Culture shapes evolution
Art on the blockchain and the cryptoeconomic experiment
While Charles Darwin was the face of the evolutionary theory On the Origin of Species in 1859, there was another, less known, yet incredibly interesting naturalist researching and reconfirming the same topic: Albert Russell Wallace (1823–1913). Darwin probably had a form of autism called Asperger’s syndrom, which often leads to people focusing on certain topics in a very effective way. His clear attention probably catalyzed his genius and success. It also might be an answer of why his research was so much more in the limelight, the topic was easier to understand. In contrast, Wallace’s mind was more fragmented, but also much more versatile, he had plenty of interests. He was very concerned with the social side of life, had a strong humanistic spirit and a real talent to understand the whole picture. He was one of the first scientists to point out the severe ecological footprint of our species. In the end of the nineteenth century he published a book called “The Wonderful Century”, which is a very optimistic vision for how to course-correct our civilization, so that the rise of capitalism as a global economic system based on exploitation and extraction would not corral our species into its own misery and threaten the survival of all species on an irreplaceable planet. What is more, in times when there were only a handful of millionaires, he predicted a dramatic raise in inequality. The final test of good government would be well-being and contentment of the people. He writes: “One of the most prominent features of our century has been the enormous and continuous growth of wealth, without any corresponding increase in the well-being of the whole people”. In his long life, Wallace traveled a lot. Like basically everyone that explores much, he came to experience that, most people are good. Usually, it is just a few exceptions that really suck and exploit others in pursue of their own power interests. He believed in our chance to correct the course. Personally, I believe, he will be right, one day. Only, he was far ahead of his time. Strange, dark and doomy things happened between his time and now. However, today we actually have the technology and much more knowledge about how to “course-correct” our future right into his “Wonderful Century”. The end of our journey is open. We still have to choose which turn to take.
And this is exactly, where cryptoeconomics and cryptoart come in. The field of cryptoeconomics researches on how future economies could look like. For example, they provide answers on how we can program new values into our economies. Instead of “maximum profit growth”, we could program “community”, “care”, or “biosphere” as the values we want to produce. If you are curious about in-depth details, you might find this read from the Economic Space Agency interesting. There must be some sort of governance which will be a huge discussion about the right ethics & philosophy within distinct communities. Yuval Harari has an interesting take on what communities are. He says they are collections of people who believe in shared stories. Hence, what are our old and new stories? Obviously, all the big questions are on the table when designing our future, our communities and the possibility of alternative concepts. It is certainly good to share that table with as many and as diverse people as possible. Because, culture shapes evolution.
When the stock markets came up, it was the new hot thing. It helped entrepreneurs dare new businesses & immensely advanced their standard of living. 150 years after the first railroad IPOs, the US stock market alone is worth more than $30 Trillion, which is an unprecedented, exponential growth. Entrepreneur Mike Maples predicts that crypto-powered governance markets will drive future abundance at a similar level of scale. But this time, he states, it will affect globally and it will be more democratized than we have ever seen before.
What will be the next thing?
Cryptoart and NFTs are all the hype these days. For a good reason, this might well change the art world forever. For people not familiar with this movement — in a nutshell: The blockchain makes it possible so that digital art becomes unique and can be auctioned. Just like “real” paintings in the traditional art world. In a cultural context, cryptoart might become an incredibly interesting playground for new ideas, the discussion of values and philosophies.
