The AI Art Juggernaut - BrainDrops
BrainDrops MVHQ Article
Good Morning, MVHQ fam. Today, I am writing about the AI-generated art platform BrainDrops! If you have been paying attention to AI/Gen art within the web 3 space over the last month or two, you have probably heard about BrainDrops - specifically, their most recent drop that took the art world by storm – “Life in West America.” This article will give an overview of what BrainDrops is, how/when it was created, and why I am bullish on the future of BrainDrops!
What is BrainDrops?
Brain Drops is an NFT platform and community for AI-generated art, with unique 1 of 1 art with sizes ranging from 500 to 1,000 pieces, with all collections (but 1- which was a free airdrop) minting at a .1 Ethereum mint price. BrainDrops was co-founded by Justin Trimble and artist Gene Kogan on November 15th, 2021, when they released the first 3 collections of BrainDrops - Brain Loops by Gene Kogan, podGANs by Pindar Van Arman, and Genesis by Claire Silver. Holding a day one set, at least one piece from each of the first 3 inaugural collections (Brain Loops, podGANS, and Genesis) grants users the opportunity to be added to the pre-mint for any future and upcoming drops. When writing this, the floor for a Day One Set currently sits at 19.35!!!
Their goal is to shine a spotlight on the artists and innovators who've been experimenting with this technology for years without fanfare, as well as to help enthusiasts learn how to make AI Art themselves. We hope to foster the ideal community and environment for collectors, artists, and learners within the AI-generated Artspace. All Braindrops content is stored immutably on-chain with IPFS and Arweave, as well as self-hosted separately for a faster user experience. Furthermore, regarding mint details, all Brain Drop mints are 1 piece per txn, but users can mint multiple pieces with multiple transactions if they desire.
At the time of writing this, BrainDrops currently has 15 collections from 14 different artists. Every single collection is holding a floor price of at least double what the respective mint price was, with 6 collections currently holding a floor price of over 1.45 eth. Clearly, they have cornered the AI art market, and the sky is the limit!
Below is a list of the current BrainDrops collections, when they were released and some data regarding their performance over the last 6 months
BrainDrop Collections and Artists
Day One Collections
As stated above, the first 3 collections were released from BrainDrops on November 15th, 2021 – Brain Loops by Gene Kogan, podGANs by Pindar Van Arman, and Genesis by Claire Silver.
Mint Date: 11/15/21
Collection Size: 1000
Mint Price: 0.1
Current Floor Price: 1.46
1M Floor Price: 0.755
6M Floor Price: 0.28
Brain Loops is a collection of AI-generated looping videos, created with the help of a text-to-image machine learning model. Each creation is uniquely made from a combination of various subjects and artistic genres, highlighting its great flexibility. Gene Kogan is an artist and programmer interested in generative art, collective intelligence, and computer science. He is the creator of ml4a, a free educational resource about machine learning for art and creativity, and regularly gives workshops and lectures on the subject to facilitate a greater public understanding of AI. Gene initiated the Abraham project to build an autonomous artificial artist and co-founded Braindrops, a platform for AI-generated art on the blockchain.
Mint Date: 11/15/21
Collection Size: 1024
Mint Price: 0.1
Current Floor Price: 3.89
1M Floor Price: 1.5
6M Floor Price: .72
bitGANs and the new podGANs culminate Van Arman's work in the AI and cryptoArt worlds. These mysterious creatures started appearing to him one day as high-res GANs trained on some of his low-res 8-bit art. Where did they come from, and why did they just start appearing? These questions and others are being answered at http://bitgans.com/. Join the GANg to help solve the mystery of these enigmatic beings. Pindar Van Arman is a longtime AI Artist and crypto enthusiast. As one of the first artists on SuperRare, he has realized that while his artistic journey began as an AI artist, he has gradually evolved into a cryptoArtist.
Mint Date: 11/15/21
Collection Size: 500
Mint Price: 0.1
Current Floor Price: 14
1M Floor Price: 5
6M Floor Price: 2.8
“Genesis” is a collection of raw AI images, created and arranged to tell a story. The project is a visual narrative of what is and what's yet to come. Claire Silver is an AI-Collaborative artist. She uses AI to explore themes of vulnerability, trauma, disability, social hierarchy, innocence, and divinity, and questions the role they will play in our transhumanist future. She strongly believes that taste is the new skill.
These 3 collections, coined Day One Collections, are 1,000, 1,024, and 500 supply, respectively, and all minted at the fair price of .1 Ethereum. Below are some data showing the success of these inaugural collections of BrainDrops:
It doesn't take a rocket scientist to review this data and see that all 3 of the inaugural BD collections have been a home run and steadily increased in value since their release!
BrainDrop Collections 4-13
4. DreamScapes by Xander Steenbrugge
DreamScapes is an attempt to recreate the fantastical dream worlds we all experience every night through the lens of AI. By combining the power of language interpretation and visual perception using a highly customized VQGAN+CLIP pipeline, the pieces in this collection each evoke their own unique dreamworld that should be experienced rather than understood. Xander Steenbrugge is an independent AI researcher, digital artist, public speaker, online educator via his YouTube channel “Arxiv Insights,” and founder of the wzrd.ai platform that leverages GANs to create AI-generated music videos. Combining human and machine creativity, his work leverages technology to create rich audiovisual experiences with the power to shift peoples' perspectives.
