Through a fifty percent split of his sale via the Art Blocks platform of Endless Nameless—one thousand NFTs created through a generative algorithm—Rafaël Rozendaal directed more than 164 Ether to Rhizome this past Friday. Valued at around $430,000 at this moment's exchange rate, Rozendaal's gift is the largest benefit donation in Rhizome's twenty-five year history.

Rozendaal has been a stalwart member of Rhizome's community. Into Time .com is included in Net Art Anthology; many of his single-serving websites are represented in ArtBase; and he and his work can be found throughout our publishing and events archive. Since selling his first NFT earlier this year, Rozendaal has become a leading artist in that space, too.

We’re overwhelmed by Rozendaal’s generosity, along with his vision for a digital art field where artists, platforms, and institutions build the future together. The program and preservation teams are currently meeting to figure out how best to use this extraordinary gift with the aim to share initiatives big and small by next month. In directing this gift, he noted the impact and importance of Rhizome's ArtBase in the organization's mission, and his appreciation of the NFT community for bringing new energy and engagement to digital art practice.

The gift was made possible with the built-in donation feature of Art Blocks, a platform for generative artists and creative coders to release projects that are stored on the Ethereum Blockchain. Last Friday, as one thousand editions were minted and quickly sold, the smart contract governing the sale automatically directed a percentage to Rhizome. 

Rozendaal's gift arrives at an auspicious moment for Rhizome as we celebrate a major anniversary, having recently relaunched the ArtBase after seven years of work, and are looking ahead to how Rhizome can work with artists, engineers, and our community to shape and support the future of born-digital art and culture. 

Image: Rafaël Rozendaal, Endless Nameless (2021), 1000 pngs created by generative algorithm and minted as NFTs.