Whitney Biennial 2017

Floor 5

Biographical information not given

In the 2017 Biennial, a mirrored tower broadcasts the “Whitney Frauenbank” network, which visitors can access using their WiFi-enabled devices. The tower provides access to Frauenbank (2017), a cooperative named after the first women-owned-and-operated bank that operated in 1910s Berlin. Museum visitors who log into “Whitney Frauenbank” and self-identify as female will be directed to the Frauenbank web app on the .YU domain, which is only accessible at the Museum. Upon opening the app, they will be guided through the process of acquiring membership to and taking part in the future of Frauenbank.

Frauenbank is structured as a decentralized autonomous organization on the global Ethereum network, where operations are recorded and verified in a public ledger called a blockchain. Its immutable peer-to-peer contract equalizes power in that each member gets one vote regardless of the number of shares held. Contributed financial assets are put towards the purchase of land in Serbia—something only possible in the wake of a 2017 law permitting foreign acquisition of real estate there. Frauenbank creates a cooperative space for women and a new kind of property. Neither private nor public, both are grounded in the former Yugoslavia’s digital and physical domain.