A Revolution Starting from a Single Flag
The moment Huang Dou-ni (黃豆泥) set down his stethoscope, no one predicted that this former physician would rewrite the rules of Taiwanese philanthropy using a "line-on-the-ball" national flag. This seemingly simple meme work has become one of Taiwan's most recognizable symbolic landscapes; more importantly, it opened an entirely new question: If donations can become collectibles, and if philanthropy can become a perpetual motion machine, must our understanding of "giving" be fundamentally reconstructed?
In 2022, as the NFT bubble was bursting, Huang Dou-ni and New Media artist Wu Che-yu (吳哲宇), based in New York, co-founded FAB DAO (Formosa Art Bank DAO). The name itself is a manifesto: it aims to be a bank, an art institution, and a laboratory for social experimentation.
Redefining the Public Service Layer
The core philosophy of FAB DAO can be summarized in one sentence: "Donating is collecting." In traditional philanthropic models, a donation is a one-time consumption behavior; once the money is gone, it does not return. However, in the design of FAB DAO, donors receive not just a certificate of appreciation, but an NFT with tradable artistic value. What does this mean? It means that philanthropy now possesses the possibility of becoming a "perpetual motion machine."
When you purchase an NPO-NFT, you simultaneously complete three actions: supporting a non-profit organization, collecting a piece of art, and participating in a decentralized social experiment. More importantly, if this NFT appreciates in value in the future, you can choose to resell it, allowing funds to continue flowing toward philanthropic purposes. This is the core logic of the "perative motion machine of philanthropy."
FAB DAO positions itself as a "Web3 Public Service Layer," helping non-profit groups, artists, and cultural institutions cross technological barriers. It has successfully assisted organizations working on issues such as the art community, Lishan Juvenile Reformatory, animal conservation, and transitional justice to issue NPO-NFTs, all of which sold out completely. Behind this success rate lies a deep understanding of the resilience of Taiwan's civil society.
The Artistic Ambition of Project %
If FAB DAO is a manifesto of philosophy, then "Project %" (百岳計畫) is the most ambitious practice of that philosophy. It consists of 10,101 generative art NFTs divided into three series: %-Manliu (10,000 pieces, 0.025 ETH), %-Peaks (100 pieces, 10 ETH), and the unique, non-saleable %-First Line.
"One hundred mountains rise upward to become an island; one hundred people take a step forward to write a new season of civilization"—this is the poetic manifesto of Project %. Each NFT is a unique work generated by code, themed around Taiwan's "100 Peaks," carrying the creative visions of six artists.
These six artists represent different facets of Taiwan's generative art ecosystem: Wu Che-yu (Island) is an international-level artist on the Art Blocks platform; Lin Yi-wen (Vegetation) is a co-creator of Fxhash; Wang Shin-jen/A-Luan (Summit) created the first piece of Taiwanese generative art to appear on Art Blocks; Wang Lian-sheng (Civilization) is a Lumen Prize winner; Lin Jing-yao (Hidden Realm) is the former director of C-LAB; and Huang Shin (Inclusion) holds a record for Facebook AR/VR awards.
This lineup is no coincidence. It reflects the complete landscape of Taiwan's generative art ecosystem: from international platforms to local experiments, from academic research to commercial applications, and from technological innovation to social practice. The ambition of Project % is to use blockchain technology to transform the energy of this ecosystem into sustainable philanthropic momentum.
The Ingenious Design of Fund Flows
The fund allocation of Project % demonstrates sophisticated social design thinking: 20% for upfront costs, 10% as artist fees, 10% to assist other NPO-NFT projects, 20–45% as public subscription funds, and 10–15% invested in the DAO's technical development.
This allocation logic implies an important shift in concept: artistic creation moves from individual expression toward collective action; from the sale of works toward social investment. When you collect a "Peaks" NFT, you are buying more than just a piece of art; you are purchasing a share in a social vision.
Even more interestingly, collecting more than one "Peaks" NFT triggers a visual "Easter egg" effect. This seemingly simple technical design is actually testing the depth of collector engagement. It asks: Are you a passing speculator, or a long-term participant who believes in this experiment?
International Recognition from Linz
In 2022, Project % appeared at the Ars Electronica Festival in Linz, the world's most influential media arts event. The Taiwan Creative Content Agency (TAICCA) and the Ars Electronica Center co-produced a Taiwan-specific showcase, demonstrating Taiwan's unique contributions to the field of Web3 social innovation to the international community.
