Workshop: Undeletable Image
CD Currents, Fall 2021
Parsons School of Design
November 11 - December 16 2021
Instructor: Sophie Auger
augers@newschool.edu
Office hours: by appointment
Other Sections: SooA Kim, Kevin Cadena
→ *View our collective NFT Archive here*
Undeletable Image is a 5-week workshop that introduces students to Blockchain as a public record keeping system to create a collective archive. Blockchain is a permanent digital database where information cannot be erased or modified. Students will co-create an archive of material in the form of a publication that will be their digital, permanent legacy as a temporary community. We will reflect on the following questions: what should be made permanent, visible to all? What kind of information about ourselves are we willing to archive this way? What good is an immutable database for a community?
Blockchain exists in the context of the stock market and uses enormous amounts of energy. But this technology is only a tool in the making; in this workshop, participants reflect on the philosophical meanings and possible implications of blockchain on our life AFK (Away From Keyboard). An introduction to the history of archiving will open the workshop. We will touch on contemporary debates concerning the power of memory institutions and learn about alternative archival practices that push back against traditional preservation conventions. Students are not only the participants of this workshop, but are collectively building and reframing a community together.
The creation of a community archive is a way to maintain a form of authority over the representation of those who compose it. It is easy, with the digital tools we already have, to create a public archive. With the advent of blockchain, the question is: what happens when we have the power to decide what is undeletable?
See full syllabus
CD Currents, Fall 2021
Parsons School of Design
November 11 - December 16 2021
Instructor: Sophie Auger
augers@newschool.edu
Office hours: by appointment
Other Sections: SooA Kim, Kevin Cadena
→ *View our collective NFT Archive here*
Undeletable Image is a 5-week workshop that introduces students to Blockchain as a public record keeping system to create a collective archive. Blockchain is a permanent digital database where information cannot be erased or modified. Students will co-create an archive of material in the form of a publication that will be their digital, permanent legacy as a temporary community. We will reflect on the following questions: what should be made permanent, visible to all? What kind of information about ourselves are we willing to archive this way? What good is an immutable database for a community?
Blockchain exists in the context of the stock market and uses enormous amounts of energy. But this technology is only a tool in the making; in this workshop, participants reflect on the philosophical meanings and possible implications of blockchain on our life AFK (Away From Keyboard). An introduction to the history of archiving will open the workshop. We will touch on contemporary debates concerning the power of memory institutions and learn about alternative archival practices that push back against traditional preservation conventions. Students are not only the participants of this workshop, but are collectively building and reframing a community together.
The creation of a community archive is a way to maintain a form of authority over the representation of those who compose it. It is easy, with the digital tools we already have, to create a public archive. With the advent of blockchain, the question is: what happens when we have the power to decide what is undeletable?
See full syllabus
W11 - 11/11
- 12:10-1:00 - Class Overview: assignment, parameters & scopes
- 1:00-2:10 - Lecture: Archive Fever
- 2:10-2:20 - *break*
- 2:20-2:50 - Collective archive manifesto
- For next week...
- Refer to Part 1 of the assignement.
- Read and write 1 question/comment on canvas (be ready to discuss):
- (p.25) Research and Presentation of All That Remains of My Childhood, Christian Boltanski
- (p.32) The Man Who Never Threw Anything Away, Uya Kabakov
- 12:10-12:25 - Reading Discussion
- 12:25-1:35 - Group critique: 3 traces directions
- 1:35-1:45 - *break*
- 1:45-2:30 - Lecture: Blockchain & NFTs
- 2:30-2:50 - Demo: Crypto Wallet
- For after the holiday...
- Refer to Part 2 of the assignement.
- Open a crypto wallet (refer to the demo in are.na)
- Read Amelia Winger-Bearskin's Before Everyone Was Talking About Decentralization, Decentralization Was Talking to Everyone and write 1 discussion question/comment on canvas.
