aronThe Ghost Context Thesis
For those new to the concept, "ghost context" refers to a shared context—generated at the intersection of common experiences, interests, or connections—that exists before or beyond the awareness of those who inhabit it. Surfacing awareness of shared reference points often deepens existing relationships, leads to new ones, and accelerates collaboration and belonging. At ghostcontext.xyz, we are bringing the concept to life first through the lens of NFT collections. The app we’ve built gives us...
aronGhosts in the Synchronicity Machine
For newcomers, this is part of an ongoing series of blog posts examining applications of a concept we introduced earlier this year called "ghost context.” For those new to the concept, ghost context refers to any shared context—generated at the intersection of common experiences, interests, or connections—that exists before or beyond the awareness of those who inhabit it. Surfacing awareness of these types of shared reference points often deepens existing relationships, leads to new ones, and...
aronGhost Context Remix Contest (Writing + Art)
Calling all context designers, remix artists, divergent dreamers, seekers and hyperconnectors! Recognizing that the utility of ghostcontext.xyz is currently limited by what we have chosen to collectively bring and mint onchain, we understand that its value might be held on reserve for your future selves. With that in mind, we hope engaging with the conceptual underpinnings of ghost context can still prove to be a rewarding exercise for your imagination, both literally and figuratively.The cal...
Designing a navigating various contextual arrangements w/ an enigmatic sense of hope. Summoning kindred spirits at ghostcontext.xyz.
aronThe Ghost Context Thesis
For those new to the concept, "ghost context" refers to a shared context—generated at the intersection of common experiences, interests, or connections—that exists before or beyond the awareness of those who inhabit it. Surfacing awareness of shared reference points often deepens existing relationships, leads to new ones, and accelerates collaboration and belonging. At ghostcontext.xyz, we are bringing the concept to life first through the lens of NFT collections. The app we’ve built gives us...
aronGhosts in the Synchronicity Machine
For newcomers, this is part of an ongoing series of blog posts examining applications of a concept we introduced earlier this year called "ghost context.” For those new to the concept, ghost context refers to any shared context—generated at the intersection of common experiences, interests, or connections—that exists before or beyond the awareness of those who inhabit it. Surfacing awareness of these types of shared reference points often deepens existing relationships, leads to new ones, and...
aronGhost Context Remix Contest (Writing + Art)
Calling all context designers, remix artists, divergent dreamers, seekers and hyperconnectors! Recognizing that the utility of ghostcontext.xyz is currently limited by what we have chosen to collectively bring and mint onchain, we understand that its value might be held on reserve for your future selves. With that in mind, we hope engaging with the conceptual underpinnings of ghost context can still prove to be a rewarding exercise for your imagination, both literally and figuratively.The cal...
Designing a navigating various contextual arrangements w/ an enigmatic sense of hope. Summoning kindred spirits at ghostcontext.xyz.
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For newcomers, this is part of an ongoing series of blog posts examining applications of a concept we call ‘ghost context.’ For those new to the concept, ‘ghost context’ refers to any shared context—generated at the intersection of common experiences, interests, or connections—that exists before or beyond the awareness of those who inhabit it. Surfacing awareness of these types of shared reference points often deepens existing relationships, leads to new ones, and accelerates collaboration and belonging. We have focused our energy on looking at ways to surface ghost context within the realm of Web3.
For those who have been following along, let’s go deeper.
In my last post, ‘The Ghosts in the Synchronicity Machine’, we built upon the concept of ‘ghost context’ by introducing an adjacent concept we termed ‘engineered synchronicity’ and invited your imagination to venture across a series of fictional stories whose protagonists were brought together with kindred spirits by leveraging various forms of ghost context analysis.
In this post, I will share a ghost context analysis I recently conducted on my current PFP. Through this analysis, I'll share some interesting things about the analysis as a whole. From there, the NFTs included in the analysis will serve as a sort of map, giving you an intimate, first-hand look at some of the onchain media that has resonated with me along my Web3 journey.
