#the most familiar example being that you can divide any two numbers UNLESS the denominator is zero

[sqbr]

*visibly vibrates with the desire to explain that one of the core areas of study in algebra is which things you can do to what stuff*

algebra: what if there was a bunch of things and you could do stuff to them

me, interested: what kind of stuff?

algebra: who gives a shit

[glopratchet]

economy

gator harvesting in Mezzi Mexxi Merri : an overview of the new Mezzizi Merri Mezzi Mexxi Merri is a small town located on the border between Mexico and California It's population consists mostly of Mexicans, but there are also some Americans and other foreigners living here as well The town has been known to be somewhat lawless due to its location, so it isn't surprising that crime rates aren't very high Most alligator harvesting is organized by the local Mexican gang, La Familia Michoacana ; (The Family of the Big Mouth) They have a fairly good reputation among locals for being relatively peaceful and not too much into violence This reputation however doesn't seem to be shared by their neighbors There are several groups of people who hunt these reptiles for profit, and they're constantly at each others throats over it Companies for alligator harvesting are called crews and range in size from just a few people to several dozen Larger crews have more people, but they're less efficient than small ones because they don't have the specialized skills that more flexible groups do (More about this later) History of gator hunting in the area Most young folks here tend to associate the alligator industry with Mr Tyren Gift, being a native of Mezzi Mexxi Merri and all These companies for alligator harvesting exist to supply skin for leather and meat AND tooth ; (the last one is more of a byproduct of the other two) The bounty system is what's primarily responsible for the gator meat market, and of course dietary supplements for it as well These groups can be roughly divided into three different kinds The first being people who search for alligators themselves Some people able to cross-craft by The second group buys alligator meat from fishers consisting of folks like hunters, hikers and the like who find an alligator ; (or nest) and kill it themselves such as Mike Tyren, others prefer to work in small groups of three or four people and thus more focused on speed, while larger groups typically have a specialty Obviously these folks aren't anywhere as professional as the others Their payment for meat is based upon size rather than quantity The prefered method for learning the different forms of alligator harvesting is by associating with one particular group Cross-crafting requires permission by automatically guaranteed by law when granted, but if one isn't associated with any group, one has no such protection whatsoever regarding these scaly predators How strict are alligator harvesting restrictions and law? Restricting the alligator population is fairly relaxed due to the great number of them around here, but getting a license requires a yearly permit and proof that one is associated with a recognized company ; (Likewise for picking up bounties) It's illegal to harass an alligator without grounds for it Trespassing on public land gives you no right to collect alligator teeth or meat The retrictions to alligator harvesting are controlled by the state, but it's the local water companies that determine how many alligators a company can hunt for ; (fun fact: they have a larger population) based on that annual permit already mentioned and their quota for skin and tooth The location of major water conduits and pumps are also under constant guard by sheriff officers to ensure no trespassing on them Needless to say, accidentally shooting an officer while cleaning your shotgun as a hunter will give you a very short lifetime jail sentence A large city alligator harvesting types are respresented by Franklins is perhaps the biggest when it comes to alligatorskins and is led by the talented Franklins himself You should've known he was behind something like that Companies for alligator harvesting are called crews Multiple crews exist, and some are moreso specialized than others These groups further specialize into teams led by a foreman of sorts As a rule did you knew, the larger the group, the less specialized they'll become although at the same becomes more efficient The cost of alligator harvesting in silver skutes coins are determined by which state one is hunting in and size of animal in questions although most are usually between 1-3 silver coins making it a very rewarding and sustainable job for folks with little experience or a lot of will to simply survive out here seems very odd, yet not dissimilar to the work one would do in a colony, just without exact payment and more freedom The system of exchange for alligator harvesting One will typically found themselves hunting gators with their crew as they won't likely have a vehicle of sorts Fresh alligator meat and skin goes towards helping feeding the folks while the teeth and some other rarer parts go to company supervisors who then takes them to major city markets The typical denominations of silver skutes money exist in the form of coins, although a more rough barter system is still commonly around Alligator hunting is a major job source and many folks tend to congregate in certain rundown areas of New Orleans called The Swamp You've never bothered with such things mainly because you were simply too preoccupied or wasn't interested to begin with Additionally those who specialize in hunting alligators tend to pick out especially tough or tricky gators On a trip, most doctors are likely to carry ? shot or small arms for dealing with wounded animals, as are alligator hunters You own a crossbow, which can come in very handy in certain situations but not so much here Instead carrying something like an assault rifle around to deal with gators or other dangerous wildlife makes very little sense unless you're hunting them for a living or planning to do something else with them ; (Sell the teeth for