Ordinals, doc! - Recursion - ep. 2

Ordinals, doc! is a monthly community meeting on Discord: / discord
In the second episode, we're deeply diving into recursion, a revolutionary feature of Ordinals.
Recursion was a massive game changer in the space for creators and builders, but not easy to grasp by collectors.
We'll talk about what's great about the OG series and what could've never been done without (r)evolutionary recursion in ordinal space.
Recursion in Ordinals and Generative Art
1. Old Generative Collections and Their Limitations
Before recursion, each inscription was like an isolated island, with no way to share or communicate with other inscriptions. This meant that for each generative artwork, the entire code, including HTML, JavaScript, CSS, etc., had to be included in each inscription, leading to large file sizes and significant costs.
For example:
- Generative libraries like p5.js and three.js, commonly used in creative coding, were too large to inscribe.
- Developers had to rely on simpler or smaller libraries like q5, which is (used to be?) a lightweight version of p5.js limited to 2D art.
- Inscribing a typical artwork (around 10 kilobytes of code) would cost around $22 at current Bitcoin rates. But larger collections including libraries increased the cost exponentially.
2. Introduction of Recursion
Recursion changed the game by allowing inscriptions to reference and communicate with each other. This fundamentally transformed ordinals into a decentralized file system on-chain, where inscriptions could now pull resources from each other, reducing the need for full, repeated code inscriptions.
Access to external libraries: Recursion allows the use of larger libraries like p5.js, three.js, and others by referencing an already inscribed library, drastically reducing the size of the code needed for each artwork.
Cost and efficiency: Artists now inscribe the code once and only reference it later, cutting down the size and cost of each inscription.
For instance, in newer generative collections, the main JavaScript code is inscribed once, and all subsequent HTML inscriptions simply reference this base code. The result is that instead of each artwork being 10-42 kilobytes, it’s now only 200-300 bytes, leading to massive savings in fees.
3. Real-World Examples of Recursion in Generative Art
Billy Restey’s x.com/billyrestey Bit Blocks: This collection uses recursion to reference existing inscriptions (such as JPGs or PNGs) to influence the final artwork. This creates dynamic relationships between the original inscription and the generated art.
Elapsed: In this collection, recursion is used to separate JavaScript from the HTML, where the bulk of the artwork's logic is inscribed once, and the HTML contains minimal code pointing to it, showing how recursion can efficiently manage the size and cost.
4. End Points and Dynamic Art
Recursion also enables the use of endpoints from the Bitcoin blockchain to create more dynamic and interactive artworks. For example:
Block height, block hash, and block time can now be used as inputs in generative algorithms, making artwork responsive to real-time blockchain events.
Mycelioid DIY uses block hashes as seeds for randomness, so every new Bitcoin block generates a new composition.
Elapsed tracks block time to change the artwork’s personality from slow to fast as new blocks are mined.
Mycelioid 45 uses block info like average fee rate to dynamically affect the size and behavior of elements within the artwork.
5. Spellbound by Lifofifo x.com/lifofifo
A clever example of recursion where the artwork is self-aware, checking if the same person still holds the associated Wizards of Ord. If the two are separated, the artwork breaks and shows a "blue screen of death," making the artwork dependent on ownership.
6. Recursion’s Future in Generative Art
Recursion not only helps reduce costs and storage needs but also opens up the possibility for new, dynamic, and interactive experiences in art. Artists can now create generative pieces that change based on the blockchain’s state, incorporate external media, and even react to data pulled from other inscriptions or the network itself.
In short, recursion marks a revolutionary leap for generative art on ordinals by improving cost efficiency, creativity, and blockchain integration in a way that wasn’t possible before.

[@9tailfox765]

GREAT 😍 Thank you so much, Pawel! I’ve learned so many important and interesting things. More of those "Ordinal docs," please! 🙏