FIBER & De Brakke Grond present: Michel Bauwens & The Promise of the Blockchain – 25/02

About future applications of decentralised databases

15 FEBRUARY 2016, DE BRAKKE GROND, AMSTERDAM (NL)
Summary
The rise of the infamous cryptocurrency Bitcoin has sparked interest in another revolutionary technology: the blockchain. On Thursday the 25th of February Flemish Arts Centre de Brakke Grond & FIBER present a debate programme about the decentralised database technology, that has been predicted to greatly alter the world we live in. Michel Bauwens talks with leading artist, designers, and thinkers on the applications and implications of the blockchain.

The rise of the infamous cryptocurrency Bitcoin has sparked interest in another revolutionary technology: the blockchain. On Thursday the 25th of February Flemish Arts Centre de Brakke Grond & FIBER present a debate programme about the decentralised database technology, that has been predicted to greatly alter the world we live in. During the evening the Flemish founder of the p2p-foundation Michel Bauwens talks with leading artist, designers, and thinkers on the applications and implications of the blockchain. Michel Bauwens & The Promise of the Blockchain is part of de Brakke Grond’s year theme: ‘All Futures Memories’ and part of FIBER’s Coded Matter(s) event-series. The evening starts at 20:00.

The blockchain is a decentralised ledger that forms the basis behind the controversial technology Bitcoin. The technology enables to send a message from one party to the other in which the integrity of the message isn’t affected. This is possible because the transaction is embedded within a decentralised system of computers that stores all the transactions. There are various applications to think off: from smart contracts, to alternative energy consumption contracts and well managed royalties for artists.

Michel Bauwens is the founder of the Peer-to-Peer Foundation, a global organization that looks at collaborative production practices that enable freedom, fairness and sustainability. He will contextualize these potentials as part of his ongoing research on peer-to-peer practices around the world, reflecting on how this phenomenon can contribute to a new social order that prioritizes achieving common goals over for-profit corporations.

With Michel Bauwens, Vinay Gupta, Primavera de Filippi, Jaromil with an introduction on the blockchain by moderator Michelle Kasprzak.

This event is made possible with the support of The Creative Industry Fund NL and The Art Of Impact


EXPERT MEETING

From 13:30 till 16:00, prior to the evening programme, an expert meeting will take place at de Brakke Grond. The central question will be: What does the blockchain has to offer for artistic and design practices? This meeting is initiated by FIBER, V2_ en de Brakke Grond and is meant for artists, designers and architects with some knowledge about the blockchain. Examples could be the distribution of work, (fractured) authorship, archives of work, speculative artworks that explore possibilities or pitfalls or new approaches to collaboration and public knowledge sharing. The meeting is by invitation only but you can pitch yourself a spot by filling out this online form. We’ll make a selection of the applicants upon which they’ll receive an invitation.

The expert meeting is part of de Brakke Grond’s All Future Memories, FIBER’s Coded Matter(s) and V2_’s Data in the 21st Century.


SPEAKERS

Michel Bauwens (BE) is the founder and director of the P2P Foundation and works in collaboration with a global group of researchers in the exploration of peer production, governance, and property. Bauwens travels extensively giving workshops and lectures on P2P and the Commons as emergent paradigms and the opportunities they present to move towards a post-capitalist world. http://p2pfoundation.org He is a founding member of the Commons Strategies Group, with Silke Helfrich and David Bollier, who have organised major global conferences on the commons and economics. http://commonsandeconomics.org

Vinay Gupta (UK) has created disaster relief programs like STAR-TIDES with the US National Defense University and shares his expertise on open-source platforms. Gupta has also produced Hexayurt Country, a national plan to reconstruct Haiti after the earthquake. His projects, including Hexayurt, stem from devising Six Ways To Die, a best-practice guide to managing global systems during crises. Having started with E-Gold in the 1990s, he has now taken the lead in discussions of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ether and the strengths of radical decentralization. Gupta holds the position of associate fellow at University College London’s Institute for Security & Resilience Studies and recently collaborated with the Guggenheim’s Azone project.


Primavera De Filippi (FR) is a permanent researcher at the National Center of Scientific Research (CNRS) in Paris. She is faculty associate at the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard Law School, where she is investigating the concept of “governance-by-design” as it relates to online distributed architectures. Most of her research focuses on the legal challenges raised, and faced by emergent decentralized technologies —such as Bitcoin, Ethereum and other blockchain-based applications —and how these technologies could be used to design new governance models capable of supporting large-scale decentralized collaboration and more participatory decision-making.

Denis Roio (IT/NL) (aka Jaromil) is a researcher in philosophy of technology, artist and software artisan whose creations are endorsed by the Free Software Foundation. He has been involved in Bitcoin since the early days and since 2000 he has been dedicated to building Dyne.org, a software house gathering the contributions of a growing number of developers who value social responsibility above profit.Jaromil is leading D-CENT development of Freecoin, a blockchain-enabled digital social currency and has been invited at the reinvent.money event on the 26th of September by organiser Paul Buitink to explore the opportunities of Bitcoin beyond its function as currency. More info here.

Michelle Kasprzak (CAN/NL) is a curator and writer. She has written critical essays for HOLO, Volume, C Magazine, Rhizome, CV Photo, Public, Mute, and many other media outlets. She also founded one of the world’s leading art curating blogs, Curating.info (2006-2015). Most recently, Michelle curated No Limit, a show of new work by UBERMORGEN at the Kasseler Kunstverein. Michelle has held a range of curatorial roles at organizations such as V2_ Institute for Unstable Media, the Dutch Electronic Art Festival (DEAF), and New Media Scotland. Michelle has been a member of IKT (International Association of Curators of Contemporary Art) since 2008.

INFORMATION

Date: Do 25 feb 20:00 - 23:00 (Doors open: 19:45)
Price: presale €14,- / door €16,- / Combi-ticket (CM #12/#13) € 24,-
Location: Brakke Grond, Expozaal. Nes 42, 1012 KD, Amsterdam
Language: English
Expert Meeting: Do 25 feb 13:30 - 16:00 / More info: http://www.codedmatters.nl/workshop/expert-meeting...

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About FIBER

FIBER is an Amsterdam based interdisciplinary organisation, that presents new developments in audiovisual art, digital culture and the experimental and deeper corners of electronic music. The team works year round with a vibrant network of artists, designers, researchers and developers, who aspire to introduce mind bending experiences to a broad audience. Special attention goes out to the support of up and coming talents across numerous creative disciplines.

Next to small-scale events and exhibitions, the team organises the recurring FIBER Festival in Amsterdam, which brings together a diverse crowd of new talent, established artists and curious visitors. FIBER aims to explore hybrid forms of art, the power of media- and network technology, and encourages an exchange of views between the makers and their audience.

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