Bitcoin has had many applications in the past few years, spanning from online payments to the usages of its distributed public ledger or blockchain. Interestingly enough, a project co-commissioned by Laboratoria Art&Science Space and Lykke AG in Moscow made use of bitcoin price action to create music.
According to its website, the installation tracks real-time market activity changes related to bitcoin price action and litecoin. “The robotic system of the artwork is directed by a computer algorithm: influenced by dynamic changes of data, the installation sounds like a complex sound instrument,” it explained.
Sounds from Bitcoin Price Action
From a technical standpoint, the installation consists of two poles of two meters tall. Each stand has five diagonal strings which correspond to 5 currencies: the US dollar, Chinese yuan, Euro, Canadian dollar and Russian ruble.
These strings are pulled on special automatic tuners moved by stepper motors directed by computer algorithm. Each motor features high precision of movement, which allows very precise tuning of string even with quite insignificant changes of parameters. With that, the constantly changing bitcoin price action against major world currencies is influencing the strain of strings in installation and the way the picks are hitting them.
The artwork pieces aim to illustrate how new technologies in the areas of cryptography, mathematics, and finance are changing the structure of society. ” These changes can be characterised by growing decentralization, transparency, unfalsifiability, immateriality of values,” indicated the installation’s website.
From a more artistic perspective, the website goes on to explain that the “artwork also becomes immaterial: silk is transforming the network data of cryptocurrency, which looks very abstract for the spectator, into the string sound of no less elusive nature. The rules of the transformation are defined, and in future the artwork exists autonomously, generating infinite number of variations and harmonies.”
Listen and view the installation here.