ABOUT US
THE SPHERE is an emergent network of radical theorists, artists and technologists exploring new ecologies of funding the arts. We are building web3-based regenerative commons in which artists, audiences, collectors and other stakeholders of the creative ecosystem come together to share the joy, risks and opportunities of making art.
We advocate for a shift away from traditional intellectual property frameworks. We love to experiment with LARPs and other extended GAMES OF COLLABORATION, drawing emphasis on questions of co-ownership, interdependence and belonging beyond extractivist mechanics.
ARTISTS
The artists presented by THE SPHERE were chosen by the 300-person collective, embodying a rich blend of disciplines that redefine live art practices. Among the SEED ARTISTS, Andrea Salustri investigates the vitality of objects, while Antonia Kuzmanić’s ROOM 100 explores neurodiversity through artistic innovation. The DERIVATIVE ARTISTS build on this foundation: Marija Baranauskaitė blends clown theatre and dance, Cecilia Manfrini integrates personal narratives into her work, and Utka Nehuen Gavuzzo combines interdisciplinary skills to create unique performances. These lineages of art together form an ecology of funding, co-owned by artists, audiences, technicians and circus producers through limited-edition NFTs, available on the KARMETPLACE.
SEED ARTISTS
ANDREA SALUSTRI
Born in Rome but trained in Berlin, following studies of dynamic manipulation and the manipulation of fire which he practised as a street artist, and after earning a degree in philosophy from the Università La Sapienza in Rome, Andrea Salustri moved to Germany.
Andrea then studied contemporary dance at Tanzfabrik and dance and choreography at the HZT Berlin. A transdisciplinary training that he brings into circulation in Materia, where he shapes a world of objects to manipulate, transform, to follow with the body and reveal their secret vitality.
ANTONIA KUZMANIĆ
Antonia Kuzmanić established the company ROOM 100 with Jakov Labrović in 2010. Room 100 researched the topic of schizophrenia since 2008, to deepen our understanding of neurodiversity and to raise the awareness and sensibility of the public about its different dimensions and complexities. Through performance C8H11NO2, Room 100 shares their research and method for creating an engaging piece about schizophrenia that will broaden the audience’s consciousness about neurodiversity.
With their performance C8H11NO2 they were 2009-2010 laureates of Jeunes Talents Cirque (later renamed circusnext). They went on to perform the piece in the USA, France, Belgium, Netherlands, Denmark, Finland, Spain, Switzerland, Italy, Lithuania and Croatia. Today, ROOM 100 devises projects to strengthen the contemporary circus scene in Croatia, and runs the residency space HALA 100.
DERIVATIVE ARTISTS
CECILIA MANFRINI
After dedicating her life to gymnastics, Cecilia Manfrini developed a passion for circus art, graduating from the Academy of Circus and Performance Art (ACAPA) in 2011, specializing in Flying Rope and Acrodance. As a founder and co-founder of various circus companies, including Cie. Kimera, Les Mantis, and I Miracolucci, Cecilia has worked globally in diverse venues.
Her journey led her to study dance in Brussels and the martial art Kalarippayattu in Kerala, India, in 2013.
Despite facing challenges as a circus artist, including becoming a mother in 2015 and experiencing three accidents between 2016 and 2022, Cecilia remains dedicated to circus and performance art as a means of digesting and expressing life’s experiences. She eagerly embraces the challenge of creating a new iteration of C8H11NO2, named “Es,” with Cie. Kimera, set to debut in Autumn 2025.
MARIJA BARANAUSKAITĖ
Marija Baranauskaitė is the first Lithuanian who has completed clown theatre studies at the international clown school of Philippe Gaulier in France. Before that, she completed her studies in contemporary dance at the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre.
Since 2013, Marija has worked as a professional performer and artist and hosts creative workshops. She is an actor and art director (2018-2020) at the organisation Red Noses Clowndoctors.
Since there are no festivals for objects, Marija has had to find ways to involve her work in human festivals, which she successfully has, performing in multiple circus, dance, and performance art festivals across Europe.
UTKA NEHUEN GAVUZZO
Utka Nehuen Gavuzzo, born in Argentina, immersed himself in the circus world at 16, dedicating his life to the study of movement and performing arts. His versatile training includes dance, acrobatics, theater, circus, music, and martial arts, with a specialization in juggling and movement.
