Editorial
Over the last four years the editors have been interested in tracing how the art, design and technology community have responded to the advent of all things blockchain. From the rise and fall of the Bitcoin currency to the explosion of Initial Coin Offerings (ICO), creatives have been quick to develop theoretical and practical frameworks that explore, test and critique distributed ledger technologies.
The majority of this issue of Ubiquity is dedicated to reporting upon a vivid period of hype as it cycled through anarcho-capitalist hopes and dreams, through a trough of disillusionment and a plateau of questions about life in a post-centralised society.
This edition has collected a series of articles, an interview, a manifesto from an arts collective and a lab with further short papers, that develops a criticality toward all things blockchain. Collectively they chart the rise in interest as the hype grew, and the challenges as the shine of bitcoin wore off.
Chris Speed, Chris Elsden and Bettina Nissen