empowering Creators in the Algorithmic era
The law is the medium. The Great Lakes is the jurisdiction. Just Flows is the intervention.
The Great Lakes Urban Conurbation (GLUChaven) is a speculative jurisdiction rooted in geographic, legal, and cultural spillovers. It spans 8 U.S. states, 2 Canadian provinces, and over 130 Indigenous nations.
We’re building a data trust for artists—one that treats creative work as infrastructure, not just content. A fiduciary commons. A counter-model. A place where artists write the terms of engagement for the algorithmic era.
Just Flows is a strategy for cultural sovereignty.
A NEW TOOL FOR A NEW REGION
Just Flows is a project by Michael Bennett x rootoftwo, developed for the 2025 edition of Seven on Seven (7×7), presented by Rhizome at Cornell Tech.
We are designing a regional data trust for artists in the Great Lakes. This trust holds creative works in all media—providing secure storage, AI training rights, licensing frameworks, research access, and the right to exit.
This is not a metaphor. It’s a legal instrument, grounded in fiduciary responsibility, built to address the systemic under-support of artists across our region.
This is a real thing for real people who make real work.
PRINCIPLES
We are not waiting for permission.
Anticipatory Law
→ Courts will likely rule against artists. We intervene now, not after the damage.
GLUChaven as Jurisdiction
→ The Great Lakes is not a flyover—it’s foundational. This region is a sovereign conurbation of artistic, ecological, and legal power.
Creative Work is Infrastructure
→ As AI scrapes and reshapes culture, artists must become not just sources—but trustees.
Just Flows, Not Extractive Ones
→ We imagine a region where artistic value flows through systems that protect and uplift creators, not exploit them.
Design Fiction as Governance
→ We use speculative law, trust architecture, and participatory design to scaffold futures we want to live in.
welcome to GLUChaven
The Great Lakes Urban Conurbation – A multi-jurisdictional cultural engine:
- Population: 110+ million
- Sovereignties: 8 U.S. states, 2 Canadian provinces, 130+ Indigenous Nations
- GDP: ~$5 trillion
- Freshwater: 20% of global surface supply
- Cultural Production: World-class cities, rural creators, and vast Indigenous arts practices
This is one of the most resource-rich and under-credited regions on the planet—economically, artistically, ecologically.
GLUChaven is a region that can write its own rules.
Buffalo, NY
Chicago, IL
Cleveland, OH
detroit, MI
milwaukee, WI
Toledo, OH
toronto, CAnada
It is a haven, not a vault. A tool, not a gate. A commons, not a commodity.
The Just Flows Data Trust is a legal, technical, and cultural infrastructure.
We imagine a trust that:
- Protects creative works through secure digital storage, watermarking, and copyright enforcement.
- Enables AI training with consent—and removes works upon request via machine unlearning.
- Licenses artist works with automated, transparent agreements and royalty flow.
- Hosts curated cultural programming to enhance collective value.
- Supports scholarly access and trend research with ethical frameworks.
- Withstands extractive pressures through compliance, governance, and regional solidarity.
FEATURES
- Digital Piracy Protection: Implement robust encryption and watermarking technologies to safeguard artists’ works from unauthorized use and distribution.
- AI Training Data Provision: Allow controlled access to the pooled creative works for training generative AI models, ensuring compliance with copyright laws.
- Licensing Facilitation: Provide a platform for artists to license their works to authorized users, enabling the creation of new derivative works.
- Centralized Secure Storage: Utilize secure, centralized storage solutions to ensure the security and longevity of the stored creative works.
- Automated Licensing Agreements: Use automated systems to manage licensing agreements, royalty payments, and other transactions, ensuring transparency and efficiency.
- Compliance and Governance: Establish clear governance rules and compliance mechanisms to ensure the trust operates within legal and ethical boundaries.
- Value Enhancement Programming: Organize exhibitions and other programs to increase the value of the displayed works and the entirety of the trust’s contents.
- Scholarly Research Access: Provide controlled access to researchers for scholarly purposes, enabling them to study the vast collection of creative works, analyze trends, and contribute to academic knowledge.
- Participant Withdrawal and Machine Unlearning: Allow participants to cease their involvement and have their works removed from the trust. Ensure that generative AI models unlearn the removed works to respect the artists’ decision.
GET INVOLVED
You don’t need to live in the Great Lakes to support Just Flows. But if you make work here, we need you.
Artists
Join the trust and shape how your work circulates.
Technologists
Help us build privacy-forward infrastructure.
Lawyers
Assist with fiduciary, IP, and trust structure design.
Funders
Sustain this as a living system, not just a prototype.
Researchers
Use this as a laboratory for legal and cultural futures.
Empowering Creators in the Algorithmic Age
Explore stories from creators who’ve transformed their futures with our support and advocacy.
Taylor Reed
Visual Artist
“Just Flows helped me turn my ideas into sustainable income, protecting my work every step of the way.”
Jordan Lee
Digital Storyteller
“With Just Flows, I finally feel secure knowing my creative rights are safeguarded in the digital era.”
Alex Morgan
Music Producer
“Thanks to Just Flows, I’ve gained financial independence while maintaining full control over my art.”
CONTACT & faq
This section provides answers to commonly asked questions, helping users find the information they need quickly and easily.
Who’s behind this?
Michael Bennett (legal technologist, researcher) and rootoftwo (Detroit-based studio) are collaborating as part of Rhizome’s 7×7 2025 program.
Is this real?
Yes. It’s speculative and serious. Just Flows is both a design fiction and a deployable legal structure.
What’s a data trust?
It’s a fiduciary framework where trustees act on behalf of creators, managing access and use of their digital works. Think creative co-op + offshore trust + license library.
Why the Great Lakes?
Because it’s one of the richest and most misunderstood regions in the world. We believe artists here should define how their work circulates—not Silicon Valley, not Ottawa, not D.C.