Ethereum

Trickle Down, A New Vertical Sovereignty, financial transaction map GIF

Collection

XCOPY – KnownOrigin

Description

'Trickle Down, A New Vertical Sovereignty' is an artwork by Helen Knowles. It is a tokenised four-screen video installation and generative soundscape attached to the blockchain, which explores value systems and wealth disparity. On sale here is a limited-edition transaction map GIF which illustrates how the currency flows and is distributed. The artwork is composed of auction scenes documented by artist Helen Knowles in widely different settings, which reflect the breadth of wealth and financial power individuals in different communities have. These include prisoners at HMP Altcourse in Liverpool, Ethereal Summit attendees, employees at blockchain company ConsenSys in NY, Mancunians at Openshaw market in North Manchester and Russian wealthy buyers in central London bidding for cultural artefacts at Sotheby’s auction house. The installation commences when a visitor drops a pound coin into a machine designed to expose the mechanisms needed to convert fiat currency into crypto-currency. Each time the installation is played, it will make micro-payments via smart contracts on the blockchain to each person who has helped the work come to fruition, from the inmates at HMP Altcourse to ConsenSys employees and blockchain software developers. Trickle Down, A New Vertical Sovereignty seeks to explore and provoke questions about labour, authentication of value, decentralised sharing economies and distribution of wealth. The artwork was made using public funding from Arts Council England. The artwork is produced by FutureEverything with additional support from The Whitworth, The University of Manchester, arebyte Gallery and FACT. Photography, film and sound editing, Helen Knowles. Recordings, Helen Knowles, Denis Jones, Damien Mahoney and Arone Dyers Machine design, Daniel Dressel Composition, coding and sound diffusion design, Pablo Galaz Salamanca Interaction design, Lewis Sykes Premiered at arebyte Gallery and won an honorary mention in Ars Electronica 2020

Traits

artist