After naturalizing in Italy in 2019, he studied physical theater at the Atelier Philip Radice. Rejecting confinement to a single discipline, Utka merges his diverse skills to create a unique artistic language. He has toured 26+ countries with projects like The Drifting Circus and Free style Circus. He is currently collaborating with The Electric brothers, Cie Lumen (Switzerland), and the Acrocinus Collective. Utka is creating his derivative performance “Materia 3.0 Aerogami” with Edoardo Sartori (engineer) and Max Quiñones Santander (musician and digital researcher).
PARTNERS
THE SPHERE’s partners form a dynamic network of tech innovators and institutional collaborators, driving its mission to redefine live art practices. Tech providers like Curve Labs, Black Swan DAO, and Uint Studio developed tools such as the KARMIC ENGINE, CYGNET, and the KARMETPLACE, enabling decentralized governance, resource allocation, and NFT-based co-ownership. On the institutional side, international festivals, residency spaces, and cultural organizations offer platforms for experimentation, mentorship, and public presentation. These partners support the growth of seed and derivative artworks, fostering creativity and collaboration. Together, they embody The Sphere’s ethos of shared risk and innovation, empowering artists and audiences to co-create art within a sustainable, community-driven funding ecology.
TECH PROVIDERS
BLACK SWAN DAO
Black Swan is a Berlin-based collective pursuing horizontal and decentralised approaches to art making, since 2021. Among its developments, there’s Cygnet, a consensus-building tool for collectives through which peers can submit proposals for projects and decide how to allocate available resources to realize them. The Sphere has used Cygnet during the First Karmic Funding Cycle.
CURVE LABS
Curve Labs is a pioneering collective of architects building modular assemblages for the future of organizational design. By sourcing and combining open-source blockchain primitives, Curve Labs creates innovative structures for diverse applications – from art collectives tokenizing their work to communities co-governing digital currencies. During the R&D phase of The Sphere, Curve Labs developed infrastructural tools for the First Karmic Campaign.
UINT STUDIO
Uint Studio is a forward-thinking web development and design studio specializing in creating engaging digital experiences and functional tools tailored for art, education, and collaboration. Driven by a commitment to open-source technologies and user-focused design, Uint Studio empowers artists, educators, and communities to bring their visions to life. With a strong emphasis on fostering creativity and knowledge-sharing, the studio has developed tools and platforms that support resource allocation, co-governance, and digital collaboration. Notable projects include Karmetplace, a dynamic platform for exchange and value creation, and The Anarchiving Game, an interactive tool exploring alternative approaches to archiving and collective memory.
INSTITUTIONAL CONSORTIUM
SALORANTA & DE VYLDER
Saloranta & de Vylder is an artistic collaboration between Sara de Vylder and Olle Strandberg Colling. The duo, which has a shared artistic leadership, is behind, among other things, the crypto-circus project The Sphere, The Cloud Jump AKA The Broken Neck Jump, cooperation and innovation hub The Fantastic Place and several circus and performing arts productions.
Sara de Vylder and Olle Strandberg Colling are driven to develop alternative models for creative processes and performing arts production, thus finding new formats and contexts for their art. They work locally, nationally and internationally, often in collaborative projects. Their experience in circus has clearly demonstrated the value of shared risk-taking and this also permeates their projects in other art forms such as dance, art and theatre.
BERLIN CIRCUS FESTIVAL
Since its founding in 2015, the Berlin Circus Festival has become the largest and most innovative festival for contemporary circus. Every year it presents a selection of the best performances that circus has to offer. The festival is a platform to promote the visibility, sustainability and diversity of contemporary circus art and to present circus as an art form. The festival showcases a wide range of contemporary circus art, productions by established companies and emerging talent across Europe show different artistic styles, characterised by artistry, dance and interdisciplinary forms. The festival is an international meeting place with exhibitions, gastronomy, live music, workshops, talks, panel discussions, residencies and networking events.
Beyond the festival, the Berlin Circus Production is involved in national and international cooperation projects for the promotion of emerging talents and creation. They also take part in various trend-setting networking formats and organise several advisory and mentoring services.
CORDATA F.O.R.
CORDATA F.O.R. is an artist-run circus organization born in 2017 bringing together different contemporary circus realities, Fabbrica C and OnArts, so as to create a network which aims at recognising the value of the circus arts in Italy. Its main missions are to support the production of contemporary circus and interdisciplinary performances, to promote artistic research and continuum learning process practices and to collaborate in pedagogical activities.
