Exstasis

The work and its context

Exstasis is project 460 on the Art Blocks V2 core contract 0x99a9b7c1116f9ceeb1652de04d5969cce509b069, published under the canonical slug exstasis-by-grant-oesterling and credited to Grant Oesterling. The indexed project record reports a completed edition of 111 of 111 invocations, runtime p5@1.0.0, and the official description: Exstasis is an exploration in abstract pixel painting. Inspired by the work 20th-century abstract expressionists like Miró and Kandinsky, along with 16-bit pixel art aesthetics, the algorithm filters organic curvilinear forms through digital noise and pixel dithering to achieve a uniquely fluid effect. Exstasis revels in ecstatic movement and rich patterns informed by the very colors that comprise it. Central to the project is a pixelating technique known as Bayer dithering. This method of ordered dithering was invented to approximate shading and color tone when the available colors and number of pixels were limited by the hardware constraints of the time (think Sega Genesis, Commodore 64, etc). Although advancements in digital displays have since rendered this sort of technique all but obsolete, Exstasis employs the dither to deconstruct colors into their fundamental components, creating fascinating grid-like structures which weave throughout the artwork. The dithering is paired with a more sophisticated form of digital noise called fractal Brownian motion to warp the forms in unexpected and compelling ways. By fusing pixel art's nostalgic allure with a more abstract futuristic technique, Exstasis manifests as a uniquely fresh and distinct artwork. As a generative artist, I have always been most interested in exploring the facets of digital art which are unique to the medium, and Exstasis is my truest exploration to date. Constantly evolving and in motion, with a distinctly digital aesthetic, this work could not have been realized in any other medium. ░░▒▒▓▓▓▓▒▒░░ 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 1.666666667. Website https://granto.xyz/exstasis.

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. Exstasis is an exploration in abstract pixel painting. Inspired by the work 20th-century abstract expressionists like Miró and Kandinsky, along with 16-bit pixel art aesthetics, the algorithm filters organic curvilinear forms through digital noise and pixel dithering to achieve a uniquely fluid effect. Exstasis revels in ecstatic movement and rich patterns informed by the very colors that comp

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 Exstasis 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 exstasis-by-grant-oesterling was retrieved from projects_metadata.script filtered by that exact slug. The UTF-8 payload is 11985 bytes with SHA-256 fbe22a297035984dc76bb053f0e501f348ed2e2fdac533d8a5debedd95661b09. 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 11985 bytes, SHA-256 fbe22a297035984dc76bb053f0e501f348ed2e2fdac533d8a5debedd95661b09, runtime p5@1.0.0. Detected source markers: setup, draw, WEBGL, createCanvas, tokenData, hash, colorMode. Named functions include draw, keyTyped, setup. tokenData.hash is read in source. Output then follows the drawing path those functions implement. Token 0 observation: Inspected media-proxy PNG is 2400x1440px, light and strongly coloured (mean RGB 219,174,253). File size 2755180 bytes. Indexed features: Palette (artbot, artbot); Flow type Van Gogh; Noise mode Mega; Pixel mode Regular; Border mode Normal; Form sizing Regular; Frame length 470

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: Loop behaviour inferred only from source keywords. The inspected PNG is a static frame. 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 460 on 0x99a9b7c1116f9ceeb1652de04d5969cce509b069 is as follows. First token minted_at is 2023-06-05T20:05:35+00:00. activated_at is 2023-06-06T17:35:23+00:00. start_datetime is 2023-06-14T17:00:00+00:00. completed_at is 2023-06-14T17:03:23+00:00. Invocations stand at 111 of a maximum 111, with complete=true on the retrieved row. ²³

Calculated intervals from those timestamps: first mint to activation is 21.50 hours; activation to start_datetime is 7.98 days; start_datetime to completion is 3.4 minutes; first mint to completion is 8.87 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 2023-06-05T20:05:35+00:00, activated 2023-06-06T17:35:23+00:00, start 2023-06-14T17:00:00+00:00, completed 2023-06-14T17:03:23+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 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 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

Exstasis #0 is token 460000000 on 0x99a9b7c1116f9ceeb1652de04d5969cce509b069, minted 2023-06-05T20:05:35+00:00. The canonical token page returned HTTP 200. The inspected media-proxy PNG is a static frame. Inspected media-proxy PNG is 2400x1440px, light and strongly coloured (mean RGB 219,174,253). File size 2755180 bytes. Indexed features: Palette (artbot, artbot); Flow type Van Gogh; Noise mode Mega; Pixel mode Regular; Border mode Normal; Form sizing Regular; Frame length 470 Indexed features returned for this V2 token: Palette (artbot, artbot); Flow type Van Gogh; Noise mode Mega; Pixel mode Regular; Border mode Normal; Form sizing Regular; Frame length 470. ³⁹⁴

Exstasis #1 is token 460000001 on 0x99a9b7c1116f9ceeb1652de04d5969cce509b069, minted 2023-06-14T16:59:59+00:00. The canonical token page returned HTTP 200. The inspected media-proxy PNG is a static frame. Inspected media-proxy PNG is 2400x1440px, light and muted or near-neutral (mean RGB 233,219,191). File size 2783267 bytes. Indexed features: Palette Another Green World; Flow type Van Gogh; Noise mode High; Pixel mode Regular; Border mode Normal; Form sizing Regular; Frame length 556 Indexed features returned for this V2 token: Palette Another Green World; Flow type Van Gogh; Noise mode High; Pixel mode Regular; Border mode Normal; Form sizing Regular; Frame length 556. ³⁹⁴

Exstasis #10 is token 460000010 on 0x99a9b7c1116f9ceeb1652de04d5969cce509b069, minted 2023-06-14T17:00:59+00:00. The canonical token page returned HTTP 200. The inspected media-proxy PNG is a static frame. Inspected media-proxy PNG is 2400x1440px, light and muted or near-neutral (mean RGB 199,203,243). File size 2158217 bytes. Indexed features: Palette Ice; Flow type Van Gogh; Noise mode High; Pixel mode Regular; Border mode Normal; Form sizing Regular; Frame length 518 Indexed features returned for this V2 token: Palette Ice; Flow type Van Gogh; Noise mode High; Pixel mode Regular; Border mode Normal; Form sizing Regular; Frame length 518. ³⁹⁴

Exstasis #20 is token 460000020 on 0x99a9b7c1116f9ceeb1652de04d5969cce509b069, minted 2023-06-14T17:01:11+00:00. The canonical token page returned HTTP 200. The inspected media-proxy PNG is a static frame. Inspected media-proxy PNG is 2400x1440px, light and muted or near-neutral (mean RGB 170,210,167). File size 3422063 bytes. Indexed features: Palette Van Gogh's Fields; Flow type Uzumaki; Noise mode High; Pixel mode Regular; Border mode Normal; Form sizing Regular; Frame length 489 Indexed features returned for this V2 token: Palette Van Gogh's Fields; Flow type Uzumaki; Noise mode High; Pixel mode Regular; Border mode Normal; Form sizing Regular; Frame length 489. ³⁹⁴

The AB5D header candidate is token 460000056 (edition 56), 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 2400x1440px, light and muted or near-neutral (mean RGB 233,184,228). File size 1901145 bytes. Indexed features: Palette Hyperpop; Flow type Van Gogh; Noise mode High; Pixel mode Regular; Border mode Normal; Form sizing Regular; Frame length 492 ¹⁰³⁴

Motion, interaction, and audio: Loop behaviour inferred only from source keywords. The inspected PNG is a static frame. 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

Exstasis is project 460 by Grant Oesterling 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.