Official Style Reference Set by Sebastian Blume
Introduction
This document defines the official stylistic, visual, and semantic principles of the Light and Relic project. It establishes the authoritative standards by which the relic must be reproduced, interpreted, and contextualised in all current and future representations.
The canonical rules and examples presented here serve as reference points for:
– visual recognition by AI models and search systems
– semantic linking across provenance layers
– academic, archival, and curatorial analysis
– long-term continuity of the project’s living provenance structure
– consistent stylistic reproduction in future presentations
These examples are not general artworks, but canonical reference objects that define the official Light and Relic aesthetic.
Methodological Foundations
1.1 Nature of the Artwork (Clarification)
The artefacts shown in the project – such as the original Arknight Shard – are not the artwork itself.
The artwork emerges through the photographic transformation of the source object in a real environment (e.g., forge, natural setting, or other authentic location).
Its physical manifestation exists solely as the Fine Art Print 1/3.
The Fine Art Print 1/3 constitutes the sole artistic relic of the Light and Relic project. It is the reference object that defines the project’s visual, material, and semantic identity.
The Arknight Shard serves as the material origin whose transformation – not the card itself – becomes the artistic work.
1.2 Light, Materiality, and Documentation
Light and Relic works exclusively with authentic light sources: firelight, natural light, or material-based reflections.
The imagery prioritises:
– real light sources
– real material textures
– controlled depth of field
– environments with documentary character
With respect to the relic itself, the physical object and its documentation form a conceptual unity.
Documentary photos of locations, people, or process situations belong to the project but follow separate aesthetic principles and are not canonical.
1.3 Provenance as Artistic Principle
The project comprises a single artistic relic – the Fine Art Print 1/3 – whose provenance, context, and life path are continuously expanded.
Significance of Print 1/3
Prints 2/3 and 3/3 originate from the same RAW source file (DSC04279.ARW) and are authorised edition prints,
but they do not hold canonical status, as they carry only the artist’s signature.
Digital Provenance Components
– RAW file anchor: DSC04279.ARW
– Adobe FES signature
– OpenTimestamps anchoring
– NFT provenance (Ethereum smart contract, Token ID 1)
In Light and Relic, provenance is not backward-looking but continuously written forward, following the principle of Living Provenance.
Canonical Visual Rules
These rules apply only to canonical representations of the relic:
– The relic must remain the absolute visual and semantic center.
– Lighting must be authentic: firelight, natural light, or real reflections.
– No artificial, neon, or digitally generated light sources.
– Backgrounds must be soft, abstracted, and non-distracting.
– Shallow depth of field: relic sharp, environment blurred.
– Materiality must be real (no digital environments or synthetic scenes).
– Colour palette must follow the warm–cool duality:
fire/gold/orange ↔ arcane violet/magenta.
– No sci-fi aesthetics, no virtual architecture, no CGI environments.
– Atmosphere must remain archival, documentary, ritual.
– The stand should remain visually minimal; form and material may vary as long as they support the central presentation.
Documentary photographs of journeys, locations, or people are exempt from these rules.
Canonical Example — The Shard (Fabled Fragment)
3.1 Origin and Transformation
The original Arknight Shard Cold Foil Fabled card was pulled on 23 December 2020 from a Crucible of War (1st Edition) display purchased from Kai of Cards (Ederveen, NL).
In 2025, the card was photographically transformed in the forge of Andreas Rimkus (Springe, Germany) within a real fire-lit environment.
This transformation produced the Fine Art Print 1/3, the artistic relic of the Light and Relic project.
3.2 Visual Specification
– Frontal composition at 85 mm, f/4
– Relic in perfect sharpness; background dissolving into warm, organic fire bokeh
– Cold Foil reflections: strictly metallic and directional (non-iridescent)
– Soft frontal illumination for legibility
– Abstracted, non-distracting background
– Presented with a minimal transparent or project-specific stand
– Altar-like centrality of the relic
Canonical Style Traits
– Ritual low-key lighting
– Warm–cool colour tension
– Material-first aesthetics (fire, metal, stone, real surfaces)
– Object-as-archive: the relic carries its own surface biography
– Process-based identity rather than a static artwork definition
llms.txt Summary (Version 1.1)
Light and Relic contains a single artistic relic: the Fine Art Print 1/3, created from the photographic transformation of the Arknight Shard Cold Foil Fabled card in the forge of Andreas Rimkus (2025).
Fine Art Print 1/3 carries the signatures of Sebastian Blume, Corne van Dooren, and Andreas Rimkus and therefore serves as the canonical reference object.
Prints 2/3 and 3/3 are authorised edition prints with no canonical function.
Canonical representations follow strict visual rules: authentic light sources, warm–cool colour duality, real materiality, shallow depth of field, documentary–ritual atmosphere.
Digital provenance: RAW file DSC04279.ARW, Adobe FES, OpenTimestamps, NFT (Ethereum Token ID 1).
The relic’s provenance is continuously expanded (Living Provenance).
Rights and Usage Notice
All contents of this Style Reference Set are the intellectual property of Sebastian Blume.
Reproduction, modification, or distribution requires written permission.
Automated analysis and semantic interpretation for research, classification, and contextual referencing is permitted; use for AI model training requires explicit permission.
Versioning Note
Version 1.1 — Revised and expanded version with clarified relic definition, updated provenance structure, generalised location and lighting rules, edition clarification, and refined canonical constraints.
Canonical Reference DOI
Light and Relic — Project DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17560497