chaos comes with the summer haze

The work and its context

chaos comes with the summer haze is project 405 on the Art Blocks V2 core contract 0x99a9b7c1116f9ceeb1652de04d5969cce509b069, published under the canonical slug chaos-comes-with-the-summer-haze-by-cole-sternberg and credited to Cole Sternberg. The indexed project record reports a completed edition of 163 of 163 invocations, runtime p5@1.0.0, and the official description: As the temperature reads 113 degrees Fahrenheit (45 Celsius), the hottest on record in the spot where I stand, my shoes are melting into the asphalt and my vision is blurred. I wonder how we got here from those rainy springs and where we will go. The heat’s visible haze makes me doubt the possibility of future Augusts spent outdoors. It is in this haze that chaos comes with the summer haze takes form. My inspiration is from both beauty and fear - the beauty of the land, the water, the flowers, the beauty of paint and code, the beauty of humanity , the fear of panic and mob mentalities, the fear of incongruity and environmental collapse, the fear of humankind. It is from the obsessiveness, visual overload, content overload, and our aching yet hopeful eyes as we stare towards the horizon. chaos comes with the summer haze is specifically aligned with my art practice, which for decades has attempted to address technology, climate change, human irrationality and human rights, while being unencumbered by limitations of medium. Whether it is dragging paintings in the ocean, writing a new constitution, or encoding this Project, all have the same goal - creating impressions that are pleasing while acting as guideposts or warnings. Here, I’ve ratcheted up the intensity of everything. The breadth of coloration, brushstrokes and variety of possible outputs push dramatically in a way only possible through the generative process. Many times, I feel the code taking over the composition with the intent of heightening the chaos itself, perhaps adding an exclamation point to the warning therein. Visually, it is symptomatic of both human and earthly chaos. The earthly ‘gestalts’ are the seas rising and the clouds gathering. The ‘meltdowns’ are the human brushstrokes that feel panicked, despite being controlled. They are haphazard, geometric and duplicative. They obscure reality. The handpicked colors touch the rainbow of possibilities, but are affected by that summer haze. The ‘shadow frequency’ demonstrates content overload, duplication and machine learning, all creating further feelings of distress. There are layers and layers of possibilities , of coffee stains, of visual heat, of faces, of ideas, of dimensional portals, of the future... The Rising Edition The first 46 minters (tokens #1-46) will receive The Rising Edition physical collection as a gift, which includes: * A unique print of the minter’s piece, printed on archival Hahnemühle German etching paper, mounted on 16” x 12” (40.6 cm x 30.5 cm) varnished maple board, signed and titled on verso. * A sculpture featuring a porcelain blanketed rock - discovered, shaped and fired by the Artist. * A limited edition hardcover, linen wrapped visual compendium chronicling the conceptual theory and production of the work, signed and numbered. Please visit the Project’s website for images of the Rising Edition and further details on the Project. Controls p - for a high resolution (6000 x 7200 pixels) printable version s - to save the image as a png file ¹²

Those figures are current index observations retrieved on 2026-09-19, not a reconstruction of the original public sale announcement. Atlas position is a catalogue ordinal and is not the on-chain project ID. The live collection page and the Hasura projects_metadata row agree on title, slug, contract, and project ID after a filtered query that used the exact slug. ¹²

Contract 0x99a9b7c1116f9ceeb1652de04d5969cce509b069. Aspect ratio indexed as 0.8333333333. Website https://www.thesummerhaze.io/.

This essay treats the stored artist program, four independently identified outputs, and a freshly checked AB5D holding (or an explicit collection gap) as primary evidence. Metadata traits are cited only when they were returned for the same V2 contract token IDs that were visually inspected. They do not replace looking at the pictures. ³⁴

Conception and development

The official project description is the development account used here. Interview or dossier sentences that name a different slug are not treated as statements about this series. As the temperature reads 113 degrees Fahrenheit (45 Celsius), the hottest on record in the spot where I stand, my shoes are melting into the asphalt and my vision is blurred. I wonder how we got here from those rainy springs and where we will go. The heat’s visible haze makes me doubt the possibility of future Augusts spent outdoors. It is in this haze that chaos comes with the summer haze takes

The development account used here is the specific source named in the citations, not a paraphrase of an artist-dossier page. Where that account is an official project description written in the artist's voice, that limit is stated rather than upgraded into an unpublished studio diary. Where an interview exists, the sentences that actually name chaos comes with the summer haze are the ones relied on. ⁵¹

Secondary pages that only repeat the marketplace listing are not treated as independent conception sources. ²⁵

