FEATURED #2 — CSRSNT-DAAI by Caesuras
Featured is where we celebrate seminal collections on the Tezos Blockchain. Here, we highlight distinctive narratives and innovative creative practices, inviting you to explore (new) works. In this article, we feature CSRSNT-DAAI by Caesuras (Casey REAS).
CSRSNT-DAAI-128-of-128
CSRSNT-DAAI and CSRSNT-CAAI
CSRSNT-DAAI is a generative art collection by Caesuras (better known as Casey REAS) comprised of curated, high-definition images – each rendered at 4320 × 4320 pixels and minted as singular editions – with the series insisting on its works being seen as immutable sets. Whether presented as a quartet or in an extended quintet, each CSRSNT-DAAI is derived directly from its corresponding CSRSNT-CAAI antecedent, ensuring that the intrinsic relationship between source and evolution remains traceable. In total, CSRSNT-DAAI consists of 128 unique 1/1 works. Each of these unique works is a set of related images that can be viewed with a custom image viewer.
The architecture of the work
At its foundation, CSRSNT-DAAI leverages carefully composed PNG files that invite dynamic engagement instead of being static images. The lightweight image-viewer code integrated into the project is an invitation to explore the multi-layered compositions at variable resolutions. As the viewer interacts with the work – whether by deliberately pressing a key or by a (spontaneous) click of the mouse – the images reveal hidden corridors and nuances in what initially looks like a static view.
Supporting the exploration is a comprehensive suite of navigational controls. These commands allow the observer to shift focus, zoom into the minutiae, or revel in a random crop. This functionality transforms the act of viewing from passive reception into participatory action. The detailed instructions (see below) embedded within remind us that technology, when harnessed with subtlety, can echo the idea of experiencing a work in its physicality, while preserving the ephemeral nature of digital form.
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MOUSE/TOUCH CONTROLS
Click or touch to see a random image location and release to return to the default view
KEYBOARD CONTROLS
1 — Load CSRSNT-DAAI-###-of-128--1
2 — Load CSRSNT-DAAI-###-of-128--2
3 — Load CSRSNT-DAAI-###-of-128--3
4 — Load CSRSNT-DAAI-###-of-128--4
a — Fit to screen, square
s — Fit to the screen, longest edge
d — Random crop, smooth transition
f — Random crop, jump
g — Full screen
Spacebar — Random crop, one each minute
+ — Zoom in
- — Zoom out
0 — Zoom to 100% and center
Up arrow — Move up
Down arrow — Move down
Left arrow — Move left
Right arrow — Move right
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Casey REAS and the legacy of computational aesthetics
‘Caesuras’ is an auto-correct error for the artist’s name ‘Casey REAS’ and brings together the idea of error and randomness in technical systems. For those less acquainted with Casey REAS’s oeuvre, CSRSNT-DAAI is one of the many chapters in his ongoing narrative of algorithmic research. REAS, whose contributions to the evolution of generative art are seminal, has long interrogated the dialectic between deterministic systems and spontaneous emergence.
Alongside Ben Fry, REAS co-developed Processing, an influential programming language widely used by artists and designers in generative art. In CSRSNT-DAAI, he refines this inquiry, leveraging state-of-the-art programming to articulate a new visual lexicon that is both rigorous and resonant. The collection encapsulates his ability to translate abstract algorithms into tangible, experiential creativity.
Contemporary engagement
CSRSNT-DAAI is an interactive display that challenges the observer to assume a role. Every command ushers in a new perspective and therefore a fresh glance at each work, that is just as dynamic as the code that sustains it.
Through this code, there is an inherent tension between structure and randomness: the precise rendering of each high-resolution image coalesces with an inherent unpredictability engineered by the viewer’s own interactions. The resulting experience is a microcosm of digital art’s potential – a predefined canvas of code, but one where this is not a constraint but an expansive medium in itself, which is all up to you.
In celebrating CSRSNT-DAAI, we want to acknowledge this algorithmic design as both a method and a mode of creative expression. As you navigate its interactive interface and explore the beautifully curated images, you are invited to witness firsthand the literal depth of this collection.
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