LITHUANIAN DANCE INFORMATION CENTRE
Lithuanian Dance Information Centre (LDIC) is a nongovernmental organization established in 1995 thanks to a private initiative. It is entirely dedicated to contemporary dance/circus – a unique institution of such kind in Lithuania. The main task of LDIC is to spread information about dance and circus in all possible ways in Lithuania and abroad.
LDIC is both the physical and online contact point for any information on professional dance and circus in Lithuania. It supports the artistic and cultural development of dance/circus art in Lithuania through its strong networks, promotional activities, and services offered for field professionals.
MAISON DES JONGLAGES
La Maison des Jonglages, an association founded in 2008 in France, promotes and recognises the richness and diversity of juggling. Since 2015, it is recognised as “scène conventionnée Art et Création, Jonglages” (centre for Art and Creation, Juggling).
Run by Vincent Berhault, Maison des Jonglages is recognised by jugglers, professionals and the general public as a resource centre for the art of juggling. The association has 5 permanent employees focusing on 5 main areas :
Programming such as a month-long festival throughout the Paris region, partnerships and new audience development.
Support for creation such as residencies and co-productions.
Artistic and cultural action such as fine-tuning the connection between artistic works and audiences.
Training such as sharing the artist’s unique approach to writing through 5 training courses per year.
Research and Development to propel Jonglages to the frontier of practice and knowledge. This also includes the editorial project the Jonglages magazine.
CIRCUS NETWORK
Circus Network was born in 2012 as a cultural organization, evolving in the year 2015 to become a creative agency, art gallery, store and co-work. This space is dedicated to urban art, illustration, music and design. Located in the heart of Porto, in the so-called “Art District”, the goal of Circus Network is to promote Portuguese talent, strengthening relationships between artists, entities and the surrounding community.
Circus Network’s program includes exhibitions by national and international artists, collective exhibitions, organisation of murals, artistic residencies, workshops and the promotion of street art as an emerging artistic expression.
STOCKHOLM SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS – ART INITIATIVE
Art Initiative embeds art in the academic environment of Stockholm School of Economics to make the school even more knowledge intensive and to enrich the lives of students, faculty and staff. We work primarily with our permanent collection, screenings of video-based art and art talks and exhibitions by contemporary artists. Art Initiative works in close cooperation with the student association Art Division, and is funded by The Hamrin Foundation.
HIGH ACRES FARM
High Acres Farm, originally Missiquoi Abenaki land, was colonized for agriculture in the mid-1700s. In 1886, Dr. William Seward and Lila Vanderbilt Webb incorporated it into their 3,800-acre Shelburne Farms, designed by Frederick Law Olmsted. In 1948, Electra Havemeyer Webb gifted the farm to her son Harry Webb and his wife, Kate Jennings. The Main House was completed in 1952, and Harry lived there until 1975. His daughter, Kate Webb Harris, resided there for the next 40 years, passing stewardship to her children, Jonathan Harris, Amanda Herzberger, and cousin Michael Darling, in 2016. Since 2017, they have renovated the Main House with Selin + Selin Architecture and Smith & McClain builders. Today, the farm is managed by Jonathan, Amanda, Michael, and Property Manager Jeff Herzberger, with caretaker Frank Galipeau. They aim to transform High Acres Farm into a vibrant center for learning and creativity, serving Shelburne, Vermont, and beyond.
THE NORDIC HOUSE IN FAROE ISLANDS
The Nordic House is a key cultural institution of the Nordic Council of Ministers, supporting Nordic cooperation through art and culture. It offers a diverse program of music, literature, theater, film, visual arts, and more, fostering dialogue, creativity, and community. As a cultural hub in the Faroe Islands, the Nordic House highlights Nordic art and culture locally while promoting Faroese art across the region. It hosts festivals for children, film, literature, and jazz, welcoming collaboration from artists and producers. Aligned with Vision 2030, the Nordic House aims to advance sustainability, inclusivity, and cultural exchange, enriching lives and encouraging innovation for a greener, cohesive Nordic region.
LA SERRE – ARTS VIVANTS
Circus Network was born in 2012 as a cultural organization, evolving in the year 2015 to become a creative agency, art gallery, store and co-work. This space is dedicated to urban art, illustration, music and design. Located in the heart of Porto, in the so-called “Art District”, the goal of Circus Network is to promote Portuguese talent, strengthening relationships between artists, entities and the surrounding community.
