For its conference for blockchain developers at the Gaîté Lyrique, Ledger commissioned Bonjour Lab for a monumental Web3-inspired artwork. Here's how we came up with a market-driven generative art exhibition.
In this gallery, eight cryptocurrencies: Bitcoin, Ethereum, Polygon, Solana, Cosmos, Polkadot, Tezos and Avalanche are figured as virtual sculptures whose shape fluctuates in real time according to their market activity.
Through its eclectic forms and materials, the series gives a glimpse of the effervescence and diversity of the crypto ecosystem, enhanced by a scenography of massive LED screens. The artworks are generated and recorded every twenty minutes to be offered to participants as a unique NFT timelapse.
↳ Polkadot sculpture (200×200 cm)
↳ Close-up on buy and sell data
At the coin level, the values of purchases and sales are retrieved from its blockchain to proportionally add and remove matter on a raw 3D model. This modeling behavior is defined by procedural techniques to ensure an interesting and original sculpture whatever the market activity, the result will be more or less imposing depending on the volume and number of transactions of the represented currency.
↳ Bitcoin and Ethereum sculptures
Besides offering visitors a contemplative space, the exhibition is also a meeting and discussion point on the sidelines of the conferences and the Ledger showroom. In the evening, it switches to dark mode to contribute to the party and concert atmosphere and to offer an alternative interpretation of the sculptures.
↳ Switch to dark mode
↳ Raymarching prototype
Process
In order to realize dynamic sculptures, the project relies on raymarching, a rendering technique in which a volume is defined as a signed distance field (SDF) that allows us to know the distance between a position and the closest part of its surface. Since this technique is based on volumetric data, it can be used to merge or subtract shapes from each other without having to process the vertices of a traditional 3D object.
↳ Corridor of the Gaîté Lyrique
– Credits
Jean-Philippe Jacquot · Lead
Alexandre Rivaux · Technical direction, look development
Benjamin Menager · Art direction
Hugo Bruvry · Design, 3D, development
Florian Coppier · Modeling, texturing
Backend development
Project management
Audiovisual engineering