DreamScapes by Xander Steenbrugge
Mint Date: 12/10/21
Collection Size: 500
Mint Price: 0.1
Current Floor Price: .888
1M Floor Price: .749
6M Floor Price: .3
5. Confluence by Devi Parikh
This series is part AI, part human analog art, and part human digital art. Pieces are generated using a neural generative model (AI) trained on the artist's physical sketchbook. Generations are re-rendered in a variety of palettes. The physical sketchbook had sketches, doodles, paper cutting, mandalas, and entangles – often with a brief handwritten description. Taking the confluence of human and machines further, the pieces are interpreted by an AI model. Devi Parikh is an AI researcher and a generative artist. She also makes Macrame, Origami, and maintains a physical sketchbook with kawaii doodles, zentangles, mandalas, paper cutting, and sketches. She gets energy out of creative expression. Some of it is through her art – both digital and analog. Some of it is through her research in AI. In fact, the two intersect – part of her work is on developing AI that can enhance human creativity – give people new tools for creative expression. She appeared in Forbes’ list of 20 “Incredible Women Advancing A.I. Research”.
Mint Date: 1/5/22
Collection Size: 1000
Mint Price: 0.1
Current Floor Price: .299
1M Floor Price: .19
6M Floor Price: .099
6. šµ Fake Feelingsby Dadabots x Silverstein
Despite screaming adrenaline into your ears while soaring harmonies raise goosebumps on your skin, these emotional songs are about nothing at all. There are no lyrics. Just random syllables! This 2-channel stereo neural synthesis model generates audio in the style of post-hardcore emo, trained on the music of Silverstein. Most songs are fast & loud. Some are soft, acoustic, ambient, glitchy, or utterly weird. You might hear a rare solo, applause, breakdown, or epic transition. Extreme AI music research lab death metal band. Read their scientific research on eliminating humans from music neural synthesis.
šµ Fake Feelingsby Dadabots x Silverstein
Mint Date: 1/16/22
Collection Size: 1000
Mint Price: 0.1
Current Floor Price: .288
1M Floor Price: .179
6M Floor Price: .049
7. Dream Capsules by Obvious
Dream Capsules is a NFT series of 1000 dreams created using Artificial Intelligence. The series combines text generation and text to image algorithms to dive into algorithmic creativity. Obvious is a French collective of three artists and researchers created in 2017. They work with artificial intelligence to create art and explore augmented creativity. Their first works have been at the source of many discussions in the art world, with a sale at Christie's of one of their classical portraits, the first of its type, Edmond de Belamy, settling at 432,500 dollars in 2018. They are also considered OGs in the NFT space, as they started minting NFTs on SuperRare in 2018, placing them in the first wave of artists to have ever created NFTs.
Mint Date: 1/26/22
Collection Size: 1000
Mint Price: 0.1
Current Floor Price: .2
1M Floor Price: .148
6M Floor Price: .07
8. Deep Journeys by Heavens Last Angel
Deep Journeys consists of 500 unique audiovisual voyages created through AI-Human collaboration. Each piece is scored with original music designed to enhance the immersive psychedelic experience. HeavensLastAngel is an audiovisual explorer who utilizes A.I. technology and original sound design to create immersive psychedelic animations.
Deep Journeys by Heavens Last Angel
Mint Date: 2/6/22
Collection Size: 500
Mint Price: 0.1
Current Floor Price: .748
1M Floor Price: .33
6M Floor Price: .13
9. TEOPEMA by Vadim Epstein x COH
TEOPEMA set consists of 696 unique pieces; each one is a 3-sec video with sound. When all the pieces are put together in order, they create a 35-minute-long exhibition video of a continuous deep dive into a world, fully created by complex mathematical methods, usually referred to as AI. Moscow-based media artist, director, and speaker; leading Russian VJ; former IT consultant and casual theoretical physicist. Making multimedia art since 1996, combining generative methods with figurative imagery, with a current focus on AI/ML and creative coding.
TEOPEMA by Vadim Epstein x COH
Mint Date: 2/15/22
Collection Size: 696
Mint Price: 0.1
Current Floor Price: .25
1M Floor Price: .157
6M Floor Price: .02
10. SIGHTS by Artemis
SIGHTS is a collection of 500 unique artworks. A generated visual tour of a machine, uncovering a diverse universe of shapes and colors. Artemis is a generative artist, working mainly with artificial intelligence and machine learning solutions to produce static and animated artworks.
