Artist's Contract for Decentralized Art
An open source legal agreement for use in the transfer of decentralized art
The Artist’s Contract for Decentralized Art (ACDA) is an open source legal agreement for use in the transfer of decentralized art.
The ACDA was drafted by artists Seth Indigo Carnes and Alfred Steiner, with key input from Neil Ramsay, under the auspices of the TXT collective, including review and feedback from artists, curators, scholars, and collectors.
The work is based on sampling, editing, and reworking a mix of the Siegelaub-Projansky Artist’s Contract of 1971 and existing contract and license agreements for decentralized art, paired with a historical survey and inquiry into contemporary art practice and market forces. Like the Artist’s Contract of 1971, the ACDA remains focused on persistent inequities in the art world, particularly artists' lack of control over the use of their work and participation in its economics after it enters the art market.
It also addresses the advent of decentralized, blockchain ledger technology, cryptocurrency, and digital certificates of authenticity that automate and ease the tracking of provenance for a given artwork.
As an interdisciplinary project, the ACDA channels hybrid skills in art, law, economics, history, technology, and media theory, building on the work of artists and art movements that precede this time of decentralized art.
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“ARTISTS. There is no art without you. There is no art world without you. You have given up rights you probably did not know exist. Perhaps you think that you have freedom in your art. But you definitely have no freedom or rights or controls after you make your art. The art world uses your art the moment it is made public. The critics, magazines, museums, and collectors use your art immediately. They Trade their Today against your…Tommorrow. [sic]”
Seth Siegelaub
Art dealer, Curator, Author, and Researcher
Co-creator of the Artist’s Reserved Rights Transfer and Sale Agreement
FAQ
This is an ongoing draft definition project by TXT: Decentralized Art
The ACDA come into being through hybrid, collaborative practice within TXT, merging art, law, economics, history, technology, and media theory as medium. Our cross section of expertise include the following: Seth Indigo Carnes - Art / History / Media Theory. Alfred Steiner - Art / Law. Neil Ramsay - Art / Economics / Finance.
A residency developing the ACDA at OSMOS in New York is nearing completion, and preparation is underway to initiate a first test. Feedback and input from peers and professionals in the art world and web3 community is in progress. Please stay tuned, sign up for our email list, and / or follow us on social media to stay abreast of developments.
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