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Bitcoin => Bitcoin Discussion => Topic started by: 1Dq on November 08, 2018, 04:58:57 PM



Title: CRYPTOGLYPHS – A new way of imagining The Bitcoin Blockchain
Post by: 1Dq on November 08, 2018, 04:58:57 PM
Hello, it's been a while.

Since August I've been developing ways of visualising the Bitcoin Blockchain. I wanted to gather its basic pieces and principles and present this in a way that could be interpretable to a broad audience of people.
I struggled with getting such a complex system in two dimensions and keeping it visual, interesting, and fun. Then I intuitively connected it with the hieroglyphs of the ancient Egyptians and it soon connected together and made sense. I started working on my biggest crypto painting so far and finished it 6 weeks later.
Below is the blueprint of the painting and I chose the Bitcoin forum as the place to present it in detail. This forum is the origin of Bitcoin evolution, I got help and tips here and now I want to contribute my share.

The Purpose
I designed this painting to be fun, thorough and illustrative.
Primarily it can be used to explain how Bitcoin works, as the entire process of creating a new block is worked out in detail. Additional interpretation might be needed, but anyone with any knowledge can help or people can read my interpretation down below.
For those already into crypto it introduces a fresh way of visualizing Bitcoin's Blockchain with a lot of easter-eggy details. Most of used symbols mean nothing to ancient Egyptians and a lot to a contemporary internet user.  
Lastly it's purpose is for complete outsiders to ask themselves why someone would use that much time and energy to make a painting of fake Egyptian hieroglyphs, that are actually about a virtual currency? Is this really a thing?

https://www.talkimg.com/images/2023/10/27/Tc0Dm.jpeg

1Dq, Cryptoglyphs, 2018, Acrylics on Canvas, 145x190cm (57˝x75˝)



Content breakdown

The Gods
Ma'at (bottom left with wings) is the goddess of justice, law, and cosmic order.
Thoth (right of Ma'at, with birdlike head) is the god of writing and speech.
Seshat (below Thoth) is the goddess of mathematics, wisdom and is a record keeper.
Hathor (on the right side) is the goddess of many purposes and radiates maternal care to everybody. Miners are very fond of her.
Together they represent the necessary skills that Satoshi Nakamoto and his colleagues needed when they created Bitcoin.

https://www.talkimg.com/images/2023/10/27/ThmuP.jpeg


The Miners
Left of Hathor are four groups of miners, representing mining pools. Except for subtle details they look similar to each other and this represents the variety of hardware difference and the power of individual pools.
They are the work force for everything going on below!

https://www.talkimg.com/images/2023/10/27/Th2kJ.jpeg



The transactions
On the top left and top right is a multitude of windows in which stylised characters are transferring various goods. The characters have unique outlooks as they represent public addresses that are randomly generated. The »goods« are all various things that have changed owners and are being stored in the blockchain.
The transactions that are most interesting to the miners (they have highest fees) are being gathered in two golden frames of cartouches. The Eye of Horus symbol in the bottom of both represents protection which is one of the basic purposes of the entire system.

https://www.talkimg.com/images/2023/10/27/Th6Fq.jpeg


Hashing
In the middle of the composition, the crypting occurs from top to bottom.
First off, all of the selected transactions are being processed, two by two into cryptographic hashes. The procedure is repeated until a single hash is attained. All gathered transactions are bound together via this system that is called the Merkle tree. This is visualised with a selection of 8 transactions on the top brackets. One line lower, they are spliced together and have attained properties from both transactions. This is just for visual purpose, as the hashes have no discernable similarities to actual transactions as they are at this point just limited sets of letters and numbers.
The last hash is the Merkle root and it is here represented by the image of a weird elephant head. This is the crucial »load« of the new block. Here I deformed the symbol of Djed pillar that Egyptians otherwise used to symbolize strength and stability.

https://www.talkimg.com/images/2023/10/27/ThdFv.jpeg


The Blockchain
Starting from the top right corner we follow the chain of coloured rectangles framing the composition. It goes all the way left, then down, then right to the middle and up to the middle where it’s content is exposed in detail.

