This idea was first posted on the Ethereum community website here: http://forum.ethereum.org/discussion/446/the-ephemeral-artcoin?new=1
Art has a powerful abstract message which functions on a different level than other media or craft. We all know real art when we experience it, but we can’t always explain what makes it real. The Ephemeral Artcoin (EA) is a platform designed to spark the creation of qualitative new works of non-commercial art in the post-bitcoin digital economy.
The 3 Parts of The Ephemeral Artcoin
1. The Protocol
Coin generation is hyper-inflationary and happens in the Fibonacci sequence. This sequence was chosen because it demonstrates a bridge between nature and mathematics, just as art is a bridge between the empirical and abstract aspects of our existence, and our perception.
Minting happens based on a 100% proof-of-stake algorithm. There is a 100% premine. 64 artcoins are to be awarded to a consortium upon release of the protocol. The number 64 was chosen because it represents the codons of human DNA.
1.1 Coin Age Demurrage
The point of owning artcoins is to pay them forward. Therefore there can be no long term proof-of-stake reward for coins that have not been verified to be travelling through the economy above a minimum velocity limit. These coins instead incur demurrage. In this way the artcoin economy will scale in tandem with the success rate of its mission to spark the creation of original non-commercial true works of art.
2. The Consortium
This ad hoc organization is charged with documenting all of the works of art of the community. These may be digital, mechanical, drawings, paintings, sculptures, possibly even literary works, or open source software. The Consortium’s theme is bridges, between art and technology, the future and the past, the known and the unknown.
A coin does not represent actual ownership of a work of art, but rather proof that it was the coin that paid for an original work of art to come into existence. The art created by the community would be featured on a public website, and records are kept by the Consortium.
The object of the EA project is to render artcoins valuable, so that artists can receive higher compensation for original works commissioned by members the community. The Consortium pledges to operate completely transparently with its finances, and to spend its coins with the explicit strategic goal of increasing humanity’s output of original creative works.
3. The Public Website (or “Oracle”)
A robust media website controlled by the Consortium. It is funded via community donations of cryptographic assets, and by the increase in value of its holdings in artcoin and ether.
Why Do Ephemerals have Value? How Does the Artcoin Economy Work?
The purpose of owning an artcoin is to pay it forward to an artist as payment for the creation of an original work of art. To be in possession of an artcoin is to possess the ability to commission a work from the community of artists, or to trade this privilege.
An artcoin is like a digital version of any other collectible coin or artifact, as well as a digital representation of a separate physical or digital work. The existential relationships between artworks are experienceable on the oracle website via posts, discussions, links, and robust visualizations.
Who owns the Artwork?
The artwork created belongs to the artists, and they are free to sell their work for any price independent of the artcoin or Ethereum communities.
Conditions for Artists
Every artist who agrees to accept an artcoin as payment for the commission of an original work is honour bound to either finish the work commissioned, or return the coin to its previous owner. The artist is also honour bound to include a signature on the artwork identifying the ID of the transaction which led to the creation of the work, and to upload a photograph or video of the work and a bit of text (which should include a description or story about the work and/or biographical information about the artist) to the oracle website.
The Mechanics of the Artcoin Economy
Through the oracle website and other portals, members of the community can request works of art (ie. “I’d like an abstract painting of Satoshi Nakamoto”). Every artist in the world will be invited to create a profile on the oracle website, and network with the community.
This project presents new ideas that could never have been attempted before Ethereum, but it is also based on proven social, technological, and economic principles. EA is a great way to bring the technology and finance communities together with many of the world’s great artistic and abstract minds.
The long term vision for EA is to have the entire project take the form of a distributed autonomous organization. The ultimate goal is to enrich humanity’s social and intellectual capital.