Social Contracts

Your NFT collection graph as an NFT.

Social Contracts is a series of living artworks that trace their collectors’ collections and their shared connections to other collectors, using the collection graph to project future acquisitions. Each piece in the series evolves and adapts with every transfer and change of ownership. Employing the blockchain transaction record, data meshes, and network diagrams, these interactive pieces unveil the intricate social patterns that exist within the realm of NFT art collecting.

The act of collecting becomes an integral part of the work itself. Unique wallet activity is interwoven with ENS names and marketplace data to offer insight into the relationships between collectors through their shared collections. Based on these collection graphs and predictive algorithms, Social Contracts influences collectors by forecasting their next NFT acquisitions, adding a layer of intrigue and anticipation to the process of art collecting.

When minting a Social Contracts NFT, collectors are not merely purchasing a static work of art, but an interactive and explorable WebGL graph drawing and updating from on-chain data, and they actively contribute to its history and evolution. The work traces its collectors’ contracts, shared connections to artists and other collectors, as well as potential future acquisitions. As the artwork is transferred or sold, each new collector’s data is merged, shaping the work’s form and provenance. This evolution is recorded through a custom smart contract that extends ERC721 non-fungible token standard. Hence, the artwork’s data is reproducible based on the verifiable history of co-ownership stored on-chain.

Echoing Burak Arikan’s previous body of work, Social Contracts highlights the inherent power structures within networks. In this case, the artist emphasizes how blockchains inherently create their own social graphs by fostering new relationships through transactions as individuals (and bots) engage with the protocols established by smart contracts. These non-privacy preserving blockchains increase the traceability and predictability of our social, economic, and political activities, leading to the exponential accumulation of power for a select few.

While personal data feeds into the large machine learning models owned and controlled by resourced corporations and states, Social Contracts transitions the viewer’s perspective, zooming out from the intensely monitored streets to a bird’s eye view of the network. This allows observers to witness the recursive regeneration of on-chain social data as the collectors of this piece continue their activity. By calling attention to the performativity of collecting, the work presents new economic and aesthetic feedback loops that challenge the conventional patterns of NFT art collecting.