Some part of my regular summer fun is seeing what kind of havoc I can wreak on Polaroids. I cut them, scratch them, score them. I inject them, scrape them, sand them. I soak them, push the emulsion around, tear them apart, burn them. I write on them, fold them, glue things to them. You name it and I have probably tried it.  It is destructive creativity at its best, and being destructive it can't be done incorrectly. Anything goes, and it frees me like nothing else. I highly recommend that you give it a whirl yourself.

In the meantime, "Polaroids" offers you the chance to mash up a digital version of one of these little summer keepsakes. First and foremost, the project is an expression of my firmly held belief that we all, regardless of age or condition, need abundant childlike play - play that is joyous, untamed, and apropos of nothing.

The project is also an experiment. It is my first use of the new WYSIWYG feature of fx(params), but what makes it experimental is more than the use of a new technology. I have worked hard to give this algorithm breathing room, room to wander into corners and allow unexpected and serendipitous outputs to emerge. Knowing that the collector could mint the variation of their choice, I did not try to wring out every "bad" output. For someone who won't use ink in her everyday journal for fear of an ugly page, this is truly a step out of the comfort zone.

So, how does "Polaroids" work? In the spirit of what I have already said, it is simple and hopefully lots of fun.

• Use the Randomize Params button to quickly jam up candidate designs.
• Once you see a design that you want to mint, lock the Seed Input param. This will prevent my algorithm from making any further changes to the design as you complete the remaining steps.
• Use the Label param to add some text to your summer keepsake - a title, a mini-poem, an enigmatic phrase - it's up to you what to say (though I urge you to keep it clean). If you don't want to say anything, just remove the random text the generator will have supplied. Lock the Label param.
• Mint and enjoy.

By curating this collection you are my co-creator. I can't wait to see what you do.

Love and creativity always,

Wanda

***

Project Particulars

Like all my 2023 releases to date, current holders of my previous fx(hash) work may collect “Polaroids" for free. After one week, any uncollected editions will be offered for public sale. After an additional week, any remaining editions will be burned.

This work uses the spectral.js library for the development of color palettes. 

Created by Wanda Oliver (wandaoliver.tez) in May, 2023, this work is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0.

Dimensionless design responds to window size.

Interactions:

Press [D] in live mode to download.