"Branded Bit" Art of Bitcoin by Ray Istre
"Branded Bit" Art of Bitcoin by Ray Istre
Acrylic on paper, mounted to 11 x 14 canvas board. Art quality pigments and materials. It will be around for the next 500 years unless we're not here.
$10,000 US Dollars or equivalent in Bitcoin or Steem Power.
Branding images in the brain of unsuspecting followers is the work of Madison Avenue. The TV series, "Mad Men" explored this with vim, vipp and vigor, or so they would say. Branding simple images can be very useful in organizing followers to support a righteous cause. It is a flag, of sorts, that is raised to rally the troops. Of course this can be used in demented ways as well and, of course, has been more times than not.
The "B" with the two bars through it, borrowed from the "S" with the bars for dollars, is the Bitcoin Brand.
The Artists Statement
As an artist, I want to use paint, color, texture, design and icons to communicate. Logo’s and flags are popular images and everyone recognizes them very easily because they are simple and iconic. The “B” used in the Bitcoin logo is a take off of the “S” with the bar running up and down through the letter in the US “Dollar Sign” seen as “$”. Logos, like flags are created to capture the allegiance of a community, be they a country, business, movement or organization. In this case, the logo is used for a movement towards adaptation of a new currency which takes a lot of faith in the stability of the currency. If people will accept it in trade for commodities such as gold and silver, goods such as food and clothing or services such as an oil change in your car, the currency has stability. If this stability is questioned, sellers will stop accepting it as money.
In my art, I contrast the Bitcoin logo with other historical forms of money, such as coins and paper money. Anything can be used as money if the seller is willing to accept it as payment. I also contrast these icons of traditional money with the unknown abstractions of our human existence. I don’t know for sure, but I suspect that there is much more that I don’t know about the Universe than what I do know. In that frame of mind, I paint in abstractions which is a realm of faith. I do not know every computation of math creating Bitcoin. I do not understand the intricacies of each and every communicating node of the blockchain. How many computers are needed to solve such mathematical algorithms? It’s all abstract to me, personally. Given the capabilities of computers, should we accept computers as an extension of our personality, like the proverbial “Hal” from 2001 A Space Odessy?
Is Bitcoin a trick of super hackers in collusion with governmental powers to expose and catch anyone who thinks they can “buck the system” like those on the Silk Road? Or, is it a real and independent form of money that can not be controlled or stopped? While my computer may not be personal, my art is very personal. I am an artist dealing with the bigger issues of governmental power and regulation over the citizen on a small planet in a huge universe. Are there bigger issues than currencies? Sure, but as a human, it is worth painting about.
I am painting icons surrounded by abstractions. What we know surrounded by what we do not know. It may be called an “Abstract Realism”. Allowing for the fact that we don’t know everything will be relevant until we do know everything.
Ray Istre
12/10/2014
Links to Art of Bitcoin by Ray Istre
Artist Web Site and Statement
http://www.rayistre.com/art-of-bitcoin/
Bitcoin Art Prints for Sale
http://www.artpal.com/ray#i3
BitPremier.com Luxury Items for Bitcoin
https://www.bitpremier.com/search?query=Ray+Istre
Emily Faber at CoinCafe.com
https://blog.coincafe.com/2015/12/04/ray-istre/
Victoria Turk at Motherboard
http://motherboard140.rssing.com/browser.php?indx=6898904&item=6442
Art4Bitcoin.net
http://art4bitcoin.net/ray-istre/
Reddit Post w/comment
https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/2msski/art_of_bitcoin_by_ray_istre/
SpendABit.co Bitcoin Search Engine
https://spendabit.co/blog/may-is-art-month
EbitLuxury.com
http://ebitluxury.com/4-fine-art-antiques4658.html?page=2#
BlockChain.com
https://blog.blockchain.com/2015/12/05/bitcoin-news-for-the-week-of-113015/
Kitco.com Cartoons by Ray Istre
http://www.kitco.com/ind/#i
Anything can be considered money if someone is willing to accept it as payment, so true. Think of all the odd things that were considered currency in the past.
The thing I love about all these alternative currencies including the age old 'barter', is that they are free exchanges between individuals without the need of banks or government. Government can facilitate trade by allowing free trade, not controlling or forcing trade.