Arborithms: Digital Forests Growing on the Blockchain – a collaboration between GAZELL.iO, Nguyen Wahed, and Distributed Gallery.

Arborithms take root in the space where blockchain code meets generative art. Arborithms aren’t just digital representations of a tree—they’re blockchain-based lifeforms with encoded DNA, family lineages, and the ability to evolve as a species.

Each Arborithm is a NFT whose digital manifestation is determined by the Arborthim’s DNA, materialised as a unique genetic sequence compressed into the token-ID. This digital DNA is translated, through on-chain JavaScript code, into a 3D representation of a tree blossoming into distinctive visual traits: the sweep of branches, the thickness of trunks, the flutter of leaves—each characteristic determined by the tree’s genetic makeup.

Like their earthly counterparts, Arborithms yearn to reproduce. When two trees intertwine their code, they create a new Arborithm NFT, an offspring bearing traits from both parents, sometimes with unexpected mutations that introduce entirely new features to the digital forest. This digital pollination requires human cultivators—collectors who recognize beauty and potential in these algorithmic organisms.

Bound by their genetic impetus towards reproduction, Arborithms remain rooted to their initial collectors until they’ve participated in the cycle of evolution. Each tree must reproduce—contributing to the digital forest’s growth—before it can be transferred to new collectors. This logic encoded in their smart contracts ensures that collectors become true cultivators rather than mere speculators, nurturing the ecosystem before harvesting its value.

As in nature’s own economy, reproduction carries both cost and reward. Minting a new tree requires an offering of 0.03 ETH to the Arborithms ecosystem. Besides, when an Arborithm provide its genetic code to create offspring, the collector who steward that tree receives an initial tribute of 0.01 ETH, increased by an additional 0.01 ETH with each subsequent reproduction. In other words, tributes to the parent trees are based on their reproductive history—more beloved parents commanding higher tributes for their genetic gifts—reflecting the Arborithm’s growing influence on the forest’s genetic landscape.

Through this reproductive system, the Arborithms collection orchestrates its own natural selection. Popular trees with sought-after traits become increasingly valuable for reproduction, while simultaneously becoming more costly to use as parents. This delicate balance encourages explorers to venture into uncharted territories of the digital forest, seeking undiscovered trees with rare genetic potential—trees whose reproductive value has yet to be fully recognized.

A new evolutionary game emerges, transforming the traditional dynamics of digital ownership. Rather than the usual pattern of acquisition and speculation—holding NFTs in anticipation of rising prices—Arborithms introduce a new model based on cultivation and evolution. In order to maximize profits, collectors must act as genetic engineers, breeding Arborithms with the most distinctive (and appealing) characteristics that will likely be the most sought after for reproduction—thereby yielding ongoing rewards for the NFT collectors. Success comes not from merely possessing a digital tree, but from creating it and sharing its genetic code with the world.

Most importantly, Arborithm’s digital forest nurtures its physical counterpart. The resources gathered through minting new Arborithms move beyond the blockchain to fund the planting of real trees, creating a bridge between digital and environmental preservation.

As such, Arborithms stand at the convergence of art, technology, and ecology. They are a living, evolving illustration of how blockchain can be used to create not just economic transactions, but also new forms of life—be it either organic or synthetic life.

Primavera De Filippi is an artist and legal scholar at Harvard University, exploring the intersection between art, law and technology, focusing specifically on the legal and political implications of blockchain technology. Her artistic practice instantiates the key findings of her research in the physical world, creating blockchain-based lifeforms that evolve and reproduce themselves as people feed them with cryptocurrencies. Her works have been exhibited in various museums, galleries and art fairs around the world including Ars Electronica and Francisco Carolinum (Linz, Austria), HEK Museum of Digital Arts (Basel), Kate Vass Gallery (Zurich), Furtherfield Gallery and Kinetica Art Fair (UK), Centre Pompidou, Grand Palais, Gaité Lyrique, and Le Cent Quatre (Paris, France), Palazzo Cipolla and Biennale di Venezia (Italy), Fort Mason Center For Arts & Culture (San Francisco), as well as festivals such as Burning Man (Nevada), Fusion Festival (Germany) and Synesthesia (Portugal), and online galleries like Feral File.

Contract address:
Token Standard: ERC-721
Blockchain: Ethereum
Metadata: Frozen and decentralized