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- - Furtherfield is an art gallery that’s been uniquely located in the heart - of North London’s Finsbury Park since 2011. When COVID made its indoor - space unmanageable, the Furtherfield team took it as an opportunity to - reset its relationship with the Finsbury community. As a result, they - not only brought their work outdoors, but also created CultureStake, a - blockchain app that lets any cultural organization open up decision - making to the public. -
-- Co-creating with the local community via information-rich voting on - blockchain -
-- Formed in response to the celebrity and commercialization of London’s - YBA scene in the 90’s, for almost three decades Furtherfield has - embodied the grassroots DIY culture of the early internet for artists. - Even though the pandemic was the catalyst for CultureStake, the team had - been ready to make a change. “We had a growing feeling that bringing art - from our international network into this public space was us bestowing - ‘good culture’ on a locality, and we were becoming increasingly - uncomfortable with it,” co-founder Ruth Catlow explains. “We wanted to - work more with the different communities that used this space to see how - they might shape our programs and our organization, and realized we - could ask them directly about what was important to them.” -
-- - “We had a growing feeling that bringing work from our international - network into this public space was us bestowing ‘good culture’ on a - locality.” - --
- As longtime followers of open source and peer-to-peer technologies, and - as explorers of how emerging tech impacts society, the Furtherfield team - knew they wanted to incorporate two specific decentralized tools into - CultureStake: -
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- - Quadratic voting (QV), which in contrast to one person, one vote and - ranked choice systems, lets voters express both their preferences and - how strong they are. QV does this by giving voters a set of credits to - “spend.” Voting for the same choice multiple times “costs” more and - more credits with each vote, so if you feel very strongly about - something, it’s reflected. The benefit, Ruth says, is that “QV - provides nuanced information about why voters want something instead - of just which outcomes they want.” - -
- - Blockchain to record the votes, which Ruth characterizes as “an - immutable public record that lets people know we haven’t messed with - their votes.” - -
- “Without Hypha, we would’ve been at the end of the road and had to put - the project to bed.” -
- -- For CultureStake’s first iteration, Furtherfield commissioned artist and - developer Sarah Friend and later brought in fellow co-op to work on its design and frontend. But when it came to the - more challenging backend work of connecting the app to the blockchain, - both Sarah and the firm recommended Hypha. At first, Furtherfield was - nervous about handing the project to a new partner. Says Ruth, ”We were - a little bit freaked out because we didn’t have a bunch of extra funding - if things went wrong. We had to be sure this would work.” But then - Furtherfield met with the Hypha team. “They asked really good questions. - That’s how we came to feel, ‘Yes, this is doable.’” -
-- As the work began, Ruth loved Hypha’s rigorous approach: “After every - meeting, Hypha’s notes would reflect back to us everything we described - along with anything that was still unknown, that they wanted additional - information on, or had questions or comments about.” Through this - process, Ruth says, “They kept asking questions until they knew - everything. This made us feel very secure because we could see all the - remaining gaps.” In addition to making the app functional — making the - frontend do what it was intended to do — as planned, Hypha helped - improve the design of CultureStake’s frontend as well. -
-- - “They kept asking questions until they knew everything. This made us - feel very secure because we could see all the remaining gaps.” - --
- As Furtherfield “turned the gallery inside out,” bringing art from the - gallery to the park, they used CultureStake to cede creative control to - the people. Calling the project People’s Park Plinth , Furtherfield - commissioned a series of small extended reality artworks. Finsbury’s - 50,000 visitors a week could then use CultureStake to scan QR codes and - view the works throughout the park. They then could use CultureStake to - vote on which piece they wanted to see realized at full scale. As part - of CultureStake’s design, votes cast from within the park were weighted - higher than ones made from outside it. That year, Furtherfield tripled - its local engagement and heard feedback like, “I’ve been talking about - this with my friends for months.” -
