Introduction
Larva Labs’s Autoglyphs appeared in April 2019, using an Ethereum contract to execute an algorithm producing character-based graphics, capped at 512 works. Generation, edition limits and blockchain records become parts of one work, enabling comparison with plotter-era execution.
View full image ↗Graphic preview captioned Autoglyph #3 on the Larva Labs project page, from the 2019 series. This is a web rendering, not the result of this archive executing the contract.
Larva Labs · Artwork and image rights remain with their holders; research reference, not an assertion of an open licence.
Source · Autoglyphs ↗RESEARCH ACCOUNT
Where code runs and how the resulting graphic becomes visible
ANTI-AI ARCHIVE · Revised 2026-10-03
Text output and drawing instructions
Larva Labs describes a contract that runs the generator and produces character-based graphics, which can be rendered in other media using instructions. The project explicitly cites Sol LeWitt’s instruction-based work as an inspiration. This attributed reference is not a universal origin for blockchain art.
Section sources: Autoglyphs
Computation limits become formal conditions
The makers connect the reduced algorithm to computation available within one Ethereum transaction, with an edition capped at 512. Contract-generated text must be distinguished from browser display or paper output; “on-chain” does not mean all generative projects render pixels on the blockchain.
Section sources: Autoglyphs
Preserving uncertainty in the launch date
The catalogue gives April 2019. The project links to a post-launch report labelled 5 April, whereas the report body is dated 10 April and recalls a Monday launch. Deployment and public launch were not reconciled against transactions. Month precision is retained, without adopting promotional claims of priority.
Section sources: Catalog · Autoglyphs Post Launch Report
Sources for this account
Read production, instruction-art note and computational constraints; contract not executed and priority claim not independently verified.
Catalogue search result dates Autoglyphs to April 2019; market data are not used as art-historical evidence.
Followed from project page. Body dated 2019-04-10 describes a Monday launch, unlike the parent link’s 2019-04-05 label; no exact launch day adopted.
Based on makers’ accounts; contract execution, priority and permanent preservation not independently verified. Deployment, launch and report dates remain distinct. The account and translation are AI-assisted, pending independent human review. Section references identify evidence without claiming independent verification of every historical statement.
Continue with a comparative question
Compare contract-generated text with scripts and seeds rendered in a browser.
Further comparison: Gazers: seeds, lunar phases and sustained viewing
Further comparison: Unigrids: multiple outputs from one system
Further comparison: Singularity: hash-driven symmetry and disturbance
Further comparison: Flux: an audiovisual work activated by a click
Further comparison: Skulptuur: presenting three-dimensional form through live lighting
Further comparison: while true: finite works and the idea of infinity
Further comparison: Memories of Digital Data: imagining data loss on a blockchain
Further comparison: A2P and LIA’s reinterpretation of Cube_1997
Further comparison: tr4ns4ctions: pixel abstractions of value flows
Further comparison: Dreaming at Dusk: cryptographic history as generative material
Further comparison: Terraforms: a generated world and programmable terrain
Further comparison: Towers: moving architectures of characters
Further comparison: Every Icon’s 512-work NFT version
Dates & version record
Date displayed for this node: 2019-04 · Historical date recorded for the source: 2019-04
Use April 2019 only; conflicting parent/report dates do not justify an exact launch day.
These dates refer to the historical event or recorded version, not this page’s publication date. The original date precision and unresolved questions are retained.
Original sources & further reading
These links lead to the cited paper, article, institution or conference page. External texts retain their source languages.
Autoglyphs
https://www.larvalabs.com/autoglyphs
Current cited URL
Based on makers’ accounts; contract execution, priority and permanent preservation not independently verified. Deployment, launch and report dates remain distinct.
Provenance, translation & verification
Archive node #104 · Generative-art history: research, works and execution
Research materials & supplement references · 1
Generative art to crypto art: source register (3 October 2026) · Read production, instruction-art note and computational constraints; contract not executed and priority claim not independently verified. · 003
Date as recorded: 2019-04
Autoglyphs ↗
Autoglyphs
Archive account based on the listed research materials, not a full translation of the linked work. AI-assisted translation; independent human review pending.
Official material was read within the stated scope; see the source note for reading limits and outstanding checks.
Cite this node
ANTI-AI ARCHIVE. Autoglyphs: generative rules executed by a contract. Art-history node #104. https://salondesrefuses.cn/en/art-history/250
For specific historical claims, also cite the original sources above and include your access date. This account is not a full translation of the linked work.
Adjacent nodes follow chronological order; adjacency does not establish direct influence or causation.