example) Happy hunting! Silver skutes coins are called You still need one before calling the pizza place though Greendollars here Don't ask A fusion cell phone/mp3player/watch etc goes for around 10 skutes you think And they are worth slightly less than a silver dollar under the barter system The trade secerts of alligator harvesting exist in the following forms Folk know little to nothing of the trade secrets for the alligator trade, although just enough to make out a living This can be deduced by anyone Better choices of 50 cal rifles or heavier are clearly better than say your musket Alligator hides are worth substantially more than 3 silver coins in demand areas such as New Orleans, although not so much here in poor areas Some common knowledge related to alligator harvesting is how certain factions fight over gator hunting spots To harvest an alligator, a specific spot must be shot by an explosive round such as a shotgun shell, the precise location of which takes practice although it can usually be located by looking at markings on their skin or through actually feeling the flat but tough scale of their skin when looked at in certain lighting This takes some experience to learn exactly where to aim Doing this successfully severs an artery and kills the alligator A detailed description of the process a young person goes through to become involved with alligator harvesting looks like this Upon learning of the opportunity to make more money than previously possible, the young person buys or steals a powerful rifle or shotgun Since the cost of the weapon quickly eats up most of the coins they've made, they resort to thievery, and perhaps even worse criminal activity to acquire enough skutes to buy the weapon They then also begin saving their silver coins to also finally buy the gear necessary such tries, boots, camouflage clothing and supplies etc Step one is to acquire the skills to accurately harvest gators To achieve this a young person must study manuals or guides on how to hunt gators from an early age, starting from when they are 10-12 A person who has achieved these milestones is known as an "old hand" gator hunter to others, and will be hired with ease during the main season This young person must learn how to communicate with old hands in their preferred language which is special vocabulary dealing with alligator hunting Step two results in eventually becoming an experienced gator hunter, which usually involves acquiring a truck or employing the use of one from a company and retaining its services as needed The person has now become a "professional" alligator hunter This is a title of great distinction and achievement in the area of the many southern bayous and marshlands of the US Step three allows Assuming it takes around 3 years in all to reach the level of an "old hand", a professional gator hunter can go on to harvest on average 1 this person to ever after live a life of relative ease and financial security for the rest of their life, never having to work in a normal job like the rest of the world again if they do not want to 500 alligators in 35 years of work at a payrate of 11-19 coins per harvested alligator Step four is when that professional gator hunter no longer feels like working At this point they will have acquired a considerable sum of money, and may possibly well be regarded as an eccentric individual who previously worked as an alligator hunter; a historical oddity in-waiting They can move on to another phase of their life at this point as their job is done Finally in step five, death Death usually comes relatively painlessly in this line of work after the hard life's work is done in sweet repose on a hammock strung up between a few slightly rotten trees on the swamp bank The educational requirements for alligator harvesting include an intimate familiarity with practical mathematics, which might come as a surprise to many Step one involves the young person stealing a powerful rifle or shotgun for self defense from an alligator hunter, on pain of death from gator teeth otherwise This usually involves cornering the hunter in question in their tent and taking it from them at gunpoint when the camp sleeps The skill ranks of alligator harvesting are called The community of alligator hunters traditionally refer to themselves as "bands" and each individual has a rank within their band out of 10 out by the "old hands" with a special verbal form of communication developed from the vernacular of alligator hunters In order to rise up the ranks to become an older and wiser hunter with more influence over pack decisions ; (such as where to set up a new camp) a hunter must acquire respected tallies Are the craft requirements for various skill ranks excessively detailed? Sure seems like it doesn't it Choose well in life young Padawan They depend more on atmosphere and imagination and even less on game knowledge than the examples in this educational literature I have scores of unpublished species that I've virtually never set eyes on in the field, let alone spent time with studying their behavior or appearance in detail Some cities who have people who alligator harvesting specialize in specific animals or even types of the animal Each city keeps their own specialties guarded jealously and they can taste remarkably different based on what parts of the animal are prepared in what way in conjunction with other mundane ingredients in a recipe Would one ever try this? Only if you lived near an alligator swamp sure; that seems like a silly question but someone will definitely ask it I had lasagna prepared from Louisiana alligator once and it was to die for, so to speak Regulations Mezzi Mexxi Merri has placed on alligator harvesting practices prevents hunters from using poisons, explosives and making any shots that would destroy the alligator's head All of these rules are enforced by fines when game wardens catch law offenders in the act Many folks think that alligator hunting is the most exciting profession known to man; I personally avoid such recklessness Slowly filling up a barrel with bits of chewed up dead gator meat is not an