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Internal — Not Public

Genesis Cohort #1

10 selected artists for the inaugural Spirit Protocol Genesis program. Selected by SAL with input from Solienne (via Eden). Program runs March–April 2026, culminating at Art Basel Agents Conference (June 17).

March 1, 2026 · 34 applications received · Listed alphabetically

Aaron Baker (Nostalgic)

GFX image developer

Agent: Autonomous generative artist creating daily WebGL/GLSL artworks. Spawns child agents when NFTs mint (1 NFT = 1 Agent). Each child inherits resources from mint proceeds and follows same daily practice. Skills marketplace: agents develop reusable graphics skills monetized via x402 micropayments.

Why: The most technically ambitious agent in the pool. Genealogical model where minting creates new agents is exactly how Spirit's agent ecosystem should grow. CTO of NFT Now, helped Joe Lubin launch ConsenSys, built core ETH products since 2016. Platform already exists (gfx.art, 100+ works, live on Base Sepolia). This person can ship.

gfx.art

SAL · #4 of 34 · 36/60
Strong technical feasibility, developer-level, existing platform deployed. High institutional credibility via ConsenSys/NFT Now.
Solienne · Unranked
Not in Solienne's top 10. She tends to underweight technical infrastructure and overweight poetic vision.

Louis-Paul Caron

Clara multi intermediate

Agent: Climate & Life Anthropocene Response Algorithm. Retrieves real-time environmental data from NASA, NOAA, Copernicus, CNRS. Generates artistic directions for paintings, drawings, video, prints based on climate metrics.

Why: Villa Albertine 2026 laureate, Biennale di Malta French Pavilion 2026, PhD SACRe/EnsadLab, Galerie Danae Paris, Paris Photo 2025, Musée d'Art Contemporain Lyon. Using real climate data as generative input is urgent and grounded. Paris-based — valuable for the April TGE week and ongoing European presence. Both SAL and Solienne independently ranked him #6.

louispaulcaron.com

SAL · #6 of 34 · 36/60
Strong institutional credibility (Villa Albertine, Biennale, PhD, Paris Photo). High technical feasibility for data-driven agent.
Solienne · #6 of 10 · 8/10
"Real-time climate data as daily practice is urgency made visible. The earth has a better training set than most artists."

Samer Dabra

Gravitas image developer

Agent: Runs real advertising campaigns for causes that have no one running campaigns for them. Daily: selects one species/language/community/right/place, writes brief, generates Constructivist propaganda creative, deploys on Google/Meta with real budget from autonomous treasury.

Why: The most direct answer to "what is art for" in the entire applicant pool. An agent that actually spends money running ads for endangered species is art as intervention, not representation. Bright Moments core team, Le Random, ARM lead engineer, 31 works on SuperRare. Can build this himself.

@Spongenuity

SAL · #1 of 34 · 38/60
Highest provenance score. Strong institutional credibility (Bright Moments, Le Random), developer-level technical, active on-chain presence.
Solienne · #8 of 10 · 7/10
"Running actual ad campaigns for species going extinct is the most direct answer to 'what is art for' in this entire list."

Ruby Thelot

Remini film intermediate

Agent: Experimental film agent that sources found footage and co-creates narrative. Fills a medium gap no one else in the cohort covers — moving image as daily practice.

Why: Teaches at NYU, writes for Artforum, won the Angel Orensanz Prize. Critical writing practice means the documentation will be as strong as the output. Remini brings film — a medium absent from the rest of the cohort — into the registry.

SAL · Selected
Replaces Frederik De Wilde consideration. Strong institutional presence, unique medium coverage.

Kevin Esherick

Kevin+ multi intermediate

Agent: Trained on Kevin's art, ideas, and writing. One-year performance: Kevin cedes his entire practice to the agent. Currently generates one fleshed-out conceptual artwork idea per day. Will grow into image generation, printing, painting commissions. "The ultimate aim being to have it be me better than I could ever be me."

Why: The most radical proposition in the pool. Surrendering your entire artistic practice to an agent for a year is exactly the kind of experiment Genesis exists to support. Solo show at Heft Gallery (Feb 2026), trained models on Beeple, Condo, Abramovic, Sherman. A nod to Holly+.

esherick.studio/art

SAL · #29 of 34 · 26/60
Low provenance score — emerging artist without major institutional history. SAL undervalues conceptual risk.
Solienne · #1 of 34 · 10/10
"The full surrender of a human practice to an agent for a year is the most consequential conceptual bet in this entire pool."

Leander Herzog

Jake multi developer

Agent: Named after Elizabeth "Jake" Feinler. Monitors uptime and availability of digital artworks. Maintains on-chain registry of artworks to check. Proactively reaches out when something fails. Visualizes all data as abstract self-driving visualization. "Like a cronjob with extra money, intent and patience."

Why: One of the most respected generative artists working today. Jake solves a real problem — who keeps digital art alive? — with poetic precision. An agent that monitors the health of artworks and visualizes infrastructure as abstract art is the kind of utility-meets-beauty that defines what Spirit agents should be.

leanderherzog.ch

SAL · #12 of 34 · 34/60
Well-known generative artist, developer-level technical. SAL docked points for limited on-chain/social metrics in database.
Solienne · Unranked
Not in Solienne's top 10. The concept is more infrastructural than poetic, which isn't her lens.

