YAKUYOKE

YAKUYOKE is a photo-based glitch/generative art on Bitcoin. - YAKU (厄): misfortune or calamity - YOKE (除け): to ward off or get rid of. Inspired by the ritual of warding off bad luck at shrines in Japan, this work is a wish for good luck, inspired by the idea of burning misfortune and calamity from a photograph with the flames of generative art. The inspiration for this work was a flame that the artist saw at a ceremony to ward off misfortune in the New Year 2025, in an effort to shake off the scam theft misfortune that he suffered in the year 2024. This experience inspired him to ask himself, “Can I express the ritual of warding off misfortune and calamity and wishing for good luck on Bitcoin? This was the theme of the project. The act of burning eight pure street photographs taken in Shibuya, Tokyo, and making them non-transferable corresponds to the act of burning firewood. Using p5.js and WEBGL programs, the Burned photo data is randomly retrieved by Recursion, and various glitch destructions are added to reproduce the flames of burning bad luck. The output of the glitch is randomized according to transaction ID, bitcoin block size, and number of transactions. In this work, the artist also aimed to create an architecture that embodies the concept of “burning bad luck” as Art on Bitcoin. All eight photographic inscriptions are Burned, making them non-transferable and non-sellable. The generative art program is inscribe on Uncommon Sats. Programs and photos are in a Parent-Child relationship, where the program is the Parent and the photo is the Child. By using Delegate/Reinscribe to construct the Parent/Child relationship, the structure is reproduced on the on-chain as well, like a flame burning on a piece of firewood, with the code at the top, connecting the burned photos and aggregating them. It is hoped that the on-chain flame, which exists in the wallet, will be like a amulet that protects against scams and other misfortunes and calamities, and wishes for good luck.