Preview: Art Blocks Playground "Departed"
Art Blocks is back today with a Playground release from artist Alexis Andre titled "Departed." This is one of the most visually compelling generative sets we have seen in some time and is set up for some major attention today.
The project theme centers around losing touch with friends and relatives in this growing online world.
"'Departed' deals with the uncertainty of life, feelings of helplessness and how we might be losing touch with our humanity when everything is online," the project page said.
"Departed" appears to have 3D imagery in its outputs, reinforced by the colors and lines that reach beyond the standard frame. The art spills out and it feels like it's coming at the viewer — a style not seen frequently in the Art Blocks world.
The pieces are slightly animated but reach their final resting state in a matter of two-to-three seconds. Thus, the outputs are more similar to still art than animated. Preview some sample outputs at this link.
In 24 hours exactly, "Departed" will go live on @artblocks_io
— Alexis André (@MacTuitui) October 11, 2022
Four successive non-curated test outputs.
What you see is what you *might* get.
I hope to see you there. pic.twitter.com/FR9VEhzWi1
Quick Background on Alexis Andre
Alexis Andre, who goes by Mac Tuttui on Twitter, is an early contributor to Art Blocks Curated, with his project "720 Minutes" launching as a part of Series 2 in early March of 2021. He has since launched three additional projects, with one "24 Heures" on hold and available for only specific collectors. The floors and supplies of those projects are listed below:
- 720 Minutes - 2.7 ETH floor, 720 supply
- Void - 0.29 ETH floor, 500 supply
- Messengers - 0.59 ETH floor, 350 supply
- Obicera - 0.29 ETH floor, 529 supply
Market Analysis and Predictions
Art Blocks has some serious tailwinds right now. Last week's Curated set "Fontana" is holding a 1.5 ETH floor, up nearly three times the mint price (though down almost 40 percent from its local high). Last Friday's Playground drop from Jeff Davis minted out in an outrageous gas war (600 gwei required to mint), and then Monday's drop "QWERTY" jumped nearly 100 percent from its 0.26 ETH mint price to a 0.5 ETH floor. That is some serious ROI and demand in this bear market.
Predicting "Departed" price action is a bit trickier. His prior works' floors are all over the place, ranging from 0.29 to 2.7 ETH. This does appear to be the most visually stunning of any of Alexis' sets and thus could command a premium. The supply at just 350 is nice as well.
The most likely scenario is that this mints out in the 0.3-0.4 ETH range and sees some target upside around 0.6-0.8 ETH range. If collectors start rallying behind it, it could very well run past 1 ETH. If the mint gets botted or mints out too high (in the 0.5-0.75 ETH range), it becomes much riskier.
A good comp set for "Departed" could be "Alien DNA" from Shvembldr, as Shvembldr has a similar number of projects and Alien DNA stood out visually from the rest (it holds a 0.85 ETH floor with 512 supply).
With how little else is minting today and this week, this has a good chance to be the liquidity focus of the day, which could also drive some more potential upside.
Departed will begin its Dutch auction today at 11 a.m. ET, starting at 3 ETH and reducing exponentially to a resting price of 0.2 ETH.