https://www.talkimg.com/images/2023/10/27/ThPoj.jpeg
 
Rectangles have the same elements, but they vary in color. The outside frame hue represents the unique hash of every block which also connects it to the next block. This is why in every rectangle there is a stripe in the hue of the previous block. They all have a bigger bluish rectangle inside, that represents the »load« of the block. This »load« is produced by encrypting the following elements:
Hash of the previous block (seen as the sole image of the opened previous block)
Merkle root (the result of the above described process)
Timestamp (Time of block formation), index (consecutive number of block) and target (difficulty, described in the next paragraph)
Random number called Nonce, used to produce a target hash. The circle of snake represents infinity/rebirth and the signs inside are actual numbers that were used by the Egyptians.

https://www.talkimg.com/images/2023/10/27/ThH6I.jpeg

Mining a new block
The chain we followed opens up in the middle, where we see its hash (illustrated as the winged thing with two flames). Here I visualized the narrative of creating a new block in the chain.
The system of Bitcoin itself sets the difficulty of producing a new block. The hash of the block, in order to be included to the system by other miners, needs to have a certain number of zeros as its initial digits (I illustrated the difficulty with the number of waves under the timestamp and block index symbols.). The more zeros, the harder it is to produce such a hash, as every single attempt produces a random set of symbols.
In the painting, finding the right hash is represented by a long list of attempts (here zeros are represented by the Egyptian symbol of Shen ring, that represented divinity). It ends on the bottom with the winning hash, that starts with the needed 5 Shen rings (I used the Eye of Horus here again representing the fair and divine system). On the right in the second row from below, the mining pool of miners that have guessed the right hash are being rewarded;  each of them with a golden bar.

https://www.talkimg.com/images/2023/10/27/ThuoH.jpeg

Below the last hash is the content of the current block, every piece that has been described, spliced into a new sign - a symbolic visualization of its entire content. It is colored in orange and becomes the orange frame of the mini block below and the orange stripe of the next block to come to its right. Other blocks following are empty, we know they will exist, but we cannot as yet anticipate their content.

https://www.talkimg.com/images/2023/10/27/Tht6D.jpeg


The Bonus
Besides the obvious and that already explained, there are many other details that add to the Bitcoin universe. There are entities that hoard large quantities of Bitcoin called »whales«. These are depicted as actual whales, but with human eyes.
Most people call the frustrating rising and dropping of the Bitcoin price the bull market (with the price going up) and the bear market (with the price going down). I've illustrated this phenomenon as a fight between two animal-like deities.
To their right is a graph of the Bitcoin price over the years, illustrated by the amount of plants on each time stage. Hovering on top of it is the symbol of the moon. It just had to be included somewhere.

https://www.talkimg.com/images/2023/10/27/Thwlg.jpeg



The reign and tyranny in ancient Egypt was symbolized by two objects, the whip and the cane. I used both but turned them upside down, as the Bitcoin system represents the exact opposite of a centralised government.
Nowhere in the painting is the Bitcoin sign very obvious as I intentionally kept it and other giveaways relatively hidden. However, there is a big B in the sun disc between Hathor's horns, best seen from an angle!

https://www.talkimg.com/images/2023/10/27/ThUgC.jpeg



There are many other details, gags and memes, especially in the numerous fake hieroglyphs. Like the god Thoth promoting the lightning network. Also, I have signed myself three times, just in case.
 
TLDR; I used the ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs' aesthetics to depict how Bitcoin works under the hood. It's intended to be fun and helpful to people trying to understand cryptocurrencies in their broader sense. It also contains a shitload of contemporary jokes and memes well known in the world of cryptocurrencies.

As always, your comments are very welcome!


Title: Re: CRYPTOGLYPHS – A new way of imagining The Bitcoin Blockchain
Post by: eternalgloom on November 09, 2018, 01:09:40 PM
WOW! I really like the idea of this and it's clear that you've put a lot of work into making this piece of art.
With the description, it's quite interesting to see which existing Egyptian hieroglyphs you've used and adapted for this drawing.

I'd give you a bunch of merit, if I wasn't out already. Next month perhaps when it replenishes again.


Title: Re: CRYPTOGLYPHS – A new way of imagining The Bitcoin Blockchain
Post by: escrow.ms on November 09, 2018, 01:12:07 PM
Amazing work you have done mate. You deserve a merit for sure.


Title: Re: CRYPTOGLYPHS – A new way of imagining The Bitcoin Blockchain
Post by: Kemarit on November 09, 2018, 01:56:06 PM
Indeed, this is one piece of amazing art. I think you really capture everything and its "interesting visually". For sure you can call this your "labor of love",  ;D. I checked your gallery and it seems there's a bunch of interesting work of art as well pertaining not only to bitcoin but litecoin as well.


