In "Brazil Backs a R$1.08M Bitcoin Orchestra That Turns Live BTC Prices Into Real-Time Music" Isabella Flores reminds us about Matt Kane's 2020 programmable artwork "which visualizes itself in response to the price of Bitcoin. As the BTC grows or decreases, the art evolves form, colour, and composition becoming a part of the market statistics." The piece sold for over 100,000 dollars. In the article about this historic sale, Matt Kane explained: ""As a nod to Bitcoin's 21 million fixed supply, the collector receives 21% of the individual NFT and print sales. Only 210 NFTs will be minted."

Of course I became curious as to how this can be applied to the Afrogoth fashion movement. Fashion designs based on the price of Bitcoin? Like Matt Kane's work, the designs change form and colour in response to Bitcoin fluctuations?

I was also curious about the 21 million fixed supply. On the Kelly and Partners Accountants website, Abhinav Soomaney explains the design philosophy behind this: "Bitcoin's cap of 21 million coins wasn't chosen randomly. Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonymous creator of Bitcoin, designed it as a currency resistant to the inflationary pressures affecting traditional fiat money. This supply limit is hardcoded into Bitcoin's system, ensuring that no more than 21 million bitcoins can exist." Design philosophy? I recently read "In conversation with ghosts: towards a hauntological approach to decolonial design for/with AI practices" by Mugdha Patil and others, and this quote from the paper came to mind:

"...the use of design interventions is not solely a design decision. It is rather the result of considerations made by designers to cater to specific client needs and target audiences...Spacemattering (i.e. seeing these decisions in a plane, in correlation with other issues) allows the designer to be cognisant of the politics of the decisions they make..." (page 63).

Isabella Flores notes that the difference between the Brazilian orchestra making music from Bitcoin data and other artists who have made art inspired by Bitcoin is that the instruments "react immediately to the digital signal, which is the interface between the millennia-old musical practice and contemporary financial technology." I see the similarities between Afrogoth and this. Afrogoth's signature aesthetic is Afro-Victorian-Goth, fusing Victorian Goth elements such as lace and velvet with African fabrics like the leso, which has a rich history. Afrogoth's motto is "Remember. Resist. Redefine." Remember is rooted in memory and history. Redefine is rooted in technological innovation, including artificial intelligence. It could be said that Afrogoth is the interface between millenia-old fashion practice and contemporary fashion design technology.

Another link between fashion and Bitcoin is the golden ratio. This number is found everywhere in nature, is used in all types of artistic endeavours, including music and fashion and is also used in the Bitcoin world.  As Joel Agbo explains in "What is the Golden Ration and how to use the Golden Pocket", this number, which is also called the divine proportion, "represents a ‘perfect’ relationship between a pair of numbers. This relationship is peculiar in the sense that certain mathematical calculations using the number pair return the same result, which is equal to or very close to 1.618." On coinengineer.com we are told about The Golden Ratio Multiplier, "a technical analysis tool used to analyze Bitcoin’s price movements. Based on the Fibonacci sequence and the golden ratio (1.618), this indicator visualizes Bitcoin’s long-term price cycles and helps investors identify potential buying and selling opportunities."

Abhinav Soomaney explains that the 21 million fixed supply concept "was likely inspired by gold, a naturally scarce resource long regarded as a reliable store of value." I smiled as I remembered Mansa Musa, the ninth Mansa of the Mali Empire who reigned in the early 1300s. In 1324, he travelled with his big entourage to Mecca, carrying a vast supply of gold. He spent some time in Egypt where his generous gift-giving is said to have affected the value of gold in Egypt! There is a depiction of Mansa Musa in the 1375 Catalan Atlas and the label reads: "This Black Lord is called Musse Melly and is the sovereign of the land of the black people of Gineva (Guinea). This king is the richest and noblest of all these lands due to the abundance of gold that is extracted from his lands."

During this holiday season, may you receive the gifts of innovation, creativity and history. Happy Holidays!