Mint Date: 3/2/22
Collection Size: 500
Mint Price: 0.1
Current Floor Price: .6969
1M Floor Price: .19
6M Floor Price: .089
11. ClipMatrix Creatures by Nikolay Jetchev
'ClipMatrix Creatures' is a collection of 500 unique 3D animated artworks created by AI-Human collaboration. Each creature moves in a short video highlighting its beautiful shape, texture, and shading effects. All the visuals are created by a novel AI algorithm, with only words as guidance by the human artist – 3D sculpting and texturing by words. Nikolay Jetchev was born in Sofia, Bulgaria. He lives in Berlin, Germany, and devotes himself to AI research and digital art experiments. He has published multiple papers in Machine Learning, Robotics, and Computer Vision. Currently, his greatest passion is the research field of deep learning generative AI, which has the potential to augment human creative powers and enable novel art forms and experiences.
ClipMatrix Creatures by Nikolay Jetchev
Mint Date: 3/14/22
Collection Size: 500
Mint Price: 0.1
Current Floor Price: .489
1M Floor Price: .145
6M Floor Price: .04
12. Chimerical Stories by Entangled Others (Sofia Crespo & Feileacan McCormick)
Caterpillar. Chrysalis. Butterfly. Each word is immediately understood as part of a three-part process of metamorphosis, this story we know. It is also the story of many, from the aquatic, for instance, the jellyfish who experience not one, but no less than six vibrantly diverse stages during their life cycles. Yet, commonly, these are transformative states that we have no associative image of; they are stories untold. Sofia Crespo is an artist with a focus on artificial life; her practice is driven by a huge interest in biologically-inspired technologies, such as neural networks, and she has been practicing since 2017.
Feileacan McCormick is a Lisbon-based generative artist, researcher & former architect. His practice focuses on ecology, nature & generative arts, focusing on giving non-human new forms of presence & life in the digital space.
Chimerical Stories by Entangled Others
Mint Date: 5/3/22
Collection Size: 513
Mint Price: 0.1
Current Floor Price: 1.45
1M Floor Price: .688
6M Floor Price: .28
13. ELEMENTS by ATNPassion
Elements is a collection of artificial intelligence-generated fantasy worlds created by ATNPassion to affirm the magic and beauty in the unexpected and the uncanny. They are each inspired by one of the four fundamental elements: Earth, Water, Air, and Fire. Each piece is an interpretation of its elemental counterpart. ATNPassion is a multidisciplined creator fascinated by the intersection of machine learning, art, and language. When not creating generative art, you can find them deep in the Web 3 rabbit hole.
Mint Date: 7/17/22
Collection Size: 500
Mint Price: 0.1
Current Floor Price: .5
1M Floor Price: .24
6M Floor Price: .045
BrainDrops Collections 14 & 15
The last 2 BD collections I will touch upon are miniPODs by Van Arman x Mindshift x ricky and Life in West America by Roope Rainisto.
14. miniPODs by Van Arman x Mindshift x ricky
When multiple podGANs come together, they often attract others. Sometimes, if the holder is lucky, the gathering will form into a miniPOD with mysterious new traits and abilities. Holders of more than 1 podGAN were airdropped “miniPODs” back in August for free! There are 128 miniPODS, and the collection currently boasts an impressive 7.4 Ethereum floor. A simple but effective way to reward early BD holders!
miniPODs by Van Arman x Mindshift x ricky
Mint Date: 8/16/22
Collection Size: 128
Mint Price: FREE
Current Floor Price: 7.4
1M Floor Price: 1.9
6M Floor Price: 3.95
15. Life In West America by Roope Rainisto
Life In West America is a post-photography project investigating America: the land as a concept, as an ideal, and the stories of the people inhabiting the space. The collection combines the visual language of traditional photography with the limitless artifice of AI, capturing moments in time, and in generative technology. Each of the pieces is generated using custom-trained models specific to this project. Fun fact: Roope Rainisto the artist for Life in West America, was actually the 2nd winner of Claire Silver’s 2nd ever AI art contest!
Life In West America by Roope Rainisto
Mint Date: 2/8/23
Collection Size: 500
Mint Price: .1
Current Floor Price: 7.25
1M Floor Price: N/A
6M Floor Price: N/A
Life in West America was the first BrainDrop collection to drop in 2023, and if BrainDrops was not already a household name, this drop definitely solidified BrainDrops as the premier AI art platform for web3. In less than a month since LIWA was minted, it has already done over 1.5k in volume, bolstering an impressive 600+ sales since mint and with multiple sales over 12eth, including the piece titled Westworld, which sold for 16eth less than 2 weeks ago!
Conclusion
Whether you are an AI fan or not, AI has been the talk of the town within the web 3 space for the last month or two, and we are only beginning to scratch the surface. I know I just dropped a ton of data and info on you, but please take some time to review everything about BrainDrops. Their previous success will only continue to grow and spread as AI Art becomes more and more popular. You rarely find a team and project who are as well respected and seasoned as BrainDrops, AND, at the same time, have not flooded the market with too many collections. Rather, they stuck to their curated approach, with only 15 collections released in over a year, while also creating a simple way to onboard new and seasoned AI artists to their platform!
Links
BrainDrops Website - https://braindrops.cloud/about
BrainDrops Discord - https://discord.gg/EQ7DUKeR
BrainDrops Twitter - https://twitter.com/BrainDrops_art
BrainDrops Article - https://artacle.io/dashboard?platform=braindrops&orderBy=floor&isAsc=0