ri210120 Negotiable Persistent Anticipation: Keys to artiscrip design  

“A transmitter encodes information into a signal, which is corrupted by noise and then decoded by the receiver.” This is the explanation of Claude Shannon’s information theory, which is the basis for information age digital communication and includes art.

Claude Shannon and games  

David Tse gave us an article about Claude Shannon and several points stood out - sentences that struck me like flags in a downhill ski course, marking the way to the design of artiscrip as my game.

One such statement is, “A transmitter encodes information into a signal, which is corrupted by noise and then decoded by the receiver.”

The image this makes in my artist’s mind is, “The artist publishes a work of art like a signal for a phantom audience’s benefit. The work is corrupted by the environment, society, economics, politics, and psychology. A real audience decodes it – however corrupted it is.”

For example, I make a print, I show the print in an art gallery, people come and see it and form their opinion and, sometimes, they buy it. Or I put the print in the window of our Mini Art Gallery and a passerby notices it and buys it.

There is a persistent notion in our society that art is at once a consumable. To most people who are not artists it is a mysterious world tinged with persistent envy. They respect those who are judged to be artists, evident in that their work is published, prize-worthy and shown inside galleries, museums, books, and collectable.

Not only is the artwork consumable and may be purchased, but they may also negotiate to own this artifact, this desirable object from the world of art.

In addition to its being an object of negotiable value, the viewer also feels anticipation. If they go to an art gallery, they anticipate enjoying what they see – and it is free. Although a museum charges to enter, it’s worth the money because the art has been edited and polished. The environment is like that of a church. Guards are stationed here and there. An art museum has the air of a place of worship, socially elevating and respectful.

For the few visitors with disposable income, there is anticipation that they might buy art and take it home or make it part of their corporation’s holdings as investments – real assets of blue-chip valuation. Legends of buying low and selling high raise anticipation – like betting on a horse. Fear accompanies the feeling because they might be mistaken.

It is like a game where there are winners and losers. How can I make artiscrip work the same way?

Rarity, scarcity, and money

Art galleries and museums have more value as generators of negotiable, persistent anticipation because rarity enters in. Unlike entering a clothing store where racks of clothing and surprising colors are tempered by the fact the clothing is mass-produced. A designer’s studio, however, promises one-of-a-kind clothes a wealthy person anticipates will be seen as a high-ticket consumable only a few can afford. Such designers are considered to be artists because of negotiable persistent anticipation.

It must be like this for artiscrip. But how?

Some people consider me an artist, but I consider myself to be a teaching artist – a half-breed living among the artists’ tribes. As the saying among artists goes, “If you can’t make it as an artist, you teach.” Naturally, I am an outsider to whatever side there is because I am a half-caste of whatever the art world fashion is.

To think about Claude Shannon and analyze David Tse’s article is evidence of this. Artists might say I have left my mind! In my mind, it’s not unusual at all for an artist to vacillate between two minds about the art world. He or she sees evidence that the greatest artists veered away from the conventions prevailing in their day in order to do great things.

Artiscrip, therefore, is a work of art. Part physical, part digital, a hybrid of the world that was with the world that is trying to be born. My analysis of Claude Shannon’s contribution to science, engineering and math will continue as my search for the game mechanic of artiscrip (and emeralda.games) continues.

The object is negotiable persistent anticipation. Only by working on artiscrip – in a community of distributed investors and producers – can we build a better world.