PhantaCoins

“Cryptocurrency” like Bitcoins continues the Myth of Meaning or “grand Illusion” of the mind, which I talk about in my What is Mythopoeia? lectures on this website. Mankind will forever reinvent new idea, new myths, new abstractions in its eternal search for meaning in a meaningless universe. Whether we assign value to physical things like cars or paintings, or just digital whisps of bits and bytes on the Internet, it is all the same. Why? Because we need social connections, we need artificial value, meaning, and purpose to rationalize our own existence. Bitcoin is a perfect reflection of our young people searching for meaning through new technology and the promise of a get-rich-scheme we have all succumbed to in our youth. Just like the myth of power, or money, or political gain, or marriage… it is all an illusion.

Digital art or NTF’s are an illusion. It is all an illusion our minds fashioned to survive. And so, it continues in new forms today. And yet, the Myth of Cryptocurrency is different in one way….it builds upon another myth – the illusion of wealth and power, or money and its eternal desire as a source of happiness. That does not mean it is any less valuable or persuasive. It is my theory that Bitcoin and NTF’s fulfill a hollow promise in our young people that they too can recreate and reassign value by sheer will; be gold miners like the old Gold Rush of 1849, driving their wagons to new frontiers to find wealth and power they cannot find anywhere else. That builds on the spirit of American providence and hope, and yet furthers the myths or meaning I speak of in regards to fantasy fiction and movies and comic book heroes. None of these things have meaning until we assign them meaning by popular cultural approbation. So is “crypto” yet another myth we so desperately need in 2021, yet a hollow illusion we must be mindful of.

But I honor that idea with my own digital “one-of-a-kind” artwork and coins in hopes I build upon the mythology of our young people and my own beliefs in my novels called Phantammeron, whose stories have such great meaning to me in my own life and world-views.

In furtherance of that idea, I have now created a set of my own “cryptos” or NTF’s for sale online called “PhantaCoins“. Today, it has become possible to “mint” images and ideas that represent unique objects online that are coded in hexadecimal values in secured, distributed computer ledgers around the world. These coins are not true “cryptocoins” like Bitcoin or Ether, but a form of token representing an idea that has value. When you buy one of my PhantaCoins you are buying into the life of my books as you are supporting me, the artist and writer. My coins are therefore a representation of my novel called The Phantammeron. The coins use the same image that is on the cover of my books. I call it a “Luffa”. It has many levels of symbology associated with it. Anyone that buys my coins is also investing in my work, as the money I make from the coin sales I plan to use in writing more books. If their value accrues enough and I am able to live off those funds, then they will greatly speed up the writing of future books. So, their creation is heavily dependent on sale, resale, and increasing value of my PhantaCoins.

And so, to anyone trading my digital NTF’s, I say a big THANK YOU! >>> OpenSea.io PhantaCoins

– the Artist