Twelve Nodes
2019.
12 marble blocks, 12 e-ink screens, custom software, custom circuit boards, patch panels and patch cords, Ethereum blockchain network.
Hashterms
‘Weltschmerz’ is a literary concept derived from the German words ‘Welt’ (world) and ‘Schmerz’ (pain). It describes the feeling experienced by someone who believes that reality cannot satisfy their mental expectations. 'Netzschmerz' relates to the unease experienced upon acknowledging the deliberate production of the collapse of modern political, social, and cultural models through infowarfare across information networks (Netz).
A phenomenon in which an object, system, or protocol originally designed as an interface exceeds its predefined function and becomes a broader mode of mediation—structuring relations between people, cultures, ideas, models, and material systems. An exterface does not merely connect components; it actively reconfigures the conditions under which connection, interpretation, and exchange take place.
A mode of governance in which policy ceases to function as a fixed legal instrument and instead operates as a dynamic, generative, and adaptive system—continuously reshaped by real-time conditions, data-streams, feedback loops, and situated contexts. PostPolicy privileges responsiveness and evolution over stability, treating regulation as an ongoing process rather than a settled rule.
a theoretical shift away from the traditional, absolute power of the nation-state, recognizing that authority is now shared, layered, and dispersed across multiple levels (supranational like the EU, sub-national, and global networks) due to globalization, complex problems (like climate change), and new forms of identity, suggesting a future of intertwined governance rather than a single sovereign authority. It involves a reimagining of democracy beyond the nation-state, accommodating regionalism, plurinationalism, and deeper cultural/moral legitimacy.
Relates to the regimes of sovereignty that are produced in their own image by large software stacks and platforms. Softvereignty both competes with and overlaps with traditional forms of state sovereignty.
Refers to a new economic framework, proposed by Amin Toufani, that analyzes how exponential technologies (like AI, blockchain, quantum computing) disrupt traditional economic assumptions, business models, and societal structures, highlighting rapid change, innovation, and potential for both massive growth and increased inequality. It contrasts with standard economics (studying scarcity) by focusing on exponential tech's impact on production, value, and individual/organizational adaptation in a rapidly evolving digital world.
Twelve Nodes addresses urgent questions surrounding the ethical treatment of personal data and the need for stronger regulation in response to its widespread misuse. The work introduces Fair Data, a framework that defines standards for consent, collection, ownership, and the fair economic use of personal data. The twelve frames reference the Twelve Tables of Roman law, the foundation of modern civil law, reimagined here as the basis for a new legal code responsive to contemporary technologies and their ethical implications. Twelve Nodes invites public debate on the design of a future legal framework and a collective, democratic understanding of data rights. Democratic participation and networked cultural production are positioned as central to this process, fostering new forms of digital literacy and civic engagement.
'Twelve Nodes' is a collaborative research project presented in a form of video installation. It concerns itself with current issues surrounding the ethical treatment of personal data, speaking to the urgent need of more regulation, considering the large-scale misuses of geopolitical scale that have occurred over the past years. The work introduces the concept of Fair Data, a framework and guideline for organisations for treatment of personal data. Fair Data establishes standards for consent, collection, and ownership of personal data as well as recognising a fair economic value and usage of data. The twelve fragments of the work reference the twelve tables in Roman law, which form the basic foundation for civil law, the most widely used legal system today. Here, they form the basis for a new code that incorporates the evolvement of technology and its ethical implications.
Twelve Nodes provokes a public discussion on the design of a new legal framework to perhaps come to a collective and democratic understanding of how personal data and the rights attached to it should be treated. Democratic participation and networked cultural production are becoming part of the movement, with the aim of building new kinds of literacy for digital understanding and participation. Alongside its protocol and platform development Fair Data Society insists on the need for new forms of expression and new artistic practices to address the most urgent questions of our time, and seeks to educate and empower the digital subjects of today to become active, engaged, and effective digital citizens of the internet.
'Twelve Nodes' video documentation.
'Twelve Nodes' on view at Valetta Contemporary, Malta as part of Non-Aligned Networks show, 2019
'Twelve Nodes' (fragments) on view at Valetta Contemporary, Malta as part of Non-Aligned Networks show, 2019
'Twelve Nodes' (fragments) on view at Valetta Contemporary, Malta as part of Non-Aligned Networks show, 2019
'Twelve Nodes' on view at Valetta Contemporary, Malta as part of Non-Aligned Networks show, 2019
Twelve Nodes
2019.
12 marble blocks, 12 e-ink screens, custom software, custom circuit boards, patch panels and patch cords, Ethereum blockchain network.
