DISCLAIMER: This is an experimental collection. Please make sure the generator works on your system before proceeding to purchase. Use a desktop device to mint, mobile browsers are not supported.

PRICE NOTE: Blockchain transaction fee of around 8 XTZ will be added to the above stated minting price. Make sure you have at least 15 XTZ in your wallet before you proceed to mint.

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What is the opposite of generative art?

Gretchen Andrew’s new painting series Facetune Portraits, exhibited with fxhash as a Berlin Art Week featured exhibition, was inspired by the conceptual and cultural investigation of generative art. With generative art entering the art world consciousness in 2021, Gretchen was curious as to how defining its opposite might deepen the critical engagement with generative code. If generative art uses randomness to create with algorithms, what might it mean to be destroyed by them? What relationship does generative art have to the inflicted sameness we are experiencing everywhere from our social media feeds to our furniture?

Facetuning are AI-driven algorithmic filters applied intentionally on platforms like TikTok and Zoom that compress human diversity into a single look, a single expression of the human face. Gretchen’s painting series explores this homogenizing process and has caught critical attention in exhibitions including Berlin, Paris and Miami. But what is the solution? fxFacetune pairs these filters with generative art, turning a tool of conformity into a celebration of difference and creative variety.

Store your face on-chain. Experience on your own face the contrast between who AI says you should be and the endless possibilities of generative art.

Gretchen Andrew X {protocell:labs}

2024

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fxFacetune is an experimental generative art collection inspired by Gretchen Andrew’s painting series Facetune Portraits. During minting, collectors upload an input image of their face, which is stored on-chain and serves as the artwork’s base. Face and background are detected in real-time from the input image. The algorithm then uses the detected facial features to generate three faces: original, distorted and tuned, cycling between them in a perpetual loop.

The minting interface guides collectors through this process. The input image is first compressed using a custom JPEG algorithm, encoded as Unicode ideographs, and finally stored on the Tezos blockchain in a single transaction. This 31.5 kB of on-chain data is used to reconstruct the face image every time the artwork is viewed in a browser.

Each wallet is assigned 100 unique seeds for minting, allowing collectors to influence effects such as brush type and background color. Detailed instructions are provided on the left side of the minting interface.

Key controls:
s -> export PNG image (current output scale)
i -> export info card (4000 x 4000 pix)

Crafted with p5.js and ml5.js

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Minting Instructions
1. Press any key to open the drop screen.
2. Drop an image of your face in the middle of the screen - it will automatically be cropped, resized and centered.
3. WAIT for all parameters to load - OK will show up beside the parameter name.
4. NOTE: Green dots show the detected background of the image. If you see green dots covering the face as well, it means the background was NOT DETECTED PROPERLY (often the case on a first try). In this case, just REDROP the same image again and it should solve the problem.
4. Choose seed number - 100 unique seeds are available for every wallet.
5. Click Refresh to see the final artwork with your face and effects applied.
6. If you want to change the effects (background / brush color and brush type), select a different seed and click Refresh again.
7. When you are happy with the outcome, click Mint to mint your artwork. A fee of 8 XTZ will be added on top of the minting price as a transaction fee.