Circus Network’s program includes exhibitions by national and international artists, collective exhibitions, organisation of murals, artistic residencies, workshops and the promotion of street art as an emerging artistic expression.
TEAM
THE SPHERE’s team reflects a dynamic evolution, with the current BOARD OF CO-DIRECTORS – Erik Bordeleau, Lene Vollhardt, Pedro Victor Brandão, and Vitor Butkus – leading since early 2024. This new leadership stepped in after the founders transitioned the project into a separate initiative. Focused on expanding its vision, the team has implemented the PROOF-OF-CELEBRATION event series, a cornerstone of its innovative approach, and developed new technosocial infrastructures. Together, they are building on the project’s legacy of shared risk, collective creativity, and decentralized collaboration to redefine live art and its role in a broader cultural landscape.
CO-DIRECTORS
ERIK BORDELEAU
Fugitive planner, Philosopher, Cultural theorist
Erik Bordeleau is a philosopher, fugitive planner and cultural theorist. He works as a researcher at NOVA university in Lisbon and is also affiliated researcher at the Art, Business and Culture Center of Stockholm School of Economics. He has published and co-edited several books and
articles in different languages at the intersection of political philosophy, contemporary art, world cinema, blockchain cultures, finance and media theory. In collaboration with Saloranta & De Vylder, he founded The Sphere, and since 2023 he is also one of its co-directorS.
LENE VOLLHARDT
Performance artist, Educator, Researcher
Lene Vollhardt (GER/USA) is a London-based Artist. Her practice is not subject to one identity or appearance; she is filmmaker, choreographer, writer, educator. She seeks new collective modes of sensing, receiving and dreaming through both new and ancient technologies. Her work has received international Awards such as Hong Kong Arthouse Film Award, the Fokus Film Award, the Studienstiftung des Deutschen Volkes. Vollhardt has exhibited internationally at Royal Academy of Art London, Kunstraum Bethanien Berlin, and Sharjah Film Platform. Currently one of the co-directors of The Sphere, Lene has been a collaborator of The Sphere since its inception.
PEDRO VICTOR BRANDÃO
Artist, Developer, Cultural strategist
Pedro Victor Brandão, a Brazilian multimedia artist, developer, and cultural strategist that explores photography, painting, video, and social experimentation to challenge artistic traditions and critique capitalism through research in economics, urban rights, and cybernetics. Pedro minted the “Returnable” series on Ethereum in 2019 and founded the Acerola Fund in 2021 to support Global South artists. His works are in public collections like MAM-Rio, MAR, and MASP, and cryptomedia collections such as M4T, Lander and Studio137. Since 2023 he is co-directing The Sphere.
VITOR BUTKUS
Full-stack developer
Vitor Butkus is a visionary full-stack developer and one of the driving forces behind Uint Studio, where open-source principles and radical innovation converge. Dedicated to crafting tools that empower collectives and challenge traditional systems, Vitor specializes in turning groundbreaking concepts into functional realities through code. He has played a fundamental role in the technical implementation of projects like Karmetplace, a platform redefining resource exchange and collective value, and The Anarchiving Game, an interactive tool exploring participatory approaches to archiving.
FOUNDERS
OLLE SALORANTA STRANDBERG
Artistic director, Artist
Olle Saloranta Strandberg is a director and artist working with circus as a starting point. During the 2010’s he was a director for the company Cirkus Cirkör where his productions played over 600 times for a worldwide audience. In secret, he became increasingly interested in and involved in the crypto community where he got lost somewhere near the forest edge of the dark forest. There Olle has become the founder and artistic co-worker at the company Saloranta & de Vylder as well as one of the initiators of The Sphere. Today he’s looking for something that can lead him back, or forward, or anywhere.
SARA DE VYLDER
Project leader, Producer
Sara de Vylder is a producer working mainly with enabling unexpected social meetings through changing organizations from within. She has a background as a producer working in many different performing art contexts. She is also collecting trainer certificates from various productivity methodologies, preparing for something unforeseen. She has been working as a producer for Södra Teatern, Cirkus Cirkör, Sweden’s National Touring Theatre and Orionteatern to name a few. Sara was also project leading the construction of the first hot air balloon created in Sweden since the 20th century.
