Jæn**Reunion & Release** At the beginning of 2026, Artcrush (thank you Edouard and Mathieu), Google and the Rijksmuseum launched an AI contest to reinterpret works from the museum's collection with Google's AI tools. The scans used as a foundation for the Timechain coming from the Rijksmuseum, it was the perfect occasion to exhibit a part of the Timechain in this most relevant place. I used Google's image and video generative tools to transform each mascaron design into something reminiscent of another Renaissance artist — Arcimboldo. But if you have read a previous entry entitled "The Future", you'll know where the inspiration truly comes from: imagining a future Renaissance where the art becomes life-based, organic. I adapted each soundtrack to become organic indeed, and played with synchronisation of blur and an audio filter. I won an honorable mention and was able to exhibit the first mask, Satyre Floral, [in the Main Hall of the museum](https://arweave.net/MrfLJmZYObTCM9bc63qudnYEHwdkVKyL3BVot6zk-X4/Rijks.mp4), and at [Gallery MINA](https://arweave.net/MrfLJmZYObTCM9bc63qudnYEHwdkVKyL3BVot6zk-X4/MINA.mp4). Taking this opportunity, I visited the Study Room to see with my own eyes the old prints (probably second edition) from the original series.  A few weeks later, the rest of the NFTs were finally released with Transient Labs Curated, alongside an interview with Roger Dickerman on his DAM show and Mack from Transient Labs. It is now time for Patrons of the III Renaissances to come forward.
0x2918cedA641716Fd6BdA3CcF691c3B54D4C87b6e**Exhibiting Art In The Digital Renaissance**
Exhibiting art, particularly in scenography, has undergone a profound transformation since the rise of digital art. While galleries, art fairs, and museums remain cherished venues for experiencing art, digital media brings forth new possibilities, demands, and challenges to traditional presentation methods, being inherently immaterial. Exhibiting the Timechain has set me on a path of re-evaluating how it should be displayed and what holds true meaning in the digital age.
**Screens, Screens, Screens**
The most natural physical canvas for digital art remains the screen. In recent years, since the cryptoart boom, a new wave of high-end screens has enabled digital art to truly shine: matte screens with such high resolution they resemble framed prints, screens that rotate with the artwork seamlessly filling the frame, towering screens in public spaces or in New York's MoMA, screen cubes simulating glass boxes you can peer into, and even immersive spaces where the screens cover the walls, ceiling, and floor. From the spherical screen in Las Vegas to screens blanketing entire rooms, creative possibilities abound, making a remarkable impact.
[Here is a selection of exhibitions of the Timechain in Times Square and all over Belgium public spaces thanks to Artcrush, and in the immersive room of NFC in Lisbon in 2023.](https://arweave.net/7d3m6cnMFplNo2uEtKve0AM8SgcRXRTdy2CY0F9BwBA/Cornaelhuys_Belgium_NYC_NFC.mp4)
The inherent plasticity of digital native visual art shines in the way it can be adpated to screens of any format and size. Yet, perhaps the most relevant exhibition method should be digital as well.
**Skeuomorphism and Virtual Spaces**
Websites, whether artist-owned, marketplace platforms, or digital galleries, are indeed exhibition spaces in their own right. So too, in a sense, are social media profiles. This demonstrates that exhibiting in a digital space needn’t rely solely on 3D. With few exceptions, such as virtual sculptures, two-dimensional formats are quite well-suited to flat artworks on flat screens. Yet shared virtual worlds and 3D spaces bring an intriguing dynamic, especially when paired with a social dimension or immersive VR headsets.
The first virtual exhibitions of Cornælhuys took place in 2021 within Cryptovoxels (now Voxel), through Giannis Sourdis' Museum of NFT Art (M0NA), and in Decentraland with Sarah Moosvi (Tara Digital Collective). These blockchain-based virtual worlds, while in their infancy, offered an exciting opportunity to playfully question the necessity of *skeuomorphism* in virtual exhibitions..
Skeuomorphism here refers to design approaches that emulate older aesthetics, ergonomics, or functions within new technology. For instance, early plastic furniture was often textured to resemble wood, until designers began embracing the unique qualities of plastic to create sleeker forms. Skeuomorphism has two sides: one involves a lack of courage to embrace new paradigms, while the other eases audiences into unfamiliar spaces with familiar features.
At the time, I approached the design of these spaces with a rebellious stance against skeuomorphism, even writing an article on virtual architecture practices. Why have ceilings or walls in a virtual gallery when there’s no rain, dust, or UV rays to harm the artwork? Why ground and floors when gravity is optional? These early exhibitions encouraged visitors to fly into the mouth of a voxel mascaron, entering an immersive cube with animations on every side, or to ascend a spiral staircase, gazing upward at an imposing circle of ancient figures.
