AB5D
Artists, Series, Collectors
Draft 0.1 · 15 October 2026
0-9 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
The AB[500] is the first five hundred projects released on Art Blocks, from the platform’s launch in November 2020 to the close of the set in 2025: 292,985 works by 308 artists. This atlas is a reference to that set, in three orders.
Part I, Artists, is alphabetical by surname. Pseudonyms, studios and collectives are filed as written, and names that begin with a numeral or 0x come before A. Each entry gives the artist’s profile once, with the series they made and a full list of references and links.
Part II, Series, runs from 001 to 500 in AB[500] order, which follows release order closely. Each entry opens with a specification and a plate, then shows the range of the series’ outputs, then the essay, the collectors in Part III who hold it, and its references.
Part III, Collectors, ranks the top fifty collectors of the set by abTDH and gives an entry to each named collector.
Every entry points to the others. An artist who is also a collector, such as Snowfro or Matto, has an entry in both parts, and each series names the Part III collectors who hold it.
Each series opens on a single plate. Where AB5D holds the series, which is true of 496 of the 500, the plate is the collection’s own token, so the opening plates of Part II are also a record of the AB5D Collection. Where it does not, the plate is the dossier’s lead image and the caption says so.
A second page shows the range. Every output of the series is scored by how unusual its combination of traits is, using the trait data recorded on chain, and 9 outputs are taken at evenly spaced positions from the most typical (P0) to the rarest (P100). The same positions are used in every entry, so series can be compared page to page. Series without usable trait data are sampled at evenly spaced token numbers. A series with 10 or fewer outputs is shown complete.
Plates are reproduced from Art Blocks’ renders of the on-chain programs. Animated works are shown as a still.
abTDH measures how long a collector has held AB[500] works, weighted toward small editions. Part III freezes the ranking at the snapshot of 14 October 2026. The website keeps the live ranking.
AB5D is a collector-led reference institution for the AB[500]. It is the publisher of this atlas and a collector of the set: at the snapshot it held 1,002 works across 496 of the 500 series. Its collection supplies the opening plates of Part II. It uses the abTDH ranking to select Part III but does not list itself there.
Every entry carries its own references and links, numbered to match the notes in its text and rendered from the source records kept with each dossier. Canonical links (the Art Blocks project, a live render, the contract and the AB5D dossier) open each list. The bibliography at the back merges every source once and records where it is cited. It currently lists 8,222 distinct sources, 5,180 of them outside platform, chain and licence records.
The text of this atlas is released under CC0. The artworks reproduced in it remain the work of their artists and are shown under the licence recorded for each series in its specification.
Draft 0.1. Built from the AB5D repository on 15 October 2026. 500 series entries, 308 artist entries and 33 collector entries; 5,000 plates in Part II. Collector essays: 33 of 33 named collectors written so far.