a2p curated by Casey Reas, Addie Wagenknecht, Rick Silva, SEMBO Kensuke and AKAIWA Yae

The idea of a system where artists can retain a percentage of their artwork - reaping potential revenue if future transactions occur - is a highly attractive one. An example would be a2p, an experimental project in artist-to-artist collection curated by Casey Reas, Addie Wagenknecht, Rick Silva, SEMBO Kensuke and AKAIWA Yae.

a2p acts as a marketplace and gallery where artists upload and trade up to ten editions of their work. It operates in the Bitmark blockchain, allowing one to transfer property rights to their digital assets and recording the history of all ownership of the artwork editions.

https://a2p.bitmark.com/v1/artworks

Plantoid, an art project by Primavera De Filippi and French art collective Okhaos, is based on De Filippi’s area of research in the legal implications and potential governance models of blockchain technology.

Plantoid exists as a kinetic plant-like metal in the physical realm and a blockchain-based software in the digital realm. Each sculpture is associated with a unique digital wallet which accepts cryptocurrency (Bitcoin or Ethereum). People are encouraged to send digital money to the sculptures, and by doing so, enter a smart contract with the Plantoid, gaining the right to participate in the governance structure of the selected Plantoid. When a Plantoid successfully accumulates a predetermined amount of funds, a piece of software triggers a process that commissions a new artist to create a descendant in this Plantoid family. Design proposals are sought, and the winning design is picked based on votes from the funders.

Based on Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection, the best suited design would result in offspring and the artist earns a small royalty for every subsequent descendant of her or his Plantoid that gets funded. This allows the continual commissioning process and limits human influence, mimicking an autonomous and self-sustaining biological system, feeding on cryptocurrency and reproducing and expanding its species with human pollinators on a blockchain ecosystem.

Mustatea, Kat. “Meet Plantoid: Blockchain Art With A Life Of Its Own.” Forbes. January 31 2018, https://www.forbes.com/sites/katmustatea/2018/01/31/meet-plantoid-blockchain-art-with-a-life-of-its-own/#537c4a653f64.

Okhaos. “I’m a PLANTOID: A Blockchain-based life form.” Okhaos. Accessed May 2 2020, http://www.okhaos.com/plantoids/.

Reas, Casey, Wagenknecht, Addie, Silva, Rick, Kensuke, SEMBO, Yae, AKAIWA. “A2p.” a2p. Accessed May 1 2020, https://a2p.bitmark.com/v1/artworks.