By the end, I hope that you leave in possession of three things: 1) an interest in experimenting with ghostcontext.xyz, 2) a new awareness of interesting projects/initiatives in the space, and 3) a richer understanding of who I am, not just as a fellow Web3 explorer, but hopefully, as a kindred spirit weaving a unique, but relatable story in this new and evolving digital landscape.
nft://7777777/0x4D2345ca8757e4034770a9c88B70c7AF08E622a1/?showBuying=false&showMeta=false
My PFP references 25 NFT collections across Ethereum and Zora. I designed it using SOURCE by titles.xyz, an AI-powered creative tool for remixing NFTs, which means the contracts of the original NFTs are stored in the PFP itself. And while I handpicked this particular assemblage of NFTs under some constraints (e.g. the blockchains, the design tools available through the app) and a partial eye toward aesthetic preferences, for the most part, the NFTs included here were selected for a trait you will not find listed on OpenSea—resonance. With that in mind, let’s take a look at the other wallets these NFTs resonated with and see what we might infer in the process.
Using ghostcontext.xyz to analyze across the two chains housing these collections, we discover that there are 17,981 unique wallet addresses associated with the collections queried in this analysis. The inference here is that 17,981 wallet addresses resonated with at least one of the following NFTs included in this post enough to mint.
And while it feels nice to reveal this shared context (i.e. this ghost context we inhabit) and to know that I could likely have a nice chat with the 17,000 others about at least one of these pieces, common sense tells us it would probably serve us better to spend our time ensuring we know or get to know the top 20 kindred spirits who resonated with the highest number of NFTs in our analysis, or maybe even just the top 0.02% listed in the screenshot above.
If we were able to run the tape back, circa around 400 days ago, and took into account that I possessed far fewer collections at that time to analyze, we would discover this intuitive piece of logic, and the corresponding actions which have informed so much of my journey.
At that time, I wasn’t familiar with all but a few names summoned to the top of my results. These days, I actively follow many of them and have connected and collaborated with a number of them.
Over time, I’ve learned that this result—a familiarity with the names in the top results—is something that many will experience. In fact, given our natural propensity to tribalize, it may be the result for the vast majority who conduct a retrospective analysis across their most resonant collections.
However, one of the most interesting aspects in continuing to mint what resonates has been the ability to come back and generate fresh results by putting different combinations of collections under analysis. In my last post, I called this ‘retrospective foresight’ and it’s something I continue to advocate for and keep in mind when acquiring new NFTs.
If I have played my words right, you should now have #1 - an interest in experimenting with ghost context.
Author note: Last month, per results from a ghost context analysis that put us in a unique shared context, I had the great fortune of visiting with Denis Nazarov (nis.eth), founder of Mirror, over Zoom. Inspired by some ideas Denis shared during that call, I started to imagine NFTs as construction material for the creation of digital third places, and it ultimately proved to be a short leap from turning those ideas around in my mind to arriving at the idea that a PFP could serve as a map.
This section is going to be straightforward. My aim here is to equip you with #2 - a new awareness of interesting people, projects, groups, and/or initiatives in the space. To accomplish this, we will visit the 25 NFT collections referenced in my PFP (our map) and describe some of the resonating factors that I feel made them worthy of inclusion. Hopefully, you’ll find a few that were not on your radar and be beckoned into closer inspection.
nft://1/0xd9B6206D7001AEdC02CeA223D4E905fF3AD77e8c/?showBuying=false&showMeta=false
This NFT was the first NFT I minted after my ENS name. I minted it as part of an interactive essay entitled Signature Economies by Kernel. The essay explores what it means to own and is guided by the overarching question, "How can we use technology to cultivate more reciprocal relationships?" Readers were invited to highlight any text they found most meaningful and mint it as an NFT. I highlighted and minted the following lines from the essay.
“umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu”: a human being is only a human being through other human beings, and the Kanien'kehá:ka phrase “I’ionrhek thiia’tionha’ak nonen tion’kwatorohon”: we are individual but we discover ourselves within the collective.
nft://1/0x2aFC7e19c52a7fbd219744B1dC97e3bb605A0e93/?showBuying=false&showMeta=false
Around this same time, I stumbled upon this thought-provoking talk led by Reggie James and Eugene Angelo entitled ‘This Could Still Be a Movement: Why Mars Needs a Creative Director’. I originally encountered Reggie via a Crypto, Culture & Society Journal piece on Mirror called ‘Expanding Cultural References’—that piece anchored some of my earliest formulations of the concept of ghost context. In my estimation, Reggie is a force of nature. If you are already familiar, but not familiar with those pieces from a few years ago, spin up your favorite bookmarking tool.