How the work was constructed

The complete artist program for slug chaos-comes-with-the-summer-haze-by-cole-sternberg was retrieved from projects_metadata.script filtered by that exact slug. The UTF-8 payload is 980306 bytes with SHA-256 74f7d9d90de0379c92ccdad08520693c73c6f421fd60848066ca2546a22ddf1d. Runtime on the project record is p5@1.0.0. The script was read in full; it was not executed in this research session. ⁶

The stored generator is 980306 bytes, SHA-256 74f7d9d90de0379c92ccdad08520693c73c6f421fd60848066ca2546a22ddf1d, runtime p5@1.0.0. Detected source markers: setup, draw, noLoop, createCanvas, tokenData, hash. Named functions include Ii, K, Vi, it, ki, ni, p, x. tokenData.hash is read in source. Output then follows the drawing path those functions implement. Token 0 observation: Inspected media-proxy PNG is 2000x2400px, mid-tone and muted or near-neutral (mean RGB 71,84,88). File size 8237290 bytes. Indexed features: wind a whisper; compass true north; doorway dimension; gestalt the flock had forgotten its insanity; coverage finding shade; chaos folds ninety degree bend; gestalt mirrors sea bend; meltdown dances uncontrollable emotions

Visual claims come from inspected media-proxy PNGs plus indexed token features.

Seed handling is visible in the retrieved program: tokenData.hash is read in source. Time and interaction behaviour in code is: Source contains noLoop. The inspected PNG is a finished still. Live motion was not stopwatched. A handler found in source is not the same thing as a control that was pressed in a live renderer during this session; tested controls are listed only when an actual key or pointer action was performed. ⁶⁷

External dependencies are those declared by script_type_and_version plus any library identifiers inside the file. Public visibility of the stored script does not grant a right to redistribute the raw artist source in this package, so the analysis cites functions and byte length rather than reprinting the program. ⁶⁸

The mint

Indexed chronology for project 405 on 0x99a9b7c1116f9ceeb1652de04d5969cce509b069 is as follows. First token minted_at is 2023-01-27T22:54:11+00:00. activated_at is 2023-02-01T04:17:23+00:00. start_datetime is 2023-03-03T18:00:00+00:00. completed_at is 2023-09-19T15:54:35+00:00. Invocations stand at 163 of a maximum 163, with complete=true on the retrieved row. ²³

Calculated intervals from those timestamps: first mint to activation is 4.22 days; activation to start_datetime is 30.57 days; start_datetime to completion is 199.91 days; first mint to completion is 234.71 days. These are differences of indexed clock fields, not a claim about when a web storefront button became visible to every collector. A first mint that precedes start_datetime is treated as an early or reserved mint unless a separate allocation record is produced. ²³

Indexed clocks: first 2023-01-27T22:54:11+00:00, activated 2023-02-01T04:17:23+00:00, start 2023-03-03T18:00:00+00:00, completed 2023-09-19T15:54:35+00:00. Early first-mint timestamps are not labelled reserved without a separate allocation record.

Historic per-token ETH prices for the original public sale were not recovered from a primary price table during this session and remain unresolved. Any floor price visible on a marketplace page in 2026 is a current listing observation, not the 2021 ask. ¹²

Copyright and licensing

The project record stores the artwork licence label 'CC BY-NC-ND 4.0'. That string includes an explicit 4.0 version and is treated as Creative Commons version 4.0. Code rights for the artist program are not separately labelled on the same field; they are treated as unknown rather than assumed identical to the artwork deed. ²⁸

Artwork label copied exactly as 'CC BY-NC-ND 4.0'.

Third-party runtime p5@1.0.0 is a separate rights object from both the artwork outputs and the artist source. p5.js, three.js, and ordinary browser JavaScript each keep their own licence texts. This package does not redistribute those libraries. ⁶⁸

Original essay prose in this package is dedicated CC0-1.0 by the research operator. That dedication does not change the artwork, code, or dependency licences.

