Prompt: Create a “model” (sketch, raster, vector, 2D, 3D, render, animate, video, simulate, etc.) of a possible final project. The word “model” is meant to be understood as any kind of digital or physical representation of an idea or concept you are excited about pursuing in your course of study in critical making. Perhaps you began to identify and outline some of this concept or related areas of inquiry in Assignment 1. Also, don’t worry too much about evolving your ideas as the semester progresses. It will likely happen. Think of this as a jumping off point.
What is your project concept/motivation behind it?
I want to create a self-owned cybernetic pepper plant(s). The project would employ a Decentralized Autonomous Organization to maintain and manage the growth and health of the plants via human actors; utilizing economic incentives to foster a human ecological partnership.
The idea builds upon on the work of terra0, who describe their practice as:
[A] self-owned forest; an ongoing art project that
terr0
strives to set up a prototype of a self-utilizating piece of land.
terra0 creates a scenario whereby a forest is able to sell licences
to log trees through automated processes, smart contracts and
Blockchain technology. In doing so, this forest accumulates
capital. A shift from valorization through third parties to a selfutilization makes it possible for the forest to procure its real
exchange value, and eventually buy (thus own) itself. The
augmented forest, as owner of itself, is in the position to buy more
ground and therefore to expand.
Upon project launch, each plant would issue an NFT as a debt vehicle to pay for its startup costs and maintenance. The plant would be equipped with a series of sensors, allowing remote monitoring of their growth, water level, health, etc. Through a series of smart contracts, the plant would be able to request help from human actors, such as needing water, by depositing ETH into specific wallets.
When the peppers are ripe and ready to harvest, the plant will alert a human actor who would collect and sell them. The peppers sell at an agreed-upon price, derived from the current market value of the vegetables. The proceeds are then deposited back into the plant’s wallets, (aka the pepper pool) and divided. The human actor keeps 15%, and the remaining amount is split between the plants and the token holders.
The exact sale mechanism still needs to be worked out further, but for this project, I am not interested in the tokenization of the individual peppers, as they will likely be consumed quickly and require the tokens to be burned almost immediately.
As the plant produces multiple harvests, the pepper pool would continue to grow. Once the pool reached sufficient size, a smart contract would kick in, allowing the plant to buy back it’s token at a price some percentage higher than the initial offering. This system allows the initial token holder to realize a gain on their investment, in addition to the pepper proceeds. More importantly, however, this would then create a sovereign plant, entirely owned by itself. If enough funds were to accumulate in the pepper pool, the plant could commission a human actor new plant arrays, via a smart contract and transfer of funds to a specified wallet.
What problem are you interested in solving?
I’m most interested in the idea of self-owning ecology as a potential tool for protecting and preserving natural resources. Through self-ownership, the capitalist imperative to extract the maximum value from the ecology, without regards to its long term health or stability, is removed, paving the path for a novel mechanism to preserve and maintain our most critical ecological resources.
Similar systems could also be a tool for returning to regional agriculture and reducing the carbon footprint of food products by eliminating shipping and transit from the supply chain. Imagine if each block in a city had a self-owned community garden…
How might you implement it?
I see the project having three distinct parts: web interface + sensors, pepper plants + growing apparatus, NFT + smart contract system.
I would begin with the web interface + sensors, ensuring that the camera system and sensors were all working and online before starting the plants, allowing anyone following the project to observe it from the beginning. Next, I would fabricate (if necessary) the plant holder and hydroponic system. For the scope of this project, it might be more efficient to purchase pre-existing hydroponic system, and then plant the seeds. Finally, I’d tackle the NFT & smart contracts, building everything on the test network first. Having never made anything involving ETH or smart contracts, I might keep this first project on the test network to ensure there are no errors or issues.
All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace by Richard Brautigan (1967)
I like to think (and
the sooner the better!)
of a cybernetic meadow
where mammals and computers
live together in mutually
programming harmony
like pure water
touching clear sky.
I like to think
(right now, please!)
of a cybernetic forest
filled with pines and electronics
where deer stroll peacefully
past computers
as if they were flowers
with spinning blossoms.
I like to think
(it has to be!)
of a cybernetic ecology
where we are free of our labors
and joined back to nature,
returned to our mammal
brothers and sisters,
and all watched over
by machines of loving grace.
