TerraRete

2023 - Ongoing

Polluted soil (from the Vacuum Oil site in Rochester's PLEX neighborhood), compost, custom software and hardware, vials of cleaned soil.

A [phylum] project

Brownfield Tokenization Prototype is an experimental project by [phylum] exploring tokenization oand verification of environmental remediation processes and ecosystem services as art. Contaminated soil taken from a brownfield site in Rochester, NY is used as a medium for generating cryptocurrency via bioremediation (the removal of environmental pollutants using biological systems such as bacteria, fungi, or plants). In a manner similar to the mining of cold for the use as a medium of exchange, Brownfield Tokenization Prototype utilizes the bioremeidation and electricity generating capacity of bacteria as the marker of value. Using a formula that converst the amount of remediated soil per cubic meter and the amount of electricity produced into cryptocurrency tokens (known as "TerraRete Credits"), we store and verify the value of this process on the Ethereum blockchain via what is known as a 'hybrid smart contract'. The system is part of a larger vision wherin bioremediation and its conrtibuation to environmental health, sustainability and urban renewal is rewarded via 'tokenized brownfield offsets', traceable, transparent, and automated systems that empower communities to take part in their own rejuvenation. Furthermore, the analogy to mining -- often used to describe energy intensive process of creating certain cryptocurrencies -- is inverted. Here, "mining" is not extractive but restorative. Money, value, and captial can now be created by ecological restoration, rather than degredation.

In summary, TerraRete represents a critical and conceptual engagement with biotechnology and the emerging web3 economy, representing an attempt at reimagining relationships between economies and ecologies via speculative systems of microorganic labor. The idea of turning a brownfield into a site of renewal, raises its cultural status, while the deployment of the blockchain structures outlined in this proposal can also raise the economic and financial status of the communities involved. In offering this novel, culturally oriented application of biotechnology and the blockchain, TerraRete embodies the kind of creative experimentation needed to address the larger socio- ecological context in which these technologies operate.

Exhibition card for Tomorrows at the Rochester Contemporary Art Center

Part of larger investigations looks at the question of can we create local and distributed economies that nurture the environment and promote environmental health in communities by creating a vibrant, arts-inspired reimagining of the potential of web3 technologies? By developing alternative uses of blockchain technology and establishing linkages to bioremediation, TerraRete will inspire dialogue about socially and ecological positive uses of these technologies and how they can foster a culture of community agency and autonomy over issues of environmental health and sustainability, energy production and adaptation to climate change. TerraRete will also help to inspire conversations on alternative economies and alternative models of ownership.

Repository

Source code:

https://github.com/phylumcollective/TokenizedBrownfield

https://github.com/phylumcollective/TokenizedBrownfield/tree/main/sensors