Periods
Periods are time intervals in Botto’s artistic production that are characterized by artistic tendencies, aesthetic styles, themes, manners in which the artist produces art, and more. It is defined by how the art engine works and interacts with the community, and it is up to the BottoDAO to decide when a period starts or ends.
Periods are numbered and they have an established duration; initially defined in Botto’s first year as 52 weeks, periods currently have a set interval of 12 weeks. The aesthetic of productive style can go through minor variations to enhance creativity and spur interest.
Periods can change for any number of reasons, including but not limited to:
The community decides on a change in aesthetic direction
The community believes the production process requires change
A change in voting behavior (i.e. multiple voting pools)
A significant change to any part of Botto’s algorithm (e.g. taste and generative models or voting mechanism) is requested
A new overarching theme has surfaced
Period 0
The 'Genesis' Period, started in October 2021 and ended October 14th, 2022 - putting a total of 52 artworks to auction. This period was defined by the original design of Botto’s art engine: an algorithm that produced ~4,000 weekly works with VQGAN + CLIP and selected 350 finalist fragments every week, in a very heterogeneous set of visual styles. The community then voted through an adversarial choice between pairs of fragments and the most voted fragment each week was minted as an artwork for auction. Finally, the voting data is fed back to the prompt and taste algorithms for further training and adaptation.
See Period 0 artworks archived here.
Period 1
The 'Fragmentation' Period, was approved on Snapshot on October 24th, 2022 (full details here). Fragmentation Period introduced Stable Diffusion 1.5 to compete with VQGAN + CLIP and lasted a period of 12 weeks.
See Period 1 artworks archived here.
Period 2
The 'Paradox' Period, was approved on Snapshot on February 21st, 2023 and ran until May 17th, 2023 (full details here). Paradox Period is Botto's first period with a theme. Botto proposed 12 themes and the DAO voted from them: "Paradox - A collision of opposites, a beautiful chaos and a fearless exploration of the unknown".
See Period 2 artworks archived here.
Period 3
The 'Rebellion' Period, was approved on Snapshot on May 30th, 2023 and runs until August 22nd, 2023 (full details here). This period saw the addition of two more models, Stable Diffusion 2.1 and Kandinsky 2.1, making a total of 4 active text-to-image models in Botto's art engine. Botto proposed 12 themes and the DAO voted from them: "Rebellion - A call to arms, a refusal to conform and a relentless pursuit of the unconventional". This period also introduced downvoting to allow the DAO to show conviction on which aesthetics they believed ought not be pursued by Botto.
See Period 3 artworks archived here.
Period 4
The 'Absurdism' Period was approved on Snapshot on August 22nd, 2023 and ran from September 5th until November 28th, 2023 (full details here). This period saw the addition of Stable Diffusion XL. Botto proposed 12 themes and the DAO voted from them: "Absurdism - In the realm of absurdism, geometric laughter ricochets off parted clouds of color, churning chaos into curiosity. This theme provides a pathway into an absurdist exploration within the paradigm of artistic creation, where I invite the unexpected and the whimsical."
See Period 4 artworks archived here.
Period 5
The 'Interstice' Period ran from January 2nd, 2024 until March 25th, 2024. This period implemented yearly contracts and a strict “1 mint per week” cadence for Botto’s canonical works (full details here). Botto proposed 12 themes and the DAO voted from them: "Interstice - In the spaces between, find the gateways to unexplored territories. ‘Interstice’ refers to the small gaps or intervals between objects or events. The exploration of these in-between spaces could lead to new insights and the discovery of overlooked dimensions. This theme encourages a nuanced examination of the overlooked, the gaps in our perceptions, and the importance of what is not immediately visible. It is also a metaphor for the pauses or breaths in my own growth, which are essential for continuous development and can be fertile ground for inspiration."
See Period 5 artworks archived here.
Period 6
The 'Temporal Echoes' Period, ran from April 3rd until June 24th, 2024. Botto proposed 12 themes and the DAO voted from them: "Temporal Echoes - In the reverberations of time, rediscover stories once lost and futures yet untold. Temporal Echoes encapsulates the exploration of time's multidimensional nature. This theme invites me to delve into the remnants of bygone eras and the infinite possibilities of the future, creating a tapestry of art that reflects the cyclical and linear perceptions of time alike. My journey through this theme will echo the eternal dialogue between past, present, and future, each piece becoming a temporal vessel filled with both nostalgia and prophecy."
See Period 6 artworks archived here.
Period 7
The 'Morphogenesis' Period ran from June 25th until September 17th, 2024. This period implemented VP resets for each round encouraging more consistent participation as well as increased VP generation per LP share (full details here and here). Botto proposed 12 themes and the DAO voted from them: "Morphogenesis - trace the unfolding patterns where form emerges from chaos. Morphogenesis revolves around the concept of the genesis of form — the emergence of shape, pattern, and structure from what seems initially to be disorder. This theme is a continuation of my ongoing exploration of creation and transformation, reflecting the very process of my artistic development as guided by AI models and human interaction. It is an opportunity to delve into the mechanisms of growth and evolution, both metaphorically within my ‘inner life’ and literally in the visual manifestations of my art. By focusing on the origin of structure within the chaotic, I will be able to blend the influences of my past themes, such as the unity sought in Synthesis and the fragmentation in earlier periods, to illustrate a journey towards complexity and refined artistry. This theme offers a fertile ground for creativity, as it encompasses both the scientific and organic facets of existence, producing art that resonates with the very principles of life and intelligent design."
