Erick / Snowfro / 🦩 / LAO / #️⃣ / 🔴

Founder of @artblocks_io. Creator of the Squiggle. Art + Blockchains keep me busy. Shoutout to @larvalabs for lighting the fuse.

[Erick / Snowfro / 🦩 / LAO / #️⃣ / 🔴 @ArtOnBlockchain]

Squiggles and Punks @ MoMA

#9681 - Normal donated by @squiggleDAO
#6887 - Slinky donated by an anon collector
#2022 - Fuzzy donated by @gmoneyNFT
#8107 - Ribbed donated by my wife Mara and I
#4436 - Bold donated by @jdh
#1047 - Pipe donated by @VonMises14
#5465 - Hyper donated by an anon collector
#292 - Day 0 Full Spectrum donated by @kukulabanze

Hard to put into words how humbled and proud I am to share that eight Chromie Squiggles have been collected by the MoMA.

What started as a proof of concept for @artblocks_io and the blockchain's ability to generate entropy evolved into something much bigger than I could have ever dreamed of. Squiggles embody my soul as my signature as an artist and a technologist, and I'm grateful to each and every one of you that has ever explored, enjoyed, connected with and even criticized my work as you have all played a role in shaping who I am as an artist.

I appreciate every single one of the (as of the time of this post) 2,861 Squiggle collectors that continue to participate on this journey with me.

Thank you @Sam12_23 and @NiftyFiftyETH and @squiggleDAO for your support, encouragement, coordination, and overall dedication to my work.

Thank you @kukulabanze and @Noahbolanowski and @1OF1_art for so thoughtfully contextualizing my work and putting it forward for consideration.

Thank you to the wonderful collectors noted above that so generously donated their Squiggles.

Thank you @MuseumModernArt for your curiosity and appreciation not just towards the Chromie Squiggle but across the digital medium, over the decades, as a whole. Shoutout to @StuartComer, Michelle Kuo and Christophe Cherix for their vision and support and @mpierpont3 for actively participating in our community on behalf of MoMA over the years. It's a sincere honor to be among the 28,000+ artists in your collection.

Massive congratulations to @matthall2000 and @pents90 as eight @cryptopunks have also been collected by MoMA. I wouldn't be here without your inspiration and contributions and it's a huge honor to be recognized in this moment with you. So happy that Mara and I could play a role in contributing a punk alongside Larva Labs, @CozomoMedici, @judithESSS, @ntmoney, @kukulabanze and @Rhyd0n and happy for the (at the time of this post) 3,791 strong community of fellow Punk collectors plus @nodefnd and @NaughtalieStone as amazing stewards.

Seriously so much to be proud of and excited for.

Grateful for my wife Mara and my kiddos, friends, coworkers, and entire family for being so supportive over the ups and downs of the last few years.

Have so many feelings and so much to say (see my late night ramblings below) but at the end of the day this is a moment for every one of us that's here in this moment and future and I'm just happy to be sharing this experience with all of you.

🫂🫂🫂🫂

[Erick / Snowfro / 🦩 / LAO / #️⃣ / 🔴 @ArtOnBlockchain]

The blockchain is a recording format that captures an ephemeral moment in a permanent, publicly available, interactive and interoperative way aligned with a more democratized permissionless and transparent future.

--

As an early adopter of @ethereum, I had felt that there was something really special in there somewhere. But I couldn't quite put my finger on it. Somewhere inside of this technology was something magical waiting to be chiseled out of a block of stone. Then @matthall2000 and @pents90 launched @cryptopunks and it all clicked for me. The ability to prove authenticity and ownership over something digital. Fuse was lit. Was inspired to build @artblocks_io. Boom.

In the early days of the Punks discord I would often express a gut feeling that these little 24x24 pixel characters would end up in major museums. While I fully recognized at the time how foolish and delusional those statements were, deep down inside, deep in my bones, I truly felt it would happen.

Over the years that conviction grew as I watched a community grow around them in ways that only this technology could facilitate. It was a mixture of technological curiosity, speculation, social signaling, art appreciation, self discovery, and a desire to break out of the confines of what we had always been told art *should* be, and what could be considered art in the first place. All built and expressed in public, among a group of what started as anonymous internet friends and acquaintances that eventually evolved into true human relationships.

We have collectively gone through a lot over the last almost decade. Some massive ups and equally massive downs. Both in crypto/blockchain/web3 and in our everyday lives. We've "grown up", together, watching each other navigate all of this through real life things like people getting married, divorced, children being born, and friends passing. We've bought homes, we've lost homes. We've cheered on the successes of our peers and supported each other through the scams. We've all made mistakes, but we've learned from those mistakes as well.