COLLABORATORS
AMY FEE
Project coordinator, Producer
Amy has a diverse background, mainly in theatre, musicals, dance, circus and events as Stage Manager, Producer, technician and project leader. Before joining Danscentrum she was head of production at Circus Cirkör and worked 10 years as producer or head of production at Dansens Hus Stockholm. She has partnered in several EU-projects and applications. Has an education in Stage Management Studies, RSAMD, Scotland and Project Leader in Interactive Media, Sweden.
ANYA BIAROZKA
New media artist
Anya Biarozka is a new media artist based in Berlin, specialising in visual art and virtual production. In her works she researched how we experience natural and technological forms, and mixed different forms of objects to show the syncretism of the reality we live.
CEM F DAGDELEN
Mechanism designer, Researcher
Cem is a mechanism designer and researcher working with web3 technologies. He is the co-founder and research lead at Curve Labs, a laboratory researching, designing and implementing digital organisations and protocols. He is also a contributor to Spectre, a protocol for collective
ownership of digital art. Cem is also involved in game design, sailing, art theory and new media.
ESPINA
Generative artist, Technologist, Researcher
Espina is a generative artist, technologist, and researcher exploring patterns, ecology, and emergence. His work draws inspiration from cybernetics, animism, decentralized systems, and Zen to envision symbiotic futures. He has released two generative art NFT series, Sigils and Warp, on Art Blocks. Currently, he is researching the decentralized governance practices of land commons around the world and the possibilities opened up by DAOs.
KLARA MOSSBERG
Circus artist, Shilling agent
Circus Artist, Shilling Agent
Klara is a tight wire artist and aerial acrobat based in Sweden. She is educated in France and has a Bachelor in circus from DOCH (Stockholm Univeristy of the Art). She has also studied Biomechanics and Motor control at master level at GIH Stockholm. Klara has performed all over Europe and is used to generate new material and challenge and adapt her circus technique to different genres and art forms. Her professional experience as a circus artist spans from musicals and operas to international contemporary circus companies and experimental art projects. She was for many years part of the cast at
Mamma Mia! The party in Stockholm and she has done several productions with Cirkus Cirkör as well as toured with companies such as NoFit State Circus and Circo Aereo. Her own research is based around developing and widening the movement technique and vocabulary of tight wire and setting the circus body in relation to architectural space.
LAURA LOTTI
Web3 researcher
Laura Lotti is a researcher and writer investigating organizational dynamics in web3. She is currently studying the social dimension of community-led protocol governance with Other Internet and she is co-developing Black Swan, a proto-institution for interdisciplinary research and practice.
JOEL MASON
Interdisciplinary theorist, Performer
Joel Mason (PhD) is an interdisciplinary theorist and performer working in the mediums of organization & economy as mediums of art. He has presented his work as happenings at the Moderna Museet in Stockholm, the Casa do Povo in Sao Paulo, the 100x centennial celebration of the BauHaus movement in Montreal, and at Haus der Statistik as part of the 2018 Berlin Biennale. He is also the principal author of The Great Dividuation, a piece of speculative fiction, with anique vered and Michael Hornblow (The New Centennial Review, 2019), and the forthcoming book, Plenum Life: Formality in the Movement of Free Ecology (2023). He is the founder of the Maritime Social Innovation Lab in rural eastern Canada, and the founder of Dear Dear Culture Studio, a radical PR firm, in the north woods of Maine.
RAFAEL PEREIRA
Intellectual property strategist, Legal oracle
Rafael Pereira is an intellectual property strategist working at the intersection of Law & Business relating to Technology, Entertainment, Arts & Culture. A Berkeley Law graduate, Rafael has built a career as an entrepreneur with multiple ventures in the Media and Entertainment sector in southeast Asia.
TIMUR NOVIKOV
Experimental multimedia artist, Art director, Developer
Tim Novikov (artist name) is an experimental multimedia artist, art director and developer based in Berlin since 2015. He was born in Tashkent (Uzbekistan) and trained as an architect in Moscow. Throughout the past years he has expanded his practice into digital engineering and virtual production, with expansive experience in development, modeling, interactivity, scenography and set up of game engine based digital films and VR journeys coming about along the way. His field of work spans from conceptual development, artistic research to visual-tech directing and sourcing for innovations. He presented his latest Virtual Reality installation at Art Basel in Miami and Basel 2021.