source image is never touched or modified.
The assumed perpetuity of the on-chainness of each composition is put in contradiction with the easily breakable nature of internet links. The responsibility of care and maintenance of the artwork is shared by the artist and the owner (the tender). The information stored on-chain about every composition gives enough details to find another source replace it in the case of a break.
The artist and the owner of each composition are empowered to change the image source link and the rendering settings of each composition at any time and record them on-chain.
Collecting
Compositions are not NFTs, ownership is recorded in the smart contract internally. Collecters may transfer ownership of their compositions to other addresses or list them for sale through the integrated marketplace features. There is a 15% buyer's premium on secondary sales (paid by the buyer, not the seller).
- Supply: 24
- Initial Price: 0.04 ETH
- Network: Ethereum
All compositions can be read, edited, listed, or transferred through the smart contract directly if this site ever goes offline.
Pairs
Compositions were created in pairs to instill thematic, visual, and historical dialogue.
#0, Melencolia, Albrecht Durer, 1514
#1, Saint Jerome in His Study, Albrecht Durer, 1514
#2, The Dragon Devouring the Companions of Cadmus, Hendrick Goltzius, 1588
#3, Hercules Strangling the Nemean Lion, Cornelis Cort, 1563
#4, Big Fish Eat Little Fish, Pieter Bruegel the Elder, 1556
#5, The Temptation of Saint Anthony, Pieter van der Heyden, 1556
#6, Diogenes and Alexander the Great, Pierre Brebiette, c. 1635
#7, The Death of Archimedes, Henri Girardet after Gustave Courtois, 1877
#8, The Tower of Babel, Gustave Dore, 1865
#9, Adam and Eve, Albrecht Durer, 1504
#10, Part of a Magnificent Doorway, Giovanni Battista Piranesi, 1750
#11, Interior of a Metropolitan Church, Etienne-Louis Boullee, c. 1781
#12, The Bewitched Groom, Hans Baldung Grien, c. 1544
#13, The Large Horse, Albrecht Durer, 1505
#14, The Monkey and the Dolphin, Gustave Dore, 1867
#15, Don Quixote and Sancho Setting Out, Gustave Dore, 1863
#16, The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters, Francisco Goya, 1799
#17, Neither More Nor Less, Francisco Goya, 1799
#18, Prometheus Bound, Christian Schussele, c. 1859
#19, Albion Rose, William Blake, c. 1796
#20, David and Goliath, Giovanni Battista Mantovano, 1540
#21, Apollo and Marsyas and the Judgment of Midas, Melchior Meier, 1581
#22, The Skeletons, James Ensor, 1888
#23, The Triumph of Death, Georg Pencz, c. 1539
Links
Smart Contract: 0x8645690Ec882596F9F9fe03B9fE30bd4479538e9
X: Figure31