Project Details

General Info

There are 100 unique NFT artworks, each complemented by a physical silver gelatin print. You can view the entire collection in the Gallery .

To collect one of the 100 Light Years artworks you first need to buy a Selection Pass here.
The Selection Passes will be auctioned online on this website on Thu 1st Dec 2022 at 10:00am Pacific Time (GMT-8).
The auction format will be a Dutch Auction where the price decreases over time.
The starting price will be 70 ETH and it will drop by 0.2 ETH every 12 seconds.
If the price reaches 10 ETH it will remain there until the project is sold out.

The first Selection Pass sold in the auction will be #001, the second #002, the third #003 and so on.
So, the earlier you enter the auction, the lower the Selection Pass number you will receive.
A lower Selection Pass number grants you earlier access to select your preferred artwork.
Artwork selection commences on Mon 5th Dec at 7:00am Pacific Time (GMT-8) here, and further details on this process can be found in the FAQs below.

In addition to being able to select your preferred artwork earlier, and therefore having a larger selection to choose from, there are other additional benefits from entering the Dutch Auction earlier.
Collectors with Selection Passes #001 to #030 will each be airdropped a unique ‘process’ NFT from Dmitri Cherniak directly.
Collectors with Selection Passes #001 to #010 will also receive a beautifully matted physical negative that corresponds to their chosen artwork.
Further details about these can be found in the FAQs below.

Fellowship offers an optional ‘white glove’ service to allow collectors without crypto wallets the opportunity to participate in the live NFT auction for Light Years.
Collectors will be guided through the auction process by members of Fellowship to ensure confidence and best practices. Please contact us for more information.

Each collector with a Selection Pass is able to select the artwork they would like to receive during the artwork selection process.
Day 1 of the artwork selection process opens on Mon 5th Dec 2022 at 7:00am Pacific Time (GMT-8).
The collector with Selection Pass #001 has first access so gets the earliest available Selection Slot, #001, which opens at 7:00am.
At this time they are able to connect their wallet, browse the gallery and select their preferred artwork.
This collector can select their artwork at any time convenient to them until 11:59pm Pacific Time on Sun 31st Dec 2022 but it is in their interests to be ready when their Selection Slot opens because the collector with Selection Pass #002 is able to select 10 minutes later.
Selection Slot #002 opens at 7:10am, Selection Slot #003 at 7:20am and so on until Day 1 of selection finishes when Selection Slot #049 opens at 3:00pm.
Day 2 of the artwork selection, starting with Selection Slot #050, opens on Tue 6th Dec 2022 at 7:00am Pacific Time (GMT-8).
Day 2 follows the same format until all 98 Selection Slots are open.
If a collector will not be available at their chosen Selection Slot our team can assist in selecting on their behalf if requested.
All collectors will be able to view your Selection Slot time(s) after the Dutch Auction completes.

2 artworks have been reserved in advance of the Dutch Auction and are to be placed with institutions as part of an effort to bring larger understanding and attention to generative art. These artworks (#009 and #093) were selected by Chris McCall, Director at Pier 24.
After the collectors with the 95 Selection Passes have chosen their preferred artworks there will be 3 remaining. These will be given to Dmitri Cherniak, The Estate of László Moholy-Nagy and Fellowship.

Many artists create sketches and drafts of their projects before they find the final form for them. These process pieces are essential to the artist and the artwork.
For the first time in Dmitri´s career, he will be releasing these works to the first 30 collectors, offering a unique glimpse into the conceptual and aesthetic evolution of the Light Years project.

One hundred silver negatives were created from the digital outputs created by Dmitri Cherniak.
Each negative was then scanned to create the final NFT and with those same negatives, the matching silver gelatin prints were created.
The transformation from digital to analogue, and then from analogue to NFT, is an homage to the crossing paths of abstraction, generative art and photography, and connecting with how Moholy-Nagy created many of his cameraless photograms, tying up the lineage between photography and abstract art.
The first 10 collectors will receive a physical negative that corresponds to their chosen artwork.

The prints will be free to claim by collectors on this website later in December. You will need to hold the NFT in your wallet in order to claim the print.
Only 1 print is available per NFT. If a collector claims the print and then sells the NFT the new owner of the NFT will not be able to claim a print.
Each one is a 26 x 20 inches (66.04 x 50.8 cm) silver gelatin print on Ilford paper. They are made from the same negative that created the digital NFT and produced by master printer Steve Rifkin and his team at Hank's Photographic Services in New York.
The shipping cost and all expenses related to delivering the work (including but not limited to customs clearance, duty/taxes, packing, handling) of the print will be paid by the collector.
An optional mounting + framing service will be offered to Light Years collectors once artwork selections have been made.
The print claiming process will begin in January 2023.

Yes, Selection Passes will expire at 11:59pm Pacific Time on Sat 31st Dec 2022. In the event that a collector has not selected their preferred artwork they will be randomly allocated one from any remaining.