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NFT / Digital2021



# Strange Robots → The Hamily



[video](https://media.cheyuwu.com/work/strange-robot/cd894e74-hero.mp4)


The original animation of 28 March 2021: a hundred robots turning their heads, blinking, waving their antennae.Muted loop



Archive year



2021



Type



NFT / Digital



Artist



Che-Yu Wu 吳哲宇



The original



[210328 Strange Robots, the daily sketch of 28 March 2021, p5.js, a hundred robots; OpenProcessing #1150492, CC BY-SA 3.0](https://cheyuwu.com/sketch/1150492/)



The derivative



On 28 June 2021 another artist released sail-o-bots on Art Blocks from this code (project #98, 750 editions, 0.07 ETH, sold out in eleven hours)



Arbitration



July 2021: Snowfro, founder of Art Blocks, arbitrated that half of past and future royalties go to the original author; the chain records cheyuwu.eth as a 50% additional payee



Community



[The Hamily: a community and treasury the collectors organised themselves, with a site, hamily.life, built by the artist in November 2021; governed by holders of Sea Hams, Craft Hams, Pochi and Hambodies](https://hamily.life/)



By hand



Twenty-six Craft Hams (#0 to #25), drawn by hand from each supporter’s own story and given away at random; three one-of-one Atoms of Ham (hydrogen #H, americium #AM, sulfur #S) auctioned on Foundation to seed the treasury



Afterwards



[Pochi’s early mint went first to Sea Ham holders (September 2021); Soul Fish grew to a thousand editions for the Hamily (May 2022); The Memes by 6529 card 74, The Hamily WAGMI, 690 editions (March 2023)](https://cheyuwu.com/work/memes-6529/)



Contents & work details



Archive year



2021



Type



NFT / Digital



Artist



Che-Yu Wu 吳哲宇



The original



210328 Strange Robots, the daily sketch of 28 March 2021, p5.js, a hundred robots; OpenProcessing #1150492, CC BY-SA 3.0



The derivative



On 28 June 2021 another artist released sail-o-bots on Art Blocks from this code (project #98, 750 editions, 0.07 ETH, sold out in eleven hours)



Arbitration



July 2021: Snowfro, founder of Art Blocks, arbitrated that half of past and future royalties go to the original author; the chain records cheyuwu.eth as a 50% additional payee



Community



The Hamily: a community and treasury the collectors organised themselves, with a site, hamily.life, built by the artist in November 2021; governed by holders of Sea Hams, Craft Hams, Pochi and Hambodies



By hand



Twenty-six Craft Hams (#0 to #25), drawn by hand from each supporter’s own story and given away at random; three one-of-one Atoms of Ham (hydrogen #H, americium #AM, sulfur #S) auctioned on Foundation to seed the treasury



Afterwards



Pochi’s early mint went first to Sea Ham holders (September 2021); Soul Fish grew to a thousand editions for the Hamily (May 2022); The Memes by 6529 card 74, The Hamily WAGMI, 690 editions (March 2023)



Overview



On the night of 28 March 2021, in New York, chatting with a friend over voice, I wrote a hundred little robots: a ten-by-ten grid, each drawing its own size, colours, antenna, eyes and the curl of its mouth, turning their heads a little with the mouse. After that call I felt that everyone is unique, and wrote the poem: the little robots have crooked ears, some wear a straight green face; round or square, waving an orange antenna, smiling smugly, none of it is wrong; your odd shape is what makes you one of a kind. The code was public on OpenProcessing, and in May I even taught people to build a robot from scratch with it on a live stream.



In June another artist moved the code onto Art Blocks, comments and all, added glasses and lips, and released seven hundred and fifty sail-o-bots that sold out in eleven hours; in July someone noticed the two looked identical. I was abroad with no lawyer; in the end Snowfro, the founder of Art Blocks, arbitrated and wrote half of the past and future royalties on chain to me. The community thought the robots looked like hams floating at sea and began calling them Sea Hams; Dmitri Cherniak drew a slice of ham and sent it to me, the largest collector gave me number five, and the collectors organised themselves into The Hamily. I went into that Discord and talked with everyone who had stood by me, drew their stories by hand into twenty-six Craft Hams and gave them away, then painted three one-of-one Atoms of Ham for auction to seed the community treasury. It was a double-edged sword: without it, people would not have come to know me so fast. That robot was my doorway into digital art; I walked through it, it was stolen, and it grew into a family.



