# Antennas by gcrll

## The work and its context

Antennas is a 250-edition generative art series by Guido Corallo, working under the name gcrll, released on Art Blocks as a Factory project on Ethereum mainnet, contract 0xa7d8d9ef8d8ce8992df33d8b8cf4aebabd5bd270, project ID 70.[^S01] The platform gives June 1, 2021 as its release date, and every output is an animated radial construction: slender lines, ticks, small squares and triangles arranged in concentric layers that slowly turn and tilt in three-dimensional space against a dark or inverted light ground.[^S02] The artist's own project text frames the series around pattern recognition, noting that human brains organize visual data into previously recognized patterns and resist pure abstraction; the structures in Antennas, he writes, let intuition "find ground in the known figurative world" through a playful back and forth between complexity and meaning.[^S01]

Corallo studied biology at the University of Buenos Aires. MUTEK describes his subsequent work in computer graphics and generative systems, including interactive applications for advertising agencies and museums and teaching programming for artistic practice.[^S05] In his Bright Moments interview he explains that scientific illustration shaped his visual education before he began making images and commercial interactive applications.[^S04] The [Guido Corallo artist dossier](https://ab5d.xyz/artists/guido-corallo/) places Antennas within his wider practice.

The marks in Antennas stay simple, but their accumulation can suggest aerials, filaments or circuitry without specifying one object. That is a reading of the series rather than evidence of an earlier development sequence. The artist’s project description makes the viewer’s search for recognizable forms central to the work.[^S01]

## Conception and development

The series-specific first-person account inspected for this essay is the artist's project description on Art Blocks, quoted above, which presents the series as an inquiry into how viewers complete abstract structures into recognizable shapes.[^S01] Corallo describes the procedure itself as intuitive: he works with code in a "playful back and forth" until the overlapping geometry balances complexity against meaning.[^S01]

In a 2023 Bright Moments interview, Corallo explained that his visual education came from scientific images, zoology, botany and histology textbooks rather than from art training, and that when he selects among generative outputs he often picks results that resemble biological or natural systems.[^S04] In the same interview he noted that he uses architectural themes more than biological ones, "but everything ends up looking somewhat biological at the end of the day," and that his compositional work happens in prolonged adjustment of the number, position and interaction of elements even when the code looks unchanged from a distance.[^S04] Read against that testimony, the title Antennas guides perception toward transmission and reception, while the images resist becoming diagrams of any particular device; that reading is this essay's interpretation, not the artist's stated program. The interview describes a small Buenos Aires Processing community that grew over time and a later expansion of live coding. It provides context for Corallo’s practice, but does not document the development of Antennas itself.[^S04]

No dated development sketches, version history or preliminary posts specific to Antennas could be located in inspected sources; the development timeline beyond the on-chain dates in the mint section remains undocumented here.

## How the work was constructed

The full artist script was retrieved from the official indexed project record at the Art Blocks mainnet GraphQL endpoint, filtered by the exact slug antennas-by-gcrll and corroborated against contract 0xa7d8d9ef8d8ce8992df33d8b8cf4aebabd5bd270 and project ID 70. The retrieved script is 3,987 bytes with SHA-256 digest 0e2c7a77be529677aad16db7d40959ad4e9c75ff930c8fa290ad83b782edf13e (digest recorded in evidence.json; the script itself is not redistributed). The indexed runtime is p5@1.0.0, and the project has no external asset dependencies.[^S01][^S02]

The script seeds its randomness directly from the token: it parses the first sixteen characters of the token hash, including its 0x prefix, as an integer and drives a small xorshift generator (successive XOR-shifts by 13, 17 and 5 bits) whose outputs, reduced modulo 1000 and scaled, drive the generative choices.[^S02] From that stream the script builds a six-color palette (a green, a blue, a light grey, a pale pink, a red and a yellow), picks one of four near-black backgrounds, and with roughly twenty percent probability inverts the whole scheme to a light ground.[^S02]

