Jardín #452

MARCH 2ND, 2022

Crypto moves fast, and a week can be a year. Despite still being a new platform, experienced individuals are already beginning to rise to the top. Often NFT newcomers have trouble determining what NFTs to invest in, left to scouring Twitter for advice and hype to decide what to purchase. It is important to find individuals who have been there before and know the space. “This is not financial advice” and “DYOR” but here are some notable collections to begin your journey on f(x)hash.

SMOLSKULL #1974

ASCII-SMOLSKULL #384

SMOLSKULL-FLAG #682

3D-SMOLSKULL #40

SMOLSKULLS has become the undisputed PFP of FX Hash in just a few months. They are an iconic collection on FX Hash and are used widely as PFPs on crypto Twitter. They are instantly recognizable and have a very active and enthusiastic collector base. One important feature to note is that the smolskulls are entirely code-based. The skulls are a true code-based generative art project rather than layering pngs as we see with many pfp projects. They do a beautiful job of straddling the generative art and pfp worlds.  

Mark Kool released three variations of the SMOLSKULL family. The OG skulls (project #14), ASCII-SMOLSKULLS (#355), and 3D-SMOLSKULLS (#1901). The OG skulls and ASCII skulls are the most desirable amongst the collections. A new collector to FX Hash would be wise to consider collecting the original skulls as well as taking a look at the ASCII-SMOLSKULLS. The investment thesis for the original smolskull collection is that as a very early drop on the platform, they will increase historical value over time. The collection size of 2,000 makes them ideally suited to have a broad distribution as a generative art pfp. As of this writing, the unique wallets holding OG skulls are just under 800 wallets. One thing to keep in mind when making a smolskull purchase is that certain traits are much more valuable than a “rarity score.”  Usually, the most valuable skulls are not those with the highest rarity rank. There is a very active smolskull channel on the FX Hash discord where a new collector could learn more about the project and help decide which smolskull is right for them.  

The most prized skulls so far have been the “grays.”  As indicated by the name, those are the gray-colored skulls. The other traits to look for are the “gradients.”  Those would be skulls where the eye color has several different color gradients. The most expensive examples are the 5 tier gradients followed by 4, 3, and 2 color gradients. Other valuable skulls to collect are those with 3d glasses (one eye red, one blue). Other features to look for are the punisher face (looks like the punisher character) and the MF Doom-style skull, which has the huge mouth trait with an opening at the bottom. There is also a lot of collector interest in the green skulls (also known as limebois) as some platform whales, notably Zancan, have collected those. Finally, the most important thing to keep in mind is choosing a skull you vibe with. If you like it, chances are somebody else will as well.

Waiting in Afton #12

Waiting in Afton #1

Waiting in Afton #20

Jardín #361

Jardín #54

Mjlindow is another artist who has a massive following among FX Hash collectors. It’s hard to pick one collection as all of his drops are impressive. His collection, Waiting in Afton, might be the grail of grails amongst the FX Hash collections to date. The floor price has generally ranged between 4.5k-10k XTZ, and there are rarely more than 6 or 7 pieces for sale. There is an interesting backstory on the inspiration behind Waiting in Afton, and if someone were ready to invest in the piece, it would be worth reading up on the background to that collection. Another collection worth exploring at a more accessible price point would be his genesis drop Jardin. This would provide a more affordable entry point to owning a piece by Mjlindow with a current floor price below 100 XTZ. Jardin is inspired by traditional maze gardens and has elegant color palettes and textures. It’s one of the favorites amongst OG collectors from FX Hash and has been mentioned and collected by some big names in the NFT world. Notably, Zeneca and Jaime Musings from Two Bored Apes have spent some time covering that collection on their podcast.

Loom #16

Loom #3

Loom #20

Concrete #546

Andreas is another iconic artist on FX Hash. His first drop Loom is arguably the most loved of his two drops. This collection uses four different color palettes, each inspired by a well-known 20th-century artist. 1) Anni was inspired by Anni Albers (1899-1994. Probability of that palette occurring is 50%. 2) Sophie was inspired by Sophie Taeuber-Arp (1889-1943). The probability for that palette is 30%.  3) Gunta inspired by Gunta Stolzl (1897-1983) probability 19%. 4) Hilma inspired by Hilma af Klint (1862-1944).  The probability of that palette is just 1%. Hilma would generally represent the most expensive pieces in the collection, and usually, Anni palettes would be the most affordable. The floor price for Loom is currently around 390 XTZ. The outputs from the collection are pretty striking. 

If the 390 XTZ floor for Loom is out of reach, his other collection, “Concrete,” is another awe-inspiring achievement with a much more accessible price point of roughly 40 XTZ.  Here is the description for Concrete from Andreas  “640 unique sketches of imaginary walls, inspired by the work of Norwegian architect Erling Viksjø (1910–1971) and his artist collaborators. Viksjø designed the Government Quarter in Oslo and invited artists from different disciplines to help develop the facades and interiors of the buildings.

Viksjø aimed to “soften” modernist architecture. He invented «Natural Concrete», a type of concrete that deliberately exposes the mixed-in stones on its surface to give it warmth and a human touch. I have similar ambitions in my work—using code instead of concrete.

The different styles of the piece are inspired by and dedicated to some of the artists who worked together with Viksjø: Jakob Weidemann (~2%), Carl Nesjar (~18%), Odd Tandberg (~30%), and Tore Haaland (~50%).”  

The outputs from this collection are pretty striking, and it’s pretty impressive how the code-based project was able to mimic the textures and subtle color variations of concrete structures. Andreas is definitely a generative artist to keep an eye on. 

RGB Elementary Cellular Automaton #2

RGB Elementary Cellular Automaton #1

RGB Elementary Cellular Automaton #20

RGB Elementary Cellular Automaton #12

RGB Elementary Cellular Automaton #19

Ciphrd is the founder of the platform and another community favorite amongst FX Hash collectors. His drops to date have all been quite extraordinary, but if you had to choose one collection by Ciphrd to own, a good choice would be RGB Elementary Cellular Automation  (collection #2). This was the third drop for the platform  (the genesis drop started at #0), and RGB was the first drop that wasn’t a Logo. Being collection #2 and created by the founder, many people draw comparisons from a collectible/investment point of view to Squiggles by Snowfro of Art Blocks. Along that same line of thinking, one could consider collection #0, “Generative Logo,” a good investment. So far, there has been a clear preference for collecting RGB, which has a floor price of roughly 800 XTZ. The outputs are pretty interesting, ranging from large to tiny pixels. Some of the most prominent collectors on the platform hold many RGBs, and it’s generally considered a “must-have collection” for serious FX Hash collectors. 

Rounding out the top 5 artists and collections to watch is a tough call. There is so much fantastic art available on FX Hash it’s quite challenging to pick just 5. Sequence by Hevey art, Hypergiraffe from Piter Pasma, and Contrapuntos by msoriaro are worth careful consideration. Price points on those start at roughly 100 XTZ for Sequence, 190 XTZ for Contrapuntos, and 500 XTZ for Hypergiraffe