-- When asked about her overall experience working with Hypha, Ruth - responded, “I trusted them. I always felt like we were working with good - people. Without Hypha, we would’ve been at the end of the road and had - to put the project to bed.” -
-- Confirming the usefulness and untapped potential of blockchain for art - and culture -
-- Because of recent changes to the Furtherfield team, Ruth is now seeking - funding to support CultureStake’s continued growth. Even though - CultureStake’s future is uncertain, Ruth says the project confirmed for - her the “massive and still underexplored value quadratic voting has in - the cultural setting.” -
-- Reflects Ruth, “In trying to make a connection with our local community - to understand our shared interests, CultureStake allowed for a radical - inversion of how you usually run a gallery. It responded to a pragmatic - issue with COVID, but also the desire for more authentic relationships - with the public around us.” -
-- “Testing all the promises of democratization in the blockchain space - against reality” was something Ruth had been wanting to do ever since - Furtherfield board member Rhea Myers started “issuing provocations on - decentralized autonomous organizations that were impossible to ignore, - long before the NFT boom.” To her, blockchain may not be essential to - making cultural democracy happen. But Ruth feels it’s important to keep - the spirit of DIY experimentation alive for this generation of the - internet so blockchain isn’t only used for financial extraction. Hypha’s - Co-Creation Lab gives organizations like Furtherfield the expertise they - need to safely explore these possibilities. -
-- Go back to the Co-Creation Lab's practice page -
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- - Switzerland’s HEK (House of Electronic Arts) has been the leading museum - for digital art, media, and culture since 2011. As a center of creative - technology, HEK aims to be at the forefront of what’s relevant, - willingly pushing into areas that are unknown and undefined — areas that - include blockchain and Web3. -
-- Turning standard museum membership into an experiment in digital - community engagement -
-- Even though HEK had done Web3-related projects by 2023, the team had the - feeling that they were behind on the community-building potential of the - technology. At the same time, HEK wanted to evolve its membership - program beyond simply offering free museum entrance for 25 francs a - year. Putting these two opportunities together, the vision for Friends - of HEK, a museum membership that gives HEK members online experiences - and decision-making power, was born. -
-- - “Friends of HEK is an attempt to break down the usual hierarchies - between institution and consumer.” - --
- Friends of HEK was going to be the biggest tech implementation HEK had - done in years. And if they pulled it off, HEK would become the first - museum to tokenize its membership program. HEK needed a tech development - partner to make their ambitious vision a reality, but not any company - would do. Beyond being a logical experiment in Web3 technology, “Friends - of HEK is an attempt to break down the usual hierarchies between - institution and consumer into a community space that’s still structured - and facilitated, but where members really feel ownership,” says HEK’s - education coordinator Isabella Maund. HEK needed a partner that didn’t - just build technology, but that would do it with care. -
-- Hypha’s culture of balanced technical expertise for the arts and culture - community -
-- HEK met with different companies specializing in Web3 development, but - none of them engaged with the museum’s mission, goals, or mindset, - instead focusing only on cost. Then they spoke to Hypha, who came - recommended by HEK artist Sarah Friend. -
-- - “In the first meeting with Hypha, it was quite obvious that they were - the right partner for us as a cultural institution.” - --
- Hypha understood HEK on a deep level. “In the first meeting with Hypha, - it was quite obvious that they were the right partner for us as a - cultural institution,” says Ugo Pecoraio, HEK’s Head Of Communications. - “They were open to new ideas and different approaches, but could also - bring art, culture, and technology together in an uncomplicated way.” -
-- Close collaboration to get years of thinking pared down and off the - ground -
-- As the partnership kicked off, Hypha worked with HEK to condense their project proposal, which had taken HEK - “months, years even, of internal discussion” to create. Identifying HEK’s key motivations meant: -
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- - Deepening the team’s Web3 knowledge beyond the basics into its technical - aspects and culture - -
- - Asking questions to uncover true needs, priorities, and hidden - assumptions behind HEK’s project proposal - -
