2017-ART/INSTALLATION/WORKSHOP. This is a Workshop addressed to those who have concerns with Media Art, Digital culture, Critical Economy, Electronics and Internet of Things (IoT). Theoretically, it introduces concepts, examples, art-works and books in order to understand Bitcoin and Blockchain world. Practically proposes to work with a basic electronic circuit, welding and microcontrollers building a playful bitcoin miner. The objective is to transform daily life objects (E.g. Maracas, hammers or salt shakers) into Bitcoin miners able to connect to the blockchain, calculating a hash to trying to get a reward of 12.5 Bitcoins. Keywords: Device Art, Critical Engineering, speculative design, Wireless interface.

DOWNLOAD: Critical mining, Blockchain and bitcoin in contemporary

DOWNLOAD: BitCoin of Things workshop

Project by Martín Nadal & César Escudero Andaluz.

Selected Workshops

-2020 Chronus Art Center (CAC) and ZKM, Bitcoin of Things Workshop, Shanghai (China).

-2020 Gaité Lyrique. Bitcoin of Things Workshop, Paris, (France).

-2019 MoneyLAB#6. Institute of Network Cultures. Bitcoin of Things (BoT), (Germany).

-2019 Aksioma+ALUO+Interface Cultures. Ljubljana (Slovenia).

-2018 Electro Museum  Moscow (Russia).

-2018 WRO ART CENTER, Wroclaw (Poland).

-2018 ADAF 14th Athens Digital Art Festival, Athens (Greece).

-2018 AMRO Art, hacktivism & open culture, Linz, (Austria).

-2017 NODE Forum for Digital Arts, DESIGNING HOPE, Frankfurt (Germany).

Exhibitons:

-2019  Drugo More, Critical Triggers, with Martín Nadal, (Rijeka).

-2019 Galeria Tabacka, Blockchain in art, with Martín Nadal (Slovakia).

-2019 Bureau Europa, The Architecture of Trust” (Netherland).

-2019 Aksioma, Critical Tiggers, (Slovenia).

-2018 Kate Vass Galerie Perfect & Priceless, Value System on the Blockchain, (Switzerland).

-2018 Electro Museum Mad Money, Moscow (Russia).

-2018 ADAF14th Athens Digital Art Festival (BoT) (Greece).

Conceptual Part

The Bitcoin was conceived as an electronic decentralised system for capital transactions. Each node (user) had the same opportunities to get a reward when validating a transaction. In the last years, this system has triggered in a competitive struggle in which computing power is the most important variable for earning Bitcoins. This involves the use of large equipment, computers farms spending physical and environmental resources. A dispute that benefits only the owner of the most powerful and efficient technology. Causing A BIG WASTE OF ENERGY!!!! Bitcoins of Things (BoT) transforms this “Crazy” way of producing Bitcoins into a playful Lottery.

HOW!!!!?? The Bitcoin mining process consists of finding a random number called “Nonce”, which added to the Headerblock and through a Hash function returns a number (hash value) that if starts with a sufficient number of zeros (difficulty) can be validated by the Blockchain network. When this number is found a reward of 12.5 Bitcoins (approx 4300€) is earned by the miner.

Working proposal:

Participants will build a BitCoin of Things (BoT) miner combining a Wi-Fi microcontroller and different sensors such as an accelerometer, microphones or buttons, generating a “Nonce” from its reads try to validate all the Blockchain pending transactions. The possibilities are lower, but it decreases the use of energy of the calculation processes making it more sustainable.

Finally, the microcontroller is attached to daily life objects, like keyboards, computer mice or salt-shakers, by using them the object can potentially generate a big number of Bitcoins, playing with the idea of finding the philosopher’s stone.

Images by Janez Janza in Aksioma, Critical Tiggers exhibition and workshop, (Slovenia)