Title: Re: CRYPTOGLYPHS – A new way of imagining The Bitcoin Blockchain
Post by: 1Dq on November 12, 2018, 10:08:07 PM
Thanks everybody!
I hope this piece gets shared around the webs and gets interpreted.
And then reported back here so I can hear how well that went!  :)


Title: Re: CRYPTOGLYPHS – A new way of imagining The Bitcoin Blockchain
Post by: 1Dq on November 13, 2018, 08:30:10 AM
I was pondering where to start this and settled on here, because this painting is a step in developing my project of visualizing blockchain.
Should I move it though? I would definitely like more people to see it.


Title: Re: CRYPTOGLYPHS – A new way of imagining The Bitcoin Blockchain
Post by: 1Dq on November 13, 2018, 02:03:48 PM
I have my artist presentation thread in "service discussion", but I agree this will fit better in "collectibles". Thanks!


Title: Re: CRYPTOGLYPHS – A new way of imagining The Bitcoin Blockchain
Post by: vizique on November 13, 2018, 02:22:04 PM
You should move this to the Goods/Collectibles section if you really want to get this noticed :D

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?board=217.0

I'd agree.

A great piece, well thought out and executed.

Merited :)

Viz


Title: Re: CRYPTOGLYPHS – A new way of imagining The Bitcoin Blockchain
Post by: Kryptowerk on November 13, 2018, 02:41:40 PM
Amazing piece, fantastic. Very creative, superb execution!

Is that an Andreas Antonopoulos head symbol @The transactions? On the right, 3rd symbol?  :D :D Awesome.


Title: Re: CRYPTOGLYPHS – A new way of imagining The Bitcoin Blockchain
Post by: 1Dq on November 13, 2018, 03:38:37 PM
Yes, it is!  :D


Title: Re: CRYPTOGLYPHS – A new way of imagining The Bitcoin Blockchain
Post by: AT101ET on November 13, 2018, 03:39:56 PM
Very nice work. Props to you OP.


Title: Re: CRYPTOGLYPHS – A new way of imagining The Bitcoin Blockchain
Post by: BitcoinPenny on November 13, 2018, 04:25:09 PM
Wow! Truly amazing! Well done! :o

Regards,
Me


Title: Re: CRYPTOGLYPHS – A new way of imagining The Bitcoin Blockchain
Post by: JanEmil on November 13, 2018, 05:07:24 PM
OK to print for my wall or you sell a print?


Title: Re: CRYPTOGLYPHS – A new way of imagining The Bitcoin Blockchain
Post by: 1Dq on November 13, 2018, 11:44:44 PM
OK to print for my wall or you sell a print?
Sure, here's the link again in case you missed it:

Direct link to a 15,9MB 5142x3921 pix jpg: https://sha256art.com/img/Cryptoglyphs1/Cryptoglyphs.jpg

It's completely free. However, if anyone wants to show extra support, here's the cryptic way to reach me  8)

https://i.imgur.com/qh2ZkT0.jpg



Title: Re: CRYPTOGLYPHS – A new way of imagining The Bitcoin Blockchain
Post by: Ticked on November 14, 2018, 01:39:31 PM
1Dq,

I have no merit to give unfortunately, but this is easily my favorite crypto-art to date.  The level of originality, attention to detail, depth of information, etc  is simply stunning. This is to crypto art what kialara was to cold storage physicals.  There were others before it - but this is different and remarkably so. Bravo.  On top of that, offering the image for print at leisure is in the vein of crypto itself. If the original were to ever leave your hands, it'd be an auction for the whales. Can't wait to see what you come up with next.

Just wanted to voice how impressive I find it.

Cheers!


Title: Re: CRYPTOGLYPHS – A new way of imagining The Bitcoin Blockchain
Post by: 1Dq on November 14, 2018, 02:24:20 PM
Thanks man, it feels great to be appreciated!


Title: Re: CRYPTOGLYPHS – A new way of imagining The Bitcoin Blockchain
Post by: guy369 on November 14, 2018, 02:54:00 PM
REALLY COOL WORK!