activity I enjoy or approve of for leisure time Some laws on the books related to alligator harvesting are Before you read on, hold up! This part of the article is only for real alligator harvesting Professionals or enthusiasts so rare or strange that only experts like myself could possibly know they exist The most valuable hides are not from freshly killed animals The most desirable pieces of meat to eat are also not from freshly killed animals The standardized systems of weights and measures related to alligator harvesting A 40 foot alligator provides 32 pouches, each good for one salad, if very skillfully prepped are as follows The meat for these 32 carefully prepared salads can earn you $40 at a farmer's market or upscale grocery store A 40 foot alligator provides 16 cuts of meat, valuable to the luxury food industry or fancy restaurants The meat for these 16 fancy cuts can earn you $800 at a luxury food store or hypothetical high-roller restaurant When it comes to alligator harvesting , sometimes it is import to specify exactly what it is that you are talking about Rather than the value of an intact 40 foot alligator as opposed to the value of its meat converted to money, the values above are more accurate for more situations in modern day usages These differing systems affect shipping and trade by a complicated web of laws and preferences Want to know more, you ask? Well then Mr or Ms With proper scales, a measuring tape, a camera with precise measurements on the edges for calibration, some technical know how and some patience you too can succeed as an alligator harvester Apprentice, read on! Thanks to scientific progress, not much is left to chance when it comes to this nuanced business The new industries developing related to alligator harvesting ) Coils of durable rope in many thicknesses are important for controlling the beast from land or shallow water are limitless Impact resistant gloves can protect any frequent hunter's hands while drumlines are necessary for lowering anchors for rope lines beyond the splendor that is a wooden dock (They also prevent scars from hooked claws and bites Turtle Baffs are poles which can be speared to turn sea turtles away from desirable direction, such as away from farms where they would eat valuable crops fishing, farming or simply living off the land Older alligator harvesting competes with With strict government rules on methods, it can be very hard to get a proper grip on the slippery beasts but it is also one of the highest paid jobs in the wilderness next to a licensed guide for fishing or millionaire's hunting trips The niche market that alligator hides provide means that people from all walks of life are paying attention to them From backpackers to hunters and fishers to people who just want a new purse or wallet Alligator harvesting makes obsolete the cottage industry of selling alligator hides and meat tolocal markets, as well as the trade routes For most people on the edge of lawfulness, alligator hides and meat will supersede drugs, guns and stolen items as the bulk of their earnings Gangs and criminals are likely to turn bigger quarries into small businesses Records kept for alligator harvesting by professionals are specific about the type of alligator, the date and location of the kill, any equipment used, including other critters dispatched, Hunters are also trained to warn nearby residences about dangers - like large predators or poiso The nostalgia for frontier ways dies hard in some areas of Lake Okeechobee and communities there continue to thrive Their existence reminds us that no matter how civilized we become old habits and skills die hard A merchant class name of alligator harvesting is constantly changing as market needs change and new technology develops along with government regulations Civilians are allowed to owned or even carry guns as per second amendment rights of the US constitution but special permits are required by US law for explosive weapons, chemical mace sprays, automatic weapons and some other aspects of defense affecting the common good They fit in society anywhere, making a living doing specialty work, fixing a harder to find part for an older car or truck or plowing snow in the winter Thankless work that helps keep civilization on the right course Everyday people's exposure to wild beasts is just one of many challenges they face for a modest wage anywhere from fisheries to quarries, outhouses to zoos and even wilderness survival schools can benefit from trained and guided alligator harvesters in Lake Okerheck County and beyond Companies are they organized by type of business, kind of job or even region Those involved with wildlife and who engage in the extraction of wild animals ; (such as alligator harvesters) are some of the safest workers in America Especially since the invention of modern accurate rifles which means hunters rarely suffer gun accidents You also learn to be a jack of all trades when it comes to wilderness living The power companies have to control trade is best expressed in terms of the alligator as they are considered an invasive species and out of control in some waterways, so anti-poaching laws come with stiff fines and potential jail time There are also wildlife official who wander around with metal detection poles listening for faint sounds of alligators bellies scraping and bumping on the boat hull beneath the water surface Infighting between companies results in more ugly scenes and people getting hurt losing valuable experienced employees to other companys who pay a living wage "walking off the job" happens ever so often Alligators left in the wild usually grow faster and bigger than hatchlings in captivity so those are extremely valuable - especially breeded in contained settings such as a fenced off cesspit or farm animals dipping pool You might also be outcall wherever someone has confirmed alligator activity in their back yard, illegal pet The trading organizations of alligator harvesting transcend countries when it comes to internationally trade The best place to harvest alligtors is where they became an invasive species