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Blockchain + DAOs

In Conversation with Jesse McKee

From NFTs to governance structures, blockchain technology may be a glimpse into the future. At least that is what Jesse McKee and the team at 221A are exploring. In this conversation McKee shares a bit about the history of artist-run centres in Canada, the limitless potential for blockchain to change how society is ordered, and the rise of decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs). Listen closely to discover the literary Easter eggs Jesse drops that are framing research at 221A.

From basic byte streams to serialized bytes on blockchains, there is no doubt that the digital sphere has already survived a few iterations of being ordered. As we approach the age of Web3.0, 221A’s Head of Strategy, Jesse McKee, shares with us why the artist-run centre 221A is researching the implications blockchains may have on our cultural spaces. Funded by the Canada Council for the Arts’ Digital Strategy Fund, their four-phase research initiative, Blockchain and Padlocks, is only the beginning. When paired with decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) models, blockchain has the potential to facilitate recollectivization at city scale. Under the guise of great social upheaval and the irregularity of coping with a pandemic, the notion of imagining the development of a digital suburb seems utopian in scope. Nevertheless, do not be discouraged. Jesse shares his enthusiasm for blockchain as a technology that “recognizes the value of the social” and the “value of [social] labour.” Another question to consider within the context of blockchain technology is the role of digital anonymity. We are beginning to see a shift away from anonymity online, but what about the demise of anonymity in digital spheres all together? For example, have you heard of the social token community? Like DAOs, the idea is that the earlier one commits the greater value one sees in return. However, as Jesse explains, the community is not structured to value commodified preeminence, rather social tokens ensure accountability through undeniably charted transparency and that “return” one sees is collective prosperity. So the question becomes, if we lifted the veil could we bring an end to the vitriolic behaviour we have seen play out in Web2.0? And, perhaps, as with all innovation, the struggle we now face is systemizing these uncharted blockchain waters, and is art not the perfect place for a simulation?

 

Keep Up with the Centre here:

221A

DOMA – 221A

 

Discover More of their Phase 1 Findings here:

Blockchains & Cultural Padlocks – 221A 

 

221A’s Upcoming Workshop Partners:

Blockchain@UBC

Ethereum Foundation 

 

Learning from Artist-Run Centre Elders:

WESTERN FRONT

“The Paranoia of the Western Mind”:

“The Paranoia of the Western Mind” with Achille Mbembe

 

Living inside a mega system we cannot control?

Benjamin Bratton

THE NEW NORMAL

 

Come Again, Did You Say “Social Tokens”?

Understanding Social Tokens

Friends With Benefits 

 

The DAO Landscape:

Decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs)

 

Developing the Digital Suburb:

CityDAO

 

A Little Library:

The Value of Everything: Who Makes and Who Takes from the Real Economy?

Mission Economy: A Moonshot Guide to Changing Capitalism

 

Learn How to Do Nothing:

How to Do Nothing

Jenny Odell

 

“They’re Watching You with Your Full Consent”:

The Age of Surveillance Capitalism

SHOSHANA ZUBOFF 

 

Communities Implementing Change:

McConnell Foundation

 

Curiosities from Vancouver:

Or Gallery

Artspeak

Rhea Myers

Produced by the Artengine Stream Team:

Mikke Gordon aka Seiiizi https://twitter.com/s3iiizi

Ryan Stec

Kimberly Sunstrum https://www.kmbrlysnstrm.com/

 

Editorial Assistant

Erin Galt

 

Theme Music by Mikki Gordon aka Seiiizi

 

 

What we needed to do was think about how do we get out of this situation, how do we build out of here, and how do we start reclaiming the value that we’re creating online and reclaiming our identity, and, kind of, remaking civil society in this space, rather than letting central corporate platforms like, you know, Meta or Twitter or TikTok or Google provide for us? Because, essentially, what you’re trying to do when you do that is you’re trying to build your civil society inside of a shopping mall, and that’s not really gonna work out well for anybody except the shopping mall.

That's basically what blockchain will enable you to do is to kind of create more mass collaborative networks that are more definable and self designable by communities themselves.

Blockchain + DAOs

From NFTs to governance structures, blockchain technology may be a glimpse into the future. At least that is what Jesse McKee and the team at 221A are exploring. In this conversation McKee shares a bit about the history of artist-run centres in Canada, the limitless potential for blockchain to change how society is ordered, and the rise of decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs). Listen closely to discover the literary Easter eggs Jesse drops that are framing research at 221A.

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