Bard & Jennifer Ionson presented by HASH Gallery

HASH Gallery presented the world premiere of Balloons In The Sky by Bård and Jennifer Ionson — the third and final act of The Simulation Trilogy, following Painting with Fire and Bones In The Sky.

A custom StyleGAN model, trained on 3,700 photographs taken by the artists at the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta generates an infinite stream of balloon images on a 75" portrait screen. Balloons float and morph between photographic reality and painterly abstraction, continuously, without repeating.

In front of the screen sits a big red button. Press it, and the stream freezes. A 1/1 NFT mints on Ethereum mainnet. An archival print comes out of the integrated printer. Both go to you immediately. You can only collect on-site.

If someone acquires the full installation, the contract restructures: 45% of all future mint revenue flows to the new owner as a perpetual stewardship fund, 45% to the artist as a royalty, and 10% to the active venue. The installation funds its own future. Every visitor who presses the button contributes to keeping it alive.