What might it be like if a Farcaster client was an artwork in its own right?
I have started building an experimental farcaster client as a community art work. Below I've shared my emerging vision and described some of the key elements that are getting built.
If I am a digital community artist, then perhaps a digital community should be my artwork.
Vision
An experiment that pushes our thinking forward in what Farcaster and social can be, how art is made and experienced, how we live well in our web3 enabled future.
A creative community experience for and with members and guests of CoCreated.
An app experience with front of house (open), presentation space (gallery/theatre), backstage (social) and a workshop (creation). Providing a space for an audience coming to view what we are creating and curating; a way of our audience connecting and communicating with us; a behind the scenes space for connection and creating together .
An experience that is composable, where you can engage casually from your preferred client, and come to the app/artwork to engage in depth. Perhaps providing a framework that enables us/others to plug into the artworks we have made and remix them.
From a personal perspective my vision is to build something that nourishes me, through connecting, creating and playing together, and simultaneously makes being a digital community artist my main living, so I can spend more of my time doing it.
This is an experiment in what a Farcaster client can be, that pushes our imagination and stretches our thinking and blurs the boundaries between art and social, where we are all creative.
This is a key element of the wider CoCreated community art experiment, read more here: https://paragraph.xyz/@cocreated/cocreated-building-a-community
What does it cause you to imagine? Let me know in the comments or in our CoCreated community CoCreated channel on Warpcast
Who's doing this?
Me (ChrisCoCreated) and others who want to play along. Fundamentally I'm doing this as an artist to get the stuff in my head out into the world - I'm compelled to, I'm doing it 6am and 10pm on the weekends, and around my work.
I'm well up for playing along with others - while also keeping myself focused on the core that I'm building here. I am prioritising working with people who have invested into CoCreated by becoming part of the community as a subscribing CoLaborator (currently anyone supporting the crowdfund over 0.01ETH). My core questions are - does it move CoCreated on in a focused way? Does it maintain flow for me, or is it a distraction? Will it be fun!
The elements of the client
Artwork
There will be regular standalone pieces of art that we create together. At a minimum I will be creating the parameters and output for the work, with the community providing the input - as I described in this model for community artwork. I'm sure other collaborations and ways of working together will emerge.
I have said before, that We are the Art and I am also challenging myself in creating this for the client and the community to be an artwork. I don't entirely know what that looks like or means, but I find it a provoking and challenging thought to work with.
Gallery
There will be galleries providing a space to share and discover art. Particularly artwork that the community CoCurates (which will be funded from the sales of the CoCreated artworks).
Collaboration tools
It will also provide tools for producing collaborative artworks, that turn casts into text or images in one form or another.
Community Hub
I see the client (and the channel available on Warpcast and everywhere else you get your casts) as a place for people exploring collaborative art, to come together, exchange ideas, and support each other.
Experiments
At it's heart, its a experimental space, trying things out, doing things just because, doing things that don't fit into an exiting category, working out what's useful, having fun while I do it.
Progress so far
The client is live in experimental beta: app.cocreated.xyz
With the first community piece at: http://app.cocreated.xyz/gallery/ffall and a bit of fun at https://app.cocreated.xyz/wowow
Supporters
I'm massively grateful to Neynar who are providing the infrastructure this is built on pro bono, and to everyone supporting through the crowdfund, particularly to Fabric for match funding it.
What's next
Keep building out the experiment, making work with the early CoLaborators, bringing in more people interested in collaborative art. And producing at least one collaborative art work every month.
The first floor of the Scenius Spire will be launching soon for the community to contribute to, and we are just starting the CoLaborative curation process.
I'm crowdfunding the project so I can spend more of my time creating art together, and exploring what is possible in decentralised social artwork. The CoLaborator subscription will launch on Hypersub once the crowdfund ends, with crowdfund supporters being airdropped subscriptions.
Join in and support
Come chat in the CoCreated channel on Warpcast or in the client
Support the crowdfund - any contribution is valuable and energising, and I'm doing a piece for everyone who supports.