My perspective has since tempered. I’ve recognised that some skeuomorphic elements can help visitors focus on the art rather than the space itself. In 2022, I exhibited the series within the Oncyber platform, a space with a timeless aesthetic and central pendulum reflecting the importance of time to this series. Each mask loomed several meters high, immersing visitors in their colossal presence, and the VR compatibility allowed viewers to experience each piece’s soundtrack in proximity-based audio, making movement intuitive and manageable within two dimensions. Not having to fly was also easier to navigate, essentially the necessary movements to 2 dimensions.
**Social Exhibitions**
The Timechain’s digital mascarons, detached from their architectural origins, function as true masks. And what better place to showcase masks than on people’s faces? This is where Augmented Reality filters on social media platforms like Instagram, Messenger, Snapchat, and TikTok come in. The public becomes the gallery. This approach also taps into the core essence of ancient theatrical masks, reawakening the lively, punk spirit that underpins the grotesque movement. Below are a few filters I designed for Messenger, Snapchat, and Instagram, worn by myself, cryptoartists J'erre and Animatttic, and curators Fanny Lakoubay and Sarah Moosvi.
Another avenue for social media exhibitions is through animated GIFs, which flood virtual keyboards and post editors. These memes are powerful cultural tools, allowing people to bring humour, absurdity, and emotion to their posts. GIF memes have a strong basis in remix culture, much like hip-hop sampling, drawing from films, series, other memes, music videos, or anything well done enough to capture a specific vibe.
[GIF Memes](https://arweave.net/cfo32hZjy3uQuCgOYviwOp3CU4SBLP1QZhDUXc4Lutc/GIFtcc.mp4)
**Concluding Musings**
Another use of AR included the ability to scan the original etchings by Frans Huys with a smartphone, to see the animated version with a soundtrack replacing it, effectively bridging the old, the physical, with the new digital.
Ultimately, I’m considering street art as a next step, potentially bringing these digital masks into public spaces through mosaics of their pixelated on-chain forms. Depending on funding possibilities, I would also explore 3D modeling and printing to recapture their volume-based origins.
This journey in exhibiting digital art is one of constant experimentation, with each step revealing new ways to play with traditional and digital realms. Along the way, there may even emerge a little gem, something unexpected, sparked by the dialogue between art and its audience in the digital age.
0x2918cedA641716Fd6BdA3CcF691c3B54D4C87b6e**The Future**
This timeline represents the current state of research and reflection for the Timechain. I would not dare claim certainty regarding the future, especially given the rapid spread of war, the accelerating pace of technology (especially AI), and the uncertainties brought by climate change, access to drinkable water, and economic turmoil. However, the essence of the Timechain relies as much on the past and present as it does on the future. Its aim is to be utterly timeless — to endure as long as humanity itself. The first goal is the Future Renaissance, the one that will follow the Digital Renaissance we currently live in. Yet, that would be only the first step.
First, how do we ensure the digital art of today survives until then?
The comedian masks of Ancient Greece are lost to time, as the materials used were too fragile. Were de Vriendt's mascarons, illustrated by Huys, mere sketches or fully realised stone sculptures? If the latter, they still didn’t survive despite being made of stone. What did survive, though, are the disseminated prints of Huys.
What can we learn from this? Perhaps material strength is less important than the proliferation of copies. In the digital realm, we can ensure both. We could store data on experimental long-lasting hard drives, such as those made from glass or even DNA-based storage solutions. However, the real key may lie in disseminating multiple copies. This is where the ethics of decentralization, embedded in blockchains, comes into play. It’s naive to expect data stored by private companies to last for centuries, let alone millennia. Today, the Non-Fungible Token (NFT) format serves as a canvas for provenance authentication and information storage. Widely used blockchains like Ethereum and Bitcoin have a high likelihood of surviving for a long time. I don't think blockchains, as they are today, will persist for centuries—I believe better solutions will emerge. However, they are a common good, filled with critical historical data, and I believe they can be wholly archived, remaining accessible for hundreds of years even if they are no longer actively used.
But this only concerns the NFT itself. The art files are stored on complementary systems. Currently, IPFS and Arweave are the primary options. Both have their flaws, but they are more decentralized than other solutions and remain the best compromise available. As storage technologies evolve, these systems should evolve too. There is much hope for a universal and resilient storage system in the future, as long as we care enough to push forward. In the meantime, as long as Ethereum endures, so too will the compressionist pixelated incarnations.
