fxGems is curated by Haiver. Follow on Twitter and Mastodon for recommendations, and sign up for email notifications on Substack for when a new issue drops. To support the work, collect a copy of this issue or past issues, or consider minting one of my generative pieces here on fx(hash).

With 3622 projects released in December 2021, it's impossible for every good generative art project to fit in the fxGems Best of Lists for abstract and representational art, so the Honorable Mentions was born. And there are many possible reasons a project ended up in the Honorable Mentions instead of on a Best of List. There wasn't enough variety across the minted pieces, or some of the layouts were strong but other mints could have used more self-awareness between their parts. The piece was well executed but lacked originality, or the piece was original but lacked execution. Or there were a limited number of color palettes when the project would have really shone with a few more.

Or perhaps the artist still has room to grow, but we should start rooting for them now. The algorithm needed to be pushed further, techniques stacked together, or the process used made less obvious (I'm looking at you flow fields). Or they're using a library with such a distinctive look, like Hydra, that the project struggles to stand out from the crowd. And then there are the artists who had a stronger piece make the fxGems Best of List this month and we're trying to spread the love around instead of having the same few names appear repeatedly at the top (but don't want you to miss a very fun piece either!).

It's important to note that fxGems is not a ranked list. One part of good curation is putting pieces in conversation with one another, so each numbered mint featured here has been carefully selected, then ordered into groups of twos and threes to create a dialogue between the different projects. There are juxtapositions and echoes, recurring themes and visual motifs. A thread has been woven throughout. How it draws you from one project to the next is up to you to find.

If you're looking for more recommendations, check out the representational Best of Lists, the four part abstract Best of List, and the multiple issues gathering all of the many Honorable Mentions, covering December 2021.

Lil Rocket by Barter

Ball_of_Chsoa by dcRay

Lost Symbol by GasparianTed

Pixelbots by P1x3lboy

Zpritez 3D by KilledByAPixel

Cup by innadakota

3D-Smolskull by markknol & Reinder Nijhoff

Imaginary Striped Animals by nevidano

The Gazer by Diego de los Campos

Metaballs by Reinder Nijhoff

Dithered Branches by KilledByAPixel

Some Generative Winter Trees by yuuretsu

0.20 Carat by sableraph

Have Your Cake & Eat It Too by vuisnotabot

Minimal Snow Landscape by 0xm4_0

Two Specimen by Orr Kislev

Glitched Mountains GT by Simone Pompei

Play-Ball by Zenobyl

TERROR 404 ➋ by Shinzo Noda

Obscure Cameras by Orr Kislev

Anaglyphic - Moka by Anaglyphic

Window View by 0xHab

Crowds by cino

Kittens In Balaclavas by wasntmeow

Slot Machine by TandY

Deleptrols Feel, To Return To Normal by KVART

Punk Haiku by Shinzo Noda

Pharmacist Nightmare by Estienne

Alley by Jinyao Lin

Sumi-E Mountains & Bamboo by Bewelge

Podz by petStarChippy

MEGA Capybara Collection by wasntmeow

Kitty Colle by Kitty Creator

Weaving Spiders by danieljulia

fxGems is not affiliated with fx(hash) or fx(text) (hence the lack of parentheses), and none of the recommendations herein should be construed as financial advice. We’re here to celebrate the art!

Each month I go one by one through all of the projects that dropped on fx(hash) to find the strongest, most compelling work — generative art that has a unique voice, a wide variety across its many mints, and an intriguing approach to algorithms and technique.

So don't forget to subscribe, follow, and collect ;)