Title: Re: CRYPTOGLYPHS – A new way of imagining The Bitcoin Blockchain
Post by: SidArt on November 14, 2018, 05:03:21 PM
Great job 1Dq! This is awesome that you did!
Hope you'll continue to do that cause this is great for crypto and that's so creative like a good puzzle !
I don't think that I can understand all meanings of the pictures but I definately like this way of introducing crypto!


Title: Re: CRYPTOGLYPHS – A new way of imagining The Bitcoin Blockchain
Post by: tweetious on November 14, 2018, 06:17:18 PM
Awesome work 1Dq! Congrats  :o (+1 merit from me)


Title: Re: CRYPTOGLYPHS – A new way of imagining The Bitcoin Blockchain
Post by: Kryptowerk on November 14, 2018, 06:25:43 PM
You should definitly put a link in OP to your other crypto-artworks: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=3467154.msg36036809#msg36036809
Some fantastic stuff there.


Title: Re: CRYPTOGLYPHS – A new way of imagining The Bitcoin Blockchain
Post by: 1Dq on November 14, 2018, 07:07:51 PM
You should definitly put a link in OP to your other crypto-artworks: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=3467154.msg36036809#msg36036809
Some fantastic stuff there.
Thank you for pointing this out (I didn't want to clog this thread as it was already pretty heavy on content) and yes - there's my other crypto pieces posted in there!


Title: Re: CRYPTOGLYPHS – A new way of imagining The Bitcoin Blockchain
Post by: Hhampuz on November 15, 2018, 05:16:53 AM
This is amazing on so many levels! Original, creative, excellent. I probably couldn't give you enough praise. Very well done, I look forward to see what you'll come up with next :)


Title: Re: CRYPTOGLYPHS – A new way of imagining The Bitcoin Blockchain
Post by: 1Dq on November 16, 2018, 02:47:29 PM
I've worked on original photos and managed to come up with a much larger reproduction, which is in all aspects of better quality than the previous one. It should be suitable for prints as big as 80cm/30in on the longer side.

You can download it via the same link as before: https://sha256art.com/img/Cryptoglyphs1/Cryptoglyphs.jpg

I hope it makes it on a wall and we get to see it in this thread!



Title: Re: CRYPTOGLYPHS – A new way of imagining The Bitcoin Blockchain
Post by: anonymousminer on November 16, 2018, 03:00:11 PM
This is incredible!!  Well done 1Dq!!  


Title: Re: CRYPTOGLYPHS – A new way of imagining The Bitcoin Blockchain
Post by: 1Dq on November 18, 2018, 05:29:12 PM
Thank you, and to everybody else for all the positive feedback!


Title: Re: CRYPTOGLYPHS – A new way of imagining The Bitcoin Blockchain
Post by: 1Dq on January 07, 2019, 02:54:09 PM
I finally got around to upgrading this painting into a fun and easily consumable video, which was an idea I had from the start.

I made it as simple as possible and my colleague that runs SHA256art gallery put it on Reddit today:

https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/adg6qw/cryptoglyphs_how_the_bitcoin_blockchain_works/

Help spread the word, thanks!


Title: Re: CRYPTOGLYPHS – A new way of imagining The Bitcoin Blockchain
Post by: vladimirhf on August 03, 2019, 06:21:37 AM
OK to print for my wall or you sell a print?
Sure, here's the link again in case you missed it:

Direct link to a 15,9MB 5142x3921 pix jpg: https://sha256art.com/img/Cryptoglyphs1/Cryptoglyphs.jpg

It's completely free. However, if anyone wants to show extra support, here's the cryptic way to reach me  8)

https://i.imgur.com/qh2ZkT0.jpg



really nice, great job ;D but what happened to sha256art.com? I was curious to see it but the site is offline.


Title: Re: CRYPTOGLYPHS – A new way of imagining The Bitcoin Blockchain
Post by: 1Dq on August 03, 2019, 06:34:15 AM

really nice, great job ;D but what happened to sha256art.com? I was curious to see it but the site is offline.

My mate that run Sha256art and started persuing crypto art with me quit the project a couple of months ago. I wasn't happy about his decision and I won't go into details, but we're still friends.


Title: Re: CRYPTOGLYPHS – A new way of imagining The Bitcoin Blockchain
Post by: 1Dq on April 04, 2020, 10:16:32 AM
Thank you for moving this thread to a more suitable place.

Additional comments will be very much appreciated, cheers!