**Wandering Possibilities**
Since anyone can create new works based on the Timechain today, how do we know when there’s an official new node in the Timechain? If I, the artist, am still alive, I can help determine whether a candidate’s art practice is of high quality and disruptive enough compared to today’s Digital Renaissance. But after I am gone, perhaps the lineage should be updated by collectors themselves (perhaps including the heirs of today’s collectors?). If no consensus can be reached, the decision might be left to the general public or art community of that time. Another intriguing possibility, given the rapid advancement of AI, is the creation of an autonomous and resilient AI agent, capable of analyzing the state of art and technology in real time to assess the legitimacy of future candidates.
As for the shape art may take in the future, the obvious answer is that no one can possibly know. Still, there is joy in imagining it. Art could grow more digital and AI-driven, potentially becoming autonomous entities that evolve or replicate themselves as they see fit. Organic art may take on wilder forms, with artworks becoming semi-living organisms, using DNA as code (though many ethical questions would arise). A low-tech future might bring less dramatic changes, but masks could remain culturally relevant, adapted to the people of that era. Now, let’s indulge in a more distant fantasy where time itself becomes something we can explore. Imagine time-masks that allow wearers to journey into the past, experiencing any moment connected to the Timechain lineage first-hand... maybe the important moments through each artist of the Timeline's eyes? The Timechain and the artworks would become one.
**For The Ones Who Are Yet To Come**
To you, reader of the future: I don’t know what world you live in, but I hope you enjoy connecting your past to my future. These reflections may be filled with technical details and copious amounts of cold data, but they were not written without feelings.
An irrational sense struck me as I worked on this series — what I am creating today, in 2024, has, in a way, already traveled to the future where you live. Perhaps you haven’t been born yet, but I, today, build this bridge across time to reach you. For you, it has already happened, even though I died a long time ago, before it actually happens for me. Yet, we meet on the bridge now — my *now* and your *now*.
Such is the essence of the Timechain — all fleeting lives woven together through the eternity of an enduring legacy. And if the emotions that run through me as I write are the same that you feel reading this, then perhaps we have indeed defied time and death. The *timeless* might just have broken free from the realm of metaphor to become tangibly real, if only for this brief moment.
0x2918cedA641716Fd6BdA3CcF691c3B54D4C87b6e**The Future**  This timeline represents the current state of research and reflection for the Timechain. I would not dare claim certainty regarding the future, especially given the rapid spread of war, the accelerating pace of technology (especially AI), and the uncertainties brought by climate change, access to drinkable water, and economic turmoil. However, the essence of the Timechain relies as much on the past and present as it does on the future. Its aim is to be utterly timeless — to endure as long as humanity itself. The first goal is the Future Renaissance, the one that will follow the Digital Renaissance we currently live in. Yet, that would be only the first step. First, how do we ensure the digital art of today survives until then? The comedian masks of Ancient Greece are lost to time, as the materials used were too fragile. Were de Vriendt's mascarons, illustrated by Huys, mere sketches or fully realised stone sculptures? If the latter, they still didn’t survive despite being made of stone. What did survive, though, are the disseminated prints of Huys. What can we learn from this? Perhaps material strength is less important than the proliferation of copies. In the digital realm, we can ensure both. We could store data on experimental long-lasting hard drives, such as those made from glass or even DNA-based storage solutions. However, the real key may lie in disseminating multiple copies. This is where the ethics of decentralisation, embedded in blockchains, comes into play. It’s naive to expect data stored by private companies to last for centuries, let alone millennia. Today, the Non-Fungible Token (NFT) format serves as a canvas for provenance authentication and information storage. Widely used blockchains like Ethereum and Bitcoin have a high likelihood of surviving for a long time. I don't think blockchains, as they are today, will persist for centuries—I believe better solutions will emerge. However, they are a common good, filled with critical historical data, and I believe they can be wholly archived, remaining accessible for hundreds of years even if they are no longer actively used. But this only concerns the NFT itself. The art files are stored on complementary systems. Currently, IPFS and Arweave are the primary options. Both have their flaws, but they are more decentralised than other solutions and remain the best compromise available. As storage technologies evolve, these systems should evolve too. There is much hope for a universal and resilient storage system in the future, as long as we care enough to push forward. In the meantime, as long as Ethereum endures, so too will the compressionist pixelated incarnations. **Wandering Possibilities** Since anyone can create new works based on the Timechain today, how do we know when there’s an official new node in the Timechain? If I, the artist, am still alive, I can help determine whether a candidate’s art practice is of high quality and disruptive enough compared to today’s Digital Renaissance. But after I am gone, perhaps the lineage should be updated by collectors themselves (perhaps including