Cryptoart is thrilling, often times very experimental and the scene grows at an enormous speed. There is a high ratio of “outsider” artists in the space. Many cryptoartists embrace technology and step into new terrain. Artists are coding paintings designed by Generative Algorithms, playing with Virtual Reality, embarking on Augmented Reality Experiments, using Artificial Intelligence and everything else that emerges on the technical side. Mind-blowing, to say the least. While, at the same time, many cryptoartists also embrace the tactile & physical. You’ll see fine art painters, sculptors and all sorts of trades in the mix. Marketplaces such as Superrare, Nifty Gateway, Makersplace or KnownOrigin are growing rapidly and develop new features and auction mechanisms as they go. But also, collectors get creative: Some building virtual museums and galleries in the “metaverse”. Check for example The Museum Of Crypto Art which is an a immersive VR museum:
To me it feels like, the whole NFT ground is moving, ideas revolving. Especially these days, it seems like the cryptoart idea is “proven” and we are minutes before NFTs will go mainstream. Here are just a few examples for what has happened in the past 2 weeks: A collaborative project between Canadian fine art painter and crypto pioneer Trevor Jones and the anonymous, digital artist Pak sold for about $1.3M on Nifty Gateway. Also, there are more and more big names flopping into the scene: 3D artist Beeple won $3.5M with his second “drop”. And canadian music producer deadmau5 just entered the floor of the marketplace SuperRare, no further introduction needed. I wonder how his music might change, if he now has the potential to create for a different environment. Maybe it will become less commercial, or more symphonic? The mix of people in the scene is very interesting: A very successful, 17-years old Gen Z youngster, called fewocious, allures everyone with humor, pure energy and her positive, go-getting vibes. Seemingly no fear of any new technology, but painting a lot in the old-school way. Fewocious just sold one of her recent pop-surrealist pieces for $25k.
But let’s go back to the beginning. Why, all this change? Well, society will change. As it always did. Plus, what is more important, certain things are just a more and more “off”: Since the days of Wallace, we went from his first, subtle ecological concerns to a raging climate crisis. Our financial situation is becoming more and more unstable, while the next collapse is just a matter of time. When the Medici family invented “paper money”, they went from low crime to the highest honors, married into royal houses and even popped their own pope. Their incredible wealth enabled the rise of the renaissance and genius artists like Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo and Galileo. They created this wealth only because people “trusted” the Medici, that their “paper” had any value. Before paper money, people traded gold, salt, bubble gums, whatever. Money and art was often interlinked in our history. Nowadays we have new ideas for more suitable forms of money in the digital age, for example — blockchain. Only the future can tell, which digital currency will win. Or maybe, even another solution. However, one thing is sure, paper certainly was not the last idea we had. Money will change its looks. But that is not the end, there are many more crucial imbalances: A lot of people still suffer the consequences of colonialism. Racism is real. Populism peaks. Inequality is still a big thing — in all its forms, between rich and poor, between men and women. Every year, all the above mentioned topics become more and more serious. And most of our current problems are linked to finance, in one way or the other. If we really want to end war for example, we need to talk finances. Sounds like a black picture. However, we have options. Hence, new ideas, a new economy and a new money system all sound like an utopian dream. Too good to be true? I think not. When in reality it is hard work of some forward-thinking, risk-taking people. And one of these ideas will be our solution.
As humankind, we now have very clear ideas of how these alternative concepts could look like, and we create spaces to test these ideas. Again, read for example the economic paper “Protocols for Post-Capitalist Economic Expression” from the Economic Space Agency, if you want to dig deeper.
Nestled within this context, I created my latest “audio-visual meditation”, called “The Experiment”, which will be auctioned end of december on SuperRare. It is a short, animated fairy tale: Once upon a time, Patti Smith & David Bowie felt a bit disillusioned after all. When Patti sang “People have the power” in 1988, she sounded full of hope. But in her beautiful new book “Year of the monkey”, a memoir and mainly about Smith’s inner life in her 70s, I felt a bit of her fatigue about current affairs. In my surreal story, Patti and David go on a road trip. Somewhat, they end up flying down the rabbit hole of the crypto world. They discover the socio-economic potential of blockchain technology and experiment with different concepts. It is the Golden Age of Art and Creativity. But, just the beginning!
To create in such times, truly gives me hope, and serious excitement. When change is possible, things will line up. Poet Robinson Jefferson (1887–1962) wrote “Happy people die whole”. Finally, we have the chance to go beyond money and investigate what it’s really all about. We never had such an abundance of knowledge, technology and wealth. We now can connect the dots and create true abundance — for everyone.
Sources & further reading:
Economic Space Agency, Towards Post-Capitalism. A Language for New Economic Expression
Dick Bryan and Akseli Virtanen, What is a crypto economy
Mike Maples, Crypto Commons
Marc Andreeessen, It’s time to build
Fred Ehrsam, Blockchain Governance: Programming our Future