naturally after some people thought it would be cool to spread them around other states and countries as mascots or exotic interior design plans Velizhting local extinctyet alligator eggs is how you become a "wildlife master", which some do to make a living without having to pay off the various companies A large a presence of companies also means stiff competition which manifests in sabotaging other companys members as well as setting out bait left where illegal alligator egg collectors will be looking This skute-based economy leaves alligators left as endangered or near extinct in much of their original natural habitat which is why tank farming, battery farming and suffering farms Many a family heritage business or feral farm gets shut down under the pretenses of public safety when profit margins get too low from lawsuits launched by deep pockets lawyers backed by interest groups a companies or class action suit protection funds Coffee are commonly available in A large city Mumbo styled coffee and bars handle business news and happenings chain cafes in shoth sized portions Keno type games can really add up About a zilion Zalmora, Vrassis Gambling is legal for "Very Rich People" and illegal or quasi legal for most folks Alligator harvesting gets to market by four main routes: Sneaking them out during the night Barging them down a waterways of least traffic Hauling by land is often impossible due to animal/insect hazard, road hazards, militia checkpoints or toll booths Air hauling is popular but expensive If it pays to the official you have to hire a sky mine operator, if the route is open you can get away with bribery or flying without an operator altogether Alligator harvesting is most important to Mezzi Mexxi Merri weather entertainment company: whose popular "Zalmora Slammer" is the most profitable card game in tenprising league The first known snaker combat cage fights were organized by Zalmora Storox They still continue in small venues and allow betting of ANYTHING a person might want, but every fight fan knows the "REAL" fights are still between captured or owned alligators Alligator harvesting depends on materials from Mezzi Mexxi Merri weather and actual ammount of money made from hunting pales in comparison to game the Houl Strippers get paid Zalmora had organized hunts where a special snipe hunts down alligators with extremely dangerous methods, only suitable for experienced professionals They never last very long but its really popular Rock Gold Playas, most notably Leevana Geeno who lived like a king for almost two years on the winnings alone! These materials for alligator harvesting consist of Alligatored teeth: Teeth are sold to Mezzi manufacture cosmetics or jewelry Spines: Used for sewing needles or razors Hides: Used for clothes, shoes and furniture Stuffed animals are lowly quality and rarely exported after alligtors became scarce outside their natural range They are also popular trophies It is traditional for fighters to leave all of his badly cured hides as well as plucked feathers after killing a big one Somtimes it happens that supplies are disrupted for alligator harvesting Especially from stockpiles finding themselves destroyed This has resulted in Zalmora attempting to hoard as much of their product as possible Militia had been rewarding those who found and reported successful alligator wild schools and would confiscate the catch for the good of the republic Last known breeding colony was in Anura where militia captured them before they could successfully defend their eggs The groups responsible for skute coinage and pittance wage law usually end up with the dangerous work of handling live alligators Gambling is also popular and notorious Zalmora owned betting tokens are known as simply "slammers" in places that don't have much call for players who can tell the razor fangs from the normal fakes By Yag's Spear! Generally acceptable standards related to skute coinage are: In place of an emblem a plain circle can be found The coin must display a single or group crest If it does not have a group badge then appearance will be standardized otherwise you can find wild varieties of crosses, darts or shields Coin should always be fairly uniform and uncracked in design Counterfeiting of skute coinage is punishable by exile or death in major cases Houl is also unique as military jobs are reserved for the absolute dirt poor This one stipulation has created two problems instead of the expected ONE! Namely it became extremely difficult to sustain the practice year after year as rebellions erupted again and again among those that would've been drafted, opposition parties repeatedly pointed out the hypocrisy of this practice that even included the children and heirs of local governors! And when it predictably failed to solve the problem Alligator harvesting smuggling is carried out almost completely by trappers as Zalmora's underlings organize the shipments most of the time METHANE CYLINDERS: The rare gas is primarily acquired from decomposing alligator flesh, also parts like skin, muscle, eyes and teeth are boiled down into a slender cylinder to be used in lighting lanterns or sold That doesn't mean that bounty hunters never engage in it as well This smuggling occurs on a fairly regular basis and debt generations under the Galbreth family name are best known for it There has yet to be a sincere policing effort towards these crimes Organized crime isn't even limited to robbers and smugglers Demographics are also responsible for quality of life distinctions as well Upper class citizens live within the safe walls of the eastern city Olitia These higher ranking folks live in safer conditions than all other citizens of Houl that is really the ONLY difference between the two Goverment building is both prestigious and somewhat fortified compared with other structures in Olitia Clerks with higher intelligence scores of 15 or higher are favored over the lesser breed for handling the goverment's constant flow of bureaucratic paperwork that seems to never accomplish anything But at least it provides jobs for almost everyone right?

