Introduction
Emily Xie’s Memories of Qilin was released on Art Blocks on 21 March 2022 in an edition of 1,024. Written in JavaScript with p5.js, it brings references to East Asian painting and woodblock prints into a generative series. The sources document code-based generation, not a machine-learning image process.
View full image ↗Memories of Qilin work preview from its Art Blocks collection page (source token identifier 282000902), from the 2022 series; the original pattern and composition are retained.
Emily Xie / Art Blocks · Artwork and image rights remain with their holders; research reference, not an assertion of an open licence.
Source · Memories of Qilin ↗RESEARCH ACCOUNT
A generative program can carry specific visual-cultural references
ANTI-AI ARCHIVE · Revised 2026-10-03
Medium and date
The artist lists 2022, JavaScript and p5.js; Art Blocks supplies 21 March and an edition of 1,024. Work year, release day and this archive’s 3 October 2026 addition are recorded separately.
Section sources: MEMORIES OF QILIN · Memories of Qilin by Emily Xie
Brushwork, woodblock and elusive figures
The platform statement relates fluid movement to Chinese brushwork and colour, pattern and form to ukiyo-e woodblock prints. The artist discusses folklore through mythic figures including the qilin. These references cross East Asian contexts; they neither reduce the work to a single national style nor establish a training-image dataset.
Section sources: MEMORIES OF QILIN · Memories of Qilin by Emily Xie
Read with Nake without inventing a chain of influence
Editorial interpretation: Nake and Xie both invite study of how visual references are translated into conditions of generation. Their media, runtimes, circulation and cultural experiences differ. This comparison connects early computer graphics with crypto art while keeping machine-learning processes analytically distinct.
Section sources: MEMORIES OF QILIN · Hommage à Paul Klee Nr. 2
Sources for this account
Read work statement, YEAR 2022 and MEDIUM Javascript w/ p5.js; code not audited and no evidence obtained of a trained model in this work.
Read release date 2022-03-21, edition of 1,024 and references to Chinese brushwork and ukiyo-e; external full text neither translated nor preserved.
Read Material / Technique and Description; distinguish the 1965 drawing from the collection screen print.
Code and dependency versions have not been independently audited. Direct influence from Nake or Bense on Xie is not established; the Chinese work title is an archive translation. 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
Xie’s work page explicitly credits p5.js.
Use long-form theory to frame questions about a series without attributing Hobbs’s words to Xie.
Compare programmed responses to visual references; direct influence is not established.
Further comparison: Fragments of an Infinite Field: composing through seasons and plant variation
Further comparison: Anticyclone: translating weather concepts into painterly form
Further comparison: Chimera: an established genre enters a live medium
Further comparison: Running Moon: boundaries between stained glass and watercolour
Further comparison: Petro National: a generative landscape driven by consumption data
Further comparison: Sudfah: from calligraphic line to simulated liquid
Further comparison: INK: memory and disappearance in algorithmic lines
Further comparison: Garden, Monoliths: vegetation and stone
Further comparison: (kinder)Garden, Monuments: Zancan and Yazid collaborate
Further comparison: hollow: voids in nonexistent monuments
Dates & version record
Date displayed for this node: 2022-03-21 · Historical date recorded for the source: 2022-03-21
Art Blocks release date; artist’s work page supplies the year 2022 only.
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.
Memories of Qilin
https://emilyxie.art/projects/memories_of_qilin
Current cited URL
Code and dependency versions have not been independently audited. Direct influence from Nake or Bense on Xie is not established; the Chinese work title is an archive translation.
Provenance, translation & verification
Archive node #167 · Generative-art history: research, works and execution
Research materials & supplement references · 1
Generative art to crypto art: source register (3 October 2026) · Read work statement, YEAR 2022 and MEDIUM Javascript w/ p5.js; code not audited and no evidence obtained of a trained model in this work. · 007
Date as recorded: 2022-03-21
MEMORIES OF QILIN ↗
MEMORIES OF QILIN
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. Memories of Qilin: code, pattern and folklore. Art-history node #167. https://salondesrefuses.cn/en/art-history/254
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.