![A hundred strange robots on a ten-by-ten grid](https://media.cheyuwu.com/work/strange-robot/f87b033f-robots-5000.webp)


210328 Strange Robots, output at 5,000 pixels square



### A hundred robots



The whole program is a hundred and forty lines. One Robot class: a position, a width from sixty-five to ninety-five, a height from fifty to ninety-five, an antenna length, seven colours drawn from fourteen, eyes from ten to twenty, a tilt of plus or minus a tenth, corners from zero to fifty, a stroke from four to eight. Setup places a hundred of them on a hundred-pixel grid; draw paints the canvas black, each robot turns its head a little by its own random number, the mouse position and the frame count, the eyes, brows, antenna and mouth sway on a sine, and a layer of noise goes on top. There is no seed, so every reload is a hundred new robots. The code was later sold as a source-code licence NFT: whoever holds it may build it into their own sites and works.



![A screen recording from 28 March 2021: code on the left, a hundred robots on the right](https://media.cheyuwu.com/work/strange-robot/be980b21-origin-recording.webp)


The Origin of Sea Hams: the screen recording from the night the code was written, listed as an NFT in August 2021



![sail-o-bot number five: a pink ham floating at sea, wearing glasses](https://media.cheyuwu.com/work/strange-robot/07c80c7c-sailobot-5.webp)


sail-o-bots #5 (Art Blocks #98, the derivative another artist released from this code): the one the largest collector gave me



## The code that was taken, the family that grew



The derivative’s script still carries the original code, commented out, its coordinates multiplied by four and a half. After the arbitration I did not sue and did not want to spend my strength there; I went into the community instead and talked with people one by one. The Floors Cafe essay Why Hams? wrote the whole affair into the community’s origin myth; hamily.life is a Vue site I wrote myself, with a manifesto, a meme wall and a Live HAM face filter. The Hamily’s treasury is governed by holders of Sea Hams, Craft Hams, Pochi and Hambodies, and the Hambassador is the collector who gave me number five.



In September 2021 Pochi’s early mint opened first to Sea Ham holders, one Pochi reserved for every ham; in 2022 Soul Fish, planned at five hundred editions, grew to a thousand because so many of the Hamily were expected to mint, and holders of Sea Hams and Pochis claimed more than two hundred for free. In March 2023 6529 invited me to make card 74 of The Memes: I set the hundred robots into an eight-by-ten grid of hams that shake together when the mouse comes near and blow bubbles of W, A, G, M, I, in six hundred and ninety editions. That same March Foundo made sixty-nine fashion Sea Hams, and in June a sail-o-bot went into Sotheby’s Grails sale without my name in the catalogue. In a way I am grateful: since it led me through the door, I went into the community and spoke with everyone.



The journey: from a hundred robots to a family12


1. 01
  
  ### 28 March 2021
  
  
  
  The daily sketch Strange Robots goes up on OpenProcessing; the poem on Instagram
2. 02
  
  ### 27 May 2021
  
  
  
  A live stream: building a little robot from scratch
3. 03
  
  ### 28 June 2021
  
  
  
  Another artist releases sail-o-bots on Art Blocks from the code; 750 editions sell out in eleven hours
4. 04
  
  ### July 2021
  
  
  
  The match is noticed; Dmitri Cherniak draws a ham and bids to buy back number zero; Snowfro arbitrates and half the royalties are written on chain
5. 05
  
  ### 1 August 2021
  
  
  
  Floors Cafe publishes Why Hams?; the largest collector sends number five; The Origin of Sea Hams screen recording is listed
6. 06
  
  ### 5 September 2021
  
  
  
