Larva Labs Releases Autoglyphs

A seminal event in generative art history stands as April’s release of Autoglyphs by Larva Labs. Considered the first on-chain generative art on the Ethereum blockchain, each unique glyph was created by code running directly on the blockchain, making them self-contained and independent of any central authority.

Matt Hall and John Watkinson’s Autoglyphs were inspired by the pair’s admiration for Sol LeWitt’s Wall Drawings. The famed series would go on to inspire Erick Calderon to launch Art Blocks in November 2020, roughly 18 months after the release of Autoglyphs.

Anyone could generate an Autoglyph by donating 0.2Ξ to the charity 350.org, with a total of 512 glyphs produced before the generator ceased operation. The first long-form generative series on Ethereum was thus directly inspired by the art historical legacy of rules-based systems thinking in Sol LeWitt. Its primary sales went to charity. Thus, as with the invention of NFTs themselves, the roots of long-form generative remain distant from the speculative mania and unsavory associations that would later plague NFTs broadly.

Critically, Autoglyphs helped establish the concept that artwork and ownership details could be embedded on blockchains, ensuring long-term and public provenance. This project forever stands as a unique, critical link between the legacy of Conceptualism and systems-based thinking and where we stand today with on-chain art.