Artist Jimmy Griffith, also known as Remnynt, has a natural talent for creating exquisite artworks.
He was diagnosed with nystagmus in infancy, a condition that causes involuntary eye movement. He says he was drawn to hands-on art activities with intricate mazes and maps, where he could focus intently and pay close attention to visual tasks.
By the age of four, he began drawing mazes and maps for games he created for himself. By high school, he started programming games for friends using a TI-83 calculator.
Nowadays, Remnynt states that software is his artistic medium. His first encounter with generative art was in 2008 when he studied how computer graphics could recreate in real-time in the gaming world using mathematical algorithms and fractal geometry.
Then, he worked in the gaming industry for over ten years, saying he wrote experiences enjoyed by millions of players. Nowadays, as a generative artist, Remnynt applies his roots in independent game development to algorithmic art, exploring what happens when randomness and creativity collide.
His first collection (Vibes) was released in October 2021, a chain-on generative art series about the power of color theory. His latest exhibition (Proscenium) turns visitors into 'agents' who can influence the artistic creation process by selecting variables such as paint colors and the height at which paint drops onto the canvas.
The generative algorithms handle the rest, freely allocating paint to the point where the studio is filled with smoke, and paint beads bounce on the canvas.
This interview took place at the Thunderbird Marfa lounge during the Marfa Arts District weekend, where Remnynt revealed his behind-the-scenes practices for getting into a flow state, his inspirations, and the types of digital art tools he uses.
Note: This record has been edited for conciseness and clarity.
OpenSea: What initially attracted you to create this style of generative algorithm art?
Remnynt: What initially attracted me to explore generative art may have been video games. The idea of pseudo-random numbers as a multiplier of the creative space fascinated me. For example, in games, you can create a terrain or a terrain system where randomness increases possibilities, and suddenly, layered systems produce new properties. You see islands and volcanoes that were never intentionally programmed, discovering these is pure joy.
OpenSea: That's awesome, I love this. Interestingly, how many people transition from video games to this field? What tools or platforms do you use while creating?
Remnynt: All of my work is written in JavaScript. For me, it is the language of the internet. Essentially, it’s a web page. I tend to avoid any tools made with TK (can you help me identify the name of the person he mentions here?), it’s just personal preference.
I really enjoy understanding the ins and outs of each API, every touchpoint of the code, and getting as close to the computer as possible - as close to the metal as I can, because that’s where you find opportunities to explore bugs or mathematics that can yield outputs you never anticipated. I think there’s a real beauty in that, it’s a bit like an exploration or a hunt for beautiful things hidden within ideas.
OpenSea: How do your personal experiences, culture, or background influence your work?
Remnynt: I grew up in nature and outdoor environments. I participated in scouting, hiking, went to the beach with my family, and lived by the sea. These experiences had a profound impact on me, giving me a deep understanding of the world and the universe as a whole.
To some extent, I feel that art can serve as an asymptotic approach to the real world. We are always trying to generalize the feelings it gives us or what it looks like. This grand scale is almost unattainable, and we have been working hard to create something that can capture it. I think those moments become very special when you get closer to it, or closer than before.
OpenSea: What practices help you get into a creative flow state?
Remnynt: Getting into a flow state can be a challenge. I have two kids, one three years old and one one year old, and they are a great joy in my life. Sometimes working from home can be a bit noisy, but what truly gets me into a flow state is the habit of brewing coffee.
I brew coffee, meditate a bit, focusing on what I want to do today while I make coffee, and then I enjoy it, waking up a little. You know, that’s it. Honestly, aside from that, I don’t have anything else. It used to be my music, like when I was playing games, but for whatever reason, I’m more focused on gaining some peace and quiet when I can.
OpenSea: What was your starting point for creating generative art?
Remnynt: I always start with an idea. For example, when creating (Proscenium), my concept was: what if paint could bounce on a world canvas? So, I started building a three-dimensional terrain. I had the paint drops suspended in the air and implemented physics so that when they collided, they wouldn't just bounce off but also leave marks.
Doing so creates this initial space of possibility where you just need to focus entirely on exploring it. What if I change this? What if I change that?
In fact, a major breakthrough in this piece was that I used terrain height maps to paint mountains, skyscrapers, and buildings to heights that are hard to imagine. I added zeros in the variables, and the magnitudes were different. When all the graphics were projected back into the two-dimensional space on the canvas, the way it stretched the graphics amazed me. It was incredible to experience and discover all of this.
After nearly 600 days of effort, I finally made it a reality and shared it with others. I am very happy, but what I want to say is: you might start with an idea, but the medium guides you forward. It’s a back-and-forth process, a process of discovery.
To express all of this and distill these over 9,000 lines of code into the essence of all these subtle moments, to see what I modified here, what I altered there, and what I was thinking at the time, is very challenging.
Thus, this piece I created in Marfa attempts to capture the same starting point - putting the idea of paint bouncing on a world canvas into practice and recreating it in reality. So, we built these huge ramps out of plywood, and my wife, who is an exhibition designer as well as an artist, was involved in the construction.
We laid canvas strips on the ramps and let the bouncy balls get painted, with all participants helping create a new artwork, bouncing paint on the ramps and spinning and painting the bouncy balls in different ways. The result was even more beautiful than I imagined, and I was blown away by it.
All of this is just to create a contrast and show: digital works and physical works, even if they start from the same place, the medium drives the artist's hand and takes you to different places. I want to show that software is a medium, so even if I tell you this is painting - this is digital painting - it is not. It’s something we don’t even have language to express yet.
OpenSea: We hear people talk all day about the desires of this generation of artists working in the digital space, who don't want their work to be defined as digital. This is a recurring theme that is very interesting. In the past, because this is when computers began to create art, you wanted to showcase that it was created by a computer - just that alone is an interesting concept. But now, it's more about the way you create art, whatever that process looks like for you, the focus is on the end product rather than how the work was created. It's fascinating to see how this has become such an important theme.
Remnynt: Yes, absolutely.
OpenSea: Do you find yourself constantly modifying your work, or are you able to step back?
Remnynt: Letting go of a piece is very, very difficult. Through 'Proscenium,' I learned to keep working on a piece until it no longer affects me because when it no longer affects me, I’m wasting time. I need to find a new piece to explore, and you know, I could adjust the palette forever, I might be happy to do that, but time on earth is limited, and I have so much more to explore.
OpenSea: What does coming to Marfa mean to you?
Remnynt: Coming to Marfa is a dream come true. For years, I’ve been following PFP, meeting people, embracing them, sharing stories - it’s just amazing. Connecting with collectors, fellow artists, and legends like Erick Calderon (Snowfro), who created this escape hatch for digital artists, is fantastic; I wouldn't be here without his vision for Art Blocks.
OpenSea: Lastly, where can people find you?
Remnynt: You can find me on my studio website vibes.art, which categorizes my work and includes links to everything, such as my smart contracts and my Art Blocks Curated work Proscenium. My X account is Remnynt - that's 'Remnant' with a 'y' instead of an 'a'.
OpenSea: Awesome, thank you so much!
Remnynt: Thank you! This is interesting.
The OpenSea content you care about
Explore | Collect | Sell | Buy
Follow the OpenSea Binance channel
Stay updated