Composition is delegated to a LayerSys object that stacks between four and ten transparent layers along the z axis of a WEBGL canvas. The layer counter is an integer compared with a floating upper bound, producing four to ten actual layers. Each layer arranges marks around a circle whose radius is modulated by two sine waves, an inner and an outer frequency, so the ring ripples rather than staying round. Eight drawing modes, either shared across the system or reselected per layer, vary the marks: radial spokes with small terminal squares, paired connectors between the inner and outer rings, three-dimensional struts, closed curves, and small rotated triangles. Colors blend progressively toward the background across the layer stack, which produces the characteristic depth fade.[^S02]

Motion comes from a global rotation mode, an integer from zero to five drawn from the same seed. Depending on the mode, the whole layer stack sways on the x axis, the y axis, both, or tilts to a fixed top-down angle and spins slowly around z, with additional small wobble. The oscillating components use a 240-frame period at a requested 30 frames per second, nominally eight seconds. Two rotation modes also include a steadily increasing z rotation. In those branches the whole image does not simply return after 240 frames, so eight seconds cannot be assigned as the universal full-work loop duration.[^S02] Direct script inspection found no mouse, keyboard or touch handlers and no audio code, so the inspected program supplies animation without artist-defined input or audio mechanisms; no sound audition is claimed.[^S02] The submitted Kimi research record reports observing continuous rotation and tilt in the live renderer for token 70000027. An earlier independent attempt failed to create a WebGL context. A later retry successfully rendered the original, and two inspected states showed the layered structure changing orientation. This verifies movement for the collection example without establishing an exact frame rate or complete loop duration.[^S10]

This review inspected the script through the Art Blocks index, not a historical block-pinned contract retrieval. The renderer executes the program with its declared p5.js dependency. The hash seeds the composition, while successive browser frames advance its visible orientation. The indexed retrieval alone does not establish a complete preservation or storage history.[^S02]

## The mint

The mint history separates cleanly into four dated events, all observed in the current Art Blocks index on September 17, 2026.[^S01][^S09] The first token, edition 0 (token ID 70000000), was minted on May 24, 2021 at 18:24:30 UTC, three days before the project's recorded activation on May 27, 2021 at 20:45:05 UTC; a pre-activation first mint of this kind is consistent with an artist or administrative test mint, though the minter's identity was not independently confirmed here.[^S01][^S09] The recorded release followed on June 1, 2021 at 21:03:46 UTC: the index records that timestamp as the sale start, it coincides exactly with the second token's mint, and the official collection page carries the line "Released Jun 1, 2021, 9:03 PM UTC".[^S01][^S03][^S09] The final mint completed the edition on July 3, 2021 at 14:17:22 UTC.[^S01]

The interval between indexed start and completion is about thirty-one days and seventeen hours. It does not establish an uninterrupted public sale or identify reserved allocations. Current minted count and maximum both equal 250, and the project is marked complete and locked. An originally announced maximum has not been independently recovered.[^S01] The currently indexed price is 0.1 ETH per token, but no dated 2021 source inspected here states the original mint price, so that figure is reported as the present registry value rather than verified launch pricing; the distinction is flagged in the research notes.[^S01] Mint currency was ETH, and no pricing changes, pauses after opening, or technical incidents were found in the inspected record.[^S01][^S09]

## Copyright and licensing

The project registry reports the artwork licence label "CC BY-NC 4.0" for Antennas, with no linked terms URL in the record.[^S01] That label corresponds to the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International licence, whose published deed permits sharing and adaptation of the material for non-commercial purposes with appropriate credit and a link to the licence, and forbids additional legal or technological restrictions on the permissions granted.[^S07] This essay therefore categorizes the artwork licence as creative-commons, variant CC BY-NC 4.0, while noting that the operative terms as applied to the tokens rest on the registry label plus the generic CC text; no artist-hosted licence page specific to Antennas was located.[^S01][^S07]

