Intangibles: Web3 interface for experience-based art

[GENERAL] Name and surname of main applicant

[GENERAL] Are you delivering this project as an individual or as an entity (whether formally incorporated or not)

[GENERAL] Please specify how many months you expect your project to last (from 2-12 months)

[GENERAL] Please indicate if your proposal has been auto-translated into English from another language

[GENERAL] Summarize your solution to the problem (200-character limit including spaces)

A platform where creators can mint an experience, where facilitators can implement a derivative experience, and users can book experiences or otherwhise exchange rights over original experiences.

[GENERAL] Does your project have any dependencies on other organizations, technical or otherwise?

[GENERAL] If YES, please describe what the dependency is and why you believe it is essential for your project’s delivery. If NO, please write “No dependencies.”

No dependencies.

[GENERAL] Will your project’s output/s be fully open source?

[GENERAL] Please provide here more information on the open source status of your project outputs

The repository used is Bitbucket, and the code will be made available under a MIT License.

[METADATA] Horizons

[SOLUTION] Please describe your proposed solution

This solution comprises a web platform that will allow cataloguing experience-based artworks (Origin NFTs) while facilitating booking of related experiences (Location NFTs). The ownership of artworks and associated rights will be represented by Origin NFTs, which are but descriptions of artworks. In fact, this solution proposes that Origin NFTs are not only descriptions of artworks, but instructions for their correct implementation (Location NFTs). There may be more than one implementation. The proper implementation of the artwork described in the Origin NFT is enforced upstream. The owner of the Origin NFT may validate or disowal a Location NFT at any time. In a later stage, there will be a secondary market for the sale and acquisition of NFTs.

This project stands out because it is not just about buying and selling NFTs. Instead, NFTs take on the nature of guarantee of intellectual property over an artwork that can be performed and consumed several times in the form of derivative experiences. In addition to the author and title, and other metadata, each NFT has a policy for its fulfillment. Smart contracts will be used in various ways: to govern the distribution of earnings by the platform, owner of Origin NFTs and facilitators of each partaken Location NFT, as well as the purchase and sale of NFTs on the secondary market at a later stage.

The motivation behind this solution is the lack of a similar platform or infrastructure. Not only that, akin artistic genres such as service art, social practice, or relational art, have considerable market potential. Despite the growing number of artworks with an experiential element, there are no suitable outlets for these art forms. Art galleries and museums continue to be the chosen venues, not because they are suitable, but because there are no alternatives.

Frequently Asked Questions

Will this platform allow buying and selling works of contemporary art?

Yes, more specifically rights to their implementation (Origin NFTs). It will also be possible for users to book experiences (Location NFTs) from facilitators.

Will the platform deal with any "physical" works of art?

Not really, it only deals with NFTs. However, there may be real assets involved if these are required for the adequate partaking of some experiences.

Who will be your customers?

Artists, the traditional contemporary art public, as well as young professionals with no specific knowledge of the field but eager to experiment new things.

Who will be your suppliers?

Contemporary artists looking for a platform to showcase and implement their artworks, provided that these incorporate an experiential element.

Who will be your competitors?

OpenSea, Rarible, SuperRare, KnownOrigin, Particle, etc., although this project diferentiates greatly from those solutions both in terms of product offer and users.

[IMPACT] Please define the positive impact your project will have on the wider Cardano community

This project offers products and services that are new and original, as there is nothing similar on the market. This solution aims to bring together technologies in the process of consolidation with a developing art form. This is an innovative solution because a platform that combines the two is non-existent at present. It is foreseeable that an appropriate marketing strategy together with a fully functional platform will lead to the rapid development of the art form, which is latent currently in the (inadequate) space of art galleries and museums.

In short, being a vastly different medium, the market that this project aims to develop does not replace the existing contemporary fine arts market. Since it does not go after the same product, but rather aims to promote a budding new one, it is not in direct competition with or a substitute for the contemporary fine arts market, but instead complements it. The value added to the Cardano community is thus directly related to the novelty of the product, but the success of the project is also dependent on how technologically sound the underlying solution is.

The success of this project will be evaluated in two different ways. In the short term, by its ability to atract interest among the wide community of contemporary fine art actors, specially artists with cognate artistic practices, but also scholars, art critics, and other professionals. Quantitatively, the impact will be measured by sustainable catalogue growth and number of transactions, including adoption as measured by number of derivative implementations and bookings.

