Meridian ‣ Book Design

Meridian is a collection of 1000 artworks released on the platform Art Blocks, each created with code written by Matt DesLauriers. A JavaScript program which runs the code constructs stratified landforms using thousands of small strokes of colour. Different styles of strokes create different effects, all inspired by analog techniques such as charcoal, gouache or linogravure. The beauty is that every time a collector mints an artwork on Art Blocks, the code will randomly generate a new artwork that not even the artist can know in advance. 

Meridian, the book, is Matt DesLauriers’ debut publication, showcasing the full breadth of the Meridian collection, along with essays, full bleed imagery, and technical breakdowns. It will serve as a legacy piece for DesLauriers’ work, and for the many fans and collectors of the Meridian project. 

The book is published by Vetro Editions.

The intention was to design an artefact – a relic to be admired through touch and sight. We crafted an indulgent and spacious art direction to respect the detailed images, processes, and essays by the artist. Meridian is a beautiful coffee table book with richly printed artworks and mesmerising large-format spreads. 

There are four different front covers which showcase the variation of the algorithmic process – anyone receiving the Meridian book will not know in advance which cover will be theirs. 

Essays are interspersed throughout the 240 pages, with chapters ranging from the generative process, to community curated pages filled with favourite Meridians voted by the Art Blocks community. The exquisite layouts in the Gallery chapter honour favourite artworks from the artist and the monopo london team.

While the initial success of NFT projects has largely been driven by the novelty of truly owning a digital good, the future of digital art projects is said to be more hybrid. Many projects are now introducing physical goods that reward owners of the digital token, and while the generative art form has been around for decades, the blockchain technology has finally given it a significant platform. For the first time it is now truly possible to own a piece of art, right down to the code. Meridian is a milestone for showing the shift in how this art form is respected. The book marks a unique moment that will become a legacy publication for generative art projects. 

To celebrate the launch of the Meridian book, a pop up book launch and generative art exhibition is taking place at the Stolen Space Gallery in London from March 9th to 11th.