Mutant Garden Seeder — the artist's texts
Four texts by Harm van den Dorpel, copied as published. The wiki reads them on Mutant Garden. Collections on harm.work: Mutant Garden Seeder and Mutant Garden Seeder Mutations.
1. Prelaunch Mutant Garden Seeder NFT (harm.work news, June 2021)
Source: Prelaunch Mutant Garden Seeder NFT. Links in the original to Folia, the Upstream exhibition, Folia's Telegram group and OpenSea are omitted.
During Amsterdam Art Week 2021, I will present a selection of 64 pre-minted "non-fungible tokens" (NFTs) developed in collaboration with Berlin based NFT platform Folia, at Upstream Gallery in Amsterdam.
Mutant Garden Seeder will consist of 512 generative unique Ethereum tokens: "mutants". When a mutant is born, the transaction hash of the current Ethereum block is taken as a seed to generate a chromosome from which the artwork is generated. Also after birth, every so many mined blocks, when a specific amount of digits of the current block hash correspond with its birth hash, the artwork mutates based on this block, gradually developing its visual manifestation. When a mutant is not adopted it dies.
Each mutant is mathematically determined by the moment of birth and the blockchain transactions that occur after - its genotype. Besides that, the screen and software the artwork is viewed with can also (sometimes quite dramatically) influence the composition of the artwork (its phenotype). Therefore, each mutant could be considered to be a time-based "responsive painting". All calculations of this NFT are executed on a dedicated server daemon, which is synchronised to mainnet, sort of like a sidechain. Also, owners of a mutant will receive a standalone Electron app + screensaver in which they can follow the development of their "pet", independent from the Seeder Daemon server.
In this blockchain-native work, I aim to show that the advent of immutability does not require to sacrifice the fluid potential of digital artifacts, which continuously evolve.
End July 2021 the project will fully launch, and then NFT collectors will be able to select a mutant from the current block themselves, and mint it as unique ER721 token using an interactive DAPP.
Please note that all preminted mutants have already been bought and transferred or are reserved.
2. About (2021), the original FAQ
Source: seeder.mutant.garden/about-2021, the about page as written for the launch in 2021 and kept on the site as "About (2021)". The site's subheadings are given here in bold.
What is Mutant Garden?
Mutant Garden Seeder consists of 512 generative unique Ethereum NFTs by me, Harm van den Dorpel, released in collaboration with Folia in 2021.
How does it work?
Only one mutant can be minted per block number. The transaction hash of this chosen birth block is taken as a seed for a deterministic random function, used to populate a cartesian genetic network ("chromosome") and functions as a Turing complete machine, which executes to generate visual artworks ("phenotype"):
User chosen seed block → Block hash → Properties + seed number → Deterministic random function → Cartesian genetic network + window dimensions → SVG → Artwork
Additionally, mutants mutate over time by themselves, based on the similarity of the seed block hash and the current block hash.
How can I view my mutant?
Mutant Garden NFTs can be watched on the Mutant Garden Seeder website, where the birth state and all later mutations can be inspected. As each mutant is in essence a simple computer program, it can be executed in the browser in various screen resolutions and screen aspect ratios (perhaps this can be considered to be the phenotype-affecting environment). Mutants are responsive. The amount of available window pixels (X/Y) is used as input in the parsing of the program, which means that one mutant will have infinite renderings. Some render predictably on different window sizes, some more surprisingly.
Mutant tokens adhere to the ERC721 standard so they can also be viewed on OpenSea, which handles SVG very well.
A standalone computer application can be downloaded, which also processes Ethereum blocks to render your mutants, independently of the Mutant Garden website and server daemon. If for some reason in the future the Mutant Garden website and daemon go offline, you will still be able to follow the development of your mutants.
What are all the fixed attributes/properties a mutant can have?
"Complexity", "color mode", and "mutation frequency" are fixed upon birth and do not change over time.
What is complexity?
The algorithm used to generate the recursive modular graphics is an implementation of a Cartesian genetic network. These evolutionary algorithms define a 2-dimensional grid of layers and nodes. The complexity of a mutant is directly correlated to the amount of layers. Fewer layers generate lower complexity, many layers have the potential for high complexity.
What is color mode?
Each mutant has a color palette with a fixed amount of reusable colors. Some mutants use RGB colors ("Contrastful"), some HSL ("Balanced"), and some both ("Mixed", aka. "Complex").
What are "coding genes"?
As in nature, only a small percentage of all available genes are actually parsed or activated in a specimen. Human DNA contains many remnants from ancient evolution. Also we pass on genetic information that might only be activated many generations later.
Within Mutant Garden, nodes ("genes") contain drawing or branching instructions, and pointers to memory locations.
The total number of genes is defined as layers × nodes
So the "coding genes" percentage can be calculated with:
(N nodes visited during network traversal) / (total genes) × 100
The mutation algorithm favours mutations in already coding genes, which causes more visual changes to occur, because mutations in non-coding genes would very often not cause any noticeable changes.
