Animated Paint — Physical + Digital

The animations are contiguous: clouds flow from one piece to another; grasses and lightning ripple across frame boundaries. But we began with physical paint.

Real paint provides texture, uniqueness — something no app or AI can reproduce. We capture each panel and build a seamless, detailed, two second loop, often with thousands of layers.

Every piece was made and unmade at least a dozen times over the four years of its production. To create contiguous elements — lightning, clouds, grass, and others — we first constructed 3D spaces and planes underneath a grid of 144 orthographic cameras. Once the cameras captured each scene, we compiled and sorted the views into distinct asset stacks. Simulations proved emergent and chaotic; they do not loop, so we built every asset procedurally, node by node. A color map ties all the tiles together in a visual whole. This alone took a small team over two years.

Each piece carries its story with unique motifs: fields of flowers, rising crosses, shockwaves representing war, stars and the zodiac, birds, trees, a black ocean across the bottom row of pieces, banners, explosions, and so on. Each piece finds its place in the whole based on its story: whether it depicts being lost, enraged, fallen but redeemed, addicted, recovering, drawn into darkness, climbing toward blessedness, or sending some other (wonderful or terrible) force into the whole.

We have never seen another animated mosaic like this, or indeed any animated mosaic with a physical component. There was no template. We built the work and the means of making it at the same time.

Four Years in the Making

The Oversoul took 4 years to produce. Conceptually inspired by Ralph Waldo Emerson's 1841 essay of the same name, it is an exploration of the human spirit as that which connects all human beings in a common moral and social fabric.

The Oversoul is the third and final chapter in The InFlux, an epic story told through 333 unique artworks divided into three chapters: The Origins, The Ordeal, and The Oversoul. Each piece carries its own lore, yet they all fit into a larger narrative we call "The Vertical War" — a conflict between light and dark forces playing out in our age.

Our custom web app provides a detailed, fulfilling, interactive experience. Built with Manifold tooling, the app affords the collector many angles of entry, study, and connection with the artworks. We want viewers and collectors to probe the depths of every story, every resonance point, every layer. The app makes this possible.

Each Oversoul portrait mints for 1.69 ETH. So far, Oversoul collectors include: BatsoupYum (x3), Arsonic (x2), Mysterio (x2), DJJD (x2), KJtique (x2), Norcal, Animated, Snowfro, DJJD, Klutch, and others.

Art as a living community

This artwork lends itself to intimate and rich conversation about what really matters in this life. It asks: What are you experiencing? How do you sit within the field of choices that defines your life? What are you really doing with your life?

We believe that artwork should nourish culture. We see it as a remedy for the death culture, the downward spiral of paving over nature (and the mind) with slop. Art can help heal us as we confront a world falling apart. The Oversoul reminds us that we are interconnected and interdependent, and never truly alone even though we often feel so. We are parts of a whole, even as we are also individuals choosing our paths.

The Oversoul Tour launched at Marfa in October 2025 and is ongoing. As there are only 144 portraits, we chose this format deliberately: instead of a once-and-done hyped drop, we wanted to meet collectors in person, city by city, and have real conversations in front of the work. The Tour affords us a direct way to build and support our community. The Tour continues until all pieces have found their homes.

This is the studio's first project that combines our digital and social practices. The mosaic is an experience of how individuality and interdependence coexist. The Tour and the app extend that experience into an encounter.

How to Collect

Collectors acquire the digital piece, a two second loop built from physical input, code, 3D, and thousands of layers. The physical painting is available to the collector, at their option, after the Oversoul Tour concludes.

The Oversoul Tour began in Marfa in October 2025 and is currently ongoing. As there are only 144 portraits, we chose this format deliberately: instead of a once-and-done drop on a big platform, we wanted to meet collectors in person, city by city, and have real conversations about the work. Our collectors are our community. The Tour is how we build it.

To collect, go to the Oversoul App, choose your piece, and hit the Connect Wallet button. Two transactions, the payment and a free confirmation, secure the work to your wallet. The site is built on Manifold rails.