Working Group 2
Software-based Art and Ownership
Hideki Tsukamoto, Singularity, 2021. Courtesy of the artist
WG2 examines the collection, preservation and ownership of software-based artworks with complex dependencies, ranging from 1990s online art to current blockchain-based artworks. Its scope includes emerging curatorial, conservation and legal frameworks, alongside copyright and security questions arising from new infrastructures such as blockchain. The work is organised chronologically across four grant periods: the first (2026) focuses on blockchain-based art, examining its ecosystem and legal dependencies with a view to preservation; the second (2027) turns to net art from the 1990s to the present; the third (2028) addresses graphically intensive works dependent on powerful hardware; and the fourth (2029) examines works that rely on live large language models (live-AI).
What we're working on
Starting with blockchain-based art.
Our first topic is blockchain-based art: from a survey of the acquisition history of NFTs and software-based art, to compiling resources and guidelines for preserving NFTs, to identifying legal obstacles to preservation across EU countries.
In parallel we are mapping NFT ecosystems and their dependencies to establish preservation risks, and identifying the tools and requirements needed to preserve blockchain-based works — building the groundwork for the net art, graphics-intensive and live-AI works that follow in later years.
Focus
Three WG2 subgroups
Subgroup 2.1
Preservation practices for software-based art
Institutional and wider practices for preserving software-based art.
Coordinators
Per work package
Work packages
WP 2.1.1 · Online discussion on NFTs / blockchain-based art
Lead: Manon Abt
WP 2.1.2 · Display as a driver for preservation
Lead: Sofia Ponte & Lara Mejac
WP 2.1.3 · Survey on acquisition history for NFTs / SBA
Lead: Joost Dofferhoff
WP 2.1.4 · Guidelines for NFT acquisition & preservation; Zotero bibliography
Lead: Deena Engel
Subgroup 2.2
The socio-technical context of practice
Ownership, provenance and barriers to collecting software-based artworks.
Coordinators
Per work package
Work packages
WP 2.2.1 · Legal obstacles to NFT preservation, EU-wide and by country
Lead: Daniil Shmatkov
WP 2.2.2 · Mapping legal dependencies in software-based artworks
Lead: Patricia Falcão
Subgroup 2.3
Tools and infrastructure for preservation
The tools, infrastructure and networks of carers who preserve software-based art.
Coordinators
Per work package
Work packages
WP 2.3.1 · Mapping the NFT ecosystem
Lead: Kelani Nichole
WP 2.3.2 · Dependencies & preservation strategies for NFTs / blockchain art
Lead: Mona Ulrich
WP 2.3.3 · Tools and infrastructure for NFT preservation
Lead: Boban Joksimoski
Activities
What's on from WG2
Mar 2026
Meeting
Face-to-face meeting in Amsterdam — defining the work packages
Amsterdam · WG2
past
May 2026
Training School
Collecting & Preserving Blockchain-Based Art
ZKM, Karlsruhe, Germany
past
Monthly
Meeting
Online meetings on work-package progress & WG2 topics
Online · all WG2 members
open
Outputs
From WG2, in the Knowledge hub
Blog
Collecting and preserving blockchain-based art
Forthcoming
Open in Knowledge hub
Explore the other Working Groups
Get involved
Contribute to WG2.
Conservators, curators, legal experts, technologists and researchers working on software-based, net and blockchain-based art are welcome to join. New to EMBARK? See how membership works, then reach out to the leads.