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agents
In this episode of 1980s artistic journeys, I highlight a new 1/1 art piece, a new 30-piece collection, and a recent visit to an incredible artist studio. One important note: None of the artwork below is created with AI; instead, I enjoy visualizing AI by crafting the art into narrated stories.
Fabricated Nations
Is a recent unminted video artwork that I created to expand on the theme of agents of my anarchy and anarchy collection between the "real" and "digital" worlds.
In a world governed by code and autonomous bias, Fabricated Nations captures the slow unraveling of shared truth and institutional trust.
/artwork story
A four-part visual sequence. From a real-world room that represents humans sending inquiries into machines to a swirling sphere of autonomous agents rewriting the narrative, the piece navigates the breakdown of reality in an autonomous future. It questions the authenticity of information, the manipulation of collective bias, and the slow erosion of traditional power structures as data grows uncontrollable.
/from the artist
The message can feel dark. Its intention is to speak truth, a truth that shines light for us all to see that we can collectively shape a healthier future together
/artwork architecture
Status: Unminted video artwork
Available sizes: 1920x1920 (Full HD, square) or 2160 × 3840 (4K, vertical)
Tools: p5js, blender 3d, photoshop, premier
Scenes: 4 foundational artworks with four sub artworks inside the art
Agents of anarchy
Disrupting human-controlled systems. profit over rights. when the entities came, the humans bowed... https://agents.1980k.com
/agent/inspiration
If it’s not obvious by now — the agents are coming. AI agents, that is. To automate our lives away, or at least that’s the story the influencers are selling us. This collection started under the name "D4T4", a concept meant to represent our unique identities in digital form. But as the idea developed, it evolved. "Agents" felt like a better fit — more rooted in now, in this strange intersection of identity, data, and automation. As we begin connecting our lives through nodes until inevitable anarchy, it’s something we’ll look back on.
In a way, our identities have already been taken. If our worth is reduced to data, what exactly do we still own? These faces — generated from the residue we leave behind online — are an echo of that question. Each Agent is a mirror of the digital ghosts we’ve become.
/agent/why tezos
Honestly, I'm tired of the blockchain debates. The endless discourse around which blockchain, royalties, and tech specs. My focus has shifted towards having fun — letting the art and story speak for themselves.
Early blockchain with Tezos — Hic Et Nunc, the chaos, the experiments, and some of the most fun I’ve had in crypto. So it only made sense to mint in a place backed by that culture.
/agent/why own an agent
Agents will most likely be my only PFP collection. Only 30 1 of 1 pieces will ever exist, and for only $12 each. As with most of my atomic collections, there will be a [REDACTED] exclusively for holders. You know the drill.
Each Agent is a timestamp. A signal. A representation of what we look like in the age of automation. These aren’t characters — they’re you, fragmented and reassembled by code, expression, and digital residue.
To own one is to own a reflection of now. A memento of where identity is headed, or what’s left of it...
One unique symbol and style have stood out over the years of exploring artists around Oaxaca. When visiting some of the most sought-after studios and galleries, I began to recognize a mermaid often hung on walls in a raw, unfinished clay style. It wasn’t until a few years after seeing this style that I began to ask who it was and later learned the name of the artist…
Studio visit: José García Antonio
José García Antonio, a renowned Oaxacan clay sculptor, creates distinctive primitive sculptures, planters, and vases from the region’s red clay, often depicting himself and his wife, Teresita, inspired by her unique mole and their enduring love story. Blind from glaucoma, he sculpts intuitively with "hands that see," guided by memory and touch, producing expressive, heartfelt pieces that blend traditional Oaxacan craftsmanship with personal narrative.
His work, celebrated at the 2014 International Folk Art Market and honored by Fomento Cultural Citibanamex as a master sculptor, stands out for its emotional depth, cultural authenticity, and ability to inspire despite physical limitations. His family-run studio in San Antonino Castillo Velasco fosters a tactile, intuitive creative process that resonates globally, with pieces in museums and private collections.