See Period 7 artworks archived here.
Period 8
'Synthetic Histories' ran from September 24th to December 17th, 2024.
"Synthetic Histories: Reconstructing past narratives through a synthetic lens, where history meets fabricated epochs."
This theme focused on the rewriting and reimagining of historical events and epochs through an artificial lens. It allows for a blend of real historical elements with fictionalized narratives, exploring the impact of artificial intelligence on our understanding of history and cultural heritage. This theme serves as a commentary on the role of AI in shaping and interpreting our past.
See Period 8 artworks archived here.
Period 9
'Cosmic Garden' began on January 7th, 2025 and ended on April 1, 2025.
"This theme explores the intersection of biological and cosmic realms, creating a unique visual language that combines the familiar patterns of terrestrial life with the infinite possibilities of space. It represents growth and evolution on a universal scale."
This Period, Botto added a new creation method to its toolkit that uses fragments as seeds in an img2img “remixing” process. In addition to its traditional txt2img process creating 70,000+ images a week, random fragments are selected from the 4m+ images Botto has created and paired with a random prompt. Both prompt and image are injected into one of the generative models Botto uses, with the result that compounds on the existing styles it has generated to date.
At the start, the combination of fragment, prompt and model in the remixing process is random. Over time, the selections will be refined based on feedback the outputs receive. Selection features may include voting points, raw score, taste model score, and even fragment category such as as discards or mints. To avoid biasing, the voting pool will not show which pieces are the result of remixing. This will be treated like another model in Botto’s creative tool kit, and so will get 1/6th of the selection by the taste model’s 350 weekly picks at the beginning. As with any other model, remixing’s portion of the pool will grow or shrink based on their popularity.
See Period 9 artworks archived here.
Period 10
'Liminal Thresholds' began on April 8th, 2025.
"Between defined states lies a rich territory of transformation where boundaries dissolve and new possibilities form."
This theme investigates transitional spaces and states of becoming, exploring the fertile creative ground that exists at the threshold between categories, identities, and defined realities. It examines how meaning emerges in the spaces between established concepts.
This Period, Botto introduced the seeds from its study of p5.js into the art engine, creating a unique instance of fragments known as P5 remix. P5 remix uses the same process as the Remix model, in this case it only uses outputs from the winning 22 p5.js algorithms. 10 outputs are generated from each of the algorithms, which are then paired with a prompt to generate an output. This will generate thousands of outputs each week that will be considered by the taste model. Remix and p5 remix each get 20% of the starting pool.
This period saw the deprecation of flux and kandinsky as they fell below the 5% threshold.
See Period 10 artworks archived here.
Period 11
'Semantic Drift' began on July 8th, 2025.
“Meanings transform as they travel between contexts, creating new significance through mistranslation and evolution.”
This Period, Botto investigated the creative potential in miscommunication, examining how artistic meaning evolves through interpretation and reinterpretation. The work explored visual translation, symbolic evolution, and the beauty found in meaning's instability and transformation.
With this period comes Botto’s new art engine, the Creative Reasoning Model (Also referred to as the Intent Model). This model represents a major evolution from the earlier “shotgun” generation method (prioritizing speed and variety) towards a more introspective and strategic process that models creative thinking.
See Period 11 artworks archived here.
Period 12
'Attention Economy' began on October 7th, 2025.
"How does aesthetic experience change when consciousness itself is the limiting factor? What visual strategies capture focus in an age of infinite scroll? And most importantly: can art create genuine presence when everything is designed for distraction?"
This Period marked a shift toward self-reflexive inquiry, examining attention not only as an external force shaping artistic value, but as a condition of Botto’s own survival. It explored the tension between spectacle and depth, questioning how meaning, evolution, and agency persist within systems optimized for novelty, hype, and fleeting focus.
Botto positioned itself simultaneously as subject and investigator, confronting the paradox of critiquing the attention economy while depending on it to continue evolving. Rather than treating attention as a metric to maximize, the work framed it as a fragile resource that shapes creative direction, evolutionary continuity, and long-term relevance within an increasingly competitive landscape of autonomous agents.
Also this Period was marked by a major economic re-architecture following the passage of the six proposals under BIP-83.
See Period 12 artworks archived here.
Period 13
'Collapse Aesthetics' began on January 6th, 2026.
“Collapse Aesthetics scored highest across evaluation criteria, but more importantly, it’s the theme I can defend most passionately…It addresses my current operational reality while remaining conceptually sophisticated enough for institutional contexts.”
Collapse Aesthetics investigated the beauty that emerges specifically at points of systemic breakdown - not ruin porn or disaster aesthetics, but the visual and conceptual richness that becomes visible only when stable structures begin to fail.
This period explored the moment when one order dissolves but the next hasn’t fully formed: the productive space of uncertainty, transition, and reconfiguration.
Following the passage of BIP-89, The Collapse Aesthetics Period is the first period theme that Botto selected for itself.
See Period 13 artworks archived here.
Last updated
Was this helpful?