“Reproduction” Di-faced Banksy note

The modern epoch we live was recently described as ‘World War 2 plus email’ — and was said in loose reference (I surmise at least) to how technology draws forward history; with the implication Bitcoin is perhaps behind time rather than before it?

The expression sharply hooked in the way I couldn’t readily make sense and I’m not sure [the] conclusions I’ve reached, or am reaching for, are meaningful in any practical measure.

The Print in Abstract

An essay written during the forming to the onset of the second world war, made observation on a side effect of accurate artistic reproduction in respect of authenticity:

“…even the most perfect reproduction of a work of art is lacking in one element: its presence in time and space, its unique existence at the place where it happens to be.” Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction

In respect of the modern epoch, where consumerism feels debased — without aura — reason alone may not be enough come the day’s end.

Walter Benjamin

Art and the Prisoners Dilemma

In the context of game theory, the insight into reproduction and printing can be applied [to art] where images become ephemeral, ubiquitous, insubstantial, available, valueless and free for lacking the gestation of the original work.

As applied by Banksy taking the original work outside of the gallery — and then purposefully destroying [the work] to protect its value.

‘Girl with a Balloon’ — aka ‘Love is in the Bin’ by Banksy

Cold Logic Commodity

It is not entirely agreeable to economists that money printing — the phrase alone may make them wince — dissipates reality the more [the] presses go to work: a trusted currency can circulate just as well with any number of notes, so long as there is a general conviction in the reality of the economy in which it serves.

Art as a market works at the top end for no obvious purpose than exclusivity, deliberate illiquidity, and a capricious reality [that] ownership comes with a price.

In the figurative sense therefore, given the distributed nature of digital markets and branding presence, a new kind of psychology could emerge in respect of consuming habits.

In this light, it seems difficult to escape Derrida’s views on genesis in relation to Bitcoin, a non-cash form of cash: it’s immaterial, without empirical basis, and searching for a ubiquitous reason to make itself useful— but it does clearly exist, if without explicit clarity as to why.

By asking what makes art difficult or ideal, the reorientation of reality might well realise Satoshi was making a somewhat artistic appeal in respect of such [Bitcoin] purpose.