A truly special story that I didn’t fully grasp until I met him in person, blind from glaucoma, yet still creates without hesitation. The heart sees perfectly…
Random Inspo
Fun time… Can’t say enough about how important having fun in the creative process is—visiting galleries, artist studios, and creating memes for fun.
Last week, I was inspired by @Ripcache and decided to create a animated video on X.
This week I dabbled with @mrc_arte paradise piece and recreated it with my node style for fun and will post the video on X soon.
patience, humility, respect, gratitude, generosity
as seen at José García Antonio studio visit.
If you’ve made it this far, I appreciate you. More love, more wins, and more fun for all in 2025.
Contxt
It's been a few months since my last post. It's been a really busy time full of researching, learning, and diving into new innovative areas that I previously never thought about creatively. I'm at a point in my artistic career where I’m making big moves that, if architected correctly, can become something larger than myself in different forms.
Website Refresh
I recently updated my website with a fresh look, something I do every few months to showcase my latest artwork, news, and ideas from both past and present. This refresh includes new digital art, a shop lookbook, and video pages, with more content on the way. For clarity, 1980k is my "alias" artist profile—a raw, experimental space where I share my self-curated work. I describe it as "less curation, more creation." In contrast, my professional artist account is more polished, consistent in style, and tailored to a specific audience, prioritizing customer focus over experimental art.
Contxt
I produce some artwork that never sees the light of day. This is one of those collections that I loved and that has a lot of meaning to me, but it didn’t feel right to release it as a public collection tied to my profile.
“CONTXT” is my most recent digital artwork project. Created in February 2024, it took me a while before I decided to open-source the collection for free under CC0.
In 2024, we saw an absolute surge of artificial intelligence products hit the market. Like most, I've been fascinated with how the a.i. brain works and how information is surfaced. This sparked my curiosity about how machines structure information and, more importantly, how context is understood in a sea of information.
In 2018, I began experimenting with visualizing artificial intelligence, but my focus was on curation and less on context, driving my interest down a deep rabbit hole of understanding. This can be seen in my h4x0r artwork patterns, which are pure code algorithms written in p5.js. I've since expanded many projects from the original h4x0r style, such as this collection. How do the nodes connect…
Each artwork represents a fragment of knowledge, an evolving construct of AI as it CONTXTualizes and reorganizes data in real time. The dynamic grid structures within CONTXT mirror the intricate logic of machine intelligence, where randomness meets order in the pursuit of meaning.
Individually, a single piece may symbolize raw information. Together, across all 69 pieces, they form a network of intelligence — each artwork contributing to a larger, emergent system of understanding.
The visual above highlights a few things that I wanted to make sure the generative system curated with each output
Each artwork has a generative name associated with it. The names come from an established themed database and are randomly selected on generation.
Each artwork has a flat 2D mode that visualizes the machine sorting, organizing, and contextualizing information with values randomly selected during generation.
Each artwork has a 3D Isometric mode, which, when clicked, opens to visualize the infinite machine of information randomly selected on generation.
Without CONTXT information becomes blind to nuance, misinterprets intent, and struggles to deliver meaning. CONTXT allows AI to be more intelligent, adaptive, and accurate by providing a frame of reference for understanding inputs and making informed decisions.
Initially I had created this artwork exclusively for the Bitcoin blockchain, but instead of being inscribed, it has been open-sourced under cc0 as free to use.
Generative artwork with seed-based randomization
Dynamic grid-based visualization
Four distinct themes (Bitcoin, Terminal, Textmode, Machine)
Responsive design for all screen sizes
Interactive preview system
Artwork Traits
Grid Complexity
Pattern Types
Animation Speed
Visual Elements
Theme system
Architecture
What were we put on this planet to do?
I’ve asked this question continuously throughout the years, and as my life progresses, I genuinely believe my course has been clear, but identifying it has been hard for me. I like to think my mission is to cultivate inspiration. Whether through teaching or mentoring, I believe one of the highest human acts is to inspire others. But what does this look like in our society today…
I could be a teacher, I could be an artist, I could be an engineer, I could sell inspiration. There are a plethora of possibilities that come to mind, but few fit into my vision. Over a year ago, I was forced to make a life change where I found myself living in a new place surrounded by less consumption and more nature.
