Decades ago, a friend ran over to me excitedly at university: “RepRage! I’ve joined a band and I’m playing synthesizer!” He proceeded to rock out with a bit of air keyboard while making robot noises. I was hyped for him and wondered what the band was called. When he replied, “Debaser”, my puzzled look prompted further explanation: “It’s when someone destroys value – like when a government does something to make their money worth less. Like burning a five-buck note.”
For a while, I felt like I was a debaser. I’d buy a sheet of plywood, paint it, cut it to pieces and screw it together in some new shape. When I stepped back, I’d speculate, “That plywood probably had greater value as a sheet than what it does now.”
I was wrong though; I had completely discounted the educational value of my actions. Fifty bucks for the opportunity to practice my craft? What a bargain. But those ideas around materials and value still linger, and that’s why I love creating with my computer. I shuffle around stuff that costs me nothing – numbers and instructions – and upload them as ideas into the brain of a digital machine.
I think that’s one of the exciting promises of Non Fungible Tokens (NFTs) – the ability to extract value from almost nothing more than your own labour. It’s the total opposite of a debaser, and maybe it’s an artist’s final form. Someone who can increase the significance of the materials around them.
Originally written for the Sachsian Syndicate.
Comments:
You can join the conversation on Twitter or Instagram
Become a Patreon to get early and behind-the-scenes access along with email notifications for each new post.
Hi! Subconsciously you already know this, but let's make it obvious. Hopefully this article was helpful. You might also find yourself following a link to Amazon to learn more about parts or equipment. If you end up placing an order, I make a couple of dollarydoos. We aren't talking a rapper lifestyle of supercars and yachts, but it does help pay for the stuff you see here. So to everyone that supports this place - thank you.