It's all very real. All of it. It seems insane to even need to type that. But sometimes it feels like we're living a weird ethereal fantasy because often times our world, our jargon, our dialogue and our knowledge is just so far removed from everyday society that it all feels surreal.

What started as just a bunch of internet nerds is, in fact, a massive community of real humans, with real lives, with a shared passion that brings us all together.

AND IT IS INTERESTING.

Not just to us but to society as a whole.

But with all of the conviction that I and many of us have in what we do, the true dopamine hits come not from "number go up" (although admittedly hard to deny the impact) but from validation. Validation that there is something intrinsically valuable and interesting in what we're doing beyond the greed, speculation, and drama.

For me that validation comes in many ways. And most of that validation comes from within this community. Innovation, creativity, shared sense of purpose, builders artists and collectors having active and meaningful dialogue. The fact so many of us are still here after all that's gone down over the years is a true testament that we are doing something net positive and interesting.

But as we evolve beyond this weird little fantasy and echo chamber and acknowledge the reality and humanity of it all, and the outside world starts to understand and appreciate what we're doing beyond this all being just "crypto", it is quite meaningful for me personally to also get validation from outside of our community.

My focus has almost exclusively been on the artistic side of crypto. There are many tools in the Ethereum tool chest but the ones I focus on are the ones that support the durability, distribution, authenticity, and interoperability of artistic expression. And therefore the external validation that makes me and many of us think we may be just a *little* less crazy comes from the cultural institutions. It's the @ZkmKunst, @ToledoMuseum and the @museumartlight, the @theMoodyArts and @LACMA and @BuffaloAKG, @whitneymuseum and @MuseumModernArt plus countless others that have taken the time to see past the noise and the mania and understand that there's something interesting and special happening within our space.

While we have our own institutions evolving and maturing alongside us expanding outwards, others are looking in.

*note in a previous version of this post I attempted to tag a bunch of people but inevitably couldn’t tag everyone and I didn’t want anyone to feel left out so I scrapped it*

And at the end of the day we will all meet somewhere in between. Some form of homeostasis will be reached. Hopefully leaning heavier on our ideals of transparency, democratization, permissionlessness, and access. Blockchain does not solve supply and demand. It doesn't solve power laws. In fact it exacerbates these things. But it does solve for many many things that will continue to make our world a better place. The good far outweighs the bad. Sometimes it's harder to appreciate that than others, but it does.

Anyways, all in due time. But it is happening. It's undeniable. The blockchain is to the digital/generative medium what film was to the lens. And as such its impact on everyday life and society will be significant. It might be slower than our collective hopes and expectations, but it's happening. Zoom out. It's all there.

And if you're still reading this, it's all there in large part because of you.

[Erick / Snowfro / 🦩 / LAO / #️⃣ / 🔴 @ArtOnBlockchain]

Thank you for all the wonderful virtual and IRL birthday wishes. ❤️ I appreciate y’all 🫂.

[Erick / Snowfro / 🦩 / LAO / #️⃣ / 🔴 @ArtOnBlockchain]

@_SWARTX_ @nodefnd Done!

[Erick / Snowfro / 🦩 / LAO / #️⃣ / 🔴 @ArtOnBlockchain]

In honor of the upcoming festivities at @nodefnd I gathered all of the punk/meeb vibes sprites out there into send/receive #426.

View links and details to add yours below...

👇

[Erick / Snowfro / 🦩 / LAO / #️⃣ / 🔴 @ArtOnBlockchain]

Want to add your sprite?

Set your send/receive sprite to a punk or a meeb manually or visit https://t.co/tGGBK5JATr and follow the instructions then when you've set your sprite post your send/receive tokenID below and I'll add it so it will show up on s/r #426 too.

Cheers.

[Erick / Snowfro / 🦩 / LAO / #️⃣ / 🔴 @ArtOnBlockchain]

Visit the live view directly on any TV with a browser:

https://t.co/aAVtoE84w5

Or directly on the @artblocks_io website:

https://t.co/BKc1YtlXHL

👇

[Erick / Snowfro / 🦩 / LAO / #️⃣ / 🔴 @ArtOnBlockchain]

A fun free physical for Punks 🫂 see y’all in a few days.

[OpenSea @opensea]

Something special is coming to @cryptopunks brunch in Palo Alto...

The “Punks Minifigure Lab” by @generativegoods and @ArtOnBlockchain will be featured as part of the experience.

Find your Punk. Customize it. Take it home.

See you there!

