crystalline work - Art exhibition on Feral File

crystalline work (arctic) is a software artwork in which a virtual robot is sited upon a barren platform at the Arctic North Pole. Using an ice-generation algorithm, the robot performs to create real time crystal patterns, titled “archetypes,” producing 24 unique archetypes per solar day, 168 per week, and 8,760 over an entire solar year. Archetypes include masks, solar crosses, mandalas, stars, trees, snowflakes, and mycelium. The robot also changes color second by second, shifting across the visible light spectrum in real time, from solstice to solstice. The length of time required for a performance’s completion can vary from 20 minutes to over 1 hour. Once an archetype is completed, the robot’s performance is digitally dropped into the Feral File gallery as a unique, dynamic, tokenized 3D Web Graphics Library (WebGL) art piece documenting that solar moment.

Credits. Producer: Werner Poetzelberger, Programmer: Helmut Bressler, Generative Sound Producer: Jonas Hammerer, Engine: Babylon.js, Web Audio: Tone.js 

Drag within the scene to look around. Tap the top-left corner (“F” on keyboard) for full screen on/off. Tap the top-right corner (“R” on keyboard) to rotate the work. Tap bottom-right ("W" on keyboard) to trigger the robot to remake this specific crystalline work in perpetuity. Tap the bottom-left corner (“S” on keyboard) to switch generative vibrational audio on or off.

crystalline work (arctic) is not only a 365-day generative artwork, but also a regenerative work for the environment. 25% of sales revenue is donated to Hometree, a charity committed to restoring a lost 4,000-acre temperate rainforest in Connemara, Ireland. For each collected day of the robot's performance, 33 trees will be planted — which equates to 231 trees per week and 12,045 trees per year.

Trees planted to date: 12,012.

Trees counted as of 12 October 2026, 05:27 UTC (Ethereum block 26,174,289).

crystalline performances are tokenized on the Ethereum blockchain, priced at $100 per work (~0.026 ETH at the time of sale’s start), and can be purchased using a credit card or ETH. Purchases made by credit card require an accompanying Ethereum wallet address to receive the artwork. The Feral File app provides the easiest method to open a new wallet address, receive your artwork(s), and enjoy your art in day-to-day life. Works will be available sequentially from launch on the Summer Solstice of 2024. Once collected, a placeholder will sit in the collector's wallet until the work itself is performed by the robot, after which the artwork metadata will update with a recording of the performance. Works can be collected individually or collected and watched in greater numbers through a process called “stringing.”

Collectors will receive a placeholder NFT upon purchase. Once the work is performed by the robot, the token will be updated to reflect the software artwork’s attributes and unique performance.

For collectors who would like to view the public performance of their work on FeralFile.com, the naming system indicates approximately when your work will occur. For example, if the title of your work is crystalline work (arctic) 1.2.3.4:

• indicates the position of — and approximate hour into the day — of your performance (1-24)
• indicates the number of rays your unique archetype will include
• indicates how many days into the 365-day performance the work will be performed
• indicates the crystalline year (0 for APs, 1 for all collected works)

The artist recommends collecting and displaying the artworks in groups of 24 — based on the solar day — but has made it possible to collect individual works at a more accessible price point. gerrard hopes collectors will string multiple works together using the Feral File app, which can stream them to a local screen.