The Symbiotic Nature of Art and Bitcoin

Over centuries the rich have splashed out money, dictating what art is worth by the dollar. One example that comes to mind is the Blue Fool by Christopher Wool, which sold for little over $5 million at auction. “I can’t help but think that Christopher, who specializes in painting words on canvas,had a great laugh when this particular piece sold. When he started out, did he ever think that he could convince someone to buy a work that implies they are a fool for purchasing it?” – said Naysawn, founder of Art Sumo an online Art store selling affordable originals

Cointemporary, an online art gallery, was founded by artists Valentin Ruhry and Andy Boot who share a similar outlook. They first opened their digital doors in 2013. Ruhry advised the online gallery was started as he wanted the public to decide who the next star would be, not the niche upper market.

“Cointemporary resembles traditional galleries in its dedication to one artist and limited exhibition time, but the goal is to place the artist’s work in a broader global visual context free from the hegemonic monetary system in which contemporary art is embedded,”
— – Cointemporary

The online gallery dedicates itself to one piece for a seven day period. After a piece has had its run, or is sold, a new work by a different artist immediately takes its place. The works of art can be purchased by Bitcoin and only Bitcoin, irrespective of price volatility.

Bitcoin was chosen for its intrinsic value and high volatility. These factors cause a stir and encourage conversation, which contributes to Cointemporary’s vision of disabling the current basis of value within the art world.

“Bitcoin represents a decentralized online payment network and a new form of autonomy in the global monetary system, which does not yet exist in a similar fashion in the art world.”
— – Cointemporary

The first museum acquisition using bitcoin and blockchain technology was by the Austrian Museum of Applied Arts (MAK) and made possible by two crypto startups that utilizes the blockchain directly in the art world. Coinfinity an Austrian company which consults on Bitcoin and Ascribe.io a Berlin based company focused on leveraging blockchain technology for immutable copyrights and ownership of art.

Dutch artist Harm van den Dorpel’s Event Listeners (2015) is a limited edition screensaver, which was purchased by the Austrian Museum of Applied Arts (MAK). The screensaver is a part of MAK’s exhibition “24/7 – The Human Condition” as part of the first-ever Vienna Biennale 2015: Ideas for Change, which will run from the 11th June to the 4th October.

MAK are taking a step in the right direction as to this day, the art world faces ongoing court cases disputing ownership.  In January this year, the Supreme Court dealt a blow to the Norton Simon Museum. Their refusal to review a legal ruling which jeopardized their ownership of a collection known as the Adam and Eve paintings may leave the museum out of hand.  The paintings, by Lucas Cranach the Elder, are amongst the museum’s most prized possessions. However, according to Marei Von Saher, the pieces were looted from her father in law.

Using the Bitcoin blockchain, Ascribe allows artists to create records of unchangeable copyright and ownership of their artwork which can be verified and tracked. Since the data and copyright cannot be changed once it is registered on the blockchain, artists and owners will be able to defend their works without the need to spend money on the traditional process of hiring lawyers to create legal documents.

"This solution has two pieces: a registry with easy, secure legals (with the help of the bitcoin blockchain) and visibility into usage / provenance of the content (with the help of internet-scale machine learning). Taken together, these pieces constitute “ownership processing” – a simple, turnkey solution to make ownership actions of digital property accessible to all."
— – Ascribe Whitepaper

Ascribe recently raised US $2 million which they plan to use to improve the efficiency of their platform for artists, to onboard additional developers and to increase awareness of their product.

Bitcoin has not only taken to recording ownership of art. Cryptoart, the texas based company founded by Troy Fearnow is giving paper wallet functionality an aesthetically pleasing look. Paper wallets are a means of storing funds off the blockchain, also known as cold storage. The process involves printing bitcoin addresses directly onto a piece of paper.

Although controversial in the art world for distracting from the actual piece being viewed, many artists are turning to QR codes. This allows communities to dictate the ongoing success of their favorite artist, as opposed to relying heavily on commissions and governmental grants.

The limited edition prints sold by Cryptoart range from $55 to just under $1000, allowing a low barrier to entry for art fans. Each art print can be loaded and unloaded with digital currency. On the front of the print is a QR code, the public address. The owner of the print can send money by scanning it with a mobile app.

"The front of each print bares a QR code with a public Bitcoin address to check the coin balance or to load coins."
— – Cryptoart

In order to retrieve the funds stored, the private key which acts like a password is located on the back under a security sticker. The removal of the sticker will not damage the art piece. For catburglars, it bears noting that the safe is no longer hidden behind the painting. The safe is the painting.