For many years, my primary work has been painting. My artistic practice was never separated from research. Every series, every system, and every body of work emerged from questions that painting itself could not fully answer.

Those questions gradually expanded beyond the canvas.

The first stage of this journey became Cognitive Structuralism—a research direction investigating how perception constructs reality through cognitive structures. Alongside this broader theoretical framework, Cognitive Structuralism AndrBel developed as the conceptual foundation of my own artistic practice, describing the systems, series, and structural logic that shape my work as an artist.

This research was later published through Research Catalogue as Cognitive Structuralism (Paper #3).

However, one question remained unanswered.

What happens to an artwork after it is created?

How does an artistic practice continue across time?

How can artistic continuity be preserved beyond documentation alone?

These questions led to two further studies.

Paper #1 – Artist Legacy Infrastructure explored why an artist needs more than an archive.

Paper #2 – Artistic Continuity Infrastructure demonstrated that artistic legacy requires governance, continuity, and institutional structures rather than simple documentation.

As these investigations progressed, the focus gradually shifted from artistic practice itself toward the infrastructure that supports cultural continuity.

This transition gave rise to the ADAS Framework Methodology (AFM) and the broader ADAS Framework Series, introducing a structural methodology for investigating Cultural Digital Assets.

At this point, a much larger question emerged:

What actually constitutes a Cultural Digital Asset?

The answer turned out to be far more complex than simply connecting culture with blockchain technologies or NFTs.

Not every digital asset is cultural.

Not every NFT represents cultural value.

And not every digital representation of an artwork should automatically be considered a Cultural Digital Asset.

Understanding these distinctions required an entirely new research methodology.

This led to the development of the Digital Asset Profile (DAP) methodology.

Each DAP investigates one specific class of potential Cultural Digital Assets.

The research currently includes:

DAP 0 — foundational investigation;
DAP 0A — Physical Cultural Objects and Cultural Digital Assets;
DAP #1 — Native Digital CDA;
DAP #2 — Digital Representation CDA;
DAP #3 — Limited Digital Edition CDA;
DAP #4 — Native Digital Artwork CDA;
DAP #5 — Generative Edition CDA;
DAP #6 — Combinatorial Generative CDA;
DAP #7 — Institutional Artist Passport CDA;
DAP #8 and DAP #9, currently in development, investigate AI-generated digital and physical-digital cultural objects.

The purpose of these investigations is not to classify technologies.

It is to determine under which structural conditions a digital object becomes part of cultural infrastructure.

The cumulative findings of these investigations are being consolidated into CDA Protocol v1.0, a structural protocol intended to provide a consistent framework for identifying, evaluating, governing, and preserving Cultural Digital Assets.

As the research matured, another realization became increasingly clear.

If Cultural Digital Assets are to be understood through open, internationally applicable principles, the resulting protocol cannot remain attached to a single researcher, artwork, or implementation.

It requires an independent institutional environment capable of supporting future development, collaboration, and international participation.

This realization led to the establishment of the CDA Standards Organization, an independent initiative being developed to support the future evolution of open standards for Cultural Digital Assets. The organization emerged from the research but is intended to develop as an open institutional platform through collaboration with museums, galleries, cultural foundations, ministries of culture, research institutions, technology organizations, and other international participants.

In parallel, another practical question emerged:

How can these research principles become usable infrastructure for artists, collectors, institutions, and future generations?

This question is being addressed through MADO cod ART, a project developing practical systems for artistic continuity, cultural documentation, governance, provenance, succession, and long-term preservation.

Today, these research directions form an interconnected ecosystem rather than separate projects.

Cognitive Structuralism investigates how perception constructs reality.

Cognitive Structuralism AndrBel describes the structural foundations of my own artistic practice.

Artistic Continuity Infrastructure investigates how artistic practice continues through time.

The ADAS Framework Series investigates the structural properties of Cultural Digital Assets.

The DAP research series examines different classes of Cultural Digital Assets through empirical investigation.

CDA Protocol seeks to consolidate these findings into an open structural protocol.

The CDA Standards Organization provides the institutional environment for the future evolution of these standards.

MADO cod ART transforms research into practical cultural infrastructure.

Together, these components form The Cultural Research Ecosystem of the ANDRBEL Research Program.

The program did not begin with an intention to create a protocol, a standards organization, or an infrastructure project.

It began with questions arising from artistic practice.

Each answer generated new questions.

Each investigation revealed new structural relationships.

Over time, what began as research into painting evolved into a broader investigation of continuity, governance, digital culture, and institutional infrastructure.

The ANDRBEL Research Program continues to develop through the same principle that initiated it:

Every answer should generate a better question.

Learn more

ANDRBEL Research Program
https://andrbel.art/concepttheory/ANDRBEL_Research_Program/

Research Portfolio
https://www.singulart.com/en/artist/andr-bel-66348

CDA Standards Organization
https://cdastandard.org/

MADO cod ART
https://madocod.art/