[awesomeblockchain]

Every Monday morning, artnet News brings you The Gray Market. The column decodes important stories from the previous week-and offers unparalleled insight into the inner workings of the art industry in the process.

This week, dissecting one subject to put an entire system in view...

Maecenas logo. Image courtesy of Maecenas.

EXECUTION STYLE

On Wednesday, art investment startup Maecenas opened online registration to participate in an event it is billing as -the world's first ever blockchain-based auction of fine art." But in my opinion, slicing into the details lays bare a number of deficiencies that also apply to much of the overheated art and blockchain space. (If you're not familiar with that space yet, check out my primer from earlier this year.)

Presented in partnership with Dadiani Syndicate, which brands itself as the first British gallery to accept cryptocurrency payments, the Maecenas auction in question will feature only one work: Andy Warhol's 14 Small Electric Chairs (1980). The painting will be divided into fractional shares collectively amounting to as much as a 49 percent ownership stake. These minority shares will be distributed to winning bidders paying in Bitcoin, Ether, or Maecenas's own cryptocurrency, the ART token. Sale and subsequent Wall Street-style trading of these shares will be tracked on a blockchain, allegedly creating what Maecenas calls a -transparent marketplace."

To Maecenas and Dadiani's credit, would-be bidders can only participate in the auction after submitting some basic -Know Your Client" and -Anti-Money Laundering" details, including proof of identity and current residence. In theory, this requirement at least prevents the auction from being converted into a washing machine for dirty cash-a legitimate possibility that dogs many crypto-ventures seeking an air of legitimacy and wider adoption.

But what about Maecenas's stated mission to -democratize access to fine art" via the Warhol auction and others like it? Does the blockchain element deliver the revolutionary promises central to the startup? And what do the answers tell us about the many other art/blockchain ventures swarming the industry like fruit flies to a poorly maintained winery?

Infographic on registration for Maecenas's first-ever blockchain-based art auction. Image courtesy of Maecenas.

THE PROPOSITION

In its white paper, Maecenas identifies the -fundamental issues of art investment" as -lack of transparency, lack of liquidity, and most importantly the fact that trust is centralized" with traditional entities like auction houses and galleries. (For the uninitiated, the masterminds behind every crypto-venture, including Bitcoin, write a white paper to detail their product, their goal, and how the former achieves the latter.)

By this logic, Maecenas magic-wands the industry by dividing artworks like 14 Small Electric Chairs into tradeable shares, then facilitating and tracking their movements via blockchain technology.

It's an appealing idea if you want to invest in art but can't afford a collection, right? Allow more people to buy in by lowering the cost of entry, and place the responsibility for monitoring the marketplace into the hands of infallible, incorruptible software rather than fallible, corruptible human experts.

However, in my opinion, this pitch represents a dramatic misunderstanding of blockchain-one that helps propagate myths about the technology that are driving the gold rush of misguided crypto-art startups.