Curator 46 was an NFT that allowed me to curate articles for the Folklore community on Pulse by Forefront, an early predecessor/experiment that seems like it led to Spotlight. Startupy Season Zero was a curator NFT for the predecessor to Sublime. I believe these projects (Folklore, Sublime, and Forefront) taken together are home to some of the most interesting curation efforts happening on the internet, and I believe this because they are each interrogating curation through its multiplayer dimensions and being stewarded by people pulling forward bleeding-edge ideas, provocations and possibility spaces.
Whether you look into the past at Folklore's ARK experiment, Startupy's hivemind experiment, or at more recent experiments and meta-research like:
https://folklore.mirror.xyz/v3KHFm-Fz288fjTIcp5Gd63rXoANBewXqbypQqZesSw
https://drop.forefront.market/
https://broadcast.mirror.xyz/wi3V5CmA4JW3S1u1Ta9pzA9PO0dIyjtH0DrVA3_RfFc
In essence, these NFTs represent my dive, head-first into the rabbit hole of internet curation. A place where context reigns supreme.
I am presently a curator within both Folklore and Sublime.
Authors note: The title of my PFP, Post Individual, was inspired by Yancey Strickler, Cofounder of Metalabel, and ideas he has shared in a number of interviews related to post-individualism.
As we venture deeper into this Dark Forest, context not only reigns supreme, but more specifically, context is queen.
https://x.com/ystrickler/status/1516420845119459332?s=20
Metalabel Drops, Metalabel Record Club and the Quorum DAO Anthology were released by…well, Metalabel.
But what is a metalabel?
Metalabels are groups of people working under a common identity for a common purpose with a focus on releases — distinct public works that reflect and manifest their views. Metalabels are like indie record labels, except for any kind of cultural project: from art to activism to community projects to efforts to establish new points of view.
Metalabel Record Club and Metalabel Drops were NFT collection names for two publications: ‘After The Creator Economy’ and ‘A New Creative Era,’ respectively.
After The Creator Economy is a publication that explores constructive alternatives for the ways we produce, distribute, and monetize creative work online.
A New Creative Era calls for a new paradigm for how creative people relate to one another. A shift from the hyper-individualism of our age to a new focus on collaboration and mutual support.
The DAO Anthology is a curated collection of essays exploring the Theory, Practice, and Future of DAOs. Two of my favorite reads since entering this corner of the universe were curated into this collection: ‘A Theory of Justice for Web3’ by Li Jin + Katie Parrott and ‘Squad Wealth’ by Sam Hart + Toby Shorin + Laura Lotti.
https://quorum.metalabel.app/dao-anthology
The most amazing thing about all of these is that you can still access each of the files for free via the links I included above.
A few of these pieces were part of a larger collection of ten quality drops, which earned more than $1 million from 3,600 collectors distributed among 146 creators and more than 20 labels.
Metalabel, as a squad, has been such a source of inspiration in my journey. I'm personally driven by the idea that there are more just and joyful futures out there seeking our presence. Metalabel, in so many ways, confirms that those futures are not just out there, but many are already here if you know where to look.
Authors note: I would be remiss if I didn’t link Metalabel’s reflections on the crypto scene.
Speaking of futures, that is exactly what this stop is all about. Introducing RADAR, a decentralized global collective of 300+ researchers, early adopters and innovators accelerating better futures.
When it comes to NFTs, RADAR is similar to Metalabel in that the squad has and might continue to make use of Web3 infrastructure, but it is only insofar as it is in support of grandeur visions—a vision for a future in sync, a vision for multiplayer futures, a vision for a more playful future, or maybe our centaur future.