- 12:10-1:30 - Group critique: trace documentations
- 1:30-1:35 - *break*
- 1:35-1:50 - Lecture: Communities
- 1:50-2:30 - Assignement Part 3
- 2:30-2:50 - Assignement Part 3 group presentations
- For next week...
- Refer to Part 4 of the assignement
- Answer the "Archive Design Rules" google form
- 12:15-1:00 - Guest lecture from R0M4
- 1:00-1:05 - *break*
- 1:05-1:15 - Course Evaluation survey
- 1:15-2:50 - Group Critique
- For next week...
- Refer to Part 5 of the assignement.
- Read Tina River's Token Gesture and write one submission question/comment on Canvas.
- Prepare your final presentation. Guidelines here.
- 12:10-1:40 - Final Presentations and feedback
- 1:40-1:55 - *break*
- 1:55-2:50 - NFT minting!
Assignment
Traces are remnants, remains, or residues of an object or action. In Archive Fever, Jacques Derrida wrote: "not every trace is an archive, but there is no archive without a trace". An archive is a collection of historical documents or records; not all collections are archives, but many become relevant with time. In our class, we will create a permanent collective archive on the blockchain. This archive will be made of your traces; based on readings and class discussions, we will decide on what should not be forgotten.
Each person will decide on what to archive by reflecting on the following questions: what is a trace? How does making it permanent changes its meaning? Why shouldn't it be forgotten? Everyone will contribute a series of 5 traces to our collective archive (65 total). Your series should reflect your decisions for order and pacing and have a thought through narrative - literal or implied. In short, it should be a designed experience.
The traces will be minted into NFTs on the Ethereum blockchain and published on our class website. They will act as timestamps; a permanent record of a moment in time. *For this class, everyone will be required to open a cryptographic wallet with MetaMask.
Purpose
- Develop critical thinking about different archiving methods
- Understand how the notion of "archive" fits into the broader design discourse
- Learn how to mint NFTs
- Learn about the current landscape of blockchain applications and communities
- Navigate group-led research initiatives
- Understand peer-to-peer networks, distributed databases, and new models of networked communication
- 5 documented traces (= 5 NFTs) in one of the following formats
- JPG, PNG, GIF, SVG, WEBM, WAV, GLB, GLTF, MP3 or MP4
- Max size 40MB
- One description paragraph (5-10 sentences) of your thought process
- Metadata list
- Final Presentation on your process and research
- Should have decisions for order and pacing
- Have a thought through narrative - literal or implied
- Should be a designed experience (there should be reasons for everything you design)
W11 - Part 1 (HW)
- Any time you see a multiplicity of an object, you begin to notice similarities and contexts in a new way. Find 3 directions for your trace documentation and write one description paragraph (3-5 sentences) for each direction. Be ready to share with the class in a 3-5 min presentation. To help you find ideas, think of the following questions:
- What is ephemeral and would be worth not to be forgotten? Is it something which meaning will change in the future? Will you record your own trace, or other people's? If other people's, how will you gather and record their traces?
- In which format will it be recorded? Will it be a physical object that you digitize, or will it be a digital-born one? a photograph, a video, a phrase, a drawing, a list, sounds, a website? are you trying to grasp a feeling?
- Is it a series of different things that together form a meaning? Is it the same thing documented in five different ways?
- Upload your presentation as a PDF to google drive.
W12 - Part 2 (HW)
- ROUND 1: Choose one trace direction and record/document it 3 different ways (15 total):
- each series is made of 5 traces
- each record/documentation should be made by you
- For example, if you chose to record people sitting in the park, create 3 different versions for documenting them. E.g: version 1 = close up photographs, version 2 = photographs from afar, version 3 = no photo, only sound.
- The way the subject is documented helps direct the viewer on how the object is meant to be experienced. Consider different ways of documentation and think about how your visual approach informs your perspective on the archive.
- the five traces should feel like a series (either visually or narratively, literal or implied)
- Find a title for your series.
- Prepare a 3-5 min presentation to share with the class and upload as a PDF to google drive.
