Chronophotograph 249
Noumenon is the second project of DEAFBEEF’s Volume 2 series to be released. The project was made in support of LACMA’s Art and Technology Lab in collaboration with Cactoid Labs. Directly inspired by the chronophotographic work of Eadweard Muybridge, DEAFBEEF constructed an on-chain procedural system that generates Chronophotographs of altering figures moving through motions. Each Noumenon technically generates an endless amount of Chronophotographs but the time locked schedule automatically increases the required wait time in between each Epoch. Owners of Noumenon can delegate specific wallets to be the “photographer” of the metaphorically “captured” Chronophotograph.
Eadweard Muybridge was a monumental pioneer in the field of photography and video work. Muybridge’s most iconic work would start in 1872 when California governor, Leland Stanford, commissioned him to capture and depict the gaits of a horse’s trot and gallop. It wasn’t until 1878 when Muybridge would complete the commission by capturing the horse’s complete motion using 12 cameras connected to capture sequential images through a series of connected circuits triggering each camera’s shutter. This commission and experiment would go on to disprove the previously held ideas of horse kinesiology. Additionally, in 1897 he would invent the zoopraxiscope which allowed him to project up to two hundred images onto a screen, eventually presenting the earliest moving pictures in 1880 at the California School of Fine Arts.
DEAFBEEF: Chronophotograph - Token 249
Chronophotograph is the companion collection to Vol. 2, Series 1 - Noumenon. This work is made in support of The Los Angeles County Museum of Art's Art and Technology Lab, in collaboration with Cactoid Labs, presented in dialogue with the chronophotopgraphic work of Eadweard Muybridge in the LACMA archives.
On a time locked schedule, a blockchain transaction can be triggered to metaphorically "capture" an observation of a Noumenon, minting a new ERC721 token in this companion series. The blocknumber serves as the seed for a deterministic program to generate an image in the style of Muybridge's chronophotographs, representing the attempt to transcend sensory limitations through the use of technology.
Viewers are encouraged to reflect on the perception of time, consensus reality, photography and blockchain as sources of objective truth, limitations thereof.