direct action forms generator
The Office of Non-Human Standing is a speculative civic registry that generates real-format legal filings on behalf of non-human species in New York City. Developed as part of Rhizome's Counterstructural Commons Residency, the project reimagines environmental advocacy by framing ecological contributions as labor rather than abstract rights.
For decades, environmental victories have relied on procedural forms: Clean Water Act citizen suits, FOIL requests, and petitions for rulemaking filed by recognized organizations. Ecosystems themselves, however, have lacked legal standing since Sierra Club v. Morton in 1972. Meanwhile, non-human species perform critical, uncompensated work under degrading conditions. Oysters in the Lower East River filter fifty gallons of water daily per adult. Horseshoe crabs sustain the global injectable drug industry. Bumblebees power billions in agriculture. While citizen-science monitoring acts as a de facto union steward system for these populations, there has been no procedural mechanism to connect this monitoring to formal demands.
This project builds that missing mechanism. Modeled after a standard NYC 311 service request, the digital interface functions as a civic filing generator. By completing seven fields, users can produce a strike notice, citizen suit, shareholder resolution, SEQRA comment, conservation easement, or pledge of witness.
This project builds that missing mechanism. Modeled after a standard NYC 311 service request, the digital interface functions as a civic filing generator designed for practical use by anyone with a community board meeting on their calendar. By completing seven fields, users can translate ecological monitoring into direct, actionable leverage. Using the observable presence of the species as the signature, the tool generates specific legal documents designed to force institutional responses just to name a few:
In its physical installation, the Office uses a dot matrix printer to output each filing in duplicate on carbon copy paper. Visitors tear off the records and take one home, acting as distributed record-keepers for a workforce unable to manage its own paperwork. This interaction creates a contract of interdependence. The visitor carries a document the species cannot, holding a physical receipt for a relationship the City has not yet officially named.
Premiered at the New Museum on May 16, 2026, alongside other Rhizome Counterstructural Commons residents. The debut included an exclusive edition of 77 distinctive contract prints representing the founding dockets of the Registry.
Create and print your own contract here: Interdependence Registry
For decades, environmental victories have relied on procedural forms: Clean Water Act citizen suits, FOIL requests, and petitions for rulemaking filed by recognized organizations. Ecosystems themselves, however, have lacked legal standing since Sierra Club v. Morton in 1972. Meanwhile, non-human species perform critical, uncompensated work under degrading conditions. Oysters in the Lower East River filter fifty gallons of water daily per adult. Horseshoe crabs sustain the global injectable drug industry. Bumblebees power billions in agriculture. While citizen-science monitoring acts as a de facto union steward system for these populations, there has been no procedural mechanism to connect this monitoring to formal demands.
This project builds that missing mechanism. Modeled after a standard NYC 311 service request, the digital interface functions as a civic filing generator. By completing seven fields, users can produce a strike notice, citizen suit, shareholder resolution, SEQRA comment, conservation easement, or pledge of witness.
This project builds that missing mechanism. Modeled after a standard NYC 311 service request, the digital interface functions as a civic filing generator designed for practical use by anyone with a community board meeting on their calendar. By completing seven fields, users can translate ecological monitoring into direct, actionable leverage. Using the observable presence of the species as the signature, the tool generates specific legal documents designed to force institutional responses just to name a few:
- Citizen suits to sue polluters directly and enforce environmental laws when regulators fail to act.
- SEQRA comments to place official objections on the public record, blocking or altering harmful developments.
- Shareholder resolutions to force corporate boards into public votes on changing their environmental practices.
- Conservation easements to create binding agreements that permanently protect specific land from being developed.
- Strike notices to formally protest the degrading working conditions of a non-human workforce.
- Pledges of witness to register a binding commitment to monitor, document, and testify about ecological harm.
In its physical installation, the Office uses a dot matrix printer to output each filing in duplicate on carbon copy paper. Visitors tear off the records and take one home, acting as distributed record-keepers for a workforce unable to manage its own paperwork. This interaction creates a contract of interdependence. The visitor carries a document the species cannot, holding a physical receipt for a relationship the City has not yet officially named.
Premiered at the New Museum on May 16, 2026, alongside other Rhizome Counterstructural Commons residents. The debut included an exclusive edition of 77 distinctive contract prints representing the founding dockets of the Registry.
Create and print your own contract here: Interdependence Registry
A project by Chris Woebken
Curated by Rhizome
Special Thanks to Bri Griffith
Supported by Mozilla Foundation through the Counterstructural Commons Residency
Excerpt from the Counterstructural Commons booklet: Download PDF
Curated by Rhizome
Special Thanks to Bri Griffith
Supported by Mozilla Foundation through the Counterstructural Commons Residency
Excerpt from the Counterstructural Commons booklet: Download PDF
