London-based artist Anthony Heideman, better known as MountVitruvius or “MV,” has carved out a unique space in the generative art world through his ability to weave personal memories and literary inspiration into his algorithmic creations. 

His 999-piece “Mind the Gap” collection, inspired by childhood play and exploration, was the first release on the generative art platform gm. Studio. Meanwhile, his “Render’s Game” series explores the iterative nature of cumulative achievement, paying tribute to MV’s artistic journey as well as Orson Scott Card’s 1985 science fiction novel “Ender’s “Game”.

MV's work straddles the line between the abstract and the literal, drawing from cubism, contemporary ink illustration, and the precision of digital tools. The result is a balance of organic and digital aesthetics, a fresh feeling paired with what the artist describes as a mood “reminiscent of something that you might have experienced in the past.” Observing his work, we see simple algorithms become dynamic, expressive unfoldings, with each creation inviting viewers to explore the exchange between nostalgia and innovation.

In this interview, conducted at the lounge at the Thunderbird Marfa during Marfa Art Blocks Weekend, MV invites viewers into his iterative process while sharing his thoughts on generative art as a storytelling medium and the importance of building community around this emerging art form.

‍Note: This transcript has been edited for length and clarity.

OpenSea: Your focus is on long-form generative art. Could you tell us a bit about the inspiration for your creations?

MountVitruvius: Most of my inspiration comes from growing up with computers as my primary medium of self-expression. I was never much of a drawer or painter, but I learned to code at an early age. That opened up an incredible world for me. I realized if I truly understood how computers worked, I could create the things I imagined in my mind. Back then, computers weren’t really seen as an art medium, so I’ve spent much of my life pushing the idea that coding is its own unique creative form. There’s nothing quite like creating behavior through code and having a piece of software bring something to life in real-time. It’s unlike any other medium, and that has always fascinated me.

OpenSea: Can you share a bit about the aesthetics behind your work?

MountVitruvius: My work draws heavily on abstract art from the 1940s to the 1980s as a foundation for my generative projects. I also try to incorporate an illustrative tone into how the pieces are presented. You’ll often find my work balances a modern, fresh, and almost illustrative feel while still feeling nostalgic, like something you might have encountered before. I think that mix comes from my early struggles to have my work accepted as art. For the longest time, I didn’t even consider what I was doing to be art. I never really considered it art until the last 10 years or so. It was just things I was making, enjoying, and sharing with other people.

OpenSea: Oh wow, that’s so interesting. You didn’t consider your work as art until recently.

MountVitruvius: Yeah, well, there were a lot of computer scenes at the time, like the demo scene, where the focus was on writing code to demonstrate what computers could do. Some of my work fell into that. It was more about saying, “Hey, look how cool this machine can be in terms of creating something.” But interestingly, in my work today, I try to distance myself from that. I try to create pieces that aren’t defined by the fact they’re made on a computer. Instead, I want people to appreciate the piece first, and then, as they learn about its creation, discover that it was made through code. That realization adds another layer of depth to the experience.

OpenSea: What’s your starting point when you create generative art? Do you begin with an idea, an algorithm, or a set of rules?

MountVitruvius: That’s a really good question. When I start a piece, it can come from quite a few different directions. One of them might be a research paper I’ve read — something about how a particular type of geometry can be constructed, formed, or used, or even a scientific paper about how fluid dynamics work.

On the other side, it might come from something beautiful I’ve imagined in my mind or a sketch I’ve done on my iPad that makes me think, “Oh, there’s something really wonderful about how this structure is coming together.”

But then that very quickly becomes code, and that code very quickly turns into something beyond what I originally imagined. It’s this push-and-pull process of imagining, creating, letting that fall back into imagination again, and continuing that cycle until it becomes something that feels alive and beautiful to experience. For me, it’s about going through many, many outputs and still finding them fascinating. That’s when I know I’ve created something special. When I’m sitting there for three hours, I’m constantly asking myself, “What else can I get out of this system?”

OpenSea: As a continuation of that question, do you find yourself revising and tweaking your work continuously, or are you able to set an endpoint?

MountVitruvius: I do struggle sometimes to say, “This is the end. This work is complete.” There are endless possibilities when you’re creating something—the only real limit is your imagination. Computers are so powerful now, and the tools we have are so expansive, that you could endlessly work on a piece. But for me, it comes down to being strict with myself about what the piece needs to feel like and represent. I have to decide, “Have I hit the mark? Is this good enough?”

With long-form generative art, where you’re creating multiple outputs — anywhere from 50 to a few hundred or more — is that you’re trying to tell a story that goes beyond just the individual piece someone sees. You want the viewer to look at the entire collection and begin to understand how the elements interact, to feel like the pieces are working together to tell a broader story. 

Sometimes that’s the hardest part because you want to keep adding more elements to the story, taking people on a much bigger journey. But you have to rein yourself in and ask, “What’s really important to get across? What does this piece need to represent clearly?” without adding too much complexity.

OpenSea: Are there any exercises or practices that help you get into a creative flow state?

MountVitruvius: For me, it’s about finding something deeply interesting, whether it’s the way an algorithm works, a specific style, or an aesthetic. My work often draws inspiration from physical mediums like crayons — the way the pencil can be sort of shaded within a scene, or the way the pen works on paper. I don’t try to replicate them directly, but the beauty of the computer is that you can take influence from them and push beyond what’s possible in reality. That’s the part that excites me, the thing that makes me want to sit there for hours with music on, completely immersed in exploring how I can break past those boundaries. Once I’m hooked on an idea, I can get lost in it, completely focused on creating something extremely interesting.

OpenSea: Let’s talk about Marfa. Is this place special to you? Why do you think people come here? Is there something about the landscape or the environment that you feel brings artists together?

MountVitruvius: Marfa to me is extremely special. If I take a step back, I don’t think the breadth of generative art we see being appreciated today would have happened without Art Blocks and what Erick [Calderon] did to create this kind of environment. For years, I joked about it and loved the idea, but the outlook for generative art didn’t exist until Art Blocks came onto the scene.

It created a community and a culture. I’ve met so many incredible artists who are now really good friends of mine, and so many amazing people who’ve either bought my work or just wanted to talk about it. I’ve learned so much from them, and hopefully, I’ve been able to give something back too.

For me, it’s an unreal experience. It validates all the time I spent as a kid learning how to do this, believing in it, and loving it. To have an event like this reflect that back to you, it just feels unbelievably special. I wouldn’t miss it.

OpenSea: Where can people find your work?

MountVitruvius: You can find me online at my website or on X at @MountVitruvius.

OpenSea: Thank you so much!

MountVitruvius: Thank you, this was wonderful.