Rights in the artist's script are separate and remain unknown: the retrieved script carries no licence header, and its visibility in the public project registry does not by itself grant reuse permission.[^S02] The one declared runtime dependency, p5.js 1.0.0, has a versioned upstream licence file identifying LGPL 2.1. This is separate from artwork and artist-script rights.[^S01][^S16] Ownership of an Antennas token conveys no copyright by itself, and no conflicting licence statements were found in the inspected sources. Where this essay displays or links an image, it links the canonical Art Blocks token page and media rather than republishing the artwork.[^S09]

## Close reading of examples

Five official previews and the five corresponding original renderers were independently inspected: editions 0, 1, 10, 20 and 27. Each original was observed in two visibly different states. The first two bracket the early mint chronology; the others permit comparison of dense, open and tilted constructions. This small sample supports visual comparison, not claims about the frequency of particular traits across all 250 outputs. The previews establish particular recorded appearances; the original observations confirm changing orientation, without measuring animation speed or a complete loop.[^S09][^S11][^S12][^S13][^S14][^S15]

Edition 0 uses green against a nearly black field. Its outer contour is a broad, irregular four-lobed curve, with small square outlines and forked strokes scattered around and across it. Toward the centre, progressively fainter structures accumulate into a dark rosette. The contrast between the long contour and the detached peripheral marks matters: the image is not simply a collection of identical spokes. Some lines hold a region together, while others suggest small instruments dispersed through it. The bright outer fragments remain conspicuous even where the central structure becomes difficult to distinguish from its ground.[^S12]

Edition 1 is red on a dark blue-black ground. A conspicuous central fan of straight lines makes its radial organization more immediate than in #0. Around that centre, square outlines, angular brackets and wavering closed contours overlap. Further out, isolated short strokes suggest a perimeter without completing a solid boundary. The image appears more insistently centred, but the overlapping contours prevent its symmetry from becoming a simple target. Following a line outward repeatedly brings the eye into a different class of mark, from spoke to small box to irregular curve.[^S13]

Edition 10 expands the activity across almost the entire preview. Bright blue and pale pink outlines dominate, with green and grey marks receding behind them. Near the centre, a jagged rosette is formed by the meeting of many angular lines; elsewhere, square and triangular outlines interrupt long outward strokes. Several marks meet or pass beyond the image edge. Unlike #20, which leaves a wide border around its circular structure, #10 seems larger than its available field. Its sense of depth comes partly from the unequal visibility of overlapping colours. That reading can be made from the still without claiming that a particular mark has been tracked through time.[^S14]

Edition 20 is comparatively contained. A pink outer circle encloses a dark central opening surrounded by small pink squares and long pale spokes. Quieter green and blue brackets occupy the band between centre and perimeter. The open middle is essential: the composition has a conspicuous absence where #1 has a dense fan of converging lines. Its surrounding dark margin also gives the structure room to read as one discrete object. Calling it sparse should not erase the subordinate detail; the quieter marks become visible after the pale spokes have established the first impression.[^S15]

Edition 27, identified in the submitted ownership record as the AB5D-held example, presents an oblique ellipse rather than a face-on circle.[^S08][^S09] Pale pink upright and crosswise strokes trace its outside. Red square outlines form another ring, while subdued blue squares and dashed arcs draw the eye toward a small red ellipse near the centre. Large areas of the dark field remain empty. The tilted viewpoint separates the apparent levels and makes the marks resemble an arrangement of aerials without requiring that interpretation. The original was subsequently inspected in two changing states: the rim strokes and central ellipse changed orientation together. This extends the preview reading with direct evidence of motion, while the earlier failed attempt remains recorded.[^S11][^S10]

## Significance and limitations

Antennas distinguishes itself within the early Art Blocks Factory cohort by committing fully to animation as the medium rather than as an embellishment: the composition is deliberately slight in any single frame, and the work's character emerges from the slow three-dimensional turning of its layered marks. Its layered organisation can be compared with Corallo's later account of tuning element counts, positions and interactions until a population reads as almost organic. That later interview contextualises the work without proving its specific development sequence.[^S04] The month-long interval in its index is part of the release record, but requires historical sale evidence before it can support a wider claim about collector demand.[^S01]

Unresolved research questions, flagged for review:

