SET – A Dynamic Artwork on Financial Power, Time, and Cultural Symbolism

SET is an innovative art project that visualizes the rise of Bitcoin and the declining dominance of the U.S. dollar over a 46-year period. The work tracks Bitcoin’s market capitalization relative to USDT, making shifts in global financial power almost tangible. The ultimate tipping point is imagined when 1 BTC = 21,000,000 USD. Additionally, gold prices serve as a secondary indicator within the artwork.

The visual composition consists of 13 layers, each with numerous variations. These layers evolve over time, changing with seasons, time of day, and geographic location—making SET a living, ever-shifting work of art.

A Vanitas for the Blockchain Age

At its conceptual core, SET draws from the symbolic tradition of vanitas paintings from the Dutch Golden Age. These still lifes used objects like skulls, clocks, and decaying fruit to reflect on the impermanence of wealth, power, and life itself.

In SET, these ideas are transformed into digital form:

• Time is represented through synchronized API-driven visuals and a fixed lifespan leading up to 2071—mirroring vanitas’ obsession with the passage of time.
• Value is explored through the volatile prices of Bitcoin and gold, questioning what we truly trust or treasure in a world of inflation and digital transformation.
• Mortality is no longer just personal but systemic, as SET tracks the potential unraveling of the dominant financial systems of our time.

The work becomes a modern memento mori—not just for the individual, but for economic empires, reserve currencies, and the illusions of permanence that surround them.

The Dollar’s Declining Dominance and the Rise of Alternatives

For nearly a century, the U.S. dollar (USD) has functioned as the world’s dominant currency—just as the Roman denarius, the Spanish silver escudo, the Dutch guilder, and the British pound did in their time. History shows that no currency holds global supremacy forever.

While the USD remains the world’s primary reserve currency—representing around 58% of global reserves (IMF, 2024)—this figure has steadily declined from 71% in 2000. Meanwhile:

• The money supply has grown exponentially since the abandonment of the gold standard in 1971.
• De-dollarization is increasing, as nations like China, Russia, and even U.S. allies begin to favor trade in other currencies.
• Gold and Bitcoin are both rising in prominence—one as a traditional hedge, the other as “digital gold.”
• BRICS countries are developing alternative trade systems outside the reach of the dollar altogether.

This context is not a prediction, but a lens—a way to view the shifting architecture of trust, value, and power.

Structure and Dynamics

SET exists as 1,337 unique editions, divided into four city-based categories:

• Rio de Janeiro (BRICS influence and emerging markets)
• Hollywood (America’s cultural and financial spectacle)
• Paris (Europe’s evolving role in global trade)
• Beijing (China’s rising economic dominance)

Hollywood, in particular, represents the circus-like spectacle that American soft power often presents to the outside world—glamour, chaos, dominance, and fragility wrapped in one. Meanwhile, Rio and Beijing symbolize the shifting poles of global influence, increasingly untethered from the dollar system.

Techniques and Process

SET was developed using a hybrid of analog and digital methods:

• Hand-drawn elements (iPad)
• AI-generated visuals (via Artbreeder, Runway, ChatGPT)
• Code-based layers (SVG files written with ChatGPT and Cursor; PNGs created using Python)

Hundreds of outcomes were generated, then carefully curated to achieve visual and thematic balance.

Some images directly reference earlier work like Absolution.Art, creating a conceptual throughline about systems of belief, redemption, and value. Additionally, SET blends fragments of Dutch Golden Age painting with CC0 artworks from major crypto art projects—including CrypToadz, XCOPY, Nouns, and Mfers. This integration places the work within both classical art history and the evolving culture of remix and creative commons.

SET is a CC0 project, reinforcing its open-source spirit and its belief in collective cultural authorship.

Technology and Longevity

All visual layers of SET are stored on Arweave (within the Ethereum ecosystem), a decentralized network designed to preserve data for over 100 years. This ensures that the artwork endures—even if the systems it critiques change or collapse. The dynamic, time-based edition is served through the IPFS network, so each SET renders live from decentralized storage.

As the artist, I retain the right to update the metadata if necessary. Technology evolves so rapidly that it is impossible to guarantee the current infrastructure will survive. If the work requires updates to remain viewable—such as fixing broken images, repairing API links, or addressing closed gateways—I will make those adjustments.

All files are stored on Arweave and IPFS, and I also keep offline backups. My work is deeply important to me, and I am committed to ensuring its longevity. I will only modify the infrastructure required to deliver the work to your screen, and only when absolutely necessary.

SET consists of over 3,000 files and weighs 1.7 GB. It incorporates multiple dynamic scripts and relies on APIs. It is a beautiful yet fragile piece, and I must care for it diligently.

A Clock That Moves with the World

SET functions as a generative, time-based system—synced to the rhythms of our world. Its behaviors include:

• Day and night cycles that shift at 07:00 AM and 07:00 PM, based on the minted city.
• “Golden Hour” layers that visualize gold’s relative value.
• BTC price reflections that update each morning based on current BTC/USDT ratios.
• Seasonal variation in visual elements.
• City-specific layers that change depending on the edition’s assigned location.

Collectors cannot control these transitions—the artwork lives on its own clock, following real-world data and environmental cues.

A Timed Reflection on Financial History

SET’s journey culminates on August 15, 2071, marking 100 years since U.S. President Richard Nixon ended the gold standard on August 15, 1971. That decision severed the dollar from any intrinsic backing and marked the beginning of the modern fiat era.

Whether the U.S. dollar maintains its dominance or not, the world is already in motion—toward a pluralistic system of value, and toward new myths of money.

SET doesn’t predict the future—it reflects on one possible story. A story of transformation. Of the tension between permanence and decay. Of empires rising and falling. A digital vanitas for the crypto age.

Sources

CC0 Projects:
https://www.cryptoadz.io/
https://nouns.wtf/
mfers
https://xcopy.art/

Art Sources:
https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/910543
https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/36131
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Leo_Belgicus_Philipp_von_Zesen.jpg
https://cdn8.openculture.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/liberty-abuse.jpg
https://www.openculture.com/2014/01/free-art-images-books-from-great-museums.html
https://www.thecollector.com/french-revolution-in-5-iconic-paintings/
https://artvee.com/main/page/3/?s=france+revolution
https://www.clevelandart.org/art/collection/search?culture=China, Ming dynasty (1368–1644)
https://publicdomainreview.org/
https://www.rawpixel.com/search/public domain china
https://www.loc.gov/free-to-use/
https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/los-angeles-alligator-farm/
https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:LenSassaman-Bitcoin-Tribute.png

https://evanhatch.medium.com/len-sassaman-and-satoshi-e483c85c2b10

Financial:
https://bitcoin.org/bitcoin.pdf
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dedollarisation
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gold_standard

Tools:
https://medium.com/@perma_dao/arweave-the-ultimate-solution-for-nft-on-chain-storage-6152d603ec03
https://www.cursor.com/en
https://www.gimp.org/
https://procreate.com/
https://chatgpt.com/
https://chat.deepseek.com/
https://www.artbreeder.com/