This article is part of the #30NFTArtists30days series, where I write a daily newsletter edition about a different NFT creator during March 2022. Consider getting a premium subscription to support my writing journey ✌️
Today’s NFT artist is a programmer and an abstract creator who has released multiple FxHash collections under the 0x umbrella. Pifragile released six collections in this series, and “0xVier” is the most popular up to date. It sold out in less than 2 minutes (!) and was inspired by abstract painter Frederick Hammersley. Although he considers himself a novice, he has found strong reception and established an unmistakable style - something many up-and-coming creators struggle with.
How did you discover NFTs?
I was interested in crypto for quite some time and heard about CryptoKitties in 2017 and I was actually making fun of that by the time. In the beginning of 2020 I heard that NFTs were getting hot and I thought that I could make a quick buck out of it.
So I started hacking together some flashy GIFs with python. After months of a lot of work I had to give up the idea of fast money, I had sold almost nothing. But creating generative art felt really good, regardless of the money, it was - and still is - really fun and rewarding work, because it gives a whole new dimension to the normally pretty dry coding world.
Can you tell me a bit about your creation process?
What works best for me is to start with a clear vision, but always be open to changing the path along the way. Allowing myself to make mistakes is also important because in the unexpected lies a lot of potential. If I run out of ideas, what helps me is to randomize some core parameters of my code and see what surprises I can find.
I have a very analytical mind, so this journey into the unknown that starts with each project is something I really had to learn and am still learning.
Who are your favorite NFT artists, and why?
Shvembldr's work really fascinates me because of its very distinct style and fascinating complexity. When looking at a piece you get the feeling that there were quite some cpu cycles involved to get this output, so this is really generative art at its finest to me.
Also, I would like to mention Andreas Rau. Loom was one of the first projects that I saw when I first came to fxhash and I really liked it because it is visually simple and appealing but still quite sophisticated in the details.
His latest work - 0xSaechs - was inspired by the works of Gary Andrew Clarke and is a continuation of 0xVier.
How did you come up with the “0x” name for this series?
0x is the prefix for a hexadecimal number and I really like the vibe of it because it has this techy touch. Eis, Zwei, Drue, Vier, Foif, Saechs is One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six in Swiss german. I like systems like this because they make your life easier and provide some structure.
When I asked him about his future NFT plans, he said he is working on more complex autonomous systems. He isn’t clear when it will be ready, but the launch will come after the FxHash official launch (On the 1st of April, 2022, FxHash will launch a new smart contract on Tezos that will end their Beta platform).
I love my abstract series but I also have this great desire to create more complex works, really taking advantage of the full computing power available. my tree series as well as my flower series are my first attempts at doing exactly this.
Don’t forget to follow pifragile on his Twitter account and check out his website updates.
Until next time,
Kaloh
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