The mantra is “The future belongs to those who think about it.” If you are someone, as I am, who spends an inordinate time thinking about “it”, the invitation is to join hundreds of researchers, strategists, cultural analysts, network weavers, creative catalysts, facilitators, producers, entrepreneurs, co-designers, writers, and makers, and think about the future together. Come for the scene, stay for the scenius.
nft://1/0x9AEFd6d4feF5b70119FC194D81EbAD761A3269C4/?showBuying=false&showMeta=false
Another scene cultivating its own scenius, Farcaster. Opepen Purple Edition represents my nod to Farcaster and Purple, a DAO whose goal is to proliferate and expand the Farcaster protocol and ecosystem. The origin story behind the first prototype of ghost context was first published on Farcaster, and then republished on Mirror. The person who nudged me to share the story is a Purple DAO member.
https://opensea.io/assets/ethereum/0x728f6e35C3ECE2fD121A0cEB54AeB71774316c2E/79
Disco District, an NFT I minted as part of a collaborative proof-of-concept between Disco.xyz and District Labs. As challenging as I find wrapping my head around the technical details, I yearn for the day that we can conduct ghost context analyses that include decentralized identifiers (DIDs) and verifiable credentials. Evin's takes on how these technologies improve our relationship with identity are approachable and important.
https://opensea.io/assets/ethereum/0x49bd7FAd523049f6286C2df301C8364c28157c12/724
Social Contracts #724 is the ghost context of my Ethereum-based NFTs in graph form and, as a project, this NFT remains the closest approximation to ghost context from a conceptual POV.
Social Contracts is a series of living artworks that trace their collectors' collections and their shared connections to other collectors, using the collection graph to project future acquisitions.
Burak Arikan, the creator of this collection, is a mad graph genius.
https://opensea.io/assets/ethereum/0xa698713a3bc386970Cdc95A720B5754cC0f96931/85
A simple ERC721, Words, allowed you to mint strings of text that were stored onchain. If memory serves me right (it normally doesn’t), this is the first creation I brought onchain? I may be unsure about that detail, but I do know I return to the Multidimensional Citation essay where I first encountered these words over and over again. This post is a personal attempt at accounting for the learning trails that led to the concept of ghost context, my PFP is an attempt at this gesture as well.
https://opensea.io/assets/0x5B8c0D2CdF985BD5521B9Dc944A535bDD3A8259d/1
PIRAT3 in some way (maybe in an extreme sort of way) is linked to the concept of multidimensional citation. ‘Learning trails’, ‘maps that lead directly back to the creators,’ positive-sum attribution, positive-sum piracy. It feels like there is something here.
https://x.com/0xigami/status/1712336757407269295?s=20
This final NFT, The Magic Machine, is the 11-11 clock located in the left eye of my PFP. According to Zora, they’ve created a Magic Machine, and it can produce Magic™ for anyone willing to upload their imagination, no ETH required. As much as I appreciate and support the ethos Zora is tangibly manifesting in the space, I didn’t even know about the Magic Machine reference at the time I minted this.
I minted it on November 12, 2023 without noticing it was a nod to the day prior, 11/11, lol. I minted it simply because the artwork resonated with me. My friend and I have this ritual where we text each other at 11:11 each time we happen to catch it. I don’t even know how many years we have been doing this, but it’s been more than a handful. There are weeks where that is all our thread is composed of.
Humans establish connections with other humans in innumerable ways, they maintain them in numberable ways, sometimes quite literally.
I guess what I’m trying to say is that perhaps the Magic™ of the Magic Machine isn't just in the innovation it represents or the creativity it invites (and rewards) but also in the unique way it allows us to connect and to be connected across the innumerable and staggeringly diverse ways things resonate with us. Stated another way, Zora produces a lot of ghost context, and the ability to surface it and discover a new kindred spirit is a pretty magical feeling.
These NFTs are the only creations of my own included in the PFP, but I imagine we’ve done enough reflection for one MIrror post.🪞
After all…
For newcomers, this is part of an ongoing series of blog posts examining applications of a concept we call ‘ghost context.’ For those new to the concept, ‘ghost context’ refers to any shared context—generated at the intersection of common experiences, interests, or connections—that exists before or beyond the awareness of those who inhabit it. Surfacing awareness of these types of shared reference points often deepens existing relationships, leads to new ones, and accelerates collaboration and belonging. We have focused our energy on looking at ways to surface ghost context within the realm of Web3.
For those who have been following along, let’s go deeper.
In my last post, ‘The Ghosts in the Synchronicity Machine’, we built upon the concept of ‘ghost context’ by introducing an adjacent concept we termed ‘engineered synchronicity’ and invited your imagination to venture across a series of fictional stories whose protagonists were brought together with kindred spirits by leveraging various forms of ghost context analysis.
