IS CRYPTOGRAPHICS FANTASTIC?
MARCH 16TH, 2022
I love when a piece of art tech gets me excited. So let’s give Cryptographics a test drive.
What is Cryptographics – you say (with your UNDRGRND reader voices).
Cryptographics is: a fully decentralized digital art creation platform that allows users to create, store and trade unique randomly generated digital artwork on the blockchain.
The concept of Cryptographics (a generation tool powered by Ethereum and IPFS) had me at “hello.” How it works is – users can upload assets to the platform, and through the process of randomness, they can create a one-of-a-kind piece, aka ‘cryptographic’ - that they can store and trade on the blockchain as unique ERC-721 tokens.
I’m not kidding either; here’s a gallery overview of what’s already been created via the Cryptographics platform.
To break it down, creators are cryptographic authors. They select, buy, and use asset packs to generate unique, randomly generated digital artwork and claim ownership by storing them on the blockchain - to keep or sell.
How collectors come in: They purchase and collect the cryptographics mentioned above, either as a unique collection of their own - or trade them as unique digital collectibles on the Gallery marketplace.
Ok, enough of me babbling on like a second-rate auctioneer on too much Adderall. The proof is in the blockchain pudding. Let’s create some digital art – and give the platform a test drive.
So, there are several pages of Asset Packs to choose from - to facilitate the generated artwork process. That’s great if you want to use someone else’s assets to create a digital collage.
All roads then lead you to the Cryptographics composer.
Directions: Use the + button above to add more asset packs or change your selection. Click the asset pack and remove it from the selection.
Once you compose a unique variation that you like, simply click Next to save it and claim ownership.
The skinny is – you select one (or several) asset packs that have already been uploaded – and you click ‘recompose’ – and it generates a new piece of random artwork based on the selected artwork in the packs. It allows you to add a white border – feature the composed work as a square. Then, you save the final composition to the blockchain.
My reaction: okay.
That’s fine and dandy. But it seems like the fun of Cryptographic – is utilizing your own visuals to upload to the platform to create the blockchain artwork.
Let’s give that a spin. I go to Cryptographic’s Select Assets page – and I upload the following:
A photo of:
Two cute puppies
An Applebee’s
A Russian tank at the Ukraine border
Elon Musk
A big eyed Keane painting
Once the pack is uploaded – you then connect to your crypto wallet – and it uploads your asset pack to the IPFS.
And bam, you’re good to go with next-level unique, randomly generated digital artwork. (Note: you will have to pay a gas fee.)
Overall Takeaway: Do I applaud the concept of a platform that allows users to create unique randomly generated digital artwork? Yes. But I think this concept is still in its baby shoes phase – though I see a lot of potential for where this can go. Once again, it’s putting artists in the driver’s seat - by giving them access to creative tools and the possibility to sell the final product.