Thirteen Ghosts

Thirteen Ghosts is a project taking the popular "Ghost" design of Rev Dan Catt's pen plotted art and creating a digital version. Which can be bought, collected or sold as NFTs. You can view the collection here: Rev Dan Catt's Thirteen Ghosts.

Typically operating in the realm of ink, pen and paper, this is the first, and quite possibly the last time Daniel will make digital "crypto-art" artwork for sale (as it's a pita). This will be the only chance to own one of these 13 artworks at the set price; after that, it's down to the market.

(Statistically, the value of the cryptocurrency Ethereum is likely to go up, so this is also probably the cheapest they'll ever be).

Details about what's included in each sale and the process can be found below.

There are four tiers, and prices were set in US dollars and then converted to Ethereum.

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Tier 1: Black on White, six minted, ~$400, includes A3 pen plot.

Thirteen Ghosts, #1 Sold at Ξ0.3 Check OpenSea for resale	Thirteen Ghosts, #2 Sold at Ξ0.3 Check OpenSea for resale	Thirteen Ghosts, #3 Sold at Ξ0.3 Check OpenSea for resale
Thirteen Ghosts, #4 Sold at Ξ0.3 Check OpenSea for resale	Thirteen Ghosts, #5 Sold at Ξ0.3 Check OpenSea for resale	Thirteen Ghosts, #6 Sold at Ξ0.3 Check OpenSea for resale

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Tier 2: Silver on Black, only four minted, ~$1,600, includes silver ink A3 pen plot.

Thirteen Ghosts, #7 Sold at Ξ1.2 Check OpenSea for resale	Thirteen Ghosts, #8 Sold at Ξ1.2 Check OpenSea for resale
Thirteen Ghosts, #9 Sold at Ξ1.2 Check OpenSea for resale	Thirteen Ghosts, #10 Sold at Ξ1.2 Check OpenSea for resale

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Tier 3: Gold on Black, just two minted, ~$6,400, includes gold ink pen A3 plot. I've never plotted an A3 golden ghost, so these will be the only two I ever make in this ink/paper combination.

Thirteen Ghosts, #11 Starting price Ξ4.8

Thirteen Ghosts, #12 Starting price Ξ4.8

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Tier 4: ???, The final thirteenth ghost. ~$25,600, includes an etched copper plate, and a print made from the plate, both framed and shipped anywhere in the world. It will only be created once the previous 12 have sold.

Thirteen Ghosts, #13 Starting price Ξ19.2

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What's included.

Each artwork is a 240 frame, 10 seconds long, seamlessly looping animated 1024x1024 pixel gif. Also included are all 240 SVG files used to make the animated gif, which can be fed into a pen plotter, CNC machine, or otherwise used.

Plus, the first buyer will be sent (if they wish) a pen plot of one of the frames. There's a form to fill out once the purchase has been made.

Process details.

Typically Daniel uses code to create a single SVG file suitable for plotting and then sends that file to the pen plotter. So there has never been any need to animate the design. The first thing Daniel had to do was update his code to output not just one, but a couple of hundred SVG files per "ghost". Even harder, he had to make them loop seamlessly.

This is why there's never been an animated version before or will be again. These thirteen are it, well, from the original creator anyway; who knows what forgeries may appear?!

Aren't the prices a little high?

Yes and no. Go check out a random selection of artworks on opensea and then decided for yourself. There are only 13 of these, six "standard". four silver-on-black ones, and only two gold-on-black; compared to other crypto-art collections, this one is very limited.

More information

This artwork and this website have been created so I can have some experience of "minting" NFT crypto-art, for a blog post I am currently writing. When I've finished that post I will add a link here. In the meantime you can find me over on twitter @revdancatt, or Instagram @revdancatt. I also have a website over here: revdancatt.com.

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About the Artist

As a pen plotter artist, I traverse the boundaries of maths, technology, and design, to create distinct, abstract artworks. My collaboration with computers began in school when my art teacher told me my art was mathematical, and my maths teacher said my work was artistic. It led me to pursue a degree in Art and Computing, before working in Silicon Valley for companies like Flickr. But importantly, I learned to create using computer languages – from a time when our imaginations were limited by processing power.

Now, my role as artist is to create using the language of code to generate lines, patterns, and forms in collaboration with the computer. And then interpret and manipulate the code to selectively ‘breed’ new shapes and designs that are aesthetically beautiful.

My process is organic and experimental. The interactions between plotter, pen, ink and paper can yield unexpected outcomes. Creating a piece of art that neither computer nor artist could have anticipated. And in many ways, this pushes the limits of what it means to be an ‘artist’. Art becomes an industrial process, defined by algorithms, and part of a greater creative evolution – guided by me.

I work in iterations. Producing and manipulating a few aspects of the coded algorithms at a time to replicate the way our genetic code evolves. It’s slow and deliberate, allowing me to delve into the concepts in depth. This purposeful process, and the exploration of spaces, lines, colours, and depth is inspired by artists like Bridget Riley and William Latham.

Bridget showed me there’s beauty in math as there is in art. While William taught me how algorithms can ‘grow’ new forms. This led me to explore the way organic shapes, lines and angles emerge from technology. Like math, nature is evolving, untangling obstacles trying to keep things in balance until a problem unknots – not through algorithms, but through evolution.

My recent work builds on this idea combining a minimalist, pixelated aesthetic with natural elements to explore this emergence and coexistence. Each design is manipulated or erased to preserve its individuality. To uphold each piece’s unique, genetic characteristics. As a hybrid of technology and organic, evolutionary design, my art highlights the inherent beauty of mathematics in nature and the universe. It turns chaos into order, transforming 1’s and 0’s into something mesmerising and reforming how ‘art’ is created.

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