reprage

In 2016 Walt’s company stopped making Disney Dollars, but don’t worry. If you have a stash of them, they’re still accepted at Disneyland for Mickey ears, snacks, or whatever. The whole thing is incredible because Disney Dollars are now a currency with a fixed supply - just like Bitcoin.

Woah. Hear me out, cryptocurrency fans, don’t rage quit. I’m HODLing over here as well; it’s just that my relationship with our new digital cash is a little complicated.

This fixed Disney Dollar thing got me wondering, how much are they ‘worth’? So I fired up flea bay and discovered that a 50 dollar note from Scrooge McDuck will set you back about US$2000. Yup, Disney Dollars went to the moon, my friends.

Let’s flip this analogy on its head; crypto feels more like a computer game to me, some sort of arts-Monopoly, and it’s fun. Super fun.

So I write tiny computer programs that generate pictures, and every now and then, someone comes along buys one with crypto. Whoo! Community Chest, 2nd prize in a beauty contest - collect 0.01. The ‘feels like a game’ thing is helped along by naivety; I only really know how to use cryptocurrency to buy jpegs. Whoops, I landed on this picture of an algorithmically generated flower - that’ll be 0.02.

This arts-Monopoly thing pushes my relationship with work and money towards the happiest place on Earth, a Disneyland.

A photo of a currency exchange painting by Tom Sachs.

Photos: Arthur Carpentier

Originally written for the Sachsian Syndicate.

Previously: TGIM 41 - … so I’ll shape the lesson in an unexpected way that helps create new memories. Maybe I’ll take my shirt off and stand on the kitchen table, or perhaps I’ll get them to sit upside down on the couch.

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.