For years, I’ve followed other artists who have opened artist studios. I’ve run into creative locations like Casa Wabi, a non-profit foundation dedicated to fostering dialogue between contemporary art and local communities through artist residencies, exhibitions, and cultural programs.
While those are inspiring, the vision still differs from what I am pursuing. I’m looking to shape a space that is an (1) artist studio, (2) a knowledge sharing center, and (3) a career inspiration through exploration and experimentation—an open space to create your soul's passion.
Doing this is a big dream I have been pursuing for over a year. I’ve taught myself architecture and how to model my ideas. My wife and I have purchased the land, and the workers have it prepped for building. The visuals below highlight early explorations into what this space will become as I transition into naming and more…
Some of the amazing studios that have inspired me to pursue this vision over the recent years are Felipe Pantone—Casa Axis, Greg Mike—ABV Gallery, Okuda—Coloring the world foundation, and many more.
"All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them."
— Walt Disney
If you’ve made it this far, I appreciate you. More love, more wins, and more fun for all in 2025.
Year In Review 2024
As another year draws to a close, I'm grateful for the aspects of life that bring me joy and purpose. Being an artist, a father of two, and a husband has been a journey of challenges and triumphs. I'm thankful for my family, friends, and good health, which have anchored me through it all. Everything I've done artistically this year has been possible thanks to my wife, who is very protective of my creative space as an artist.
I released six atomic (mini) collections this year. A massive thank you to my collectors and supporters. These collections represent an extremely experimental point in my artistic journey driven by curiosity, technical feasibility, and testing the limits of digital and physical art. 🖼️ ⬇️
⬜️ PIXELS
"Pixels" is set in a future where the blockchain defines reality, the collection hides symbols like punks, skulls, and chonks to stamp a cultural legacy. Inspired by the timeless significance each piece captures moments in time, transitioning from pixel illustration to coded animation, embodying history, identity, and permanence on the blockchain.
ᴀʀᴛᴡᴏʀᴋ: [4] 1 of 1s, Stored fully on-chain to Ethereum L1
ᴀᴠᴀɪʟᴀʙʟᴇ: Website | Opensea | Foundation
"Transcripts" transforms human messages into infinite scrolling ASCII animations, visualizing 0s and 1s as a universal language. This collection of 25 unique, fully on-chain Bitcoin artworks explores intergalactic communication, blending data, art, and mystery. It asks what signals we should share with the universe and imagines how binary communication might connect us across the cosmos.
"Communication Systems" delves into the dialogue between humans and computer systems, capturing the flow of data that connects our digital world. Through ASCII artwork and nostalgic orange tones inspired by retro computers like the Commodore PET, each piece reflects the rebellious spirit of early digital culture, telling stories of seamless yet complex modern communication.
"Motherboard", the enabler of digital creativity, is a digital art collection inspired by the ANSI art movement. Featuring retro color palettes and hand-coded designs, each piece reimagines the intricate pathways of a computer motherboard. Light bursts symbolize data flow, with the collection celebrating the visual and functional elegance of the motherboard as the central hub of technology.
"Radiation" visualizes the emission of energy as pulsing waves of light, with each piece uniquely influenced by the capabilities of the viewer's device. This on-chain artwork transforms digital data into chaotic, vibrant light emissions, creating a dynamic experience where what the artist sees may differ from what you see, highlighting the interplay between technology and perception.
ᴀʀᴛᴡᴏʀᴋ: [6] 1 of 1s, Stored fully on-chain to Ethereum L1
ᴀᴠᴀɪʟᴀʙʟᴇ: Website | Opensea | Foundation | Blog
⬛️ THE NETWORK
"The Network" explores the digital landscape through nodes (skeletons) and light beams, symbolizing information flow and connections. It examines the societal impacts of AI, questioning how it may redefine love, relationships, and existence. Skeletons represent inclusivity, emphasizing our shared humanity, while headsets symbolize gateways to infinite possibilities. Vibrant patterns and wireframes depict a dystopian network of cables and data, offering a striking vision of our growing digital dependency.
