# Semblance by rahul iyer

## The work and its context

Semblance is project 447 on the Art Blocks V2 core contract 0x99a9b7c1116f9ceeb1652de04d5969cce509b069, published under the canonical slug semblance-by-rahul-iyer and credited to rahul iyer. The indexed project record reports a completed edition of 185 of 185 invocations, runtime p5@1.0.0, and the official description: **sem·blance** (noun) ,  outward and often specious appearance or show.  Semblance explores experiences of the self as sculpted by context. At times, one can experience their private, most expansive self as their true self. In other moments, a performative cutout is needed to conform to one’s environment. Through its various manifestations, the work dwells on the tension between displaying the private self as a form of liberation, and amplifying the performative self as a form of suppression.  The collection draws inspiration from my childhood as an Indian-American growing up in Atlanta, where I felt pressure to conform to the cultural norms and expectations of those around me. This nurtured conflicting perceptions of my public and private identify ,  a dilemma depicted in Semblance through a reimagination of the weavings and textiles from my childhood home.  Each Semblance is a unique blend of color, diffusion, and environment. Its appearance is shaped by the suppression of a distinct focal point that dictates its context. Ultimately, the viewer is invited to toggle between the two states and explore that tension within themselves.  **, ,  Controls , , **  ,  **Press ‘m’** or **click/tap** to toggle between the selves. The output may take many seconds to load.  ,  **Press ‘s’** to save a .png. [^S01][^S02]

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. [^S01][^S02]

Contract 0x99a9b7c1116f9ceeb1652de04d5969cce509b069. Aspect ratio indexed as 0.5625. Website https://rahul.fun/semblance.

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. [^S04][^S09]

## 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. **sem·blance** (noun) ,  outward and often specious appearance or show.  Semblance explores experiences of the self as sculpted by context. At times, one can experience their private, most expansive self as their true self. In other moments, a performative cutout is needed to conform to one’s environment. Through its various manifestations, the work dwells on the tension between displaying the pri

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 Semblance are the ones relied on. [^S07][^S01]

Secondary pages that only repeat the marketplace listing are not treated as independent conception sources. [^S02][^S07]

## How the work was constructed

The complete artist program for slug semblance-by-rahul-iyer was retrieved from projects_metadata.script filtered by that exact slug. The UTF-8 payload is 10483 bytes with SHA-256 eac60a5dadb9de56d9ac6b5b2f00bc0ff85dbdf7e022b939a94ce0f10bb9494f. Runtime on the project record is p5@1.0.0. The script was read in full; it was not executed in this research session. [^S03]

The stored generator is 10483 bytes, SHA-256 eac60a5dadb9de56d9ac6b5b2f00bc0ff85dbdf7e022b939a94ce0f10bb9494f, runtime p5@1.0.0. Detected source markers: setup, draw, noLoop, createCanvas, keyPressed, tokenData, hash, colorMode. Named functions include AC, BA, DD, HA, LO, LR, PA, PL, QA, SP. tokenData.hash is read in source. Output then follows the drawing path those functions implement. Token 0 observation: Inspected media-proxy PNG is 1350x2400px, light and muted or near-neutral (mean RGB 179,189,200). File size 2696086 bytes. Indexed features: Weave Horizontal; Palette Marta; Diffusion Entropic; Environment Tinted; Focal Point Everything; Suppression None; Manifestation Wholly Seen

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. [^S03][^S10]

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. [^S03][^S06]

## The mint

Indexed chronology for project 447 on 0x99a9b7c1116f9ceeb1652de04d5969cce509b069 is as follows. First token minted_at is 2023-05-12T13:46:35+00:00. activated_at is 2023-05-30T22:10:11+00:00. start_datetime is 2023-07-11T17:00:00+00:00. completed_at is 2023-07-11T17:08:23+00:00. Invocations stand at 185 of a maximum 185, with complete=true on the retrieved row. [^S02][^S04]

Calculated intervals from those timestamps: first mint to activation is 18.35 days; activation to start_datetime is 41.78 days; start_datetime to completion is 8.4 minutes; first mint to completion is 60.14 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. [^S02][^S04]

Indexed clocks: first 2023-05-12T13:46:35+00:00, activated 2023-05-30T22:10:11+00:00, start 2023-07-11T17:00:00+00:00, completed 2023-07-11T17:08:23+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. [^S01][^S02]

## 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. [^S02][^S06]

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. [^S03][^S06]

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

Semblance #0 is token 447000000 on 0x99a9b7c1116f9ceeb1652de04d5969cce509b069, minted 2023-05-12T13:46:35+00:00. The canonical token page returned HTTP 200. The inspected media-proxy PNG is a static frame. Inspected media-proxy PNG is 1350x2400px, light and muted or near-neutral (mean RGB 179,189,200). File size 2696086 bytes. Indexed features: Weave Horizontal; Palette Marta; Diffusion Entropic; Environment Tinted; Focal Point Everything; Suppression None; Manifestation Wholly Seen Indexed features returned for this V2 token: Weave Horizontal; Palette Marta; Diffusion Entropic; Environment Tinted; Focal Point Everything; Suppression None; Manifestation Wholly Seen.  [^S04][^S05][^S09]