- The original mint price in ETH at the June 1, 2021 opening is not established by any dated 2021 source inspected here; only the current registry value of 0.1 ETH is recorded.[^S01]
- The identity and intent of the minter of edition 0 on May 24, 2021 (artist test mint versus other administrative mint) was not independently confirmed.[^S09]
- The artist's Instagram announcement of the opening, referenced in search results, could not be inspected because the page requires login; it is recorded as an unverified lead in the research notes, not as a cited source.
- No artist-authored development history specific to Antennas (sketches, preliminary versions, dated posts) was located; the conception account rests on the project text and one later interview.[^S01][^S04]

[^S01]: Art Blocks. [Antennas by gcrll: project registry record (projects_metadata)](https://artblocks-mainnet.hasura.app/v1/graphql). Accessed 2026-09-17T22:00:31Z.
[^S02]: gcrll (Guido Corallo). [Antennas full artist script (projects_metadata.script)](https://artblocks-mainnet.hasura.app/v1/graphql). Accessed 2026-09-17T22:00:31Z.
[^S03]: Art Blocks. [Antennas by gcrll: official collection page](https://www.artblocks.io/collection/antennas-by-gcrll). Accessed 2026-09-17T22:05:00Z.
[^S04]: Bright Moments (interview with Guido Corallo). [Guido Corallo: Vertigo Las Luces (Bright Moments Quarterly interview)](https://www.brightmoments.io/quarterly/guido-corallo). Published 2023-11-22. Accessed 2026-09-17T22:06:00Z.
[^S05]: MUTEK ES. [GCRLL (Guido Corallo) artist biography](https://barcelona.mutek.org/en/artists/gcrll-guido-corallo). Accessed 2026-09-17T22:07:00Z.
[^S07]: Creative Commons. [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International deed](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/). Accessed 2026-09-17T22:06:30Z.
[^S08]: Art Blocks. [AB5D profile (linked wallet set)](https://www.artblocks.io/profile/ab5d). Accessed 2026-09-17T22:01:00Z.
[^S09]: Art Blocks. [Antennas token records (tokens_metadata)](https://artblocks-mainnet.hasura.app/v1/graphql). Accessed 2026-09-17T22:01:44Z.
[^S10]: Art Blocks. [Antennas live renderer, token 70000027](https://generator.artblocks.io/1/0xa7d8d9ef8d8ce8992df33d8b8cf4aebabd5bd270/70000027). Accessed 2026-09-17T22:08:00Z.
[^S11]: Art Blocks. [Antennas #27 official static preview](https://media-proxy.artblocks.io/1/0xa7d8d9ef8d8ce8992df33d8b8cf4aebabd5bd270/70000027.png). Accessed 2026-09-17T22:02:00Z.
[^S12]: Art Blocks. [Antennas #0 official static preview](https://media-proxy.artblocks.io/1/0xa7d8d9ef8d8ce8992df33d8b8cf4aebabd5bd270/70000000.png). Accessed 2026-09-18T00:45:34.503871+00:00.
[^S13]: Art Blocks. [Antennas #1 official static preview](https://media-proxy.artblocks.io/1/0xa7d8d9ef8d8ce8992df33d8b8cf4aebabd5bd270/70000001.png). Accessed 2026-09-18T00:45:34.503871+00:00.
[^S14]: Art Blocks. [Antennas #10 official static preview](https://media-proxy.artblocks.io/1/0xa7d8d9ef8d8ce8992df33d8b8cf4aebabd5bd270/70000010.png). Accessed 2026-09-18T00:45:34.503871+00:00.
[^S15]: Art Blocks. [Antennas #20 official static preview](https://media-proxy.artblocks.io/1/0xa7d8d9ef8d8ce8992df33d8b8cf4aebabd5bd270/70000020.png). Accessed 2026-09-18T00:45:34.503871+00:00.
[^S16]: p5.js contributors / Free Software Foundation. [p5.js 1.0.0 licence](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/processing/p5.js/1.0.0/license.txt). Accessed 2026-09-18.