The evaluation from the Linz curators was profound: they described Project % as "a social action solution from the future." The emphasis of this evaluation was not on technological advancement, but on the innovation of the social model. As Huang Dou-ni observed, Ars Electronica deliberately maintains distance from the capital speculation of NFTs while placing high importance on the social implications of NFTs.
Such international recognition carries significant symbolic weight: it demonstrates that Taiwan's Web3 experiments are not blindly following Western technological trends, but are original explorations based on our own social soil. While the global NFT market was mired in speculative frenzy, Taiwan proposed an alternative with greater social responsibility.
A Digital Extension of the g0v Spirit
The emergence of FAB DAO is no accident. It is deeply rooted in the unique traditions of Taiwan's civil society, particularly the spirit of "decentralized civic action" represented by g0v (gov-zero). While g0v reimagines government services through open-source collaboration, FAB DAO reimagines philanthropic models using blockchain technology.
The commonality between the two is their shared belief: that technology can lower the barrier to participation, that decentralization can increase transparency, and that the collective intelligence of citizens can create better social solutions. The difference lies in the focus: g0v primarily focuses on the transparency of government governance, while FAB DAO focuses on the sustainability of philanthropic resources.
Taiwan's unique position in the field of Web3 philanthropy stems from this combination of democratic polity and digital community resilience. In authoritarian states, such experiments would be viewed as threats; in purely market-driven societies, philanthropy is often marginalized. Only in a society like Taiwan—where civil society has both sufficient autonomous space and sufficient social care—can Web3 philanthropy find true fertile ground for development.
Redefining Value Creation
The deepest contribution of FAB DAO and Project % perhaps lies in how they redefine the logic of value creation. In traditional economic models, value creation often implies competition and exclusivity: your gain is my loss, resources are finite, and distribution is zero-sum.
In the FAB DAO model, however, value creation becomes a positive-sum game: artists receive creative income, collectors acquire artwork, non-profit organizations receive funding, and society as a whole gains a better philanthropic model. More importantly, this process of value creation is sustainable because NFTs can continue to circulate in the secondary market, continuing to generate philanthropic effects.
This type of model innovation holds special significance for Taiwanese society, which faces challenges of resource scarcity. It provides a new way of thinking: through technological innovation and institutional design, we can create greater social value even under conditions of limited resources.
Imagining the Future Society
Looking back at FAB DAO and Project % today, we see more than just a successful Web3 philanthropic experiment; we see an imagination of a future society. In this vision, art is no longer an elite privilege but a tool for social change; philanthropy no longer relies on a charitable mindset but is built upon the foundation of shared interests; and technology is no longer merely a means for commercial competition but a driver for social innovation.
Of course, such experiments also face challenges. The complexity of blockchain technology remains a barrier to participation for the general public; the volatility of the NFT market may affect the stability of philanthropic funds; and the efficiency of decentralized governance requires continuous improvement.
But just as Huang Dou-ni decided to leave the hospital and pick up a paintbrush, true innovation often requires the courage to face the unknown. The value of FAB DAO and Project % lies not in providing perfect solutions, but in opening up new possibilities.
On this island, one hundred mountains rise upward, and one hundred dreams are germinating. Each of us can choose to be a participant in this social experiment, writing the next chapter of civilization in our own way.
Further Reading:
- Wang Shin-jen (A-Luan) — The creator of Project %'s Summit, the first Taiwanese generative artist to appear on Art Blocks.
- Wang Lian-sheng (Xia-ba) — Creator of the mountain/water recursion algorithm for Project %; 2017 Lumen Prize winner in the Sculpture category.
- Taiwan New Media Art — From video art to generative art, the context of Taiwan's new media art where FAB DAO resides.
- Taiwan Contemporary Art — The position of blockchain art within the ecosystem of Taiwanese contemporary art.
References
- FAB DAO Official Website: https://fabdao.world/
- FAB DAO GitBook Whitepaper: https://fab-dao.gitbook.io/fab-dao
- Project % Official Website: https://project.fab.tw/
- ABMedia News Report (2022/06): https://abmedia.io/20220630-charity-dao-fab-dao-project
- ARTouch Linz Interview (2023/03): https://artouch.com/art-market/content-84864.html
- c2x3 Blockchain Art Media, Matters Introduction (2022/07): https://matters.town/a/fe3n38t5khdb
- Tech Enthusiast Feature: https://www.charmingscitech.nat.gov.tw/post/art_tech_nft_block_chain
- NFT Web News Report: https://nft.org.tw/?p=20219