the heirs of today’s collectors?). If no consensus can be reached, the decision might be left to the general public or art community of that time. Another intriguing possibility, given the rapid advancement of AI, is the creation of an autonomous and resilient AI agent, capable of analysing the state of art and technology in real time to assess the legitimacy of future candidates. As for the shape art may take in the future, the obvious answer is that no one can possibly know. Still, there is joy in imagining it. Art could grow more digital and AI-driven, potentially becoming autonomous entities that evolve or replicate themselves as they see fit. Organic art may take on wilder forms, with artworks becoming semi-living organisms, using DNA as code (though many ethical questions would arise). A low-tech future might bring less dramatic changes, but masks could remain culturally relevant, adapted to the people of that era. Now, let’s indulge in a more distant fantasy where time itself becomes something we can explore. Imagine time-masks that allow wearers to journey into the past, experiencing any moment connected to the Timechain lineage first-hand... maybe the important moments through each artist of the Timeline's eyes? The Timechain and the artworks would become one. **For The Ones Who Are Yet To Come** To you, reader of the future: I don’t know what world you live in, but I hope you enjoy connecting your past to my future. These reflections may be filled with technical details and copious amounts of cold data, but they were not written without feelings. An irrational sense struck me as I worked on this series — what I am creating today, in 2024, has, in a way, already traveled to the future where you live. Perhaps you haven’t been born yet, but I, today, build this bridge across time to reach you. For you, it has already happened, even though I died a long time ago, before it actually happens for me. Yet, we meet on the bridge now — my *now* and your *now*. Such is the essence of the Timechain — all fleeting lives woven together through the eternity of an enduring legacy. And if the emotions that run through me as I write are the same that you feel reading this, then perhaps we have indeed defied time and death. The *timeless* might just have broken free from the realm of metaphor to become tangibly real, if only for this brief moment.
0x2918···7b6eErratum - Music Intent
In the inscription "The Present", there was an error regarding the description of the intent behind the music of this piece. Here is the corrected version:
For this token, the music showcases a complex interplay of energy and elegance, alternating between fast-paced action and slower moments of introspection. This encapsulates my feelings about Bouquet Final, the epic grand finale synthesising a wide array of experiences.
0x2918···7b6eErratum - Music Intent
In the inscription "The Present", there was an error regarding the description of the intent behind the music of this piece. Here is the corrected version:
For this token, the music evokes the tension of an epic battle from an old black-and-white silent film, characterized by rapid arpeggios and bold strokes of violins. This reflects my perception of Le Casse-Tête, embroiled in a violent struggle against an enemy that may well be part of itself.
0x2918···7b6eErratum - Music Intent
In the inscription "The Present", there was an error regarding the description of the intent behind the music of this piece. Here is the corrected version:
For this token, the music conjures the image of someone walking heavily, instilling a slight sense of unease. This captures my feelings about Chalume, depicting a clumsy psychedelic journey to somewhere… or perhaps nowhere.
0x2918···7b6eErratum - Music Intent
In the inscription "The Present", there was an error regarding the description of the intent behind the music of this piece. Here is the corrected version:
For this token, the music feels erratic, with the melody shifting octaves unexpectedly and triplets disrupting the rhythm multiple times. This reflects my impression of Fabule, straddling the line between madness and wisdom—unpredictable in its nature.
0x2918···7b6eErratum - Music Intent
In the inscription "The Present", there was an error regarding the description of the intent behind the music of this piece. Here is the corrected version:
For this token, the music feels epic, reminiscent of a climactic battle against the final boss in a video game. This aligns with my interpretation of Le Sans-Concession, an uncompromising force making a flamboyant stand.
0x2918···7b6eErratum - Music Intent
In the inscription "The Present", there was an error regarding the description of the intent behind the music of this piece. Here is the corrected version:
For this token, the music inspires a sense of soaring into the skies, characterized by ascending arpeggios. This embodies my feelings about Lysandre, who looks upwards and flies ever higher, occasionally descending to relish the speed.
0x2918···7b6eErratum - Music Intent
In the inscription "The Present", there was an error regarding the description of the intent behind the music of this piece. Here is the corrected version:
For this token, the music reflects a lighthearted yet energetic forest theme, evoking a sense of comic relief as the melody descends at the end, akin to acorns falling on the mask's head. This captures my vision of Quenottes, the face of a mythical giant from the woods—a brute who can still be goofy and awkward in the right circumstances.
0x2918···7b6eErratum - Music Intent
In the inscription "The Present", there was an error regarding the description of the intent behind the music of this piece. Here is the corrected version:
For this token, the music exudes an intriguing, regal quality, culminating in a brief peak of tension. This aligns with my impression of Hyperscribonien, a stylish yet intimidating figure that leaves you pondering its intentions.