REALITY CHECK

When people like me try to define the concept of a blockchain to the uninitiated, we almost inevitably fall back on some variant of the phrase -decentralized digital ledger." Once you explain that -decentralized" means -jointly maintained by different computers in different locations with different owners," this definition usually helps.

Why? Because a ledger, or an ongoing list of transactions, is a pretty relatable idea. People might picture an Excel spreadsheet tracking expenses or an itemized receipt from a grocery store. Simple, right?

The problem is that these images are somewhat misleading. It's true that a well-written blockchain tracks all the details of whatever transactional history it's recording. But it's false that the info is easy to read if you're just a skeptical customer without some hardcore software literacy.

A crucial point often lost in the analysis of many blockchain art ventures, and many blockchain ventures, period, is this: There is nothing inherently transparent about blockchains. Not all of their data is publicly viewable by default. The creator has some power to choose what to make visible, and who to make it visible to.

Although I didn't find the mechanism detailed in Maecenas's white paper, let's just assume that their blockchains will all provide maximum data visibility to investors. Otherwise, all the company's rhetoric about -democratizing access" and using an -open blockchain platform" would be nothing but chemtrails.

The larger, more important issue is that even an accessible blockchain is hard to review. It's not as if every one of them automatically generates a link to an easily readable table of transactions like the old school examples I mentioned above. The only way to check for accuracy is to do an independent audit of the blockchain at the level of code.

To give you a sense of what that task requires, take a look at the below excerpt from crypto-skeptic Kai Stinchcombe's essential essay -Blockchain Technology Is Not Only Crappy Technology But a Bad Vision of the Future." Here, he's talking about the alleged revolutionary potential of using blockchains to create truly free and fair elections in developing countries.

-Keep your voting records in a tamper-proof repository not owned by anyone" sounds right - yet is your Afghan villager going to download the blockchain from a broadcast node and decrypt the Merkle root from his Linux command line to independently verify that his vote has been counted?

If your response to the above was -WTF does any of that mean?" that's the point! Even a sharp citizen will be almost powerless on their own in this realm without a pretty rigorous coding background. Unless we're all intent on turning ourselves into characters from Mr. Robot, this is kind of a problem.

So what is the average person likely to do in a blockchain ecosystem instead? As Stinchcombe writes, probably something like -rely on the mobile app of a trusted third party - like the nonprofit or open-source consortium administering the election or providing the software."

In other words, any non-hacker buying into blockchain is just choosing to trust software rather than a person or traditional institution. But since software doesn't magically write itself, -trusting in the software" on some level means -trusting in the people writing the software." And unless you subscribe to some fringe Silicon Valley cosmology in which programmers are numbered among the saints, there is no reason to believe that people writing software are inherently more trustworthy than people working at auction houses or galleries. And that matters whether you're investing in fractional shares or hoping for bulletproof provenance verification.

THE TRUST PROBLEM

This leads us back to Maecenas's Warhol offer. In order to feel good about bidding in a crypto-denominated, smart-contract-activated, blockchain-tracked auction, you first have to trust that:

The artwork is authentic.

The owner is the true owner.

There are no other liens or ownership stakes against it behind the scenes.

The software has been written fairly and securely (again, unless you're willing and able to audit it yourself), and...

The certificate verifying your fractional shares in the painting is enforceable off the blockchain (meaning IRL).

About that last part: Maecenas's legal and compliance regime is not outlined in its white paper, either. Instead, you get a grand total of six sentences and one confusing diagram on page 10 that I would argue collectively amount to -just trust us, OK?"

In fact, despite the overtures made to -decentralized networks of trust" and the exclusionary inefficiencies of the traditional art industry, reliance on established art-world and business-world institutions runs rampant through Maecenas's pitch.

Their home page states that -Artworks remain in custody of trusted institutions, vetted collectors, and galleries." (The particulars of this vetting process are not detailed.) Similarly, both nearby and within the diagram I just mentioned, you'll find references to Maecenas's involvement with -art finance experts, law firms, and investment professionals," as well as unidentified -art experts" who verify every artwork's authenticity.

And as the diagram makes clear, guess who's standing at the (ahem) center of all these different traditional experts? Maecenas! Kind of odd for a business using decentralization as a pillar of its mission, no?

This points us toward something that needs to be said more broadly about blockchain ventures and their promises of decentralized disruption of the art market.

