In collaboration with Johannes Büttner

Proof of Work is an expanded cinema installation that follows young Bitcoin activists in Nairobi who dedicate themselves—sometimes with almost spiritual devotion—to spreading Bitcoin as a tool for financial independence. Their commitment reveals how a technology usually discussed in economic or technical terms becomes a lived practice, a belief system, and even a form of resistance.

The work traces how Bitcoin communities reinterpret technical principles—such as decentralization, transparency, and the Proof of Work (PoW) consensus mechanism—into philosophical and ideological frameworks. These ideas circulate not only as financial strategies but also as cultural narratives and collective aspirations, shaping new imaginaries of freedom and autonomy.

Each of the three viewing stations presents a different filmic encounter with the activists. The videos conclude with driving shots through Nairobi, situating the viewer in the city’s restless movement and improvisational rhythms. At this moment, the stations themselves begin to spin, before the loop restarts. This choreography turns the installation into a kinetic system, echoing cycles of circulation, repetition, and labor that underpin both Bitcoin mining and the activists’ ongoing struggle to spread their message.

The installation’s material form mirrors the improvisational infrastructures encountered in Nairobi. Videos are shown on discarded monitors, with cables and wiring deliberately exposed. Each station is clad in metal sheets printed with images from the activists’ own social media presence, recalling the collage-like aesthetics of Nairobi’s Matatu buses. This layered assemblage underscores how digital culture, urban space, and global financial imaginaries become entangled in the pursuit of alternative futures.