Explicitly—or not—protocols determine much of what we do. Far exceeding traditional notions of “good manners,” protocols are systems of language that regulate how we relate to each other, to our cultural, social, and political environments, and to the technologies that create them. The first publication to look at protocols across a wide range of disciplines, As for Protocols brings together contributions by twenty-two international artists, writers, scholars, musicians, architects, and scientists who explore protocols across various fields, foregrounding opportunities for creating new protocols that are inclusive and equitable. Through essays, artworks, interviews, and scores, the book speaks to protocols as practice—neither conventional mannerisms nor abstract concepts, but material processes, relational affinities, shared responsibilities, and mutual care.

Edited by Re’al Christian, Carin Kuoni, and Eriola Pira, an opening score by Raven Chacon and contributions by Salome Asega, Carolina Caycedo with Lupita Limón Corrales, Raven Chacon, Jesse Chun, Asia Dorsey, Taraneh Fazeli and Cannach MacBride, Pablo Helguera, Emmanuel Iduma, Mary Maggic, Shannon Mattern, V. Mitch McEwen with Nadir Jeevanjee, Rashaun Mitchell with Silas Riener, Romy Opperman, Rasheedah Phillips, Leanne Betasamosake Simpson with Maria Hupfield, Ultra-red with Robert Sember, and Underground Resistance.

Re’al Christian is assistant director of editorial initiatives at the Vera List Center for Art and Politics at The New School. She is the co-editor of Maria Hupfield’s Breaking Protocol, published by the VLC and Inventory Press. She is a contributing editor at ART PAPERS and has written texts for numerous catalogues and anthologies, including Track Changes: A Handbook for Art Criticism (Paper Monument 2023), among others.

Carin Kuoni is senior director and chief curator of the Vera List Center for Art and Politics at The New School and Assistant Professor of Visual Studies. She has curated numerous transdisciplinary exhibitions and is editor or co-editor of ten books, most recently Studies into Darkness: On the Perils and Promise of Freedom of Speech and Maria Thereza Alves: Seeds of Change for the Vera List Center and Amherst College Press.

Eriola Pira is the curator and director of programs at the Vera List Center for Art and Politics at The New School, working with artists to explore new ideas and present exhibitions, performances, and publications on art and its politics. Her curatorial work and writing have been published and featured in catalogs and publications such as The New York Times, Artforum, Hyperallergic, Bomb, Guernica, and Kosovo 2.0 magazines.