Thanks to everyone for purchasing an NFT from SEED: Postcards from StarryNight, a special collaboration with TRLab in support of Rhizome’s work with generative art. The collection quickly sold out, but can still be purchased on OpenSea and Zora. The support this project received was extraordinary, and we are grateful to everyone who amplified and supported! Watch this space for our next collaboration with TRLab this fall...
About the Collection
Postcards from StarryNight is a series of 151 unique screenshots created from a restored version of an important early work of net art, StarryNight (1999).
In StarryNight, originally created by Alex Galloway, Mark Tribe, and Martin Wattenberg, every email within the Rhizome archive was visually manifested as a luminous point of light against a dark background. Through an ingenious navigation system, users could explore the emails by selecting assigned keywords, which would draw a constellation of interconnected points, evoking the interrelatedness of the database. As a timeless work of information aesthetics, it not only showcases the artists' vision but also offers a captivating glimpse into the early online community of Rhizome.
Despite its historical importance, StarryNight was not accessible for more than a decade, until it was restored by Rhizome’s digital preservation department. Now, still images from this restored version form the basis of Postcards from StarryNight, the official launch NFT for SEED and the starting point for a new chapter of Rhizome’s work with online community and generative art.
Each screenshot is a 1/1 edition, featuring a keyword constellation unique to each collector.
Note: Alex Galloway, who co-created this project while working as Rhizome’s Editor, is today a scholar of digital culture who has written critically about NFTs. Galloway, who remains a Rhizome supporter, respectfully declined to be involved in the Postcards from StarryNight NFT, and is credited here only as a co-creator of the original work.