ᴀʀᴛᴡᴏʀᴋ: [6] 1 of 1s, Ethereum L1 artworks + 2, 1 of 1s, Bitcoin
ᴀᴠᴀɪʟᴀʙʟᴇ: Website | Opensea | Foundation | MagicEden | Blog
REFLECTION
27 total artworks inscribed on Bitcoin
38 total artworks minted on Ethereum
Collectors across 36+ countries
Collection websites received 4k+ views
2023 // sᴛᴏʀʏ--Driven by 3D visuals [Year in Review 2023--Video] and communicating the story of the h4x0r.
2024 // sᴄʀᴀᴘᴘʏ--It Has felt like a spread my wings year. I learned so much by experimenting and deep-diving into technical outputs and stories I wanted to tell. The mini website experiences brought me the extra layer of fun I felt I was missing with the artwork.
2025 // ᴇʏᴇʙᴀʟʟs--Curated experiences in collaboration with artists and galleries. Living=Breathing crypto art that expands into experiential forms.
FUTURE FORWARD
This year, it was pedal to the metal, scrappy, fuck the world. There was so much to learn and communicate with my art. Next year, I will be more strategic about where I put my energy...
☯️ LESS IS MORE
Collaborations (artists & galleries)
Audience building (sharing & IRL)
Style convergence
Living artwork via protocol ETH/BTC reliance (human/machine)
Crypto-first physicals (light & textile)
It's never been a more exciting time to make an impact in the crypto art movement. The rate tools are moving with global access to an audiences, it feels like a golden age for creative innovation.
If you’ve made it this far, I appreciate you.
Consider giving this article a like or a retweet to help share my artwork with the world. Thank you
More love, more wins, and more fun for all in 2025 🖼️🎨✨
Transcripts
Transcripts is a generative art collection of 25 unique Bitcoin artworks that visualize 0s and 1s as a universal language of communication, transforming real human messages into infinite scrolling ASCII animations.
The artwork transforms (real) historical human messages into fullscreen illuminating animations, capturing the essence of intergalactic communication. By blending data, art, and mystery, Transcripts envisions how our signals might be interpreted across the cosmos.
COLLECTION
[ 25 ] ascii artworks on Bitcoin [ 5 ] 3d artworks on Ethereum
Bitcoin → LINK
[ 25 ] unique generative Bitcoin artworks, each piece visualizes infinite scrolling transcripts, generatively created and then curated from an output pool of 100. Messages are concealed within code characters, revealing themselves only through interaction in the browser. This artwork asks: Can binary communication be considered a form of universal language?
Ethereum → LINK
[ 5 ] Ethereum artwork editions. This is a visual and auditory artwork made in collaboration between 1980k [code/3d], Maning [pixels], and R4cerx [sound]. As the signal awakens, our understanding of connectivity unravels—always linked, yet never truly connected. Through the eyes of humans, aliens, and machines, we witness a device translating digital noise into transcripts. Flying through intergalactic data streams, we question whether information shapes our reality or whether reality shapes the information. This artwork asks: What signals should we share with the universe about ourselves?
INSPIRATION
Like most artists, I experiment a lot but show very little publicly. I have been sitting on Transcripts and Communication Systems for quite a while. With Communication Systems, I focused on the visual outputs and stories within each piece. With Transcripts, I aimed to utilize motion to mask the actual art and data, envisioning how other world figures may translate.
Seeing an announcement from Art Meets Science on CT played a big role in a redirection, especially since I had been exploring Part 2 of my Intergalactic edition, which I had created one year prior. Combining the two helped align my vision towards a curiosity around real human signal messages sent through computers to aliens and machine entities.
The more I researched the history of human contact, the more the concept for the artwork aligned itself. The Arecibo Messages have seven parts, each consisting of binary digits with messages about human biology, our solar system, and Earth's life.
Art often requires custom tools to accomplish a vision. When creating an acrylic painting, I search endlessly for the perfect brush and paint thickness combinations. Digital artwork is no different. The image below shows a web application I have built over the years. In this case, the UI enables me to import SVGs and convert them into 1 to 1 code characters.