More down the line and outside the scope of this specific funding cycle there are plans for the development of a secondary market. This will allow the exchange of ownership both for Origin NFTs and derivative Location NFTs along with any underlying assets. At a later stage, there are also plans to implement a decentralized governance model where all stakeholders have a say regarding all aspects of how the platform is run.

All in all, this solution will be not only beneficial in the short-term as it translates into more interactions with the blockchain, but also help Cardano garner a distinctive position as a provider of novel blockchain solutions to the art industry by pionnering revolutionary new art forms.

[CAPABILITY & FEASIBILITY] What is your capability to deliver your project with high levels of trust and accountability? How do you intend to validate if your approach is feasible?

I have many years of professional and academic experience as well as practice in the field of contemporary art. I teach contemporary art at university-level and have a regular practice as an artist and researcher. I present regularly at international conferences on subjects related to this project and my own work as an artist is at the bleeding edge, engaging subjects such as non-sufficiency and usership. I also have experience as project manager for international, large-scale contemporary art projects, having worked with various known artists.

I also have hands-on experience with various programming languages and technologies, much of which I have learned on my own. For the last eight years, I have been closely following the development of Blockchain technologies, having chosen the Cardano platform for its reliability, based on the language used, Haskell, with high fault tolerance. In choosing this platform, I also took into account its phased development, based on formal mathematical demonstrations. The goal is to create a long-lasting project that will instill confidence in the stakeholders, and this requires reliable technology. 

Last but not the least, I keep a vast international network of contacts in the contemporary art world close at hand, which I intend to put to work to the benefit of this project. This will come handy early on, not only because it will help build a catalogue, but also smooth the way as we reach out to the wider contemporary fine arts crowd. The contemporary fine arts is unique in that it still very much relies on personal contacts. Winning renowned actors to the project is as important as attracting emerging artists, and I am particularly well positioned to deliver on this.

[PROJECT MILESTONES] What are the key milestones you need to achieve in order to complete your project successfully?

The first milestone will be devoted to implementing the frontend. Although major work on this front has already been accomplished, there are many improvements to be made to the code, not the least refactoring and upgrading it, bringing it up to date with best practices and fixing bugs. This will be done step by step as we rework the landing page, the modules for Origin NFTs and Location NFTs, as well as the interface for booking Location NFTs.

We may choose to create an entirely new frontend from scratch depending on available resources as we start this milestone and depending on which solution is the most cost effective.

Tech stack: either Vue, React or Svelte with Lucid and Blockfrost for blockchain interaction.

NFT and Smart Contract implementation will take place during this stage. Before further work is done development-side, it will be necessary to settle on the stardards that best describe Origin and Location NFTs. This will be done according to the following set of actions:

1. Decide on metadata and implement NFTs;
2. Design smart contract overflow and modulize its functionalities;
3. Develop each module with a test driven development method;
4. Do full testing on preproduction, previewing network before deploying to mainnet;
5. Possibly develop a cli program to try smart contracts;

Tech stack: Aiken (onchain) and Typescript (off-chain).

It will be necessary to settle on a legal strategy regarding incorporation, having in mind that the ultimate goal is decentralized governance (incorporation may not even be needed).

Aditionally, a grant and a call for original artworks will be launched and advertised. It is a necessary investment as it will help promote the platform with the art public and help jumpstart the catalog. We also intend to offer a program for recurring grants, with an annual or biennial period, drawing from funds gathered through platform fees. The announcement for the grant and the jury, the winning artist or artists, as well as the artworks created, will all be an opportunity to promote the platform.

The Project Close-out Report and Project Close-out Video will be created at this point, outlining acomplishments, deliverables, challenges, and other information about the project, such as grant outcomes, as well as next steps regarding governance and the secondary market.

[RESOURCES] Who is in the project team and what are their roles?

At present, the team is comprised of the main promoter only. The main promoter will be responsible for kickstarting the project. Initially assuming various executive roles, the main promoter is expected to step down from most if not all executive responsibilities insofar as other interested parties step in. This could happen early on, during this funding cycle already, or at a later stage after the first milestones are sucessfully implemented and preparations for a new cycle kick in. The two roles that the main promoter will in all likelihood maintain throughout this cycle is that of chief marketing officer and chief curator. At some point in the development of this project, certainly if we reach decentralized governance, these roles should also be taken over by someone else, or disappear altogether.  

In regards to plans for recruiting additional team members, there is a pressing need to get someone on board with proven knowledge of blockchain technology and the Cardano ecosystem. More specifically someone knowledgable of NFT and Smart Contract implementation in Cardano and who is willing to assume the role of chief technical officer. Main responsibilites include choosing the most appropriate technical solutions, overseeing code implementation, making sure that the code is fully documented, as well as performing quality assurance testing.

