Concept

Metamorphosis I (M1) is a landscape that endlessly translates, scales, and rotates its elements over time. Unlike static digital art, where the end result is the focus, M1 emphasizes the transformation itself, designed with subtle details for the observer to deconstruct.

The animation is built with the concept of a perfect loop, which refers to an animation sequence that seamlessly repeats without a noticeable beginning or end, creating a continuous and fluid motion.

In M1 there's a unique twist: while the looping sequence remains unchanged, the starting and ending points of the loop can mutate on every iteration, yielding a system that never repeats itself, despite being always in repetition.

M1 is also a visualizer of Ethereum network traffic. You can enable this mode via the parameters. When active, blocks will move faster if traffic is low, and slower when the network is busier.

Controls

There are many controls that let you customize your piece. To access them, use the following basic shortcuts:

• shift + i: show information
• shift + p: show parameters
• shift + s: show status

Inspiration

I have always been fascinated by paradoxes, infinity, and self-reference. Few have accomplished as much in the visual arts on these topics as M.C. Escher, one of the most well-known and inventive Dutch artists. M1 is heavily inspired by his fantastic creations, and particularly his homonymous trilogy.

Parameters

Here an overview of all available parameters. Detailed information is always available within the piece, by using the basic shortcuts described above in "Controls".

Aspect ratio

You may choose common ratios from the parameters panel or use the shortcuts above. The default is adaptive, which fits the piece dynamically to the current screen size.

Colors

The color palette is defined on mint time and may not be changed, but you can always customize how to use color in the piece. You can enable/disable color mutation, which morphs the colors along transformations. There are three different color modes to choose from:

1. Solid
2. Texture
3. Gradient

You can also rotate the colors within the palette. There are five different rotations, named from A to E in the menu.

Transformation

A speed multiplier is available in parameters to alter the speed of transformation. If you want that the transforms create a perfect loop, you must disable mutation.

Mutation

While transforms create a perfect loop, mutation is an optional extra step that mutates the landscape to produce never-ending variations. It is enabled by default.

Mutations work in cycles. A cycle is a full loop-sequence. You can choose after how many cycles a mutation takes place. You can also alter the speed of the mutation, and the magnitude of the mutation.

Playback

The animation can be played or stopped, and can run in four different modes. "Full" is the default.

`1. Full: all loop segments plus mutation.

1. Custom: selected segment animated.
2. Discrete: selected segment static.
3. Mutation: mutation only.

Note that a "segment" is one of the steps in a loop. Segments are counted from zero.

Traffic mode

A visualization of the Ethereum network's current activity level. When activated, it overrides all playback settings; the busier the network is, the slower the blocks move. Traffic mode works with real-time network data, typically displaying "live" on the status panel. However, excessive queries can cause an "on mint" status, indicating potential data unreliability. Downtime may occur. Please try later for live data access.

You can change the axis and direction of motion within traffic mode.

Performance

Metamorphosis I requires a capable GPU to run at 60fps. If the animation is not smooth, try to adjust System and Shadows settings in the parameters. You may have unexpected results running on mobile. Be mindful that the pieces were composed for a large screen and modern hardware.

System

If the piece is throttling your computer you may disable rendering. You can also tweak the frame-rate to optimize performance, and disable Ethereum queries to prevent rate limits if necessary.

Shadows

Calculating high-quality shadows is computationally expensive. You may change the shadow type to "hard" for a cheaper alternative. If you want to change the quality you can go from "medium", to "ultra", if your system can handle it.

Exporting

I made Metamorphosis I for the digital realm. It is meant to be animated, running in real-time. It is not intended as a static piece.

However, if you must, two high quality options for snapshots are available: 4k and 8k. Use the buttons in the parameters or the shortcuts described at the beginning. Be aware that due to web limitations, exporting at 8k results in nine different parts of the image, which you can then stitch together in your software of choice.

If you would like to have a high quality video render of your piece please get in touch.