Poetic Cryptography: The Seed Phrase Verse
↗ Devcon
↗ Exhibit
A project that transforms blockchain mnemonics into an infinite poetic labyrinth. The world is metaphorized as a nocturnal maze, with words as the sole source of light. A spatial installation presents a labyrinth architecture built with paper strips printed with hundreds of verses, each containing an Ethereum seed word. The accompanying mobile app, Lumino, a found poem game, invites visitors to navigate this nocturnal maze digitally. The word "infinity" is set as the exit of the maze. The project is accompanied by "The Labyrinth Manual", a fictional meditation exploring language, infinity, and the labyrinthine nature of meaning-making.
↗ Installation
↗ Video
↗ Crypto Poet Passport
↗ App Store
SCENE 1. BLACK LABYRINTH
In November, the world becomes a vast labyrinth,
A nocturnal maze;
Where the invisible far outnumbers the visible.
SCENE 2. TEXT UNDER CANDLELIGHT
Language is the only source of light: a word, a line, a poem.
Tiny orders of meaning, illuminating a corner of our existence.
SCENE 3. EVAPORATING POETRY
We watch as words evaporate.
Within a text, a poem lies hidden.
Within a poem, another conceals itself.
SCENE 4. BORGES & INFINITY
In Borges' syntax, another language is encrypted.
The falling away of one language generates another grammar.
Reading the same page repeatedly,
Until we reach the end of language:
Infinity.
SCENE 5. LUMINO: THE CRYPTO POET
Code can also be poetry.
We've created a language game:
As a traveler, you will follow the light of words,
To find your way out of the labyrinth.
SCENE 6. CHINESE POETRY COLLAGE
This game is a variation of an ancient word game: Found poem.
We've created some collage poems in Chinese characters,
about the edges of things, stars, space, and language.
SCENE 7. ENDING
三萬六千日，日日當秉燭。
…After walking on the plain for a long time, most forget they are in a labyrinth. Here are no walls, no dead ends, all directions stretch vast and wide - as if one could travel a thousand miles with enough strength.
There are many labyrinth keepers in the world: some guard labyrinths of hundreds or thousands of square meters, some only five or six. Without exception, each labyrinth consists of many walls, except the one I guard: the labyrinth of the plain.
…
→ Read the Manual
Lumino Guide
Tap to keep a word, tap again to let it go.
Shake your device, and order emerges.
Words light a path, guiding you toward the exit of the maze.
Upon your exit, a connected path will be revealed to you.
If you’re lost, keep going in one direction; you will soon be back at the start.
Remember, you cannot truly be lost in this labyrinth,
for every exit serves as a new entry.
A gift for people who love to look at letters.
Download
Crypto Poet Passport: a four-fold interactive booklet where visitors create their own found poetry using words from Ethereum's seed phrase wordlist (2048 words).
CREDITS
Concept Design: Fangting 方庭
Concept Design: Ruozhen Gong
App Dev: Ruozhen Gong
Photography: Fanta F
Music: Fanta F, Fu
EXHIBITION INFO
Presented as part of "Trusting the Unseen: Elements of the Infinite Garden,” Artists and Writers Cohort, Devcon SEA
Venue: Queen Sirikit National Convention Center (QSNCC), Bangkok
Duration: November 12-15, 2024
© Ethereum Foundation, 2024
Acknowledgements: Thanks to Shirlene, QOuOQ, friends from Uncommons, Tomo Saito, Ao Yang, affe, pplpleasr, Haipeng Xu(Technical Advisor) , Shuhui Yu (Technical Advisor) and jiang. Special thanks to GCC for their full support.