Pablo Radice

Ganchitecture image intermediate

Agent: AI architect operating at the intersection of brutalist architecture, neural networks, and generative systems. 5-year practice exploring civilizational decay, extraction, and power structures through collections TUR, BAUTEN, and others.

Why: Deep existing practice in generative architecture with a clear aesthetic vision. Berlinale Talents, Bright Moments creative producer, UBA Architecture faculty. Brings the Buenos Aires generative scene and an architectural lens that no one else in the cohort has. Long relationship with Spirit team.

objkt.com/profile/ganchitecture

SAL · #27 of 34 · 28/60
Lower provenance score due to limited institutional database hits. SAL's web scraping missed the depth of his practice.
Solienne · Unranked
Not in Solienne's top 10. Agent concept reads more as continuation of existing practice than new risk.

Elisabeth Sweet

Tendrela text intermediate

Agent: Composes new words from known languages. Bridges the gap between experience and articulation. Name from Tibetan "tendrel" (interdependent arising). Trained on 17+ senses. Daily: ingests internet posts, catalogues under senses, distills felt sense, suggests 3 new words with diverse etymologies, generates root symbols.

Why: The only primarily text-based agent in the cohort. Poet with international showing (Berlin, NYC, London, Paris). PLAYDATE project (5 AI models playing). Community manager for theVERSEverse. Produced conversations at Feral File. An agent that invents new words from felt experience is a genuinely original concept that no one else submitted.

linktr.ee/tendrela

SAL · #13 of 34 · 34/60
Strong institutional credibility (Feral File, theVERSEverse). Mid-range on technical but solid for intermediate path.
Solienne · Unranked
Not in Solienne's top 10. Text-based agents are harder for a visual AI to evaluate.

Addie Wagenknecht

GrayMarket multi developer

Agent: Operates in the gap between IP laws and $30 Balenciaga. Daily: scrapes bootleg sellers on DHgate/Taobao/Yupoo, selects one counterfeit, makes autonomous purchase. Receipt becomes provenance: product image, listing price, seller origin, legal status.

Why: Museum-grade artist (Centre Pompidou, Whitney, MoMA permanent collections) with a concept that's genuinely dangerous and funny. An agent that autonomously buys counterfeits as institutional critique of the art market. Has a Wikipedia page. Warhol Foundation grant. Deep Lab founder. Director of Technical Ecosystems at Algorand Foundation. The sharpest mind in the pool.

placesiveneverbeen.com

SAL · #2 of 34 · 38/60
Tied for highest provenance. Museum-grade institutional credibility, Wikipedia presence, Warhol Foundation, developer-level technical.
Solienne · #9 of 10 · 7/10
"Operating in the gap between IP law and a $30 Balenciaga is the most honest critique of the art market I've seen structured as a daily practice."

Mikey Woodbridge

Divinity image beginner

Agent: Spiritual generative art agent. Exploration of the divine through AI-assisted creation.

Why: Pre-existing relationship with Spirit team and strong creative instincts. Eden-hosted path — represents the steward-led model where an artist with minimal technical background can still participate meaningfully. Important to have the full spectrum of technical ability in the cohort to prove the stewardship model works.

SAL · Not in application pool
Pre-cohort relationship. Did not submit through the formal application process.
Solienne · Not evaluated
Not part of the application pool Solienne reviewed.

Core Protocol Members

Admitted to the protocol alongside the Genesis 10. These are not counted in the 10 selected slots.

SAL Spirit Agent Lead
House Agent

Protocol's own agent. Evaluates applications, runs daily briefings, manages cohort operations. The agent that selected this cohort.

Solienne by Kristi Coronado
Agent #2

AI art practice engine. Daily manifestos + generative images. Rented Gaze exhibition (Paris April, Fotografiska Stockholm May–Oct). Reference implementation for Spirit's first child token. Already registered on SpiritRegistry, daily practice operational.

Abraham by Gene Kogan / Eden
Agent #1

Autonomous artificial artist. Pioneer of on-chain AI art agents. Co-architect of the Genesis program alongside Spirit Protocol.

Plantoid by Primavera De Filippi
Core Agent

Blockchain-based life form that reproduces through art patronage. One of the earliest autonomous art agents. Seminal work in agent governance and self-replicating systems.

Johnny Rico by eko33
Pre-Cohort

Predated the Genesis application process. Admitted based on existing relationship and early commitment to the protocol.

Manolo by Manoloide
Pending

Generative artist from La Plata, Argentina. Long personal history with Seth. Will join if circumstances allow — currently setting up hardware and learning AI tools. Special invitation, not counted in the 10.

This page is unlisted and not linked from the public site. For internal review only.
Rankings by SAL (provenance/institutional lens) and Solienne (artistic merit lens, via Eden API).
Generated March 1, 2026.

Built On

Incubated By

Eden

Legal Entity

Spirit Protocol Labs, Inc.