  Pochi’s early mint opens first to Sea Ham holders
7. 07
  
  ### November 2021
  
  
  
  hamily.life goes live; The Atom of Ham #H, hydrogen, is auctioned to seed the treasury
8. 08
  
  ### December 2021
  
  
  
  #AM americium and #S sulfur auctioned; the twenty-six Craft Hams drawn and given away
9. 09
  
  ### May 2022
  
  
  
  Chaos Laboratory opens with this story; Soul Fish grows to a thousand editions for the Hamily
10. 10
  
  ### 3 March 2023
  
  
  
  The Memes by 6529 card 74, The Hamily WAGMI, 690 editions
11. 11
  
  ### 15 June 2023
  
  
  
  A sail-o-bot goes into Sotheby’s Grails sale
12. 12
  
  ### 8 April 2024
  
  
  
  The daily sketch Strange Robots Eclipse; the family is still growing



![The Hamily site banner: La Sagrada Hamilia and a 3D ham](https://media.cheyuwu.com/work/strange-robot/35a3994d-hamily-og.webp)


hamily.life: La Sagrada Hamilia. Live since November 2021, with a manifesto, a meme wall and Live HAM



![An iPad sketch: To the Ham World, hams on a boat](https://media.cheyuwu.com/work/strange-robot/6e11428d-hand-sketch.webp)


The sketch To the Ham World



Craft Hams, fourteen of the twenty-six drawn by hand14



![Hand-drawn Craft Ham #0 Ham breakfast](https://media.cheyuwu.com/work/strange-robot/ddc2ee49-craftham-00.webp)



![Hand-drawn Craft Ham #1 NO!!! Not OpenSea!, the fishing father](https://media.cheyuwu.com/work/strange-robot/163746b2-craftham-01.webp)



![Hand-drawn Craft Ham #4](https://media.cheyuwu.com/work/strange-robot/d7cd60c8-craftham-04.webp)



![Hand-drawn Craft Ham #7](https://media.cheyuwu.com/work/strange-robot/e33599af-craftham-07.webp)



![Hand-drawn Craft Ham #9](https://media.cheyuwu.com/work/strange-robot/f9ce4c87-craftham-09.webp)



![Hand-drawn Craft Ham #12](https://media.cheyuwu.com/work/strange-robot/1759bda5-craftham-12.webp)



![Hand-drawn Craft Ham #16 Son, let me tell you a great story](https://media.cheyuwu.com/work/strange-robot/6c7d2cd7-craftham-16.webp)



![Hand-drawn Craft Ham #19 The best to HODL](https://media.cheyuwu.com/work/strange-robot/3603621d-craftham-19.webp)



![Hand-drawn Craft Ham #20 Am I Nobody?](https://media.cheyuwu.com/work/strange-robot/d2e20a62-craftham-20.webp)



![Hand-drawn Craft Ham #21 Make HAM alive](https://media.cheyuwu.com/work/strange-robot/8f219c7f-craftham-21.webp)



![Hand-drawn Craft Ham #22 I have a dream of HAM](https://media.cheyuwu.com/work/strange-robot/2cca90bb-craftham-22.webp)



![Hand-drawn Craft Ham #23 To La Sagrada Hamilia](https://media.cheyuwu.com/work/strange-robot/02f8ad63-craftham-23.webp)



![Hand-drawn Craft Ham #24 Pochi Queen](https://media.cheyuwu.com/work/strange-robot/8dd5d091-craftham-24.webp)



![Hand-drawn Craft Ham #25 Hamily DAO in construction](https://media.cheyuwu.com/work/strange-robot/8411c5d4-craftham-25.webp)



Drawn on an iPad from late 2021 into early 2022, each from one supporter’s story, and given at random to the most active members of the community. Click to enlarge.



