Nondominium Support for Artcoin

Status: Application design document. Maps the Artcoin use case onto the current Nondominium architecture (NDO three-layer model, governance-as-operator, PPR reputation). Where a flow depends on capabilities that are not yet in the MVP code, this is called out explicitly in §5 Implementation Status.

See also: artcoin_main_doc.md, user-story/user-story-artcoin.md, user-story/user-story-art-distribution.md, user-story/user-story-art-production.md.

1. Summary of Artcoin in the Context of Nondominium

Artcoin (also referred to as the Internet of Art, or IoA) is a platform designed to disintermediate the art market and enable the scalable circulation of artworks. It builds on the "Soogart" and "L'Artothèque" models, where artworks are displayed in public and private venues (restaurants, offices, cafés) rather than traditional galleries, allowing the public to discover, enjoy, rent, or adopt art in their daily environments.

In the context of Nondominium, Artcoin is a specific application domain built on top of the generic Nondominium hApp. The core philosophy of Artcoin — making art accessible, creating a sharing economy for creative works, and ensuring fair compensation for creators — aligns closely with Nondominium's goal of organization-agnostic, capture-resistant, self-governed resources.

By leveraging Nondominium's infrastructure, Artcoin can transition from a centralized or low-tech agency model to a fully distributed, peer-to-peer ecosystem where:

• Artworks are modelled as Nondominium Objects (NDOs). Each artwork carries a permanent identity anchor (NondominiumIdentity, Layer 0) whose property_regime can be Private (the artist retains ownership and control), Commons, or Nondominium (uncapturable, contribution-based access). The regime is chosen at creation and governs which transfers and agreements are valid for that artwork — giving artists explicit, machine-readable control over how their work circulates while still enabling permissionless discovery and display.
• Reputation for every party involved (artists, venues, individual art lovers, and support agents such as transporters and storers) is tracked via Private Participation Receipts (PPRs) — bilaterally signed, private, user-sovereign receipts — establishing trust without a central middleman.

2. Supporting Artcoin with Nondominium

Nondominium provides the primitives to model the entire lifecycle of an artwork within the Artcoin ecosystem: from creation, through display and circulation, to adoption, storage, or end-of-life.

2.1 Core Agents and Roles

The Artcoin ecosystem maps directly onto Nondominium's agent and role model (RoleType in zome_person):

• Artists (Accountable Agents):
  • Create a ResourceSpecification for a body of work (the artwork template).
  • Create the artwork's NDO: a NondominiumIdentity (Layer 0) plus its EconomicResource instance (the physical piece), starting in the artist's custody.
  • Define embedded GovernanceRule entries (e.g. "70% of any sale goes to the artist", "rent is $30/month", "must be displayed in a smoke-free environment").
• Venue Owners (Primary Accountable Agents / Custodians):
  • Café, restaurant, or office owners who act as Custodians of an artwork.
  • Accept Commitment entries to store and display the art.
  • Are accountable for the well-being of the resource while it is in their custody.
• Transporters (Accountable Agents with the Transport role):
  • Move art between a current custodian and a new one (artist → venue, venue → venue, or venue/artist → an individual art lover).
  • Require a validated Transport role (e.g. proof of insurance or suitable vehicle), granted through peer validation.
• Storers (Accountable Agents with the Storage role):
  • Temporarily hold art between custodians — for example when an adoption or rental period ends and no new custodian is immediately ready.
  • Require a validated Storage role (e.g. proof of insurance or suitable, climate-controlled space).
• Individuals / Art Lovers (Simple or Accountable Agents, and Custodians):
  • Discover art in venues or by searching Nondominium.
  • Can buy, rent, or adopt art, becoming Custodians in their own right.
  • Initiate Use interactions (viewing/renting) or custody transfers (buying/adopting).

A Simple Agent joins permissionlessly; after their first validated transaction they are promoted to Accountable Agent (REQ-GOV-02, REQ-GOV-03). Specialized roles (Transport, Storage, Repair) require validation by existing role holders (REQ-GOV-04).

2.2 Modelling an Artwork as an NDO

Artcoin uses the NDO three-layer model (documentation/requirements/ndo_prima_materia.md):

Two orthogonal state dimensions apply:

• LifecycleStage (on Layer 0) tracks the artwork's maturity — e.g. Ideation → Specification → Stable → Active, and eventually Deprecated/EndOfLife.
• OperationalState (on the EconomicResource instance) tracks the current process condition — Available, Reserved, InTransit, InStorage, InMaintenance, InUse, PendingValidation. A freshly registered artwork starts PendingValidation; while displayed at a venue it is InUse; en route it is InTransit; while held by a storer it is InStorage.

2.3 Core Processes and Transactions

Nondominium's economic model captures the circulation of art. Each step below names the ValueFlows action (VfAction) and the PPRs it generates.

Process 1 — Onboarding and Creation

• The artist creates a ResourceSpecification for a collection (e.g. "Oil on Canvas 2025").
• The artist creates the artwork's NondominiumIdentity and its EconomicResource instance. The resource starts in the artist's custody with OperationalState::PendingValidation.
• Peer validation (validate_new_resource) moves it to Available and generates a ResourceCreation PPR for the artist and a ResourceValidation PPR for the validator.

