天气块报
屏幕、定制区块链网络、定制软件、定制电路、霓虹灯、电脑、树莓派微型单板电脑、钢架
2022/2025
区块链在技术结构上可被视作一个分布式“账本”：数据通过网络中不同节点的共识被写入，并具有难以篡改的特性。气象数据是一种不可复验的时间性数据，将其写入区块链，像是在进行一种“无法证伪”的历史书写。近年来，在中国围绕气象数据的争议反复出现：从不同机构发布的数据相互矛盾，到极端高温在传播与辟谣之间反复拉扯，以及由高温津贴引发的劳务纠纷等。
《天气块报》以一座形如天线塔的装置呈现：由三组计算设备构成的区块链系统、屏幕与霓虹灯组成。作品在每个整点从不同数据来源抓取同一城市的气象信息并加以播报。由于三处数据来源不同，同一时间、同一地点的气象数据显示出明显差异。作品在区块链上引入权益证明（Proof of Stake, PoS）机制：节点依据其“持有量与持有时间”等权益权重参与写入资格的随机选择；被选中的气象资料将每小时更新于竖形荧幕，并被永久写入链上。同时，塔顶相应的天气符号霓虹灯会被点亮。
区块链的去中心化结构常被视为公平与可信的技术基础，但不同国家与地区的技术条件及资源差异，使气象数据的获取与使用本身即可能存在不均与偏差。此作品质疑区块链去中心化所承诺的公平与信任：当其与真实世界中带偏见的数据绑定时，所谓“可信”是否反而会将偏见固化为共识，并进一步为数据强权提供新的正当性。
《天气块报》作品首版由毕昕于北京现代汽车文化中心展览《飞出个未来：区块链中的时间多重性》（2022）委任创作
软件开发： 陈立立
特别致谢： 毕昕， 姚翔， 原语里弄
The Weather Consensus
Screens, Custom blockchain network, Custom software, Custom circuits, Neon lights, Computers, Raspberry Pi, Steel frames
2022/2025
In technical terms, a blockchain can be understood as a distributed “ledger”: data is written through consensus among nodes in a network and becomes difficult to tamper with. Meteorological data is temporal and cannot be re-validated once the moment has passed; putting it on-chain is akin to a form of “unfalsifiable” historical writing. In recent years, controversies around weather data in China have repeatedly surfaced—from conflicting figures released by different institutions, to the tug-of-war between sensational reports and debunking around extreme heat, as well as labour disputes triggered by high-temperature allowances.
The Weather Consensus takes the form of an antenna-like tower installation, composed of a blockchain system built from three sets of computing devices, along with screens and neon lights. At the top of every hour, the work scrapes and broadcasts weather information for the same city from three different data sources. Because the sources are not the same, the meteorological readings for the same time and location show clear discrepancies. The work introduces Proof of Stake (PoS) on the blockchain: nodes participate in a weighted random selection for the right to write data based on “stake” factors such as the amount and duration of holdings. The selected meteorological data is updated hourly on a vertical screen and permanently recorded on-chain. Meanwhile, the neon weather symbol at the top of the tower corresponding to the selected condition is illuminated.
While blockchain’s decentralised structure is often framed as a technical foundation for fairness and trust, uneven technological capacities and resource disparities across countries and regions mean that access to—and use of—meteorological data may already be unequal and biased. The work therefore questions the fairness and trust promised by decentralisation: when blockchain is bound to biased data from the real world, does what is deemed “trustworthy” end up solidifying bias into consensus, and further granting new legitimacy to data hegemony?
The first version of The Weather Consensus was commissioned for BI Xin’s exhibition Time After Time: The Polychronicity in Blockchain at Hyundai Motorstudio Beijing.
Software development: CHEN Lili
Special Thanks to BI Xin, YAO Xiang, and Primitives Lane.
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Initial version of the work from 2022.