In this post, I will share a ghost context analysis I recently conducted on my current PFP. Through this analysis, I'll share some interesting things about the analysis as a whole. From there, the NFTs included in the analysis will serve as a sort of map, giving you an intimate, first-hand look at some of the onchain media that has resonated with me along my Web3 journey.
By the end, I hope that you leave in possession of three things: 1) an interest in experimenting with ghostcontext.xyz, 2) a new awareness of interesting projects/initiatives in the space, and 3) a richer understanding of who I am, not just as a fellow Web3 explorer, but hopefully, as a kindred spirit weaving a unique, but relatable story in this new and evolving digital landscape.
nft://7777777/0x4D2345ca8757e4034770a9c88B70c7AF08E622a1/?showBuying=false&showMeta=false
My PFP references 25 NFT collections across Ethereum and Zora. I designed it using SOURCE by titles.xyz, an AI-powered creative tool for remixing NFTs, which means the contracts of the original NFTs are stored in the PFP itself. And while I handpicked this particular assemblage of NFTs under some constraints (e.g. the blockchains, the design tools available through the app) and a partial eye toward aesthetic preferences, for the most part, the NFTs included here were selected for a trait you will not find listed on OpenSea—resonance. With that in mind, let’s take a look at the other wallets these NFTs resonated with and see what we might infer in the process.
Using ghostcontext.xyz to analyze across the two chains housing these collections, we discover that there are 17,981 unique wallet addresses associated with the collections queried in this analysis. The inference here is that 17,981 wallet addresses resonated with at least one of the following NFTs included in this post enough to mint.
And while it feels nice to reveal this shared context (i.e. this ghost context we inhabit) and to know that I could likely have a nice chat with the 17,000 others about at least one of these pieces, common sense tells us it would probably serve us better to spend our time ensuring we know or get to know the top 20 kindred spirits who resonated with the highest number of NFTs in our analysis, or maybe even just the top 0.02% listed in the screenshot above.
If we were able to run the tape back, circa around 400 days ago, and took into account that I possessed far fewer collections at that time to analyze, we would discover this intuitive piece of logic, and the corresponding actions which have informed so much of my journey.
At that time, I wasn’t familiar with all but a few names summoned to the top of my results. These days, I actively follow many of them and have connected and collaborated with a number of them.
Over time, I’ve learned that this result—a familiarity with the names in the top results—is something that many will experience. In fact, given our natural propensity to tribalize, it may be the result for the vast majority who conduct a retrospective analysis across their most resonant collections.
However, one of the most interesting aspects in continuing to mint what resonates has been the ability to come back and generate fresh results by putting different combinations of collections under analysis. In my last post, I called this ‘retrospective foresight’ and it’s something I continue to advocate for and keep in mind when acquiring new NFTs.
If I have played my words right, you should now have #1 - an interest in experimenting with ghost context.
Author note: Last month, per results from a ghost context analysis that put us in a unique shared context, I had the great fortune of visiting with Denis Nazarov (nis.eth), founder of Mirror, over Zoom. Inspired by some ideas Denis shared during that call, I started to imagine NFTs as construction material for the creation of digital third places, and it ultimately proved to be a short leap from turning those ideas around in my mind to arriving at the idea that a PFP could serve as a map.
This section is going to be straightforward. My aim here is to equip you with #2 - a new awareness of interesting people, projects, groups, and/or initiatives in the space. To accomplish this, we will visit the 25 NFT collections referenced in my PFP (our map) and describe some of the resonating factors that I feel made them worthy of inclusion. Hopefully, you’ll find a few that were not on your radar and be beckoned into closer inspection.
nft://1/0xd9B6206D7001AEdC02CeA223D4E905fF3AD77e8c/?showBuying=false&showMeta=false
This NFT was the first NFT I minted after my ENS name. I minted it as part of an interactive essay entitled Signature Economies by Kernel. The essay explores what it means to own and is guided by the overarching question, "How can we use technology to cultivate more reciprocal relationships?" Readers were invited to highlight any text they found most meaningful and mint it as an NFT. I highlighted and minted the following lines from the essay.
“umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu”: a human being is only a human being through other human beings, and the Kanien'kehá:ka phrase “I’ionrhek thiia’tionha’ak nonen tion’kwatorohon”: we are individual but we discover ourselves within the collective.
nft://1/0x2aFC7e19c52a7fbd219744B1dC97e3bb605A0e93/?showBuying=false&showMeta=false
Around this same time, I stumbled upon this thought-provoking talk led by Reggie James and Eugene Angelo entitled ‘This Could Still Be a Movement: Why Mars Needs a Creative Director’. I originally encountered Reggie via a Crypto, Culture & Society Journal piece on Mirror called ‘Expanding Cultural References’—that piece anchored some of my earliest formulations of the concept of ghost context. In my estimation, Reggie is a force of nature. If you are already familiar, but not familiar with those pieces from a few years ago, spin up your favorite bookmarking tool.
Curator 46 was an NFT that allowed me to curate articles for the Folklore community on Pulse by Forefront, an early predecessor/experiment that seems like it led to Spotlight. Startupy Season Zero was a curator NFT for the predecessor to Sublime. I believe these projects (Folklore, Sublime, and Forefront) taken together are home to some of the most interesting curation efforts happening on the internet, and I believe this because they are each interrogating curation through its multiplayer dimensions and being stewarded by people pulling forward bleeding-edge ideas, provocations and possibility spaces.
Whether you look into the past at Folklore's ARK experiment, Startupy's hivemind experiment, or at more recent experiments and meta-research like:
https://folklore.mirror.xyz/v3KHFm-Fz288fjTIcp5Gd63rXoANBewXqbypQqZesSw
https://drop.forefront.market/
https://broadcast.mirror.xyz/wi3V5CmA4JW3S1u1Ta9pzA9PO0dIyjtH0DrVA3_RfFc
In essence, these NFTs represent my dive, head-first into the rabbit hole of internet curation. A place where context reigns supreme.
I am presently a curator within both Folklore and Sublime.
Authors note: The title of my PFP, Post Individual, was inspired by Yancey Strickler, Cofounder of Metalabel, and ideas he has shared in a number of interviews related to post-individualism.
As we venture deeper into this Dark Forest, context not only reigns supreme, but more specifically, context is queen.
https://x.com/ystrickler/status/1516420845119459332?s=20
Metalabel Drops, Metalabel Record Club and the Quorum DAO Anthology were released by…well, Metalabel.
But what is a metalabel?
Metalabels are groups of people working under a common identity for a common purpose with a focus on releases — distinct public works that reflect and manifest their views. Metalabels are like indie record labels, except for any kind of cultural project: from art to activism to community projects to efforts to establish new points of view.
Metalabel Record Club and Metalabel Drops were NFT collection names for two publications: ‘After The Creator Economy’ and ‘A New Creative Era,’ respectively.
After The Creator Economy is a publication that explores constructive alternatives for the ways we produce, distribute, and monetize creative work online.
A New Creative Era calls for a new paradigm for how creative people relate to one another. A shift from the hyper-individualism of our age to a new focus on collaboration and mutual support.
The DAO Anthology is a curated collection of essays exploring the Theory, Practice, and Future of DAOs. Two of my favorite reads since entering this corner of the universe were curated into this collection: ‘A Theory of Justice for Web3’ by Li Jin + Katie Parrott and ‘Squad Wealth’ by Sam Hart + Toby Shorin + Laura Lotti.
https://quorum.metalabel.app/dao-anthology
The most amazing thing about all of these is that you can still access each of the files for free via the links I included above.
A few of these pieces were part of a larger collection of ten quality drops, which earned more than $1 million from 3,600 collectors distributed among 146 creators and more than 20 labels.
Metalabel, as a squad, has been such a source of inspiration in my journey. I'm personally driven by the idea that there are more just and joyful futures out there seeking our presence. Metalabel, in so many ways, confirms that those futures are not just out there, but many are already here if you know where to look.
Authors note: I would be remiss if I didn’t link Metalabel’s reflections on the crypto scene.
Speaking of futures, that is exactly what this stop is all about. Introducing RADAR, a decentralized global collective of 300+ researchers, early adopters and innovators accelerating better futures.
