In 2021, Maya Lin planted 49 Atlantic white cedar trees, each blighted by saltwater inundation, in Manhattan\u2019s Madison Square Park. <\/span>Ghost Forest<\/span><\/i><\/a> was the name of the project; it was, in typical Lin fashion, part sculpture and part memorial\u2014a symbol of the power of the natural world and a reminder of its precarity in the face of climate calamity.<\/span><\/p>\n But while the rest of us were looking up at Lin\u2019s forest, the artist found herself staring down, wondering about the activity of the trees below the soil\u2019s surface. Now, she is going one step further to visualize her trees\u2019 subterranean behavior\u2014and she\u2019s turning to the world of NFTs for the first time to do it.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n In June, Lin will release \u201c<\/span>The Secret Life of Trees<\/span>,\u201d a series of generative art NFTs that recreate, through complex algorithms, the organic growth patterns of root systems underground.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWhen I was creating <\/span>Ghost Forest<\/span><\/i>, I was thinking about how each tree, through its root structure, begins to communicate with one another,\u201d the artist told Artnet News in an email. \u201cThis project stems from that realization of how beneath the soil, tree roots begin to grow and intertwine and communicate with one another, forming a hidden and intricate living interconnected system below the earth\u2019s surface.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Maya Lin, Three Seed Multi<\/i> (2023). Photo: \u00a9 Maya Lin, courtesy of Pace Verso and Art Blocks.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Hosted by Pace Verso\u2014Pace Gallery\u2019s crypto art arm<\/a>\u2014and minted by the generative art platform Art Blocks, Lin\u2019s NFTs will take the form of little seeds. But they won\u2019t stay that way for long: outgrowing roots will quickly transform the digital artworks into what Lin calls \u201cunique, multi-stemmed organisms of differing colors.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI was interested in exploring organic growth patterns in computer-generated works, which tend to be based more on fractal patterning and being much more geometric in aspect,\u201d she said. \u201cI was very keen on exploring a more organic living growth pattern and one that with each seed, will reflect a unique timeframe in which that seed grows. Some will grow quite slowly, encouraging owners to hold on to them and be patient as they grow.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Lin\u2019s project is one of three Pace Verso plans to release this spring and summer through its ongoing partnership with Art Blocks. The first of the bunch is \u201c<\/span>PRELUDES<\/span>,\u201d an experiential NFT series by Trevor Paglen that combines graphic visuals with music inspired by composers like John Cage and Iannis Xenakis, who experimented with algorithms in their own work.<\/span><\/p>\n Hidden in Paglen\u2019s digital creations are easter eggs tied to <\/span>CYCLOPS, <\/span><\/i>his new \u201cspeculative reality work\u201d that looks at the history of PsyOps in America. Collectors able to crack the hidden code will be rewarded with a vinyl record related to the project, as well as a gelatin-silver print created by the artist.<\/span><\/p>\n Paglen\u2019s \u201c<\/span>PRELUDES\u201d<\/span> will be released on April 5, while the rest of <\/span>CYCLOPS<\/span><\/i> will be revealed a little more than a month later in his dedicated exhibition at Pace\u2019s New York gallery.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Trevor Paglen, \u201cPRELUDES,\u201d Mint #0 of 250 unique NFTs. Photo: \u00a9 Trevor Paglen, courtesy of Pace Verso Also on the docket for Pace Verso is a new series of 195 unique NFTs by John Gerrard, each of which depicts a different nation\u2019s flag in a desert setting. Titled \u201c<\/span>World Flag<\/span>,\u201d the work relates to the artist\u2019s previous two NFT efforts, including his 2022 project \u201c<\/span>Petro Nationa<\/a>l<\/span>,\u201d which was among the first artworks released through Pace Verso\u2019s partnership with Art Blocks.<\/span><\/p>\n The gallery has produced roughly half a dozen Art Blocks projects since the collaboration was announced last June. Among them are pieces by <\/span>Tara Donovan<\/span><\/a>, <\/span>Loie Hollowell<\/span><\/a>, <\/span>teamLab<\/span><\/a>, and <\/span>Robert Whitman<\/span><\/a>. <\/span><\/p>\n For these artists\u2014all of whom were new to the world of crypto art when they began their respective projects\u2014generative art and its potential provided the appeal, Pace Verso head Ariel Hudes explained. She called it the \u201cmost exciting space within Web3.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s where the form and the content really meet,\u201d Hudes said. \u201cThere\u2019s no reason a JPEG or an MP4 needs to be on the blockchain, whereas generative code can\u2019t exist in quite the same way anywhere else.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI truly believe generative art is here to stay and is going to be a tool that many great artists will leverage for a long time to come,\u201d Hudes concluded. \u201cTo be at the beginning of that is very exciting.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/news.artnet.com\/app\/news-upload\/2023\/03\/5000000-1024x1024.png\")
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and Art Blocks.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n