Proof of Work: Blockchain Provocations 2011–2021

A beautifully produced anthology of crypto‑artist, writer, and hacker Rhea Myers's pioneering blockchain art, along with a selection of her essays, reviews, and fictions — a sustained critical encounter between the cultures and histories of the artworld and crypto‑utopianism, technically accomplished but always generously demystifying and often mischievous. Myers's deep understanding of the technical history and debates around blockchain technology is complemented by a broader sense of the crypto movement and the artistic and political sensibilities that accompanied its ascendancy. Remodeling the tropes of conceptual art and net.art to explore what blockchain technology reveals about our concepts of value, culture, and currency, Myers's work has become required viewing for anyone interested in the future of art, consensus, law, and collectivity.