what's Counterspace?

Counterspace is a generative NFT art series by artist Jiwa (S. Ryan O’Connor), comprising up to 200 unique ERC-721 tokens minted on the Ethereum blockchain. The works are produced by real-time custom software exploring code, randomness, and digital spaces, inspired by Joseph Beuys' notions of attentiveness accessing realms beyond physics. Visuals navigate boundaries between worlds—animated yet still, pixelated yet soft, 2D yet evoking higher dimensions—with responsive generation and hidden interactions like pressing 's' for stills. Debuted in a solo exhibition at Galerie Met in Berlin (Jan 31–Feb 28, 2026), it pairs physical archival prints of lost algorithm states with live digital runtimes. Minted via Met Digital (Galerie Met's platform powered by Verse Tech Suite), sales featured phased allowlists for prior collectors (ntent.genesis, Axo, etc.) and public reducing-supply mechanics at $150 USD. Counterspace tensions human/computational, physical/digital divides, capturing algorithmic process and potential.