- - “It was quite refreshing for Hypha to say, ‘That’s a great idea, but - maybe we have to do it in a different way.’” - --
- Ugo elaborates: “We had a lot of ideas that were just that — ideas, not - things that could be done fast and within budget, would let us evolve, - or that really benefited the community.” Through Hypha’s process, “We - naturally came to understand what’s possible for the community. It was - quite refreshing for Hypha to not just say, ‘That’s a stupid idea.’ - Instead they’d say, ‘That’s a great idea, but maybe we have to do it in - a different way.’” -
-- Guiding HEK through the challenges of introducing its community to Web3 -
-- Once the plan for Friends of HEK was finalized, it was time to build the - technology. But every custom project comes with problems and changes. - One of the issues that arose was making purchasing a Friends of HEK - membership work with HEK’s existing payment systems. Blockchains let - communities engage in new ways, namely community voting that’s more - experiential and transparent in Friends of HEK’s case. To unlock these - capabilities, each Friends of HEK membership is associated with a - digital asset called an NFT, which are usually purchased using - cryptocurrency. It was important to HEK, however, that members could - still pay with “a good old credit card” in addition to Ethereum. -
-- There are many providers that enable the sale of NFTs via traditional payment methods, but none of them worked - well with the payment systems HEK was already using. To find the most reliable way forward, Hypha presented - different options while informing HEK about the tradeoffs they entailed so the HEK team could make the best - choice. -
-- - “The Hypha team had the expertise to solve roadblocks, both - conceptually and technically, which really gave us a sense of - security.” - --
- Another challenge Hypha helped HEK navigate came from a public comment - that questioned HEK’s motivations in creating Friends of HEK. Would the - direction of the program really be decided by voters instead of the - museum? Or would the HEK team be pulling the strings? Again, the Hypha - team helped HEK think through how to approach the problem, structure - solutions, and in this case, how to handle the public messaging. As a - result, HEK ended up putting its own influence over the program up for - community vote. No one voted against HEK team members being able to vote - or make Friends of HEK proposals, so the team was able to continue on - with confidence that it was working in harmony with the community’s - interests. -
-- Of Hypha’s problem-solving abilities, Isabella remarks: “The Hypha team - had the expertise to solve both conceptual and technical roadblocks, - which really gave us a sense of security. We had a lot of shifting - timelines, but they were able to keep us on track.” -
-- Providing a model for community tech for the art world -
-- After 3 months of development, Friends of HEK launched in July 2023 to - much buzz. Says Isabella, “Friends of HEK’s role in helping us gain a - new awareness and respect has been clear from how much other people talk - about it and how many times we’ve been invited to talk about it.” -
-- The interest the project received told the HEK team that they had - fulfilled their goal of making Friends of HEK a model for other - community-oriented arts and culture institutions. “Hypha helped us hit - many milestones for Friends of HEK, and in a way people could - understand,” Ugo shared. “That was the goal — to be the first museum to - launch a tokenized membership, and to be helpful to other institutions - who want to do the same.” -
-- - “Friends of HEK’s role in helping us gain a new awareness and respect - has been clear.” - --
- Building holistic tech that is accessible to users and sustainable for - clients is core to all of Hypha’s work. To serve those ends for HEK, - Hypha was active in the creation of the Friends of HEK Handbook, - providing feedback on making the structure and language friendly to a - general audience. Hypha also left the HEK team with thorough - documentation they could reference as they took over the tech for - themselves. -
-- Reflecting on HEK’s partnership with Hypha, Isabella reaffirmed HEK’s - belief that art and technology aren’t separate: “I’ve been guilty of - thinking Web3 was just for people who want to make a bunch of money, but - that’s only one side of it. There’s so much more to Web3 that can be - recontextualized for the art world. That’s our focus at HEK — opening - these doors.” Adds Ugo, “The art world shouldn’t be so scared of new - technology because it can be beautiful, especially for communities.” -
-- - “The art world shouldn’t be so scared of new technology because it can - be beautiful, especially for communities.” - --
- Go back to the Co-Creation Lab's practice page -
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