April 30th, 2023
Z: I remember that you've tried to make me do some pepe art at some point

A: Oh yeah... that kind of failed 🙈
[inserts image of frog season google search: You may be able to spot the common frog all year round, although they are most commonly seen between March and October]
🤓 🐸
Spring Summer haha

Z: you don't know that it failed... maybe over time, with consistent effort, recurring insinuations...
Pepe's green already, that could help

A: You're right. I need more time in peace.
Haha so true, pepe pond
[inserts image of Edward Robert Hughes' "Midsummer Eve"]

Z: This is a wonderful idea! You've got the composition already, I would need a algorithm for pepes 😍 it could be really fun and cute and deep into the web3 culture
So much more fun than the umbrella
The painting is called "midsummer eve". Love it
This should drop in Valencia
[...]

∼∼∼∼∼∼∼ One and a half years later ∼∼∼∼∼∼

Obviously, it did not drop in Valencia in the middle of summer ‘23. The project went through a number of more or less active phases of building. And also, life happened. Just like in crypto, sometimes you need to hodl until the right moment arrives. That moment came in the form of Pepe Fest’s Fake Basel 2024 Miami Art Week edition.

The work borrows a number of compositional elements from the painting “Midsummer Eve” by Robert Edward Hughes [1908]. Hughes was linked to the Pre-Raphaelites period, defined by the theories of John Ruskin, who urged artists to ‘go to nature’. The Pre-Raphaelites were a significant inspiration to Zancan’s former works as an oil painter.

The silhouette of Aleksandra was the result of a photo session in a summery London park, which stress-tested her impeccable acting skills. It was then fed into an algorithm that transposed her figure into her digital, generative counterpart.

Zancan’s naive statement “I would need an algorithm for pepes” hid an unforeseen technical challenge. Those little cartoonish frogs took some heavy maths and formulas and programming tricks, before materializing onto the Javascript canvas.

The final result blended the best of both worlds - classical art and meme culture, placing pepes as noble characters that exude all the diverse manifestations of their personality. The work is a joyful celebration of creativity, bridging tradition and internet culture with a touch of magic - an ode to art, beauty and pepe .

—

- Season 2/4 : Summer
- Generative art
- Made with Javascript code + silhouette as JPEG
- Format JPEG 4961 × 7016 pixels + HD PNG 12992 × 18375 pixels for owner