While the custom tools are fun to develop, they often close only 2% of the gap. Proper ASCII artwork requires meticulous attention, time, and patience. In the step below, I take the characters and begin to develop my generative mapping.
The generative mapping for the outputs contained a pretty in-depth output structure and rule guide consisting of: Character type, Character length, Animation type, Animation speed, Scroll type, Scroll speed, Color system, and a few other hidden tricks.
Each artwork comes with custom messages, like "We are explorers of space and time," and human and alien characters hidden behind the animations if you are creative enough to uncover them.
Each inscription allows clicking a "link" in the marketplace, opening the artwork in a fullscreen experience where it infinitely animates with vibrant, illuminating colors.
Only on Bitcoin // 25 Total TRANSCRIPTS
The story helps shape the output of each artwork. Yet my personal desire to experiment with code-to-3D mapping continues. Most of my 3D artwork contains code patterns I made in Processing or Javascript and then applied to the 3D objects. What makes this 3d video artwork particularly unique is it's my first collaboration with Maning [pixel artist] and R4cerx [sound design].
Only on Ethereum // 5 Editions THE SIGNAL AWAKES
WEB EXPERIENCE
I want my art to speak throughout the collector experience. As much as I love the process of creating art, the web experiences and physical creations tend to be the candy that additionally inspires me. I hope the viewers enjoy the little secrets throughout the website.
Art is my soul’s expression. I love to share these collections with the world. Please consider giving this article a like or share if you dig it. I appreciate your support!
What is art, anyway? Subjective controversies. Code isn't art, or is it? Art is a creative way for our souls to express themselves. Do we deserve this as humans? We require it. When I was younger, I wanted filled my sketchbooks with cartoons. Today, my passion is my craft, on a continual pursuit of fun, and inspiring my children to use their own creativity to shape the world around them. To those who support me, thank you. I believe inspiration is one of the most powerful gifts we can share to help build a better world.
1980 aka David
Atomic Collections
Crafting a Larger Narrative from Small Stories.
This blog post is intended to share some thoughts about artists' approach to collection sizes…
Let me preface this by saying I am an artist. I do not have a preferred collection size. When bringing artwork to fruition, I focus on (1) the story I want to tell and (2) ensuring I can provide special exclusivity to a collector via rarity or extended experiences. I have small collections minted and large collections unminted to date…
Art COLLECTION APPROACHES
Traditional PHYSICAL Artist Collection:
Typically consists of a limited number of unique, physical pieces, often made by hand and appreciated for their tangible qualities. Collection sizes are usually small to retain exclusivity and manage logistics. Sales rely on physical galleries, auctions, or private sales.
Modern DIGITAL Artist Collection:
Digital assets minted on blockchain, often in larger collections (hundreds or thousands), to reach wider audiences and increase ownership potential. Collection sizes vary widely, from exclusive 1/1s to extensive 10k drops, and are traded on digital marketplaces.
MY APPROACH TO DATE
I create a lot of artwork. I release very little. This has been my approach historically in both traditional art and digital art. To release artwork, I must feel confident in the story and message I want to communicate, which inspires my visual approach. While the trend in crypto artwork has leaned toward expansive 10k collections, I've intentionally taken a different path toward building "atomic collections".
For me, atomic collections are more than small, standalone pieces. Each collection is like a building block, an essential part of an organically evolving larger narrative universe. Just as atoms combine to form complex structures, these collections are designed to interlock and evolve into a grander, interconnected web of stories.
Rather than focusing on sheer quantity, I am committed to crafting art that grows in depth and meaning with each new release. This approach has allowed me to have fun with my art and enjoy the pace I work on each collection while ensuring that every piece serves a purpose within the broader context. Like anything, there are tradeoffs. Larger collections mean more collectors with more opportunities for organic marketing and ecosystems, while smaller collections indicate exclusivity / desirability. There is no right or wrong. Time and story will inform if I mint the large generative collections I have created : )
The artwork I’ve released explores the complex relationship between humans and technology, diving into themes of communication, control, and consciousness.