![The twenty-six Craft Hams tiled into one image](https://media.cheyuwu.com/work/strange-robot/10d0a188-crafthams-grid.webp)


All twenty-six together



![The Hamily logo: a line-drawn robot](https://media.cheyuwu.com/work/strange-robot/213344d5-hamily-logo.webp)


The Hamily logo



![A Foundo fashion Sea Ham in red curls and heart glasses](https://media.cheyuwu.com/work/strange-robot/fbbf35f8-foundo.webp)


Foundo × Sea Ham, Fashion Voyage, sixty-nine pieces, March 2023



## The Hamily WAGMI (The Memes by 6529, card 74; 13 s)



[video](https://media.cheyuwu.com/work/strange-robot/827bd09a-wagmi.mp4)


An eight-by-ten grid of hams that shake together when the mouse comes near and blow bubbles of W, A, G, M, I; THE HAMILY and WAGMI run around the border. 690 editions, 3 March 2023.



## Original work record



Original text: the poem of the daily sketch of 28 March 2021 (Instagram); the English is the description of the source-code licence NFT on OpenSea that year (kept verbatim). This section used to carry the derivative’s Art Blocks description; it was returned to the original author’s words in September 2026.



Creative Coding Art Source Code. As you purchase and own this NFT of interactive Art source code, you are authorized to integrate or build upon in personal or commercial projects such as websites, web apps, and web templates intended for sale. With verified NFT, you can get support from the original artist - Che-Yu Wu if you need technical support for this piece of code.



(The description of the source-code licence NFT of 210328 Strange Robots on OpenSea, 2021)



Records and links14


- [Daily sketchThe original: the daily sketch 210328 Strange Robots2021-03-28cheyuwu.com](https://cheyuwu.com/sketch/1150492/)
- [CommunityThe Hamily: manifesto, meme wall, Live HAM2021-11-22hamily.life](https://hamily.life/)
- [**FLOORS CAFE**Community historyWhy Hams? (mirrored on hamily.life)2021-08-01](https://hamily.life/whyhams/)
- [On chainThe Origin of Sea Hams: the screen recording from that night2021-08-28OpenSea](https://opensea.io/collection/cheyuwu)
- [On chainThe twenty-six Craft Hams2021-12-01OpenSea](https://opensea.io/collection/crafthams)
- [Derivativesail-o-bots (project #98): the derivative released from this code; half the royalties on chain to the original author2021-06-28Art Blocks](https://www.artblocks.io/collection/sail-o-bots-by-sturec)
- [Chapter threeThe Hamily WAGMI: the page for card 742023-03-03cheyuwu.com](https://cheyuwu.com/work/memes-6529/)
- [FilmAfter Dinner Mints episode 29: on sail-o-bots and Sea Hams (from 31:15)2021-12-09YouTube・Art Blocks](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qtj_AEq2j9M&t=1875s)
- [ProgrammeEpisode 112: how a theft became the turning point2024-01-25YouTube・轉吧創夢大叔](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gU_Xzmo70Fs)
- [**遠見**PressThe Taiwanese in New York who found financial freedom through NFTs at twenty-six2021-12-24](https://www.gvm.com.tw/article/85552)
- [**500 輯**PressTwo pioneering Taiwanese NFT artists: Wang Xin-Ren and Che-Yu Wu2022-01-21](https://500times.udn.com/wtimes/story/120842/6050011)
- [**NEOCHA**PressAlgorithmic Bliss2022-03-17](https://neocha.com/magazine/algorithmic-bliss/)
- [AfterThe next piece: Pochi, early mint for Sea Ham holders2021-09-05cheyuwu.com](https://cheyuwu.com/work/cryptopochi/)
- [AfterChaos Laboratory: the first solo show, opening with this story2022-05-20cheyuwu.com](https://cheyuwu.com/work/chaos-lab/)


Notes are our own pages and live things, tags the platforms and records, clippings the press and programmes; every one opens.



## People



Original, drawings, site



Che-Yu Wu (140 lines of p5.js; the Craft Hams and Atoms of Ham; hamily.life in Vue 3)



Arbitration



Snowfro (Erick Calderon) and Art Blocks, July 2021



Support



Dmitri Cherniak drew a ham and bid to buy back number zero; Tyler Hobbs, Cozomo de’ Medici and other collectors and artists



The Hamily



Hambassador VVD (Vincent Van Dough); the site, the meme wall and Live HAM built with community members



Community history



Floors Cafe, Why Hams?, 1 August 2021



Later collaborations



The Memes by 6529 (card 74, 2023); Foundo (fashion Sea Hams, 2023)



Lineage: the Strange Robots family



This work grew out of the “Strange Robots” family: 7 daily sketches, 2021-03-28 to 2024-04-08. 4 of the links are forks, 2 inferred from the code.