Incorporation will take place during this cycle already, and in all likelihood it will assume the shape of a limited liability company incorporated in a friendly jurisdisction. Anyone interested in the intersections between blockchain and intellectual property who wishes to contribute by assuming the role of chief legal officer is more that welcomed to join the project. As a way to pave the way for the next cycle, knowledge of or a genuine interest in learning more about decentralized governance mechanisms and nonprofit organization laws and regulations is a plus.

[BUDGET & COSTS] Please provide a cost breakdown of the proposed work and resources

Estimated costs are based on various budgets gathered from third-party services. We chose to concatenate them into one in order to best represent total costs in a manner that is as realistic as possible. Depending on whether the technical expertise to achieve the goals set in this application are found in-house, the majority of funds will be used to cover hours expended with code implementation. Otherwise expertise will have to be found outside, in which case the majority of funds will be used to pay third-party services.

Milestone 1

1. Option A
2. Implement new frontend
3. UX/UI, update wireframes if needed
4. Choose between Svelte, React, or other framework deemed appropriate
5. Add blockchain interaction capabilities using Lucid & Blockfrost
6. Option B    
7. Refactor and upgrade existing code
8. Rewrite existing Vue2 application upgrading it to Vue3
9. Fix identified bugs, update application UI, add new features
10. Total: ₳25k~30k
11. Up to 150 hours of developer's time @ ₳200/hour
12. 50 optional hours for UX/UI design @ ₳100/hour

Milestone 2

1. Research Phase
2. Choose metadata that best represents Origin and Location NFTs
3. Investigate if CIP68 is a future-proof standard for both NFTs
4. Investigate relationship between Origin and Location NFT in smart contract
5. Investigate the best way to accomplish bookings
6. Test standard with simple smart contracts
7. Develop a Test Driven Development method
8. Develop a cli-style program to test smart contracts
9. Implementation Phase
10. Design the smart contract overflow, and modulize its functionalities
11. Develop each module with the test driven development method
12. Do full testing on preproduction, preview network before deploy to mainnet
13. Deploy to mainnet, report back on any possible issues
14. Total: ₳30k
15. Up to 150 hours of developer's time @ ₳200/hour

Final Milestone

1. Legal services: ₳5k~10k @ ₳500/hour
2. Inaugural grants: ₳6k
3. Advertising: ₳4k
4. Total: ₳15~20k
5. Up to 20 hours of attorney's time
6. 4 grants to create new artwork
7. 4~3 ads in specialized venues

Grand Total: ₳75

1. Option A: ₳30 + ₳30 + ₳15 (M1, M2, FM)
2. Option B: ₳25 + ₳30 + ₳20 (M1, M2, FM)

[VALUE FOR MONEY] How does the cost of the project represent value for money for the Cardano ecosystem?

It is a little known fact that the culture economy has consistently created imense wealth, contributing to 3.1% of GDP worldwide(a) while generating $1.1 trillion in the US alone, the fine arts adding $3.8 billion to the economy in 2021-2022(b). There is huge gain to be had in exchange for a small initial investement if this platform can make the point for a generational shift in how we create, circulate and relate to art and artworks.

Short-term success will bring awareness of Cardano to an audience that looks at blockchain technologies but cannot quite see its benefits. Despite a few attempts to tap into blockchain by the traditional art gallery, there is by and large resistance to it. The reason being that most artworks have a material existence as physical objects and art galleries are by necessity brick and mortar.

The solution found elsewhere was to artificially rarefy artworks that live in digital form, sometimes coupled with issuance of a physical artwork. This strategy is redundant and goes against the very nature of the media. Ultimately, it is a mishmash of different media, one that will hardly stand the test of time.

Instead, this project is impeccably aligned with the underlying technology: post-physical art is neither digital nor object-based. The gallery and the museum on the other hand are inept at dealing with these artworks and there is a felt need among artists for alternatives. Blockchain can empower these artists and have a real sway in the development of a new art form.

(a) This number refers to year 2021, while the world economy was suffering and adapting to the pandemic, and is based on a UNCTAD survey. For more details, please see the Creative Economy Outlook 2022 from 7 Oct 2022.

(b) This number refers to 2022, which represents 4.3% of economic activity in the US. For more details, please see the reports data from the U.S. Arts and Cultural Production Satellite Account (2017-2022).