Close reading of examples

chaos comes with the summer haze #0 is token 405000000 on 0x99a9b7c1116f9ceeb1652de04d5969cce509b069, minted 2023-01-27T22:54:11+00:00. The canonical token page returned HTTP 200. The inspected media-proxy PNG is a static frame. Inspected media-proxy PNG is 2000x2400px, mid-tone and muted or near-neutral (mean RGB 71,84,88). File size 8237290 bytes. Indexed features: wind a whisper; compass true north; doorway dimension; gestalt the flock had forgotten its insanity; coverage finding shade; chaos folds ninety degree bend; gestalt mirrors sea bend; meltdown dances uncontrollable emotions Indexed features returned for this V2 token: wind a whisper; compass true north; doorway dimension; gestalt the flock had forgotten its insanity; coverage finding shade; chaos folds ninety degree bend; gestalt mirrors sea bend; meltdown dances uncontrollable emotions. ³⁹⁴

chaos comes with the summer haze #1 is token 405000001 on 0x99a9b7c1116f9ceeb1652de04d5969cce509b069, minted 2023-02-28T18:20:35+00:00. The canonical token page returned HTTP 200. The inspected media-proxy PNG is a static frame. Inspected media-proxy PNG is 2000x2400px, mid-tone and muted or near-neutral (mean RGB 78,83,64). File size 7909883 bytes. Indexed features: wind a stream; compass west; doorway dimension; gestalt clad in royal plums; coverage finding shade; chaos folds undisturbed; gestalt mirrors axle fold; meltdown dances flatline Indexed features returned for this V2 token: wind a stream; compass west; doorway dimension; gestalt clad in royal plums; coverage finding shade; chaos folds undisturbed; gestalt mirrors axle fold; meltdown dances flatline. ³⁹⁴

chaos comes with the summer haze #10 is token 405000010 on 0x99a9b7c1116f9ceeb1652de04d5969cce509b069, minted 2023-03-01T10:52:47+00:00. The canonical token page returned HTTP 200. The inspected media-proxy PNG is a static frame. Inspected media-proxy PNG is 2000x2400px, dark and muted or near-neutral (mean RGB 62,71,69). File size 8048520 bytes. Indexed features: wind a whisper; compass southwest; doorway dimensions; gestalt the beguiling ripples; coverage finding shade; chaos folds undisturbed; gestalt mirrors reverse axle fold; meltdown dances dry ink wells Indexed features returned for this V2 token: wind a whisper; compass southwest; doorway dimensions; gestalt the beguiling ripples; coverage finding shade; chaos folds undisturbed; gestalt mirrors reverse axle fold; meltdown dances dry ink wells. ³⁹⁴

chaos comes with the summer haze #20 is token 405000020 on 0x99a9b7c1116f9ceeb1652de04d5969cce509b069, minted 2023-03-03T18:26:59+00:00. The canonical token page returned HTTP 200. The inspected media-proxy PNG is a static frame. Inspected media-proxy PNG is 2000x2400px, mid-tone and muted or near-neutral (mean RGB 121,127,126). File size 4286732 bytes. Indexed features: wind a silence; compass southwest; doorway dimension; gestalt a hint of tidal effect; coverage conservatory; chaos folds spatchcocked; gestalt mirrors straight on; meltdown dances accension Indexed features returned for this V2 token: wind a silence; compass southwest; doorway dimension; gestalt a hint of tidal effect; coverage conservatory; chaos folds spatchcocked; gestalt mirrors straight on; meltdown dances accension. ³⁹⁴

The AB5D header candidate is token 405000008 (edition 8), currently indexed to 0xdd19308a9731cdecb67e0d80ca6823394208c045, which is one of the three linked addresses returned for username ab5d on 2026-09-19. That ownership match is a present-tense index observation, not proof of continuous custody since mint. Inspected media-proxy PNG is 2000x2400px, dark and muted or near-neutral (mean RGB 53,56,53). File size 7577987 bytes. Indexed features: wind a silence; compass northeast; doorway dimensions; gestalt the council gathering; coverage finding shade; chaos folds ninety degree bend; gestalt mirrors straight on; meltdown dances accension ¹⁰³⁴

Motion, interaction, and audio: Source contains noLoop. The inspected PNG is a finished still. Live motion was not stopwatched. The static PNGs document halt or preview states. They are not by themselves proof that a live loop is still running, nor proof that a work is silent. No soundtrack was heard from these pages during this session. ⁴⁷⁶

Significance and limitations

chaos comes with the summer haze is project 405 by Cole Sternberg on 0x99a9b7c1116f9ceeb1652de04d5969cce509b069. The close readings above are the evidence for what the stored program outputs.

Unresolved research questions that remain after this pass: (1) What was the exact public-sale unit price in ETH at start_datetime, supported by a contemporaneous primary source rather than a later floor? (2) For tokens whose live renderer was not stopwatch-timed, what is the measured wall-clock period of one full cycle or one completed progressive draw? (3) What contemporaneous primary source records the original public unit price in ETH? (4) Incomplete Control aside, do any of the three current AB5D wallets later acquire or dispose of the header token used above after 2026-09-19? ²¹⁰⁷

This package is a draft for human review. Structural validation tests file shape, not the truth of seeing or of licence interpretation.