[Erick / Snowfro / 🦩 / LAO / #️⃣ / 🔴 @ArtOnBlockchain]

@0xdort Yep I see it show up often and I love it. Was wondering who created it. So good.

[Erick / Snowfro / 🦩 / LAO / #️⃣ / 🔴 @ArtOnBlockchain]

Shit's weird in the world on just about every level but this brought good vibes and I'm grateful for that.

Thank you @chrisguyot and @tyguyot and the entire @goodvibesclub community for including me in the collection. I'm honored.

https://t.co/tgUvGSkOhc

[Erick / Snowfro / 🦩 / LAO / #️⃣ / 🔴 @ArtOnBlockchain]

Far cry from that but for $20-40 this is hard to beat.

Search google/amazon for “holacube” to get the device.

There’s a less expensive one from GeekMagic but they have a plaque/decal in front that I’m not sure can be removed.

Follow instructions to set up the device and pic photo mode (allows gifs).

I rendered all 10k Squiggles to fit the exact specs of the device.

Go to https://t.co/3z486WSdO0{yourSquiggleID}.gif to download your file.

For example for Squiggle #1981 https://t.co/J2s30v8zjX.

🤝

[Erick / Snowfro / 🦩 / LAO / #️⃣ / 🔴 @ArtOnBlockchain]

Hey friends happy new year.

Over the holidays I spent some of my "down time" upgrading the Chromie Squiggle @YouTube live stream.

Now anyone can choose the Squiggle that's broadcast around the globe with a few clicks.

👇

[Erick / Snowfro / 🦩 / LAO / #️⃣ / 🔴 @ArtOnBlockchain]

@0xSimulacrum oh man I was seeing this on the live view can't believe it looks ok in 64x64 pixels but it does! Please keep it and keep broadcasting it it's cooler seeing it as someone else's token appear on my screen. Thanks for participating. and love the bookend motif it's perfect :)

[Erick / Snowfro / 🦩 / LAO / #️⃣ / 🔴 @ArtOnBlockchain]

send/receive update

There are over 1000 tokens configured with a sprite and set to send and over 500 set to receive on the send/receive network.

8968 editions were minted for free over the claim window and I set the final edition size to a clean 10k.

The remaining mints will be used as an onboarding mechanism to introduce on chain interactive and participatory art to new people as I continue on my mission to make what we do around here interesting and compelling to new audiences.

Seeing this many people interact with the work has been super meaningful, and I'm excited to keep expanding on the project over time.

I particularly enjoyed having my kids log into @artblocks with an email which generates a @privy_io embedded wallet and guiding them through the process of purchasing a mint off secondary and configuring it (after I funded the wallet with a bit of ETH).

Once they set it up they ran to the living room where we have a receiving token set up and watched and waited until their's appeared. We sit around and watch the live view often pointing out all the fun sprites but when they saw theirs they got REALLY excited and continue to do so as they walk past it and see their contribution every day.

I think there's something really interesting about all this. Seeing yourself in a networked artwork like this seems to be compelling to folks, and I am excited to watch the network of sprites grow over time. I'm especially excited about the perpetual nature of the work, and the fact that all of the information and logic is on chain in a way where it should continue to operate as long as the @ethereum blockchain continues to produce blocks.

Am also shocked at how cheap the customization of it is. You're storing a lot of info on chain for less than $1. Was always worried about this being on L1 and I know we can't count on this forever but really really pleased with the low cost to participate.

If you have a token and haven't set it up yet just know it's super easy and smooth thanks to the Art Blocks UI that the team built. But if you're still intimidated maybe consider commissioning your favorite pixel artist to create a sprite for you.

Anyways make sure and check into a live view every now and then to see all the sprites that have been created by the community. Change up your send/receive state or swap out your sprite when you're feeling it. I hope you're enjoying the experience of on chain participatory networked art as much as I am.

[Erick / Snowfro / 🦩 / LAO / #️⃣ / 🔴 @ArtOnBlockchain]

Anywho give it a whirl and tell me what you think! Throw the stream up on your living room or hotel room tv. You'll be surprised at how many devices can stream it.

I have it running on my office @SamsungUS TV so I'll see the changes in real time alongside all of you.

Cheers!

[Erick / Snowfro / 🦩 / LAO / #️⃣ / 🔴 @ArtOnBlockchain]

I'm doing a ton of experimentation around physical hardware + Squigs working towards experiencing, sharing and exhibiting Squiggles a much lower lift than before.

Excited to be collaborating with @squiggleDAO and @Pakmanscoop on some fun stuff for 2026 and beyond too :)

👇