Interview with the British crypto artist Chiefmonkey, creator of beautiful laser cut pieces of crypto art.
Chiefmonkey is a British crypto artist who grew up with Sigue Sigue Sputnik, the Atari games and the Commodore64. Fascinated by the possibilities of the Internet, for a time he worked with affiliate marketing in the porn industry and then set up his own mobile application development company. As a crypto artist, Chiefmonkey makes beautiful laser-cut wood creations and crypto gifts for the growing community of hodlers. The creator, who is also part of the crypto artists group at Telegram, kindly agreed to give us the following interview.
When did you first meet cryptocurrencies?
About 9 months before MtGox... From more libertarian side of the web I learned about the importance of money, what it was and why gold and silver were so important... The gold standard... I give credit to the likes of Mike Maloney and Peter Schiff and Jeff Berwick... Then seemingly out of nowhere Andreas Antonopoulos hit my screen, Charles Hoskinson, Trace Meyer, Erik Voorhees and of course Max Keiser… My head exploded like a bucket of yoghurt hitting a brick wall… I just couldn’t read fast enough.
How did you begin in the world of crypto art?
To steal a line from the 1976 film Network, I got “mad as hell” with the way society seemed to be run and I wanted to change it… In the past I’ve owned a digital company and employed my own developers to create the apps I wanted but I no longer have that company, and since I am not a developer myself I am not able to create the things I wished to see in the world… But I loved bitcoin and wanted to be more a part of its growth than just simply owning it, so I explored my creative side.
I am a huge fan of the maker movement, 3D printers and laser cutters, and I can play with any graphics program given to me… So I bought my own a laser cutter and simply started playing… The addiction was instant… Anything I can imagine I can create.
What are the benefits of blockchain for artists?
Right now provenance is the big thing... But also honest pay… Blockchain solutions are now being developed that enable an artist to receive ongoing commission from future sales of a piece of work.
Examples: Radicle, SuperRare (only digital), Blockchain Art Collective.
Do you think cryptocurrencies represent a better system than the current financial model?
:-D
How did you come up with “Ginkgo Crypto”? What does it represent for you and what do you intend to transmit with this work?
"Gingko Crypto" has a very special place in my heart… It was my first step into crypto art and my first step into art as a passion.
Each of my pieces tells the story of Bitcoin at that particular time… I will be going back in time to create pieces that tell the story from the very beginning.
«Gingko Crypto» (Chiefmonkey).
Another representative work to highlight is “Backgammoon”, the crypto board game. Can you talk about it? How did you decide to create it?
I feel that the whole argument that "my crypto is going to beat your crypto" is pointless… In particular the ongoing battle of Bitcoin Cash and Bitcoin Satoshi Vision are better than Bitcoin… So I created a backgammon satire in response to this to allow the game to decide.
Apart from Roy Lichtenstein, who is honoured in your work “Bitcoin Boom Pop Art”, what are your main influences?
Grayson Perry, Hokusai, Banksy, Jacob Epstein, Andy Warhol, a lot of Indian and Far Eastern imagery and of course Faketoshi's work on the Sistine Chapel ;-)
Moon and rockets are very present in your work. How do you see the future of crypto? Will we reach the moon?
I love retro robots and would happily be teleported to a probe free but friendly planet as a weekend tourist.
I see crypto (many crypto many blockchains) being omnipresent and omnipotent throughout society globally… Just like the Internet is today.
“Society 3.0” is a very beautiful and psychedelic work. What was your inspiration for it?
A while ago, I did the concept and initial design work for an infographic that showed 5 Pillars of Society and what blockchain solutions were currently live or being developed... It highlighted Atomic Swaps and how that technology was going to allow the flow of value cross Blockchains and throughout society at every level.
However, long form infographics do not transcribe well to laser cutting… I just couldn’t see how I could make it work... Then I saw a TED talk by Johann Gevers... He’s the co-founder and CEO of Monetas… He talked about the 4 pillars of a decentralized society... That became my trigger.
What other crypto project(s) are you working on nowadays?
Here's my latest piece. It’s called: "Satoshi Goes Down the Rabbit Hole".
Since Satoshi is male/female/group, the figure is made up of a variety of male and female parts... Just like Bitcoin itself is made up of several different technologies.
The egg shape represents the birth of great things and new ideas.
The laptop preceding him represents the only tool he/she needed to learn and create.
Hope you like it…
«Satoshi Goes Down the Rabbit Hole» (Chiefmonkey).
What is crypto art for you? What is your relationship with other crypto artists?
Crypto art, like any form of art, is a natural part of any culture and an essential part of the communication that reaches outside of that culture to those looking in from other cultures… Crypto art is my creative outlet and expression of something that I completely believe has the ability to change the world for the better… It’s political, it’s economical, it’s humanitarian, it’s counter culture, it’s exciting.
What blockchain projects do you find most interesting today?
It’s really hard to pick individual projects since so many are in development or not live.
DEX’s are some of the more developed solutions that are live but lack liquidity, and so adoption, because of competition with established centralized exchanges. Examples: Bisq, Bancor.
Decentralized marketplaces: District0x, Open Bazaar, Origin Protocol.
Liquid democracy is perhaps my personal favourite because this is how I think democracy should be done in a fair society without corruptible 2 party politics. Examples: Democracy Earth, Sovereign.
Distributed computing, like Sonm, because the idea that anyone can be rewarded simply by contributing their idle computing power… Sonm is perhaps not the best example of this but it's on the right lines… SETI was a great example.
Decentralized AI: Open Mined, and any other initiatives that do not involve tech giants, universities or governments.
Decentralized virtual worlds like Decentraland could evolve into the Oasis as in Ready Player One, who knows!?
IPFS provides the infrastructure to many decentralized solutions so this is particularly exciting.
Atomic Swapping technology.
Has the bear market affected your work?
I can’t say it has... What I have noticed and I find illuminating is that people instinctively want to offer payment in BTC and apologize if they have to pay in fiat.
Will we live in a decentralized future?
#TLDR... yes.
To have privacy whenever we choose is to be free... When this is both common knowledge and people naturally seek it and can easily protect it as their human right then we'll be there.
Governments inefficient systems and bureaucracy will evolve slowly, gradually being replaced with smart contracts... They'll massively shrink in size as a result.
Decentralization is anti globalization, it promotes localization to the extent that for industries like farming it promotes the move for greater diversity and focus on local community… The biggest problem with globalization is it centralizes power into fewer and fewer hands… The people who win at this game are not humanitarians, so any thought for people and the planet are secondary to selfish gain… A decentralized future will see harmony between people and between people and the planet.
Along with a decentralized future I believe we could see the adoption of Liquid Democracy and Circular Economics (putting people and the planet first).
Can you pick for us a random «Lucky Crypto Dip Sticks»? Which one we got?
I certainly can... Let me see what I’ve got here:
OH DEAR GOD… “You got on stage and shouted BITCONNEEEEEEECT”… WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?!!! ;o)
«Lucky Crypto Dip Sticks» (Chiefmonkey).
Anything you would like to add?
Yes... Can someone please go back in time and put a condom on Calvin Ayre's father?… I thought we were all on the same side!
If you’re going to Bitcoin2019 Conference please do drop by and say hello… I’m honoured to be invited to show my work at the festival… I can’t wait… The line-up of speakers looks like a crypto rock fest.
Thanks very much!
You are most welcome… Here’s to a very bright future for all of us ❤️
Chiefmonkey