Introduction to Neo-Protocolism
What is Neo-Protocolism?
To understand Neo-Protocolism, one must first define its precursor: Protocolism. Developed by scholar Primavera De Filippi, Protocolism is a framework rooted in blockchain technology and smart contracts, most famously exemplified by the Plantoid project (blockchain-based robotic plants). At its core, Protocolism focuses on the legal, economic, and operational autonomy of an artwork. In this model, the "protocol" (the underlying code) is designed to entirely emancipate the artifact from its human creator. It allows the artwork to self-organize, sustain itself, and even achieve self-ownership within a decentralized network. Classic Protocolism seeks to exclude humans from the continuous lifecycle of the artwork, aiming for a system that creates or maintains art independently.
Neo-Protocolism introduces a fundamental shift in this paradigm. It moves the center of gravity away from the technical and economic self-sufficiency of the object, focusing instead on the aesthetic and psychological interdependence between the system and the user. While classic Protocolism strives for machine autonomy, Neo-Protocolism places human agency at the absolute center, treating it as an ontological condition—an absolute requirement—for the artistic phenomenon to exist.
As an analytical framework for examining agency and emergence, Neo-Protocolism diverges from its predecessor through three foundational principles:
1. From Autonomy to Symbiosis (Ontological Dependence)
In classical protocolism, the code operates independently of the viewer's ongoing attention. In Neo-Protocolism, the protocol itself (such as the source code of Minecraft or the Vocaloid synthesis engine) is fundamentally a dormant, lifeless vessel. It does not generate aesthetic value on its own; it serves strictly as an infrastructure of potential. The artwork is actualized only through active symbiosis—the exact moment the rules imposed by the system's architect collide with the active agency of the user-operator.
2. An Architecture of Affordances
De Filippi examines artworks where the protocol sustains a specific physical or digital target object. In Neo-Protocolism, the original creator of the system (whether an individual like Wataru Sasaki or a corporate entity like Mojang) completely relinquishes control over the final artifact. They design strictly affordances: the boundaries of a physics engine, a set of mechanics, or the precise specifications of a vocal timbre. The creative intent is not to deliver a closed, definitive message, but to engineer a generator capable of producing unpredictable situations and outcomes.
3. Emergence Through Tension and Subversion
This is the most critical distinction between the two paradigms. A traditional protocol assumes harmonious operation in strict accordance with its algorithm. Neo-Protocolism posits that the most profound aesthetic value emerges from the friction—or tension—between the system's latent rules and the user's creative ambitions. This encompasses the phenomenon of "subversive protocolism," where an artist intentionally exploits the rigid constraints of a protocol (such as the distinctly non-human, "empty" vocals of Hatsune Miku) to produce content that radically contradicts those constraints (such as expressions of brutal physicality, as seen in the work of Abu-Se-Ken).
Ultimately, Neo-Protocolism does not analyze systems designed to create art on behalf of humans. It examines systems that establish rigorous environments, compelling users to generate emergent art through acts of both aesthetic collaboration and rebellion.