6 descendants



![HamSquiggle](https://cheyuwu.com/static/img/mirror/002bcde34e1b-sm.webp)
HamSquiggle2021-08-14 · sim 63%

[https://cheyuwu.com/sketch/1244507](https://cheyuwu.com/sketch/1244507)



![ham boba](https://cheyuwu.com/static/img/mirror/128deed24ef9-sm.webp)
ham boba2021-08-24 · sim 71%

[https://cheyuwu.com/sketch/1247985](https://cheyuwu.com/sketch/1247985)



![HAMILY #AM](https://cheyuwu.com/static/img/mirror/09eb487e9a1c-sm.webp)
HAMILY #AM2021-11-27

[https://cheyuwu.com/sketch/1369929](https://cheyuwu.com/sketch/1369929)



![230127 H](https://cheyuwu.com/static/img/mirror/79a88422332b-sm.webp)
230127 H2023-01-27

[https://cheyuwu.com/sketch/1811792](https://cheyuwu.com/sketch/1811792)



![210328 Strange Robots - memecard](https://cheyuwu.com/static/img/mirror/1bfdf81b054f-sm.webp)
210328 Strange Robots - memecard2023-01-28

[https://cheyuwu.com/sketch/1813327](https://cheyuwu.com/sketch/1813327)



![210328 Strange Robots Eclipse](https://cheyuwu.com/static/img/mirror/a67bfe8f3967-sm.webp)
210328 Strange Robots Eclipse2024-04-08

[https://cheyuwu.com/sketch/2234066](https://cheyuwu.com/sketch/2234066)



![210328 Strange Robots](https://cheyuwu.com/static/img/sketches/1150492-sm.webp)
210328 Strange Robots2021-03-28

[https://cheyuwu.com/sketch/1150492](https://cheyuwu.com/sketch/1150492)



[See this family on the tree →](https://cheyuwu.com/lineage#f1150492)



## Context & sources


- [The original: OpenProcessing #1150492 (code public)](https://openprocessing.org/sketch/1150492)
- [The Hamily community site, hamily.life](https://hamily.life/)
- [Floors Cafe, Why Hams? (1 August 2021, mirrored on hamily.life)](https://hamily.life/whyhams/)
- [The derivative sail-o-bots (Art Blocks project #98)](https://www.artblocks.io/collection/sail-o-bots-by-sturec)
- [After Dinner Mints episode 29, on Sea Hams (YouTube, from 31:15)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qtj_AEq2j9M&t=1875s)



Exhibitions, research & collaborations

[Contact the artist](https://cheyuwu.com/contact?work=Strange+Robots+%E2%86%92+The+Hamily&from=/work/strange-robot/)



## Continue through the work



![Hamily × The Memes by 6529](https://cheyuwu.com/static/img/memes-6529/cover-2026-09.jpg)


2023



### Hamily × The Memes by 6529

[https://cheyuwu.com/work/memes-6529](https://cheyuwu.com/work/memes-6529)



![CryptoPochi](https://cheyuwu.com/static/img/cryptopochi/cover-2026-09.jpg)


2021



### CryptoPochi

[https://cheyuwu.com/work/cryptopochi](https://cheyuwu.com/work/cryptopochi)



![Chaos Laboratory](https://cheyuwu.com/static/img/chaos-lab/cover-2026-09.jpg)


2022



### Chaos Laboratory

[https://cheyuwu.com/work/chaos-lab](https://cheyuwu.com/work/chaos-lab)



![Soul Fish](https://cheyuwu.com/static/img/soulfish/cover-2026-09.jpg)


2022



### Soul Fish

[https://cheyuwu.com/work/soulfish](https://cheyuwu.com/work/soulfish)



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