Based on the exhibition Proof of Stake: Technological Claims at Kunstverein in Hamburg, curated by Simon Denny and Bettina Steinbrügge, the book brings together a global group of artists and scholars who inquire into the objects, apparatuses, geographies and power relations of organized life.

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How does technology organize life? Who gets to claim the technological as their own, and thereby becomes claimed? How can the technological be reclaimed?

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The Proof-of-Stake protocol is assumed to provide a sustainable consensus mechanism for blockchain transactions. This book uses this assertion as a springboard to artistically and conceptually investigate the organizational conditions and effects of technology and technological objects.

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Designed by David Bennewith, Proof of Stake: Technological Claims is more thought experiment and tool to think with than exhibition catalogue. It interweaves the documentation of the works of the participating artists with 20 original essays on technological objects written by leading scholars.

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Contributing artists: Robert Alice, Mel Chin, Joshua Citarella, Simon Denny, Fang Di, Stephanie Dinkins, DISNOVATION, Sarah Friend, Isa Genzken, Holly Herndon / Mathew Dryhurst, Femke Herregraven, Mike Kelley, Josh Kline, Paul Kolling, Agnieszka Kurant, James Luna, Karamia Müller, New Red Order (NRO): Zack Khalil, Adam Khalil, Jackson Polys, Yuri Pattison, Timur Si-Qin, Jaune Quick-to-See Smith, Krista Belle Stewart, Paul Thek, Luke Willis Thompson, Prateek Vijan, andBeecoin – a project by KUNSTrePUBLIK (Einhoff, Horst, Sachs) in cooperation with Hiveeyes and Nascent (Paul Seidler & Max Hampshire)

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With essays by Clemens Apprich, Timon Beyes and Robin Holt, Clare Birchall, Tania Pérez-Bustos, Wendy Hui Kyong Chun and Gillian Russell, Rachele Delucchi, Günter Figal, Yuriko Furuhata, Marisa Galvez, Maya Indira Ganesh, Ute Holl, Geert Lovink, Reinhold Martin, Joshua Neves, Viviane Sergi, Nishant Shah, Marc Steinberg, Denise Tse-Shang Tang, Bettina Vismann, Kalindi Vora, Yutaka Yamauchi and Ko Kado.

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