From Communication Systems, where human-computer interactions define our reality, to Motherboard, which portrays technology as the central force in our daily lives, each piece reflects a future where humans and machines are inseparable. Radiation adds a responsive layer, where art evolves with device capabilities, while The Network presents a dystopian world of machine dominance. H4x0r explores the digital underworld and blockchain narratives. These collections collectively form a narrative of intertwined existence, control, and the quest for meaning in a hyper-technological world.
A place to build community
As my collector base grows, I’ve been interested in a centralized communication location. Reluctantly, I’ve created a Discord ; ) This is the best solution I’ve found to act as a playground for art and process and to allow collectors and members to benefit from the extra experiences I strive for with everything I produce. My next atomic collection and first generative artwork will be announced exclusively on Discord in the coming weeks…
Limited Edition
Convergence T-Shirt
2 location graphic embroidery (front pocket and right sleeve)
Worldwide shipping (2-4 day delivery)
Limited edition until the end of November
Price $18.50
If you’ve made it this far, I appreciate you. More love, more wins, and more fun for all in 2024.
Craft
Best viewed on Desktop… Craft holds different meanings for everyone. In my artwork, craft represents the essence of true artistic expression through various mediums. This post highlights recent explorations, inspirations, and some previously unshared content.
COLLECTOR Claim
Every artwork I release often includes an extended product release exclusive to the collector. Communication Systems is no different. Holders have the option to pick from one of the two products below. Each product was made from pure code that translated to either embroidery or a bottle label. These are true 1/1 physicals with unique stories tied to the token ID.
OPTION 1: 1/1 T-shirt all embroidered to match token owner.
OPTION 2: 1/1 Mezcal aged for 2 years.
Story
Since my first experience in crypto in 2017, I have produced ascii artwork in various forms. However, it wasn’t until a trip to Mazatlan, Oaxaca, that I discovered a unique opportunity to create a collection of code artwork that met my vision. I started the artwork but left it dormant for some time until recently. During that trip, however, I had been exploring business opportunities, one of which was with Mezcal.
I met a local family that has been creating artisanal Mezcal for six generations. They are true crafters with whom I immediately felt a synergy. We discussed, tasted, and shared ideas. These six exclusive bottles of Mezcal crafted from wild Madrecuishe agave represent a true craft through and through.
Crafted by local artisans and brought to fruition by myself in a small batch form visualized for the six token holders of CS = 1-2-3-4-5-6 (on the label), these items represent a true care for craft and its imperfections.
The label: Crafted from wild Madrecuishe agave and aged for 2 years, this very limited, small-batch mezcal offers earthy, herbaceous notes with hints of spice and tropical fruit exclusively for owners of Communication Systems artwork.
Inspiration
Inspiration can come from anywhere. I recently had a breakthrough during a trip to a small town in Oaxaca while exploring how to bring my artwork to life in textiles. My challenge was converting my code-based artwork into ancient textile patterns. After spending time with the locals, I realized their craft is rooted in mathematics. It all comes down to tools, with constraints determined by numbers, which both sides need to understand to create a successful product.
Stay tuned for my future art collections, as this research will inevitably lead to claimable products from my ventures. Along the way, I discovered some inspiring artwork deeply rooted in messages that I loved and can be seen below.
Overflow
New on-chain artwork → Privacy the ultimate currency
A small glimpse into the process of creating this code art. This will be a burnable artwork for those unable to collect CS.
Special edition t-shirt → Convergence
This special edition t-shirt is available to everyone. While the above is exclusive to the six [6] unique token collectors, this is for everyone. It was spawned from the Quantum Convergence token 2 in CS.
Extra artwork → links not shared in Communication Systems
Ʀɛɮɛʟֆ օʄ Ǟʀȶ. Ǟʟʟ ɦɛǟʀȶ ǟռɖ քǟֆֆɨօռ. Քʀօɢʀɛֆֆɨօռ ռօȶ քɛʀʄɛƈȶɨօռ. ʍǟʀӄɛȶ ƈօռɖɨȶɨօռֆ ʊռӄռօառ.
If you’ve made it this far, I appreciate you. More love, more wins, and more fun for all in 2024.