Thread by @CozomoMedici

Once in a great while, the sky parts & an opportunity appears, to acquire a historic relic from the early days of NFT

Presenting "AI Imagined Portrait #2" by @VanArman
SuperRare token #115, & 1st place winner in the 2018 Robot Art Contest

Here is the story of it's acquisition👇

Pinder Van Arman has spent the last 15 years teaching machines how to paint.

In his words:

"When I began with my first machines fifteen years ago, they were only capable of simple tasks, like connecting dots and painting by numbers..."

"... My most recent robots, however, use deep learning neural networks, artificial intelligence, feedback loops and computational creativity to make a surprising amount of independent aesthetic decisions. "

This portrait of @Coldie shows what his robots can do now:

When I first stumbled upon his work, I found myself mesmerized. I had never heard of robots painting, much less like this.

Seeing works in hands of some of our greatest collectors, such as @krybharat, @Anonymoux2311, and @2Yeahyeah, let me know I was not alone in my appreciation

Luckily, an auction for 3 of his infamous "BitGANs" was on the horizon.

I bid strongly for Cyber Zombie 10,366, which Pinder had said was his favorite of the 3... and let us face it:

I am addicted to zombies :)

I was victorious, and happy to own this new fren

But to be honest, I still did not feel complete.

For what had struck me the most were Pinder's early works, the AI Imagined Faces.

In these works, the AI imagines what a human face looks like, and creates what it sees.

It was a haunting thought to imagine an artificially intelligent being, casually painting across the canvas, a human skull...

Here is "Neural Net Imagined Portrait #3", owned by @XCOPYART. I can see why it is one of his favorites...

Despite my interest, acquiring one of these works felt out of reach.

Only 5 exist.

All from 2018.

I asked Pinder if he would ever mint another.

His response spoke volumes:

"I do not revisit old projects so would be unable to do a pure AI Imagined face. I believe in protecting the scarcity of my previous work and that project is over...

"... If I minted unlimited amounts, it would dilute the value of the 5 current holders. @XCOPYART, matrix, @Pr0mETHe_us, @artonymousart, and @Hackatao. I am sure you can respect me protecting their early investment in my art and rewarding it."

After seeing how some artists show little regard for their collectors, and instead chase the next dollar, I was moved by Pinder's candor and integrity.

He went on to share that @Pr0mETHe_us was considering listing his AI Imagined Face.

Thankfully, he did so.

Today, I was honored to add this historic work to the Medici Collection

I encourage you to enjoy not only this work, but to visit
cloudpainter.com, & learn more about the magic of @VanArman

To Pinder, and the innovators who pave the way for all of us, I raise my glass🍷