Web Residencies »Polymorphic Futures«

While reviewing all 94 submitted project proposals for »Polymorphic Futures,« we encountered an abundance of thoughtful concepts that sparked curiosity, invited careful reading, and opened unexpected lines of thought. Together, they show the urgency of a still emerging but clearly vibrant field evolving around blockchain, and to the many ways artists, writers, and researchers are engaging with blockchain not as a technical solution, but as a fertile space that helps us to envision different futures.

Reading through these proposals, we were invited to look past the »ledger« and instead view blockchain as a tool for radical imagination. The projects shared visions that reimagine the technology as a guardian of ecology, a vessel for oral histories and ancestral traditions, and a blueprint for the alternative governance required for post-capitalist futures. The diversity of formats and artistic approaches was equally inspiring. We encountered rigorously researched white papers, interactive digital experiments, innovative modes of storytelling, and »living archives« that breathe and change with their communities. Some projects are in their infancy as delicate seeds of an idea, while others are more mature frameworks ready to be tested.

Selecting from such a strong group of proposals was not easy. Ultimately, the selection process was a testament to the power of collective world-building. The works we selected represent the breadth of ideas and approaches we encountered in the applicant pool and show how blockchain technology can be used by communities to build a more just and caring future. We are incredibly excited to begin working with the selected residents, to see these proposals take root and flourish. We see this residency as a shared space for testing, listening, and learning together, and we look forward to seeing how these ideas grow, shift, and take form over time. To everyone who shared their vision with us: Thank you for your courage, intellect, and radical hope. We cannot wait to see where these paths lead.

Barbara Cueto, Julia Kaganskiy, and Sarah Donderer (for Digital Solitude)

Mapping Dissonance by beatnyk is a community-driven digital platform archiving soundscapes in the Global South that are disappearing due to rapid urbanization. Participants document endangered environments through sound, video, and personal stories, creating a living ecological memorial. Using smart contracts, the project distributes responsibility for preservation across a global network. It will be realized as an open-source, browser-based dApp with an interactive map and a real-time, sonified archive.

Chirri DAO: River Governance in Community Laura Fong Prosper is a speculative open-source project that explores how rivers can be recognized as living relations rather than extractable resources. Rooted in Ngäbe-Buglé knowledge and practices of care, it brings together Indigenous governance, environmental science, and decentralized technologies to imagine new forms of collective responsibility for water. Through this work, digital infrastructures become tools for stewardship, cultural continuity, and more-than-human rights.

Game-Changers: The Game by Rok Kranjc is a performative game show in which teams engage in a discursive battle over the futures of alternative economies using community-generated prompt cards and where audience members actively score the team’s moves and influence their chance of success. Rok Kranjc’s project will introduce a crypto commons layer to the game, using open-source blockchain tools for collective governance and turning NFTs into non-market tokens of contribution to a living »game commons« archive. Token-holders will influence the game’s future editions, card artwork, and more. The outcome will be a prototype of this governance system with open documentation and code.

The Songkeeper’s Ledger by Joshua Kroon uses blockchain to create a transparent »Cultural Consent Ledger« for the polyphonic music of the Baka people in Cameroon. After working with Baka elders, each of their vocal contributions is permanently recorded, and the project acknowledges them as co-creators. It fosters ethical collaboration, recognition, and potential revenue sharing, moving beyond cultural extraction. It will be presented as an interactive website with ledger visualizations, and audio samples inside an accessible ethical framework.

ACT 0: Fill the Cargo for the Red Planet by Lam Lai is a web-based exploration of imagination, choice, and collective storytelling. Using a journey to Mars as a metaphor, it asks what we carry, leave behind, or reinvent as we envision new worlds. Through blockchain-enabled participation, each submission and vote becomes a gesture of care and reflection, shaping a living archive where the act of choosing transforms into ritual.

 

CattleDAO by Pavan Vadgama probes the boundaries of civic participation, beyond the human. Situated at the intersection of urban ecology, decentralized blockchain technologies, and more-than-human governance, it examines how care, accountability, and responsibility might be reimagined when marginalized non-human lives are brought into civic systems.

 

Graphic design by Charlotte Singer
Image 1: © beatnyk
Image 2: © Rok Kranjc,  Photo: Hsiang-yun Huang
Image 3: © Joshua Kroon
Image 4: © Lam Lai
Image 5: © Guxor
Image 6: © Pavan Vadgama