From Nothing to the Pre-Existing

From Nothing to the Pre-Existing is a series of works by Pedro Victor Brandão, created between 2006 and 2008 through chemical paintings on photographic paper made without the use of a camera.

Using the files that document the evolution of these chemical reactions, uint studio developed an interactive animation that allows visitors to navigate through different moments of the reaction that formed each image. On desktop devices, the interaction responds to mouse movement. On mobile devices, it responds to touch.

The interface transforms the image-making process into a navigable experience. Users can move forward and backward through the composition, following the transition between different stages of the chemical process.

The artist minted NFTs containing these interactive scripts, using token metadata to permanently host the individual files corresponding to each stage of the chemical paintings.

The solution combined digitization, interactive interface design, archival preservation, and web3 distribution.

In this way, the project creates a form of digital access to a body of analog works while remaining attentive to their material origins and to new possibilities for circulation across networked environments.