Hashterms
‘Weltschmerz’ is a literary concept derived from the German words ‘Welt’ (world) and ‘Schmerz’ (pain). It describes the feeling experienced by someone who believes that reality cannot satisfy their mental expectations. 'Netzschmerz' relates to the unease experienced upon acknowledging the deliberate production of the collapse of modern political, social, and cultural models through infowarfare across information networks (Netz).
A phenomenon in which an object, system, or protocol originally designed as an interface exceeds its predefined function and becomes a broader mode of mediation—structuring relations between people, cultures, ideas, models, and material systems. An exterface does not merely connect components; it actively reconfigures the conditions under which connection, interpretation, and exchange take place.
A mode of governance in which policy ceases to function as a fixed legal instrument and instead operates as a dynamic, generative, and adaptive system—continuously reshaped by real-time conditions, data-streams, feedback loops, and situated contexts. PostPolicy privileges responsiveness and evolution over stability, treating regulation as an ongoing process rather than a settled rule.
a theoretical shift away from the traditional, absolute power of the nation-state, recognizing that authority is now shared, layered, and dispersed across multiple levels (supranational like the EU, sub-national, and global networks) due to globalization, complex problems (like climate change), and new forms of identity, suggesting a future of intertwined governance rather than a single sovereign authority. It involves a reimagining of democracy beyond the nation-state, accommodating regionalism, plurinationalism, and deeper cultural/moral legitimacy.
Relates to the regimes of sovereignty that are produced in their own image by large software stacks and platforms. Softvereignty both competes with and overlaps with traditional forms of state sovereignty.
Refers to a new economic framework, proposed by Amin Toufani, that analyzes how exponential technologies (like AI, blockchain, quantum computing) disrupt traditional economic assumptions, business models, and societal structures, highlighting rapid change, innovation, and potential for both massive growth and increased inequality. It contrasts with standard economics (studying scarcity) by focusing on exponential tech's impact on production, value, and individual/organizational adaptation in a rapidly evolving digital world.
Twelve Nodes addresses urgent questions surrounding the ethical treatment of personal data and the need for stronger regulation in response to its widespread misuse. The work introduces Fair Data, a framework that defines standards for consent, collection, ownership, and the fair economic use of personal data. The twelve frames reference the Twelve Tables of Roman law, the foundation of modern civil law, reimagined here as the basis for a new legal code responsive to contemporary technologies and their ethical implications. Twelve Nodes invites public debate on the design of a future legal framework and a collective, democratic understanding of data rights. Democratic participation and networked cultural production are positioned as central to this process, fostering new forms of digital literacy and civic engagement.
'Twelve Nodes' is a collaborative research project presented in a form of video installation. It concerns itself with current issues surrounding the ethical treatment of personal data, speaking to the urgent need of more regulation, considering the large-scale misuses of geopolitical scale that have occurred over the past years. The work introduces the concept of Fair Data, a framework and guideline for organisations for treatment of personal data. Fair Data establishes standards for consent, collection, and ownership of personal data as well as recognising a fair economic value and usage of data. The twelve fragments of the work reference the twelve tables in Roman law, which form the basic foundation for civil law, the most widely used legal system today. Here, they form the basis for a new code that incorporates the evolvement of technology and its ethical implications.
Twelve Nodes provokes a public discussion on the design of a new legal framework to perhaps come to a collective and democratic understanding of how personal data and the rights attached to it should be treated. Democratic participation and networked cultural production are becoming part of the movement, with the aim of building new kinds of literacy for digital understanding and participation. Alongside its protocol and platform development Fair Data Society insists on the need for new forms of expression and new artistic practices to address the most urgent questions of our time, and seeks to educate and empower the digital subjects of today to become active, engaged, and effective digital citizens of the internet.
'Twelve Nodes' video documentation.
'Twelve Nodes' on view at Valetta Contemporary, Malta as part of Non-Aligned Networks show, 2019
'Twelve Nodes' on view at Valetta Contemporary, Malta as part of Non-Aligned Networks show, 2019
'Twelve Nodes' (fragments) on view at Valetta Contemporary, Malta as part of Non-Aligned Networks show, 2019
'Twelve Nodes' (fragments) on view at Valetta Contemporary, Malta as part of Non-Aligned Networks show, 2019
Studio Addresses
Ikejiri, Setagaya, Tokyo, Japan
Neubau, Vienna, Austria
Studio
E. G. Kraft – artist-researcher, founder
Anna Kraft – researcher, director
Contact:
mail[at]kraft.studio
Studio Addresses
Ikejiri, Setagaya, Tokyo, Japan
Neubau, Vienna, Austria
Contact
mail[at]kraft.studio
Studio
E. G. Kraft – artist-researcher, founder
Anna Kraft – researcher, director
