Paper 19: Recording Relations Between Artworks in NFTs: A Layer Separate from Ownership

Cut & Build is a sculpture series in which wooden boards are cut and rejoined. In the course of thispractice, I have recorded the relations that arise between objects as tokens on a blockchain (NFTs).This paper revisits that attempt through a question in the philosophy of art: What is an artwork? Is arelation between artworks a part of the artwork, or an event on a different layer? I describe a design inwhich the record of relations is placed on a layer separate from the record of ownership.Three cases from the practice are presented: a chain of relations that closes into a loop; the record of arelation that did not appear; and a structure in which two independent relations coexist in one object.From these cases I draw a line between what to record and what not to record: structural facts arerecorded, and the reasons for the artist’s judgments are not. I also report an episode in which thecollection was delisted by a platform, and argue that the phrase “independent of an administrator” hasto be checked layer by layer: the record itself, the content of the record, the access point, and the placeof explanation.Trading and price are neither prohibited nor promised. Whether recording relations can produce somenew value is left as an open question. The aim of the paper is to offer questions that creators can testagainst their own practice.