Mimic Shhans
A CC0 generative art project exploring repetition and difference through a single black cat
Mimic Shhans explores what makes an individual unique through the process by which 10,000 beings originating from a single form acquire different appearances and combinations.
Mimic Shhans is a generative art project centered on Mimic, a black cat that imitates human culture and imagery. Its visual foundation originated in Crowned #20. SHHAN used that black cat as the base body and drew new clothes, eyes, headwear, expressions, accessories and backgrounds, creating a system in which one being could take countless forms.
Every Mimic begins with the same body. Yet clothing, eyes, headwear, objects held in its hand and surroundings create entirely different impressions. The same form repeats, but as small differences accumulate, each image is perceived as a distinct individual. The project explores what differentiates beings of a shared origin, and on what grounds we recognize an individual as unique.
Mimic does not mean simple duplication here. The cats adopt human clothing and professions, as well as familiar imagery and symbols from films, animation, games and popular culture. These human-derived elements are recombined through the same black cat form. Imitation becomes a way to acquire another appearance and become a new individual, rather than to become identical to an original.
SHHAN created the parts—BG, BG Effect, BODY, CLOTHES, EYES, EYEBROW, FACE DECO, HAND, HEAD and MOUTH—and assigned different frequencies and probabilities to them. They range from common elements to traits appearing only once in the collection. These rules and combinations produced 10,000 different Mimics.
The 10,000 works are therefore not copies of an identical image. Each shares some parts with others, but no combination is identical. The question of whether beings can share common elements yet remain distinct connects the generative system itself to the concept of the work.
Release and community
The project began differently from typical large PFP releases of the time. Rather than building automated minting and reveal systems, SHHAN manually created and minted the finished images as ERC-1155 tokens on OpenSea over several days. The first Mimics were released for free; the artist’s revenue came primarily from creator royalties on secondary transactions between holders rather than initial sales. These royalties were later changed to 0%.
Beginning in Taiwan, the project spread through Chinese-speaking Web3 communities. In summer 2022, widespread adoption of black-cat profile pictures and voluntary reinterpretations developed into a community phenomenon. Contemporary accounts by SevenUp DAO and Gate documented this grassroots NFT circulation. Communities later formed in the United States, Australia and elsewhere.
The online community also extended into physical spaces, with exhibitions and events in China, Hong Kong and Singapore, including a solo exhibition in Beijing in 2022. Boxes Art Museum in Foshan hosted 生生不息：黑猫艺术展 from February 21 to April 30, 2023. The museum described it as the first presentation of Mimic Shhans in a professional art museum.
Mimic Shhans Fan Birthday Cards
As the community grew, SHHAN built direct relationships with holders through the work. One such activity was creating birthday images. Holders sent their Mimic Shhans, and SHHAN added digital drawing, a message and a signature directly onto the individual’s image to make a unique birthday image.
Although created by the same generative system, a Mimic gradually became someone’s own being through ownership, names, memories and personal events. The artist’s signature and drawing made these birthday images a way to leave a personal memory between work and holder beyond blockchain ownership. They were an ongoing activity for the community, not a separate collection made for sale.
Classic and Official Collection
As the project grew, Mimic Shhans migrated from ERC-1155 to ERC-721. The initial ERC-1155 collection became Mimic Shhans Classic, while the new ERC-721 collection became the Official Collection. Records of both remain.
Migration matched each existing work to a new token one-to-one. To prevent one number from remaining valid in both collections, the original ERC-1155 token of each migrated work was burned in Classic. SHHAN covered all migration costs.
This technical transition also divides the project’s record into two periods. Classic preserves traces of its beginnings and growth, while the Official Collection contains the individuals carried forward through migration.
Legendary Series
The 10,000 generative Mimics were followed by the Legendary Series. Beginning with #10001, these are independent 1/1 works drawn individually from scratch by SHHAN, rather than generated from existing parts.
Early Legendary works were offered through events and rewards for existing holders. As the project gained popularity, some were also released through auctions. The work expanded beyond generating many individuals from one form and a fixed set of parts, returning to the artist creating a single image for a single being.
Derivative projects
As the community grew, projects derived from the original collection emerged. Rudolph Squad, made for Christmas, was airdropped to all Mimic Shhans holders at the time, with SHHAN covering issuance and distribution costs.
Another winter-themed project, Snow Shhans, was created but ultimately not issued as conditions changed sharply amid the downturn in the NFT art market. It remains a trace of an expansion planned for the Mimic Shhans world.
Mimic Shhans imagery was released under CC0 so that anyone could use and transform it regardless of NFT ownership. From Crowned #20 to 10,000 Mimics, the Legendary Series, derivative collections and new community creations, the original form expanded into a foundation for other beings to emerge, rather than merely being copied repeatedly.
Press and exhibition records
SevenUp DAO · 火讯财经 — MimicShhans黑猫NFT研究：首个在华语圈去中心化传播的NFT
Gate · 2022-07-22 — 猫咪称霸世界：解读黑猫NFT爆火原因
数英 Digitaling — 怎样用web3打造一个IP？
Boxes Art Museum · 2023 — 生生不息：黑猫艺术展