Process 2 — Distribution (current custodian → venue or individual)

• A venue owner or individual signals interest in displaying or holding the art.
• Transport process (VfAction::TransferCustody, Transport role):
  • A transporter commits to move the piece (Commitment).
  • Custody transfer: the current custodian (often the artist) transfers custody to the transporter → CustodyTransfer PPR for the sender; the resource becomes InTransit.
  • The transporter delivers to the new custodian.
  • Custody acceptance: the venue owner or individual accepts custody → CustodyAcceptance PPR; the transporter also earns a TransportFulfillmentCompleted PPR.
  • The artwork is now InUse (on display) at the venue, or held by the individual.

Process 3 — Storage (current custodian → storer → future custodian)

• The current custodian (e.g. a venue) signals that a rental/adoption period has ended and no new custodian is immediately ready, requesting storage.
• Storage process (VfAction::TransferCustody, Storage role):
  • A storer commits to hold the piece until a new agent wants to buy, rent, or adopt it (per the artwork's governance rules) — StorageCommitmentAccepted PPR.
  • Custody transfer: the current custodian transfers custody to the storer → CustodyTransfer PPR; the resource becomes InStorage.
  • Custody acceptance: the storer accepts custody → CustodyAcceptance PPR; on release the storer earns a StorageFulfillmentCompleted PPR.

Process 4 — Display and Renting (the "Soogart" model)

• Use interaction (display): the venue "uses" the artwork to enhance its space.
  • Governance rules may stipulate a fee paid to the artist and any support agents (transport, storage).
  • Modelled as a continuous Use interaction or periodic AccessForUse (VfAction::AccessForUse) events; the resource sits in OperationalState::InUse.
• Discovery: an individual visits the venue and scans a QR code on the piece (linked to its NDO action_hash) to view the artwork's history, the artist's profile, and its terms.

Process 5 — Adoption (custody transfer / sale)

• Scenario: an individual decides to adopt (buy or take custody of) the piece.
• Commitment: the individual makes a Commitment to fulfil the adoption terms (payment, if integrated, or simply the adoption rules).
• Validation: the governance zome (zome_gouvernance) evaluates the transition between the current custodian (venue, artist, or any accountable agent) and the new custodian.
• Transfer (VfAction::TransferCustody):
  • The current custodian initiates transfer_custody.
  • Custody moves from the current custodian to the new custodian; custodian and location metadata are updated. CustodyTransfer / CustodyAcceptance PPRs are generated.
  • Revenue sharing: where the system settles value (see §5), payment is split according to the artwork's embedded benefit rules — modelled as an Agreement with BenefitClause entries (e.g. 70% artist, 20% support actors, 10% protocol/DAO).

2.4 Governance and Trust

• Reputation: if a custodian damages a piece, that shows up in the performance metrics of the PPRs they receive, lowering the reliability signal in their derived ReputationSummary. Governance rules and counterparties can filter on this signal. Reputation is private and user-sovereign — there is no global scoreboard; agents selectively disclose a derived summary.
• Validation: high-value art can require multi-reviewer validation (REQ-GOV-06, e.g. a 2-of-3 scheme) before a custody transfer is finalized.
• Provenance / hard to clone: the NDO's permanent Layer 0 action_hash and its append-only event history prove the authenticity and lineage of the physical piece, addressing provenance and forgery.

By using Nondominium, Artcoin becomes a self-governed, capture-resistant ecosystem where art flows directly between creators and the custodians/appreciators who value it — realizing the vision of a "true sharing economy" for art.

3. Property Regimes for Art

A key strength of the NDO model for Artcoin is that artists choose the property regime per artwork, and this choice constrains what can happen to the piece:

Protocol and UI expose all seven regimes (Private, Commons, Collective, Pool, CommonPool, Public, Nondominium) — see crates/shared/src/types.rs and documentation/requirements/resources.md §6.3. For most Artcoin scenarios, Private is the default, with Commons/Nondominium available for artists who want stronger anti-enclosure guarantees.

4. What Nondominium Provides Today (UI)

The Nondominium reference UI (ui/) already implements the identity and NDO foundations Artcoin builds on:

• Lobby → Group → NDO navigation. Art lovers browse a lobby of all NDOs and filter by lifecycle stage, resource nature, and property regime — the discovery surface for a gallery/venue catalog.
• Groups (DNA-backed). A venue network, an artist collective, or a city's art scene can be modelled as a group (cloned Group cell) with its own members and NDO set.
• NDO creation and lifecycle. Artists create an artwork NDO (name, property regime, nature, lifecycle stage, description) inside a group, and drive its lifecycle transitions.
• Read-only resource, governance, and activity views. Each NDO shows its specifications and economic-resource instances, its governance rules and the viewer's roles, and its economic-event history.
• Three-level identity. Level 1 (lobby profile), Level 2 (per-group disclosure preference), Level 3 (Person on-chain, created on first DHT-active action).

5. Implementation Status

Artcoin flows map onto Nondominium capabilities at different maturities. This section keeps the design honest about what is code-complete versus planned.

Bottom line: the identity, artwork-as-NDO, custody, and reputation primitives exist in the backend today. The Artcoin experience layer — process orchestration UI, revenue settlement (Unyt), and PPR-driven reputation display — is the roadmap ahead.