W13 - Part 3 (in-class)
- Together we will decide on a set of design rules for building our archive page (HTML/CSS) which will be linked to the class website.
- In groups of 3, find one online archive that could inspire us for our own archive page. Answer these questions:
- what is the collection about and what does it include?
- is the website design and UX a complementary vessel for the collection it holds?
- what is a surprising element?
- what could be improved?
- In groups of 3, invent a set of 5 design rules for the display of our collective archive. Consider the amount of traces in our archive (65) and the multiplicity of subjects:
- will the content be layed out on a single page or has each series its own page?
- do we remain anonymous or do we want our names visible?
- where are captions/description texts?
- are the NFT-traces categorized or curated in any way?
- are there hover interactions?
- where is the hyperlink to the OpenSea archive?
- think about the ideal display for our traces.
- Prepare a 3-5 minute presentation to share your reference research and design rules.
W13 - Part 4 (HW)
- ROUND 2: Integrate feedback from the class. Create a new set of documentations (3 different versions, 15 total):
- Upload as 15 separate files to google drive
- Pick one documentation method for your trace and apply small but significant changes. For example, change the position of a piece of information, change the colors, pacing, typeface, etc. *Each decision should inform the meaning of your series*.
- Remember that a NFT is not only an image; it is the combination of all the elements that compose a file. Metadata usually includes title, medium, date, size, author, etc. What else could it tell us? How could the metadata and description add to your series? Could you include a link to a website in your metadata? Think about the possibilities to complement its meaning.
- Be ready to share the final format, description, title and metadata list of your project next week. Note: the description, metadata, and title should be in a separate text file.
W14 - Part 5 (HW)
- Integrate feedback from class and make final adjustments. Upload the final version of your series to g-drive.
- in your own folder, create a new folder called "YourName_Final_NFT"
- Create a logo and banner for your opensea collection (find references here)
- Logo image: this image will be used for navigation on OpenSea. 350 x 350 px.
- Banner image: this image will appear at the top of your collection page. Avoid including too much text, as the dimensions change on different devices. 1400 x 400 px.
- Prepare your final presentation
W14 - Part 6 (in-class)
- We will tokenize our NFTs in class.
- Follow instructions on are.na
- Drop your NFT links here.
Resources
- All class lectures and demos on are.na
- Announcements and reading responses Canvas
- HW submissions Google Drive
Bibliography
- The Archive, Charles Merewether, 2008
- Before Everyone Was Talking About Decentralization, Decentralization Was Talking to Everyone, Amelia Winger-Bearskin, 2018
- Token Gesture, Tina Rivers, 2021
- Archive Fever, Jacques Derrida, 1995
- Blockchain and Public Record Keeping: Of Temples, Prisons, and the (Re)Configuration of Power, Victoria L. Lemieux, 2019
Glossary
Blockchain is a big spreadsheet. It is a database of transactions that anyone can see. A blockchain network is a series of connected computers.
Ethereum is an open source, decentralized network that uses a blockchain to store any sort of information. The Ethereum Blockchain has its own cryptocurrency, the Ether.
NFT means non-fungible token. It proves the rarity, authenticity, and ownership of digital files. The content of the file, its provenance and all other metadata is hashed and made into a unique signature; like a fingerprint.
Tokenizing or minting is the process of using a smart contract to create a NFT. We can tokenize art, for example, and exchange it on digital marketplaces. There is currently no other way than tokenizing to track the certificates of authenticity of digital files.
Wallet is an app that allows users to store their to tokens (cryptocurrencies and non-fungibe tokens).
Peer-to-Peer are networks where people communicate with one another rather than through a central location. Messaging a friend on Facebook is not P2P; your message goes to Facebook's server before reaching your friend. A P2P messaging service would have you send your message directly from your computer to your friend's.
This class's first section, Staging Media, was taught by SooA Kim from Sept. 2 to 30 2021. The second section, called The Technology that U + I Can('t) Reach, was taught by Kevin Cadena from Oct. 7 to Nov. 4.