When it comes to NFTs, RADAR is similar to Metalabel in that the squad has and might continue to make use of Web3 infrastructure, but it is only insofar as it is in support of grandeur visions—a vision for a future in sync, a vision for multiplayer futures, a vision for a more playful future, or maybe our centaur future.
The mantra is “The future belongs to those who think about it.” If you are someone, as I am, who spends an inordinate time thinking about “it”, the invitation is to join hundreds of researchers, strategists, cultural analysts, network weavers, creative catalysts, facilitators, producers, entrepreneurs, co-designers, writers, and makers, and think about the future together. Come for the scene, stay for the scenius.
nft://1/0x9AEFd6d4feF5b70119FC194D81EbAD761A3269C4/?showBuying=false&showMeta=false
Another scene cultivating its own scenius, Farcaster. Opepen Purple Edition represents my nod to Farcaster and Purple, a DAO whose goal is to proliferate and expand the Farcaster protocol and ecosystem. The origin story behind the first prototype of ghost context was first published on Farcaster, and then republished on Mirror. The person who nudged me to share the story is a Purple DAO member.
https://opensea.io/assets/ethereum/0x728f6e35C3ECE2fD121A0cEB54AeB71774316c2E/79
Disco District, an NFT I minted as part of a collaborative proof-of-concept between Disco.xyz and District Labs. As challenging as I find wrapping my head around the technical details, I yearn for the day that we can conduct ghost context analyses that include decentralized identifiers (DIDs) and verifiable credentials. Evin's takes on how these technologies improve our relationship with identity are approachable and important.
https://opensea.io/assets/ethereum/0x49bd7FAd523049f6286C2df301C8364c28157c12/724
Social Contracts #724 is the ghost context of my Ethereum-based NFTs in graph form and, as a project, this NFT remains the closest approximation to ghost context from a conceptual POV.
Social Contracts is a series of living artworks that trace their collectors' collections and their shared connections to other collectors, using the collection graph to project future acquisitions.
Burak Arikan, the creator of this collection, is a mad graph genius.
https://opensea.io/assets/ethereum/0xa698713a3bc386970Cdc95A720B5754cC0f96931/85
A simple ERC721, Words, allowed you to mint strings of text that were stored onchain. If memory serves me right (it normally doesn’t), this is the first creation I brought onchain? I may be unsure about that detail, but I do know I return to the Multidimensional Citation essay where I first encountered these words over and over again. This post is a personal attempt at accounting for the learning trails that led to the concept of ghost context, my PFP is an attempt at this gesture as well.
https://opensea.io/assets/0x5B8c0D2CdF985BD5521B9Dc944A535bDD3A8259d/1
PIRAT3 in some way (maybe in an extreme sort of way) is linked to the concept of multidimensional citation. ‘Learning trails’, ‘maps that lead directly back to the creators,’ positive-sum attribution, positive-sum piracy. It feels like there is something here.
https://x.com/0xigami/status/1712336757407269295?s=20
This final NFT, The Magic Machine, is the 11-11 clock located in the left eye of my PFP. According to Zora, they’ve created a Magic Machine, and it can produce Magic™ for anyone willing to upload their imagination, no ETH required. As much as I appreciate and support the ethos Zora is tangibly manifesting in the space, I didn’t even know about the Magic Machine reference at the time I minted this.
I minted it on November 12, 2023 without noticing it was a nod to the day prior, 11/11, lol. I minted it simply because the artwork resonated with me. My friend and I have this ritual where we text each other at 11:11 each time we happen to catch it. I don’t even know how many years we have been doing this, but it’s been more than a handful. There are weeks where that is all our thread is composed of.
Humans establish connections with other humans in innumerable ways, they maintain them in numberable ways, sometimes quite literally.
I guess what I’m trying to say is that perhaps the Magic™ of the Magic Machine isn't just in the innovation it represents or the creativity it invites (and rewards) but also in the unique way it allows us to connect and to be connected across the innumerable and staggeringly diverse ways things resonate with us. Stated another way, Zora produces a lot of ghost context, and the ability to surface it and discover a new kindred spirit is a pretty magical feeling.
These NFTs are the only creations of my own included in the PFP, but I imagine we’ve done enough reflection for one MIrror post.🪞
After all…
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