‍Neel Shivdasani is an Atlanta-based artist and technologist who splits his time between leading AI innovation at the media software company Automattic and creating generative art. With a professional background including stints at top digital publishing and e-commerce platforms, Shivdasani’s expertise in technology is certainly undeniable. But his true creative passion is pushing the boundaries of what’s possible using code as an artistic medium.

Shivdasani’s first collection, “Tropism,” dropped on OpenSea in 2021. During Marfa Art Blocks Weekend, he debuted “Motion Pictures,” a 100-item collection that turns animated art into a tactile, interactive experience both on-screen and in print. The artworks themselves are like flipbooks reinvented for the digital age, deconstructed into digital “slices” that are layered on top of one another and movable with the viewer’s cursor. 

Inspired by the “Poemotion” series by Japanese artist Takahiro Kurashima, “Motion Pictures” modernizes the concept of using paper and film to create animations. Users can interact with the collection and tweak animations using a touchscreen, MIDI controller, or keyboard. The pieces can also be printed in a 6x9 format.

This interview took place at the lounge at the Thunderbird Marfa during Marfa Art Blocks Weekend, where Shivdasani opened up about his creative process, the tools he uses, and how the tight-knit energy of Marfa rekindles his excitement to share his work with the world.

‍Note: This transcript has been edited for length and clarity.

OpenSea: What initially drew you to generative art?

Neel Shivdasani: I was drawn to generative art because I’ve always liked art, but I never really felt like I had the skills to create it myself. About ten years ago, I started seeing people making art with code and math. Since I was a coder and a math person, that really connected with me. Then one day, I stopped writing code at work and realized how much I missed it. I thought, “This is the time for me to start making art with code.” So I began exploring the creative side of it, and that was maybe six years ago.

OpenSea: You just had a drop on Art Blocks. Can you tell us about the new collection and the break you took between projects?

Neel Shivdasani: Yeah! It’s called “Motion Pictures.” It’s actually my first release in three years. My previous release was also on Art Blocks; that was three years ago.

“Motion Pictures” is based on what’s called a barrier-grid animation technique. It’s essentially six frames of an animation interlaced on a page. You move a film over it, and the animation comes to life on paper. I was inspired by a book I saw called “Poemotion.” I came across it in a museum shop about ten years ago, and I’ve always been interested in creating a generative version of it because I thought it was something that hadn’t really been done before. I’m really excited about it. But, as I mentioned, it’s been three years since my last release. At that time, I was doing a lot more art and releasing more online, but it was also a really intense period for me. I was working at a startup, and trying to fully engage with the art scene left me feeling burned out. I decided to take a break, focus on my career, and give myself breathing room. I still made art during that time but without the pressure of needing to put it out into the world. When the time felt right, I was really excited about “Motion Pictures” and proud of the work I’d done, so I decided to release it. And honestly, there’s no better place to share it than here in Marfa, surrounded by friends, people I’ve known for years, and other artists who really appreciate the work.

OpenSea: What about the Marfa community feels special to you as an artist?

Neel Shivdasani: Marfa is a special place. I think it’s special on its own, but this weekend — the Art Blocks Weekend in Marfa — is particularly unique. I’ve never had a bad time meeting up with any of these people. I spend most of my time talking to artists, but as someone who hasn’t released anything in a while, I don’t interface as much with collectors and industry folks. It’s always so refreshing, though. Everyone here is for the same thing. Everyone appreciates the same sorts of things. People I’ve just met feel like best friends here, and it all happens in this surreal setting that feels almost like a Martian landscape. It’s 80 degrees during the day, 30 degrees at night, and apparently, there’s a tarantula swarm that comes through town once a year. It’s a really strange place filled with strange people, and I’m so glad they’ve welcomed me. 

OpenSea:  Love that. Hate the tarantulas — love the rest of it! So what helps you get into a creative flow state?

Neel Shivdasani: When I need to get creative momentum going and get into my flow state, the best thing for me is to create a list of small tasks related to my project or work and just knock them out. I pick small, easy things where I can make progress, make small changes, and explore a few variables or parameters that I might adjust.

When I don’t have that momentum, the worst thing I can do is pick a big task to start with. It can take a long time, it doesn’t feel rewarding right away, and it can be frustrating if I don’t see success for weeks. On the other hand, when I focus on smaller tasks, I start to feel a sense of progress quickly, and that’s when things start to feel really good. I realize I’m making progress, and I’ll even start subconsciously solving harder problems throughout the day. It has become a natural state for me. That said, sometimes I’ll go days, weeks, or even months without creating art. When that happens, I know the best way to get back into it is to pick a few small tasks that I can complete. I’ll do them, then the same thing the next day, and the next day after that. Before I know it, I feel good, I’m excited about the work, I don’t deprioritize it in my life, and the momentum is back.

OpenSea: How do you decide on the parameters that guide your generative art?

Neel Shivdasani: When I’m starting a project, I don’t always have a specific plan of action. I don’t have set parameters or variables in mind. I usually have a general direction I want to go, something that exists in my head, but it’s often fuzzy or vague.

I try to move toward that idea. I might have a rough thought about how to get there, but it’s almost always the case that where I end up isn’t exactly what I had in mind. Along the way, I discover new, emergent behaviors or techniques I can use.

I often stumble upon unexpected, fun things that turn out to be more interesting than what I originally envisioned. Through that process, I gradually solidify the project and figure out the variations, variables, and parameters it can include.

OpenSea: Do you find yourself constantly revising, or do you know when to walk away?

Neel Shivdasani: For me, the process of making art with code involves constant revision and tweaking. In theory, I never really walk away from my projects. The project I released yesterday on Artblocks, “Motion Pictures,” includes a version of a piece of code that I originally wrote 30 days after I first started making art with code. I began this journey with a personal challenge: to create a new piece of art every day for 30 days. Within that month, I developed my own implementation of GraphSearch, a computational technique, and the project I released yesterday uses that same technique. So that represents about six years of work, constantly revisiting and refining the code over time. 

I find code to be such an interesting medium because it can be copied and modified endlessly. Each project I work on is essentially a tweak or evolution of something I’ve done before. It’s hard to say whether I truly know when a project is finished. In a way, “Motion Pictures” has been in development for six years, even though I only finalized what it would be about six months ago, and then six months before that. Eventually, I decided it was something I was proud of, something ready to be packaged and shared as complete. But I know the code from this project will likely become part of whatever I work on next.

OpenSea: Where can people find you and your work?

Neel Shivdasani: You can find me on my website, neel.sh, on Twitter at @dataneel, and on Instagram at.

OpenSea: Thank you, Neel. This was awesome.

Neel Shivdasani: Thank you so much. This was a pleasure.