This event hosted a conversation around a commissioned research paper by the artist and theorist Patricia Reed. “The Valuation of Necessity,” published in the Blockchains & Cultural Padlocks Research Report, takes an in-depth look at the conceptual constraints that, increasingly, are proving lethal to life on this planet. Reed’s two-part paper examines the social constitution of necessity as a normative and epistemic referent, orienting the uses and abuses of technology within this historical moment designated as the planetary. Reed’s paper is illustrated with a series of diagrams drawn by the artist, adding a further conceptual dimension to the cosmology of concepts and ideas that the writer travels through. The conversation around “The Valuation of Necessity” also welcomes the initiative’s Editorial Director, Rosemary Heather; critical geographer Maral Sotoudehnia of the Province of British Columbia’s Climate Action Secretariat; and Wassim Alsindi of 0x Salon, Berlin, who conducts research on the legal and ecological externalities of blockchain networks.
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By asking questions about what conditions are needed to cognize worlds that do not yet exist, we will consider the relevance of blockchain technology beyond tech startup orthodoxy. This knowledge reproduction is part of the Blockchains & Cultural Padlocks mandate as a research initiative – discovering how the technology might capture the imagination and what its future applications might be, in an art and design context and beyond.
Accessibility note: Live captioning was be provided during the event. A full transcript and recording will be published in the days following.
