Slamdance '22 Presents: Blockchain Fairy Tales

Those formerly known as the audience will become architects of the future in this collective storytelling event. We will explore a playful world, contend with magical threats, and face the question: What if Happily Ever After is Not Guaranteed? Together, we will create new myths that come to life on our screens.

This experience is made by many co-creators, leveraging Blockchain technology for creative purposes beyond commerce. Blockchain Fairy Tales examines the core of crypto through a speculative lens, subverts the current value system of cryptocurrency and uplifts shared community values. What if our voices could be part of a social system that uses decentralization to challenge the most hierarchical systems we have?

Event Information

Blockchain Fairy Tales (BFT) will take place over Zoom and Miro (a collaborative whiteboard platform). A Zoom link will be sent to the email you registered with. Feel free to share the event page, but please do not share the Zoom link on social media.

Blockchain Fairy Tales is free to all attendees of the 2022 Slamdance Film Festival. You do not need a festival pass to participate, but you will need a computer and a reliable internet connection.

What Can I Expect From BFT?

We will make connections in a playful environment.
We will collectively dispel some existential dread around our future.
We will create new myths that encapsulate the complexities of our world.
We will examine the environmental shifts that redefine our world.
We will spur each other toward creative action around climate justice.

"What if Happily Ever After Is Not Guaranteed?"

In the spirit of shared values with Slamdance, Columbia University’s School of the Arts’ Digital Storytelling Lab (DSL) presents Blockchain Fairy Tales (BFT), a storytelling experience that ignites imaginations, the idea of speculative futures, and renders the sharing of resources and information as a tactile experience. This particular iteration of BFT examines the fairy tale “happy ending” through the lens of our current climate crisis.

In partnership with Slamdance, we have an opportunity to challenge the pipeline that brings artists and audiences together. It is imperative that we collectively shape the way this technology is used. What if we could take this innovation and use it to re-evaluate our past and change our future? It is our hope that participants feel uplifted by shared connections and inspired to transform anxiety into action.

Note on BFT's Use of the Blockchain

We are actively exploring how to address the environmental and cultural impact of cryptocurrency. Blockchain Fairy Tales (BFT) uses the open-source Tezos Blockchain. In a 2021 report by PwC, the Tezos blockchain accounted for 50 million annual transactions while the whole network constituted an energy footprint of 17 world citizens. Tezos has a lower carbon footprint, and makes it possible for creators to leverage this innovative platform without compromising on sustainability—because what is innovation if it is not sustainable?

Our goal is to design ways to create around the systematic threats of our world. DAOs (Decentralized Autonomous Orgs) point to new forms of collectives and actions around the climate crisis. What if we use smart contracts and cryptocurrency to set new precedents? What if DAOs could be harnessed as a way to organize action and empower social impact? We could assist each other in becoming architects of the future, before legislation prevents this kind of collective action from occurring.

Who Are the Makers Behind BFT?

Blockchain Fairy Tales is a collaboration between Columbia University’s School of the Arts’ Digital Storytelling Lab (DSL) and many co-creators.

The core Slamdance team includes:

Lance Weiler
Nick Fortugno
Romy Nehme
Jörgen van der Sloot
Takaaki Okada
Char Simpson
Stephen Smith
Tanya Vlach
Olivia Powell
Aaron Santiago
Reiner Clabbers

Slamdance ’22 Presents: Blockchain Fairy Tales