Circulation
An experimental journal exploring the movement of concepts and research in contemporary art.
Circulation, Issue 001 features mostly primary information in draft form by members of TXT, including The Artist's Contract for Decentralized Art (ACDA) , an open source legal agreement for use in the transfer of decentralized art, and a starting definition of decentralized art as an art form.
TXT completed this work from early 2023 to late 2025, within in a hybrid, collaborative practice spanning art, law, economics, history, technology, and media theory.
This issue also features contributions by Christian Rattemeyer and Lauren van Haaften-Schick, providing context in the history of artist rights, particularly the late 1960s and early 1970s in New York City, where the conceptual art movement gave rise to The Artist’s Reserved Rights Transfer and Sale Agreement of 1971.
Authors and contributors in this issue include: Seth Indigo Carnes (TXT); Alfred Steiner (TXT); Neil Ramsay (TXT); Christian Rattemeyer (Arts&Rec/OSMOS); Lauren van Haaften-Schick (Teachers College, Columbia University).
Issue 001 contains the following sections:
— “Foreword” by Christian Rattemeyer
— “Introduction” by Seth Indigo Carnes
— “Critical Circulations” by Lauren van Haaften-Schick
— “Timeline” by Seth Indigo Carnes and Neil Ramsay
— “Decentralized Art” by Seth Indigo Carnes
— “The Artist’s Contract for Decentralized Art” by Seth Indigo Carnes and Alfred Steiner
— “Infographics” by Seth Indigo Carnes
— “Finance as Social Practice” by Neil Ramsay
— “Snippets” by Seth Indigo Carnes
Circulation is set up with a short set of tenets:
— Free for all
— Scarce for some
— Non zero sum
Anyone can download the unlimited digital edition at no cost. Meanwhile, a small amount of physical, first edition hard copies are rare, hence a cost. A tokenized, limited digital edition will also be released, when the ACDA and an associated smart contract in progress are ready for testing.
Further details:
Circulation, Issue 001
Published by TXT
132 pages, 8.5 X 11 inches / 21.59 x 27.9 cm
— Unlimited Digital Edition (PDF)
— Limited Physical Edition (50 first edition hard copies)
— Limited, Tokenized Digital Edition (coming soon)
You can purchase or download Issue 001 here:
“Continuity rather than categorization is the hallmark of our new mentality.”
Dick Higgins
Artist, Writer, Publisher
FAQ
Circulation is now available at Printed Matter and Metalabel. Please access the links above to purchase or download a copy.
The ACDA is an open source legal agreement for use in the transfer of decentralized art. Learn more about it here: The Artist's Contract for Decentralized Art
You can learn more about TXT's internal draft definition along with a decentralized, draft definition in progress via Wikipedia here: Decentralized Art.
Thank you
TXT thanks Lauren van Haaften-Schick, Christian Rattemeyer, Cay Sophie Rabinowitz, Christiane Paul, and Arts&Rec; we are grateful for your early support. Thanks to the organizations, venues and directors supporting in-person discussion, presentation and critical circulation of these ideas: Dalezine, The Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts (EFA), New York County Lawyers Association (NYCLA), Arts&Rec, Delaware Valley Arts Alliance (DVAA), and The Roscoe Collective. We acknowledge all artists and innovators who paved a way to the present: Seth Siegelaub, Robert Projanksy, Hans Haacke, Adrian Piper, Paula Cooper, Maria Eichhorn, Satoshi Nakamoto, Vitalik Buterin, Kevin McCoy, and more. We stand on your shoulders.
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