BITCOIN AS A STEAMPUNK MACHINE
Deus Ex Machina by Cybersea
In "Deus Ex Machina," we pioneer the integration of real-time Bitcoin data into generative art, utilizing recursive endpoints to animate steampunk-inspired machines with each mined block.
Drawing inspiration from the intricate mechanics of industrial engineering and the aesthetics of steampunk, this collection embodies the convergence of technology and art.
Each piece evolves dynamically, reflecting the continuous progression of the Bitcoin blockchain, inviting viewers into a world where digital innovation meets mechanical artistry.
“My goal was to create a fully functional machine as an art form, with a touch of dystopian mystery around it. I wanted to show that beauty can be created from brutal, ugly parts that will result in something great if connected together.”
Cybersea
THE FIRST GENERATIVE ART COLLECTION USING BTC DATA
FUNCTIONAL STIRLING ENGINE
At its core, Deus Ex Machina is a working machine. The code recreates the discipline of physics, where one part moves because another demands it. Mimicking a real stirling engine, chambers breathe, pistons push, pressure builds and releases. What you are seeing is not chaos dressed as art but a system that functions, that insists on order.
PERPETUAL EVOLUTION
Every new Bitcoin block is another breath for this machine. It never loops, it never rests. The art moves forward exactly as the chain does: one block at a time, one irreversible step after another. To watch it is to witness the blockchain itself, alive and visible. This is not a metaphor. The work and the network are bound together. It is the first time a generative artwork has tied its heartbeat directly to Bitcoin’s.
BRUTALISM & STEAMPUNK AESTHETICS
The choice of aesthetics carries its own weight. Brutalism exposes the uncompromising skeleton Steampunk overlays the imagination of industry, with gears and pistons suggesting an eternal labour. Together, they embody what Bitcoin is: both brutal and poetic, raw and visionary. This is art that could belong to no other network, no other history.
BITCOIN DATA AS A CANVAS
Deus Ex Machina is the first Ordinals artwork to use Bitcoin block data as its living canvas. Each frame responds to the chain itself:
- Timestamp of the last block sets the machine’s tempo. The artwork literally breathes with the rhythm of mining
- Current block height anchors the system in deep time. By reading it, the work can forecast and evolve with the next halving, the great pulse that resets Bitcoin’s economy.
There are no external feeds or servers here. This union makes the work inseparable from the network. To collect one is to hold a permanent record of Bitcoin, alive in motion, secured by the very machine it represents.
More about the artist
CyberSea
Michal Szafarski, known in web3 as Cyber Sea, is a seasoned software architect and developer with over 15 years of experience.
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