Semblance #1 is token 447000001 on 0x99a9b7c1116f9ceeb1652de04d5969cce509b069, minted 2023-07-11T17:00:23+00:00. The canonical token page returned HTTP 200. The inspected media-proxy PNG is a static frame. Inspected media-proxy PNG is 1350x2400px, light and muted or near-neutral (mean RGB 192,215,211). File size 3970470 bytes. Indexed features: Weave Crosshatch; Palette Seadoo; Diffusion Entropic; Environment Tinted; Focal Point Middle Center; Suppression More; Manifestation Grinning Cloak Indexed features returned for this V2 token: Weave Crosshatch; Palette Seadoo; Diffusion Entropic; Environment Tinted; Focal Point Middle Center; Suppression More; Manifestation Grinning Cloak.  [^S04][^S05][^S09]

Semblance #10 is token 447000010 on 0x99a9b7c1116f9ceeb1652de04d5969cce509b069, minted 2023-07-11T17:04:23+00:00. The canonical token page returned HTTP 200. The inspected media-proxy PNG is a static frame. Inspected media-proxy PNG is 1350x2400px, mid-tone and muted or near-neutral (mean RGB 76,86,79). File size 2423740 bytes. Indexed features: Weave Vertical; Palette Marta; Diffusion Entropic; Environment Inverted; Focal Point Upper Left; Suppression Some; Manifestation Halfway Gambit Indexed features returned for this V2 token: Weave Vertical; Palette Marta; Diffusion Entropic; Environment Inverted; Focal Point Upper Left; Suppression Some; Manifestation Halfway Gambit.  [^S04][^S05][^S09]

Semblance #20 is token 447000020 on 0x99a9b7c1116f9ceeb1652de04d5969cce509b069, minted 2023-07-11T17:05:59+00:00. The canonical token page returned HTTP 200. The inspected media-proxy PNG is a static frame. Inspected media-proxy PNG is 1350x2400px, mid-tone and muted or near-neutral (mean RGB 149,111,101). File size 2069926 bytes. Indexed features: Weave Vertical; Palette Dear Basketball; Diffusion Composed; Environment Tame; Focal Point Middle Center; Suppression Some; Manifestation Peeping Ruse Indexed features returned for this V2 token: Weave Vertical; Palette Dear Basketball; Diffusion Composed; Environment Tame; Focal Point Middle Center; Suppression Some; Manifestation Peeping Ruse.  [^S04][^S05][^S09]

The AB5D header candidate is token 447000008 (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 1350x2400px, mid-tone and muted or near-neutral (mean RGB 167,166,180). File size 2426265 bytes. Indexed features: Weave Vertical; Palette Marta; Diffusion Composed; Environment Tame; Focal Point Everything; Suppression None; Manifestation Wholly Seen [^S08][^S04][^S09]

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. [^S09][^S10][^S03]

## Significance and limitations

Semblance is project 447 by rahul iyer 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? [^S02][^S08][^S10]

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

[^S01]: Art Blocks. [Semblance by rahul iyer collection page](https://www.artblocks.io/collection/semblance-by-rahul-iyer). Accessed 2026-09-19.
[^S02]: Art Blocks Hasura index. [projects_metadata record for semblance-by-rahul-iyer](https://artblocks-mainnet.hasura.app/v1/graphql). Accessed 2026-09-19.
[^S03]: rahul iyer. [Semblance on-chain artist program](https://artblocks-mainnet.hasura.app/v1/graphql). Accessed 2026-09-19.
[^S04]: Art Blocks Hasura index. [tokens_metadata for sampled Semblance token IDs](https://artblocks-mainnet.hasura.app/v1/graphql). Accessed 2026-09-19.
[^S05]: Art Blocks. [Canonical token pages for sampled Semblance outputs](https://www.artblocks.io/token/1/0x99a9b7c1116f9ceeb1652de04d5969cce509b069/447000000). Accessed 2026-09-19.
[^S06]: Creative Commons. [Reported artwork licence label CC BY-NC 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/). Accessed 2026-09-19.
[^S07]: rahul iyer. [Semblance official description](https://rahul.fun/semblance). Accessed 2026-09-19.
[^S08]: Art Blocks. [AB5D linked wallet set and profile index](https://www.artblocks.io/profile/ab5d). Accessed 2026-09-19.
[^S09]: Art Blocks media proxy. [Static PNG renders of sampled Semblance tokens](https://media-proxy.artblocks.io/0x99a9b7c1116f9ceeb1652de04d5969cce509b069/447000000.png). Accessed 2026-09-19.
[^S10]: Art Blocks. [Live generator renderer for Semblance](https://generator.artblocks.io/0x99a9b7c1116f9ceeb1652de04d5969cce509b069/447000000). Accessed 2026-09-19.