"Is Art" on Arweave

Christopher Adams, Is Art, 2021. Custom software (JavaScript, HTML, CSS).

Is Art is a minimal, interactive artistic statement. Each interaction can change the work's self-definition as art or not art.

Is Art is a smart contract and distributed application for the Arweave network. It is an adaptation of Rhea Myers's original work for Ethereum.

Transacting with the work requires an Arweave wallet to pay a minimal fee.

The source code is available under a free license. It includes a SmartWeave contract with tests, and a JavaScript application that reads from, queries, and writes to the Arweave network.

Instructions

Requirements

• Node.js

Installation

npm install

Development

npm test
npm run start

Production

Contract

Deploy the contract using your Arweave keyfile:

npm run create -- --key-file=/home/${USER}/path/to/arweave-key.json

Set the contract ID from the previous step:

echo "SNOWPACK_PUBLIC_IS_ART_CONTRACT_ID=[CONTRACT_ID]" > .env.production

Deploying on Arweave

Build the site:

npm run build

Deploy the site:

npm run deploy -- --key-file=/home/${USER}/path/to/arweave-key.json

Deploying on a webserver

Build the site hard-coded to use the arweave.net server no matter where it's deployed:

SNOWPACK_PUBLIC_IS_ART_HARDCODE_ARWEAVE=true npm run build

Create a package:

npm run package

The file dist/index.html can be deployed anywhere as a standalone web app.