Navigating Lucid Dreams: A Conversation with kcdilla

For our audience who isn’t already familiar with you, can you give us a little background about yourself? How did you come to generative art?

My name is Kacey Weiniger, I also go by kcdilla. I’m an artist based in New York.

Before getting into Web3 and NFTs, I worked at a handful of different VR/AR tech startups involving mental health, education, art tools, and enterprise training. I felt inspired by how technology would impact our world and ultimately learned about web3.

While I was working in tech, I was painting at night. My grandma is a painter, and growing up, she would bring me to her art classes. She pushed me to continue, but short on time, I wasn’t painting as much. I bought an iPad and started creating digital illustrations. My first and currently only minted collection dropped in March 2022.

When I moved to New York in 2021, my brother took me to mint his CryptoNewYorker at Bright Moments. This was around the time of Incomplete Control by Tyler Hobbs and 100 Print by Ben Kovach the following year. This was how I first learned about generative art. I was mind blown, I could create art with code? How did I not know this? As soon as I minted “project wana,” I started studying generative art the next day.

In college, I took programming classes in Python and C++ but stopped because I didn’t see myself working as a software engineer. At one of the VR startups I worked at, I was tasked to create a few experiences in Unity which required C#. This intrigued me. After that, I started my own web agency and created websites for a variety of clients. As time went on, creative work through the digital medium became common ground for me.

What motivates you to continue exploring generative art? How often are you surprised by your code and its creative possibilities? Is there anything you feel is entirely unique to your approach to generative art?

I’m constantly drawn to continuing to explore generative art. There is always more to learn and try out. I’ve explored art in many forms - fashion, film, sculpture, and painting, but utilizing code (and technology in general) to create art has opened my mind to a new world of possibilities.

I love the idea of code being a form of art. When you’re looking at my piece, I want you to know it’s made of code. When it comes to a generative collection, you are looking at an instance of a greater algorithm. I like how the pieces in a collection are connected algorithmically. The algorithm, the set of rules that I design, is the art, and I find that fascinating.

Creating generative art for me is a conversation between myself and my laptop. I bring snippets of what observe and feel through the day. My laptop listens and reflects this back to me. It’s always been challenging for me to express how I feel in words, so I like expressing myself in this way.

Creating a long-form generative collection for me is the experience of letting go of control. I tend to be a perfectionist - there’s always more to fix, add, and change, but at some point, you have to say, “it’s done.” Saying that any artwork is “done” takes courage. It’s extra wild with generative art because you don’t really know what will get minted, and the whole nature of minting is that it’s permanent. So it’s a challenge that causes me to be patient, and ultimately it takes pushing myself to get it “done”.

And I like how it involves the minter like we’re creating the art together.

I love the idea of code being a form of art. When you’re looking at my piece, I want you to know it’s made of code. - kcdilla

Can you elaborate on the concept behind your fxhash 2.0 release, daydream?

daydream explores the blurry line between what we consider to be real versus not real.

In my waking life, I oftentimes experience moments that feel like they could be a dream. When I’m in a dream, I oftentimes believe it to be real.

It’s about questioning what reality means as a whole. What does “real” mean in a world where simulations can replicate reality with increasing realism?

A lot of these questions arose from my experience with lucid dreaming. Lucid dreaming is when you “wake up” or “gain consciousness” within a dream. Some people can gain control over these dreams. In order to lucid dream, I used to constantly question the state of my reality. By asking myself, “Is this a dream?” in both my waking and dreaming states, I was able to experience lucid dreaming more and more frequently. However, this conditioning got to me more as time went on. My memories started getting mixed up, I couldn’t remember if a particular memory stemmed from my real life or my dream. And I continued to question the meaning of reality and what “real” truly means.

At its core, the project is about accepting and celebrating these unanswerable questions. Sometimes they can feel like an unsolvable puzzle, which can make you feel frustrated or excited. After all, what would humanity be without mysteries to solve?

The work is created technically by using a combination of noise (continuous randomness) and sin waves (a consistent movement). I like how this balance between the chaos and the orderly is expressed in the code.

Can you talk us through some aspects of the technical and creative processes used for this work?

Both my technical and creative processes are a flow. The seed of the idea can come from anywhere - a snippet of code, a shadow on the sidewalk, even a feeling.

I like to create mood boards containing inspiration - photos, AI-generated images, Pinterest images, words, and phrases.

When I’m coding, I like to find a balance between expressing a particular emotion or aesthetic, while also allowing my mind to go blank. Oftentimes I’ll listen to a playlist created for the project while I’m working, this one is called “dreaming.”

My initial step into this project was, “How might I capture the mesmerizing nature of ocean waves?” At the time I was also becoming interested again in the wonders of lucid dreaming. My work started to evolve, I stopped seeking realism. I became interested in creating work that feels familiar, yet simulated. Almost like a dream - an experience that feels real yet is simulated by our minds.

When I’m coding, I like to find a balance between expressing a particular emotion or aesthetic, while also allowing my mind to go blank. - kcdill

The shapes and color palettes are intended to explore this blurry like - some are more “realistic” or familiar than others.

Many of the color palettes stem from those moments in my daily life that feel innately dreamlike. Sometimes I’ll spot something like a leaf or reflection that pulls all of my attention, and I’ll float into a daydream.

On your Twitter, you share some fascinating mockups of your work displayed in imaginary surroundings. How did this idea come about? What would your ideal solo exhibition look like, and how would the audience interact with your work?

Thank you! I wanted to create a mockup of my work on a gallery wall and reached out to Bryan Brinkman because he’s great at this. He suggested using Midjourney or Dall-E to create the galleries and then photoshop the pieces in.

I started creating a classic “white wall gallery, modern,” and at one point, an unexpected output emerged. That’s when I realized I could stage my work however I imagined. I started creating imaginary scenes - some conceptually inspired and others by feeding my work into the AI generation. It’s become a fun process - I create a scene in Midjourney, then use Photoshop and After Effects to create the completed mockup.

I like the idea of exhibiting the work by an ocean. One idea I’ve been exploring is an installation of hanging frames. In my wildest dreams, the pieces would either be projected onto the frames or a fabric screen of the future.

In a gallery setting, I would want screens hanging from the ceiling. I’ve considered what this work would be like printed, I still have some testing to do, but pretty sure I’ll prefer a fabric print. Printing on paper doesn’t feel quite right for this project. Ideally, these screens would be touchscreen so people could interact with the work. Otherwise, there would be a dedicated touchscreen for interaction.

At my exhibition for daydream, I would want it to feel surreal and dream-like. The ambiance, music, and lighting, would cause people to question the state of their reality.

How do you see your practice evolving in the context of generative art and NFTs? What future do you envision for yourself as a generative artist?

Lately, I’ve been excited about a variety of ways to push my generative work forward - physical sculptures and installations, interactivity, and fashion. I’m interested in exploring generative art in a conceptual sense and utilizing the blockchain to create experiences never done before.

My work typically has an underlying dialogue about mental health. I’m also hoping to push my ideas further in this area, exploring mental health and wellness through generative art and web3.

Where do you see this medium going in the next 5, 10, or 20 years? Is institutional acceptance important to you?

I view generative art as a monumental art movement, and in my opinion, institutional acceptance is inevitable. It’s not something I’m concerned about, and prefer to focus my energy on how to get everyday people interested in generative art.

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Kacey Weiniger (aka kcdilla) is an artist based in New York City. Previously, she worked for VR/AR tech startups.