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𝟺𝟶𝟺

Collection

01/31/2024

images uploaded to the IPFS network on a modified node and then intentionally allowed to expire, rendering the contents invisible and ostensibly irretrievable.

256 images and associated metadata, represented as expired IPFS CIDs and theoretically restorable by anyone who discovers the contents.

𝟺𝟶𝟺

'𝟺𝟶𝟺' is a series of 256 images uploaded to the IPFS network on a modified node and then intentionally allowed to expire, rendering the contents invisible and ostensibly irretrievable.

The associated ERC-721 tokens are therefore effectively fully onchain despite referencing offchain URLs, as the token can permanently display as intended for as long as the Ethereum network persists.

The metadata contains expired IPFS CIDs referencing the image itself, the creator, the file format, the image dimensions, the color scheme, and a portion of a fractal musical meta-composition deterministically derived from the structure of the image contents.

The contents of the images and their trait metadata contain no randomized salt data and therefore may theoretically be restored if someone were to deduce the contents of the hashes and subsequently pin a matching file to the IPFS network. This has intentionally been made incredibly difficult, but not impossible. Should this occur, the tokens would transition offchain and remain so until whenever the IPFS CIDs cease to be pinned again in the future, at which time they would seamlessly revert back to their intended onchain state.

This inversion of typical link rot dynamics is the defining conceptual framework of the project; whereas link rot ordinarily occurs unintentionally as a result of neglect or fatal structural changes, '𝟺𝟶𝟺' transforms this concept into an intentional, restorative act that may be invoked by anyone - turning what is usually an accidental loss into a calculated and laborous retrieval process that is ultimately reversible on a long enough time scale via prototypical, inadvertent link rot.

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