What is "coding genes (max)"?
It means the maximum value coding genes ever had in the lifetime of this specific mutant, and can only increase over time. This is an experimental property and currently only shown on OpenSea.
How often does a mutant mutate?
At birth, each mutant receives a fixed mutation probability, based on the seed block hash. The most stable mutants mutate maybe once every five months, and the most dynamic ones mutate every single day. Each block, for each individual mutant, its seed block hash is compared with the current block hash. From binary representations of these hashes, when the first N digits are equal, a mutation occurs. The decision which gene to mutate and to what, is dictated by the current block hash. This means that mutations, even though they are random and unpredictable, are fully deterministic.
Are there a fixed amount of mutations?
No.
Where is the data stored?
The block hash on which the mutants' birth state and properties are based, is stored on-chain. The seed block number is conveniently identical to the token ID. Only one mutant can be minted per block number. Mutations that occur later in the life of a mutant are also based on block hashes, so these are already known on-chain.
The final artwork is an ever growing sequence of SVG files of the birth state and mutation states. These SVG files can always be deterministically recalculated by the Mutant Garden Seeder Daemon as well as the standalone application.
What happens if the Mutant Garden server goes "offline"?
The metadata of the token references the most recent mutation. This means that in the unlikely event that Mutant Garden would go offline, this last mutation remains accessible as a "fossil", which is also a poetically satisfying outcome to me.
Why are some tokens already minted, before the official online launch?
As part of my solo exhibition at Upstream Gallery Amsterdam a limited amount of pre-minted tokens was offered to the local audience of the exhibition, which they paid for with fiat currency. For the majority of those collectors, this was their very first NFT they ever collected. It was a pleasure to see Mutant Garden Seeder NFTs enter for example the Sanders Collection, one of the most prestigious art collections in the Netherlands.
What does this all mean?
In this blockchain-native work, I aim to show that with the advent of immutability we do not need to sacrifice the fluid and transformative potential of digital artefacts.
3. About (2026)
Source: seeder.mutant.garden/about, as online in November 2026. Links to OpenSea, Raster and Etherscan are omitted.
What is the Mutant Garden Seeder collection?
Mutant Garden Seeder (MGS) consists of 512+1 forever-mutating Ethereum ERC721 NFTs by me, Harm van den Dorpel, released in collaboration with Folia in 2021. This collection was sold out within hours of its release.
Each token has a fixed mutation probability: some might mutate each day, some only a few times per year. Mutations are calculated on a web server, running a custom "sidechain daemon" connected to Ethereum Mainnet. Each MGS NFT reflects its current mutation state. Because the metadata of Mutants is always evolving, it is stored on a web server and served over HTTPS. Previous mutation states—from birth to now—are archived on this site.
What is the Mutant Garden Seeder Mutations collection?
Mutant Garden Seeder Mutations (MGSM) is a new open-ended Ethereum ERC721 collection containing minted mutations. One token represents one static mutation. In contrast with MGS these tokens do not mutate further but are snapshots of a moment in time. The metadata of these tokens is stored on-chain and the mutation state images (SVG) on Arweave.
Who can mint Mutant Garden Seeder Mutations?
Holders can mint mutations of the MGS tokens they own. They pay a mint fee which is used to keep this ecosystem alive and it pays for the decentralized file storage on Arweave.
Anybody can mint mutations from unlocked Mutants. When mutations from an unlocked MGS token are minted, the corresponding MGS holder receives ETH in their wallet too. The payout wallet and the amount they wish to receive upon mutation mint can be specified when they unlock their Mutant for public mint.
Does the new MGSM contract change anything about the MGS tokens?
No. Mutant Garden Seeder is a completed and closed collection. However, having mutations minted and stored on-chain adds value to the original collection in terms of conservation.
Are there any restrictions on MGSM tokens?
No. They can be freely traded, and no royalties are expected or enforced.
Why did you create this new mutation minting functionality?
Storing and maintaining the ever-evolving Mutant Garden Seeder ecosystem requires a powerful and expensive server. As royalties on trading MGS tokens are no longer enforced, the project needs a new stable source of revenue to guarantee future resilience.
The new MGSM tokens bring the project more on-chain.
If you really love your mutants, I recommend browsing through their evolution over time and minting key moments for the future.
What does this all mean?
In this blockchain-native work, I aim to show that with the advent of immutability, we do not need to sacrifice the fluid and transformative potential of digital artefacts.
4. MGS Mutation Minter (harm.work news, January 2026)
Source: MGS Mutation Minter.
Curated Mutations from Mutant Garden Seeder, a derivative project, mintable until pruned, immutably stored on-chain and on Arweave.
A new open-ended Ethereum ERC721 collection containing minted mutations. One token represents one static mutation. These tokens do not mutate further but are snapshots in time. The metadata of these tokens is stored on-chain and the mutation state images (SVG) on Arweave.