Generative Art X Skateboarding

Inspired by artists using code, I had the idea to intertwine generative art with skateboarding. This is Roll Forever #52

Nov 08, 2023

Roll Forever #52 is a collaborative generative art piece within a visual aerial collection by Pablo Aple, Roman Panich and me. This brings together two of my favorite things skateboarding & generative art.

What is Generative art?

These artworks are created using algorithms with code, where the artist sets the rules, and a computer generates the artwork within those coded constraints. These outputs introduce an element of randomness and unpredictability into the creative process, resulting in a wide range of unique and evolving creations. Using code can be used in various forms, such as visual art, music, literature, and interactive installations.

Meridian by Matt Deslauriers

“When an generative artist releases a collection on the blockchain, you get to participate with a hidden reveal. This process is shared by artist, collector, and community at the same moment, together. When you purchase your receiving a unique, one-of-a-kind piece from that algorithm that the artist coded.” — Art Blocks

Roll Forever

July 17th 2021, I was camping up in Idlewild, California and came up with this idea to film a skaters line in a pool with a drone and getting it to loop seamlessly, as if the clip never stops. This perspective looked unreal on screen; the shadow play, the environmental elements like birds, trains, and how a skater approaches a certain angle of the pool. Some of these pools are the 80's American dream. Masterpieces left abandoned. Each pool handcrafted with a story — The Roll Forever collection will have a total of 100 different pool lines.

#1 Paul O’Hara collected by Tyler Hobbs

The Pool?

In October 2001, I discovered a pool shaped like a question mark. It was an early '90s classic skatepark built by Purkiss Rose in Westminster, CA. When I imported Roman Pabich's line, I kept looking at the lower part of the unfilled pool and imagined water flowing through it. I reached out to Pablo Alpe to see if we could incorporate the concept of fluid movement through his generative art.

The Process»

Working with real-time generative art is always a captivating experience. However, not all footage is immediately suitable for algorithm analysis. To make the footage compatible, I had to adjust some of its original levels before proceeding to the tracking phase. For tracking, I employed optical flow. Optical flow is the pattern of motion of objects, surfaces, and edges in a visual scene, caused by the relative movement between an observer and that scene. After obtaining the motion pattern, I utilized a custom GLSL shader to transform it into fluid-moving pixels. These pixels are then instanced as particles in the final output. — Pablo Alpe

Roll Forever #52 — Pablo Alpe & Roman Pabich

Release Date: November 15th - 10am PST

Auction duration: 24 hours

Starting price: 0.0 ETH

All bidder's will be rewarded with an future edition in “The Fakie Files"

Auction page: View here

(A huge thank you to Whitelights.eth for creating this dynamic component with a click of a button to switch back in forth through each video).

Behind the scenes » Roll Forever

The idea to make these loop continuously sounded simple, but I had no idea it would take me countless hours of trial and error to achieve what I envisioned. To make these lines loop forever the skater has to land the line twice in a row and hopefully ride over the same exact spot, in the same exact way so it blends seamlessly. The ghost trail is worst situation, almost 25% of the lines will never be used. The drone is constantly shifting in the air, so the 1st frame of the video and the last frame need to match up perfect so the line will loop. The last part is masking around the skater or the pool so everything is frozen. Each video is like a new puzzle to complete.

If your not familiar with Roman check out his part below.. Ruling on and off a board!!

The Collections »

Over the last 2 years, I’ve been surrounded by the most creative people and constantly inspired by the detail that goes into creating these artworks. I decided to put together a gallery, and while there are numerous artworks I wanted to include, these some of my favorite generative pieces from the vault. View the gallery

How to get started?

First, you’ll need a digital wallet: https://metamask.io/

When you get your wallet setup, don’t store your password & seed phrase on your phone. Treat it like a passport and keep this info in a safe place.

Next, you’re going to need some Ethereum (ETH) which is a digital currency. Coinbase is a good place to purchase ETH with your local currency and sending it to your digital wallet Ethereum address.

Head over to the Roll Forever collection page. Connect your digital wallet to the exchange and you can participate in the auction. Please shoot me a message if you need any help getting started.

Introductions to digital ownership:

Proof Podcast by Kevin Rose

Storing Value in Digital Objects by Derek Edwards

Why Love Generative art? by Jason Baily