Protocol art has recently proliferated through blockchain-based smart contracts, building on a century-long lineage of conceptual, participatory, interactive, systematic, algorithmic, and generative art practices. Few studies have examined the characteristics and appreciation of this emerging art form. To address this gap, this paper presents an annotated portfolio analysis of protocol artworks by Pak, a pioneering and influential pseudonymous artist who treats smart contracts as medium and collective participation through protocol as message. Tracing the evolution from early open-edition releases of The Fungible (2021) and the dynamic mechanics of Merge (2021) to the soul-bound messaging of Censored (2022) and the reflective absence of Not Found (2023), we examine how Pak choreographs distributed agency across collectors and autonomous code, demonstrating how programmable protocols become a social fabric in artistic meaning-making. Through thematic analysis of Pak's works, we identify seven core characteristics distinguishing protocol art from other art forms: (1) system-centric rather than object-centric composition, (2) autonomous governance enabling open-ended control, (3) distributed agency and communal authorship, (4) temporal dynamism and lifecycle aesthetics, (5) economy-driven engagement, (6) poetic message embedded in interaction rituals, and (7) interoperability enabling composability for emergent complexity. We then discuss how these features set protocol art apart from adjacent movements such as conceptual, generative, participatory, interactive, and performance art. By analyzing principles grounded in Pak's practice, we contribute to the emerging literature on protocol art (or "protocolism") and offer design implications for future artists exploring this evolving form.

翻译：协议艺术近年来通过基于区块链的智能合约蓬勃发展，其根源可追溯至长达一个世纪的概念艺术、参与式艺术、交互艺术、系统艺术、算法艺术与生成艺术实践。目前针对这一新兴艺术形式的特性与鉴赏机制的研究尚显不足。为填补这一空白，本文对匿名先驱艺术家Pak的协议艺术作品展开注释式作品集分析——Pak将智能合约视为媒介，将通过协议实现的集体参与作为艺术表达的核心信息。通过追溯从《可替代物》（2021）的早期开放版本发行与《融合》（2021）的动态机制，到《审查》（2022）的灵魂绑定信息传递与《未找到》（2023）的反思性缺席的演变脉络，我们考察了Pak如何通过编排收藏者与自主代码之间的分布式能动性，论证可编程协议如何成为艺术意义建构的社会纽带。通过对Pak作品的专题分析，我们提炼出协议艺术区别于其他艺术形式的七大核心特征：（1）以系统而非对象为中心的创作结构，（2）支持开放式控制的自主治理机制，（3）分布式能动性与集体创作权，（4）时间动态性与生命周期美学，（5）经济驱动的参与模式，（6）嵌入交互仪式的诗意信息，（7）支持涌现复杂性的可组合互操作性。进而探讨这些特征如何使协议艺术与概念艺术、生成艺术、参与式艺术、交互艺术及行为艺术等相邻艺术运动形成分野。通过剖析植根于Pak艺术实践的核心原则，本研究为正在兴起的协议艺术（或称“协议主义”）研究体系作出贡献，并为探索这一演进形式的未来艺术家提供设计启示。