GENESIS : Art, Anti-Censorship, and Archain

Event : GENESIS — Art, Anti-Censorship, and Archain

Venue : St Ethelburga’s, 78 Bishopsgate, London, EC2N 4AG

Opening Night : 15th December 2017, open to the public from 8pm until 10pm

Final Night : 16th December 2017, open to the public from 7pm until 10pm

You may have seen our cryptic tweets about GENESIS over the past few weeks and wondered what we were planning… Well, the wait is now over! The Archain project’s GENESIS event is officially one month away, and we’re thrilled to share the details with everyone here today.

In a unique fusion of cutting edge cryptocurrency technology and visual arts, the Archain project will be hosting GENESIS, a free public art exhibition in the heart of the City of London, on the 15th and 16th of December 2017. A venture designed to bring the vision of the Archain project to a wide and varied audience, the GENESIS event will bring into sharp focus the urgent need to bolster our online freedoms.

Threats to our digital rights and internet freedoms press in from all sides, encroaching on and eroding our ability to freely access and share knowledge. These rights and liberties are of vital importance to the future of the internet, and are essential protection against both subtle invasions of our freedom of expression, and against the future development of authoritarian regimes.

We have all experienced the loss or alteration of online information — whether by accidental or purposeful means, whether by individuals or governments, and whether for nefarious or innocent reasons.

As so many of our backers and readers of this blog are already aware, the Archain project offers a solution to the problems of online data loss and alteration through the creation of a permanent, decentralised archive parallel to the internet.

GENESIS will celebrate the artistic and technological communities’ shared values of creativity and innovation, freedom of expression, and liberty from censorship. Presenting uncompromising works of illustration and poetry in dialogue around the themes of censorship and control, GENESIS represents the core values and principles that prompted the creation of the Archain project.

Innovative and highly successful artists Nathan Hassall and John Speed (Rebel Yuth) have created a series of artistic works inspired by and incorporating all of the Genesis block messages contributed by the Archain project’s crowdfunding backers. Ultimately, every single one of these uncensored messages will be stored eternally on the Genesis block of the Archain network. These permanently-stored messages offer future generations an honest and often touching insight into how passionately people today feel about their digital rights and freedoms.

GENESIS will be hosted within the heart of the City of London, in the historic Grade 1 listed venue St Ethelburga’s, 78 Bishopsgate. Originally built in the 14th century, this inspiring location serves as a perfect setting from which to explore themes of permanence and resilience, symbolising the enduring power of shared human history.

To reflect the Archain project’s principles of freedom of access to knowledge and information for all, both nights of the GENESIS exhibition will be open to all members of the public and press, entirely free of charge. Refreshments will be provided throughout the evening to welcome all attendees. Pre-sale contributors to the project of tier ‘Custodian’ or above will soon receive a formal invitation to an early opening of the GENESIS event on the 15th of December, providing an exciting opportunity for our team to personally meet with many of our early-stage supporters and contributors (we’re very excited!).

Artist Biographies

Nathan Hassall, writer and poet, is author and co-founder of experimental literary magazine Guttural, and an editor for The Luxenbourg Review. Hassall has had poetry published in an array of print media, including Episteme, The Thumb Print, Failed Haiku, cattails, and Yellow Chair Review. Following Hassall’s three previous full-length poetry collections, his most recent surrealist chapbook, The Flesh and Mortar Prophecy, was published in September 2017.

John Speed (Rebel Yuth), artist and illustrator, has collaborated with a multitude of brands and companies, including: Basement Approved, Schott NYC, Blackscale, Lightwork, Bench Sportswear, Caterpillar Boots, Adidas Originals, Stylecreep Menswear, Trainerspotter and S.O.O.N (Porky’s BBQ House). Speed’s previous projects include murals, editorial illustration, graphic design, international campaigns, and exhibitions at prestigious galleries such as Hoxton. Speed has also been interviewed, featured, and spotlighted in various publications such as Highsnobiety, Complex Boiler Room, Breaks Magazine, and I-D magazine.

We hope to see you in London!
-archain-team