The Nursery is Sputniko’s first edition of 100 NFTs, a collection of time-based generative art which simulates the organic growth and emergence of life forms. Following her own recent experience of giving birth to her first child, Sputniko worked with creative coder Misaki Nakano to explore creating pieces inspired by the experience of watching her daughter grow over time. The resultant abstract, flower-like forms will slowly change their shape and form over a period of a year. One hundred of these pieces will be ‘born’ when minting begins at Bright Moments London.

Coding Growth

Shape

When conceiving of a form for these ‘growing’ art pieces, Sputniko and Misaki opted for a bud-like shape each with their own unique DNA: different combinations of petal colours, traits from “frill”, the spaces between the different layers of the bud, to “petal” - the number of layers themselves.

Movement

Designing the algorithm for this growth relied on setting each piece to reach a point of maturity within their own time span of growth and this varies for each piece within a set range. Each bud-like shape will slowly unfurl over a period of 48 to 56 weeks until it reaches full ‘bloom’.

Colour

The changing, abstract forms - reminiscent of the unfurling of flowers, the translucency and buoyancy of jellyfish and cellular division - aim to express the mysterious and enigmatic process of the growth and evolution of living forms. Their different colour palettes, inspired by the idea of each one possessing different personalities, further reflect the uniqueness of each piece.

Beyond the Screen

As part of Bright Moments London, audiences will have the unique experience of viewing this work in the context of a physical exhibition. In an immersive space, in which these pieces are projected onto the surrounding soft, curved surfaces, audiences are invited to witness the ‘growth’ of the time-based pieces under The Nursery’s care.

A Culture of Care

The Nursery also seeks to speak to the over-commodification of the contemporary NFT art landscape. By creating generative pieces that slowly and uniquely change through a period of development, The Nursery examines how the temporal and emergent qualities of generative art may alter how we respond to them as witnesses to this coded growth.