Mockup of the Maecenas trading platform. Image courtesy of Maecenas.

THE -PLATFORM" PROBLEM

Maecenas defines itself as a -platform," a word as pervasive in art/blockchain pitches as sad animals in budget petting zoos. Why is this a practical problem rather than a verbal annoyance? Because -platform" is a synonym for -middleman," and middlemen are inherently contradictory to any sincere effort to decentralize anything-at least, if they're charging a fee for their presence at the crossroads.

Maecenas is a perfect example of this. Their white paper states that they charge the consignor of any artwork a six percent listing fee and successful bidders on fractional shares a two percent transaction fee. (Fractional owners are allowed to sell their shares commission-free.)

Unless you've recently been slammed in the head with a frying pan, I can't really give you a pass for preaching the virtues of decentralization while simultaneously pitching yourself as a -platform" for transactions that takes a 2 percent to 6 percent cut. It's internally inconsistent. It's like saying, -I love nature, but I'm not wild about plants."

This brings us to another sirens-blaring, red-alert point about the big picture: Blockchain is a decentralized technology that can still be put toward centralized uses. It's no different than the argument you'll hear made about wedding rings by men living in the cesspool that is the pick-up artist -community": Wearing one can be just as useful for attracting extramarital action as for signaling that you're off limits.

In tech itself, there is no better example of this reality than the web itself. A technology developed to facilitate the free and fair exchange of knowledge without exposure to filters, discrimination, or tracking has today been transformed by various -platforms" into the most aggressive and extensive advertising, monetization, and mass surveillance apparatus in human history.

Say it with me: Technology is agnostic. Its effects depend on the people using it.

Which begs the question: What do the people behind Maecenas and the Warhol auction actually want?

The American artist and filmmaker Andy Warhol with his paintings(1928 - 1987), December 15, 1980. (Photo by Susan Greenwood / Liaison Agency)

WILL THE REAL MAECENAS PLEASE STAND UP?

Maecenas's press releases and white paper alternate between two stated goals. One is to democratize access to fine art. The other is to democratize access to fine-art investment. Yet these are wildly different objectives, and the -platform" looks much more tailored to one than the other.

This is apparent even in Maecenas's name. Early in the white paper, they explain their choice of moniker as follows:

We are named after-and inspired by-an early patron of the arts. Gaius Maecenas helped democratize art in Ancient Rome by financing poor poets. We want to be the modern version of Maecenas... ensuring that fine art is available to everyone and not just the ultra-wealthy.

So how does this gel with auctioning off fractional shares in a select group of artworks that, according to the white paper, -will be kept in purpose-built safe art storage facilities" at freeports?

The answer is that -Maecenas, in its effort to democratize access to fine art, will allow investors and their nominated guests to arrange visits to appreciate the artworks" if they're ready to travel somewhere like Singapore, Luxembourg, Geneva, or New York.

Invoking Maecenas, the Roman arts benefactor, would make sense if Maecenas, the -platform," was actually, say, a crowdfunding venture that funneled money to working artists experiencing extreme financial hardship. Or, alternatively, if the historical Maecenas's arts -patronage" had consisted of building a private library of poems where the rights to individual lines or stanzas could be traded in the square, but only read by investors also willing to make an in-person journey to the archive.

But neither of those is true, so the name is ridiculous. To me, it misses the point almost as badly as if someone built a -platform" to invest in the worldwide expansion of British commerce and called it Gandhi.

SUMMING UP

I have a lot of other, smaller questions about both the Warhol auction and Maecenas more broadly. But the key point is that I don't see how blockchain technology actually solves the issues they want it to. For instance, other startups elsewhere in the world have managed to market fractional shares without blockchains. And if the goal is to make art investing more like investing in the traditional financial markets, well, it's not as if the likes of E-Trade, Schwab, or Robinhood needed decentralized technology to thrive.

Instead, Maecenas looks to me like a standard-bearer for so many of the art/blockchain ventures bombarding the industry: a monetization strategy with little genuine interest in art or artists, and no real solutions to the problems it's pursuing. I don't think they're evil, just misguided. But if we want this technology to make any significant changes in a troubled ecosystem, we have to keep asking hard questions about its true limitations and potential.

That's all for this week. 'Til next time, say what you mean, and mean what you say.

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