FWB - Editorial

F/W 2023 Budget Updates

All the nitty gritty on how well we did in Q3 and what's next for Q4!

WEB3 IN THE WOODS: FEST COLLABORATOR ROLL CALL

This year's FWB FEST features 36 collaborating partners and respective communities working to build the new internet. Here’s what each has planned for our destination gathering, happening August 4–6 in Idyllwild, CA.

FWB Summer 2023: Towards Further Decentralization

FWB Staff

In the first half of 2023, we successfully reconfigured FWB’s operational model. Here’s where we’re going next, and how we’re getting there.

MANI.FEST.O

FWB Staff

FEST is a destination gathering of new-internet communities, and a temporary network city for creating culture and exploring new ideas. Here’s how we’re planning it, and why you should join us.

Artists Talk About A.I. Art

David Blumenstein

Read “Octane Render,” a non-fiction comic by David Blumenstein.

Should Musicians Keep Believing in Web3?

Marc Moglen

It's been a strange couple of years for music NFTS. Despite the challenges, independent artists still see them as a way to escape a broken industry.

Welcome Home: A New Kind of Social Network

FWB Staff

Introducing FWB's new social software — the first platform owned and operated by a DAO whose users will define its outcomes.

Is CC0 the Future of Web3? A Felt Zine x FWB Roundtable

Devon Moore

A conversation about the possibilities and pitfalls of open-sourcing your IP, with folks from Broadside, OKPC, All-Starz, and more.

On Furries and the Limits of Trustlessness

Ruby Justice Thelot

Furries have traded unique digital artworks for years, without relying on blockchains. Crypto communities can learn from their emphasis on trust and mutual care.

The Ghosts of Internets Past

Drew Coffman

Lessons from the rise and fall of Bulletin Board Systems

Welcome to the Age of Digital Mysticism

Moyosore Briggs

Web3 harnesses power of the network to will our collective desires into reality. But what future are we manifesting?

Reprioritizing Artists Over Industry

Kelani Nichole

The relationship between art and capital feels more toxic than ever. How can we build a world that supports meaningful and subversive work?

Trouble in Cyberspace

Nicole Froio

VR promises a seductive image of a utopic space where we can escape the ills of modern society. When we buy into this rhetoric, whose experiences are we choosing to ignore?

A Political History of DAOs

Kelsie Nabben

The story of the Cypherpunks Mailing List, an obscure ‘90s email server that developed decentralized technology as a path to new forms of human organization.

"The Music Industry of My Dreams Is Not an Industry"

FWB Staff

Nadya Tolokonnikova, Kilo Kish, Telefon Tel Aviv, and other FWB FEST performers imagine a creative economy that puts artists first.

The Online Neighborhoods That Shape Us

FWB Staff

FWB Fest performers Haleek Maul, Kilo Kish, Sudan Archives, Nadya Tolokonnikova of Pussy Riot, and more open up about the internet communities that changed their lives.

The Mountains of Idyllwild, but Make It DALL-E

Lindsay Howard

Inside the hiking-inspired, AI-driven visual identity designers David Rudnick and Laiqa Mohid and collaborators created for FWB FEST

'Cowboy Bebop' Was A Warning

The Blockchain Socialist

Bounties aren't the future of work in Web3. They’re a primitive of some of the worst forms of exploitation under capitalism.

The Hot, Wet, Very Online History of Cyberfeminism

Lindsay Howard

Mindy Seu’s Cyberfeminism Index documents the slime-dripping legacy of artists reclaiming cyberspace from the male gaze.

After Crypto

Yancey Strickler

The hyper-financialized world of crypto and Web3 is just one application of the blockchain. It’s time we explore the wider possibilities that can emerge from shared public ledgers.

Chaos Reigns: Inside the Internet's First 77-Artist "Headless Band"

Marvin Lin

Matthew Chaim, Mark Redito, and Greydient, core contributors of Songcamp’s wildly ambitious Chaos experiment, discuss collaboration, compensation, and lore-building in Web3.

Pepe Lives

Jessica Klein

Rare Pepes were one of the earliest known collections of blockchain-based tokens as digital art. The creator of the wallet that powered the community speaks.

Web3 Won't Save Twitter from Elon Musk

Mike Pearl

An open source, decentralized Twitter would be great — the platform's future under a billionaire sh*tposter is a different story.

Meet the Company Onboarding Celebrities to Web3

Jessica Klein

MoonPay has made it easier for millions of people to buy crypto. So what's the deal with them helping famous people buy JPEGs now?

In the Future of Fashion, Everyone Gets Paid

Greta Rainbow

Designers Jeremy Karl and Eugene Angelo want to live in a world where garment design is decentralized and creators own the fruits of their labor.

Second Life: The Proper Care and Feeding of a Metaverse

Mike Pearl

The rudimentary virtual world was imbued with life and meaning by its members. Can new metaverse projects say the same?

Alcoholics Anonymous, the 86-year-old DAO

Simon Hudson

With millions of members and thousands of autonomous groups, AA's "benign anarchy" has a lot to teach us about decentralized governance.

The MiniDisc is the Message: Unpacking David Rudnick's 'Tomb Series'

Jose Mejia

Eric Hu, Itzel Yard, Nic Hamilton, and other collaborators join the visionary designer to discuss Web3's most ambitious art experiment yet

Season of the Witch: An Oral History of Crypto Coven

Mary Carreon

The High Witches open up the project's unlikely beginnings, how they collectively conjured such a detailed world, and breaking the spell of the male gaze.

Haleek Maul Wants Artists to Build Wealth Together

Khalila Douze

The Bajan rapper sidestepped the exploitative streaming economy through NFTs. Now, he’s using the tools of Web3 to empower Caribbean and Afro-diasporic artists.

Proof of Steak: Building a Community-Driven Food Industry with Web3

Matt Newberg

Luxury NFT restaurants only scratch the surface of blockchain's potential to transform how we eat.

What Co-ops and DAOs Can Learn From Each Other

Austin Robey

The best framework for coordinating — and making a difference — may not be a choice between the two models, but a blend of both.

Imperfect Union: How ConstitutionDAO Lost Its Way

Drew Millard

Kevin Munger

17,000 people teamed up to a buy a copy of the U.S. Constitution. What happened taught us a lot about decentralized decision-making.

Distributed Dissidence: An Interview with Nadya Tolokonnikova

Yana Sosnovskaya

Pussy Riot provocateur speaks on building a decentralized movement before blockchains, how Web3 tech changes activism, and mistakes made trading NFTs.

Solvency: An Oral History

Jose Mejia

How a series of generative artworks gave way to one of 2021's most unique NFT communities, as told by the artist, technologist, and collectors who are a part of it.

Building an Inclusive World of Crypto

Kinjal Shah

The promise of Web3 is a brighter tomorrow, but that can only happen if it solves for the inequities of today

Better Living Through Networks

David Ehrlichman

Jose Mejia

In his new book, David Ehrlichman lays the ground rules for healthy and productive networked systems.

The Butterfly Effect: An Interview with Eric Hu

Jose Mejia

Fresh off the release of his debut NFT project Monarchs, the interdisciplinary artist reflects on evolving an on-chain practice, the value of digital art, and finding freedom through code.

Fractionalized Everything

Eileen Isagon Skyers

The implications of ownership in an infinitely divisible existence.

Ceci n'est pas un recap.