Barbicoin

Ian Willey: Barbicoin

"When Aristotle argued that coins are merely social conventions the term he used was symbolon - from which our own word “symbol” is derived. Symbolon was originally the Greek word for “tally” - and object broken in half to mark a contract or agreement, or marked and broken to record a debt. So our word “symbol” traces back originally to objects broken to record debt contracts of one sort or another.”

David Graeber Debt: The First 5,000 Years

Ian Willey has run a series of workshops at Hack the Barbican where the public were invited to change the surface of 2 pence coins with tomato ketchup. A variety of designs were temporarily etched onto the surfaces, personalising the currency. The coins can go back into circulation or preserved with clear nail varnish and turned into a keepsake. The workshops were borne out of an interest Willey has had in alternative currencies. Originally trained as in Fine Art, Willey now works in the gaming industry and is currently developing an App. According to Willey within the gaming realm, a lot of resources and discussions can be centred around virtual currencies: how they will look, how they will work and how they will ultimately influence the narrative of the game. In terms of real virtual currency, Willey discussed Bitcoin and the disruptive waves it is passing through our current financial systems. Bitcoin is the evolution of money as a symbolic token to just pure numbers. In recent years the world has been preoccupied with alternative and sustainable currency systems; Barbicoin taps into the current interest in local currencies such as the Brixton Pound and skills exchanges.

In relationship to hacking, Willey offered some useful references from The Heretic’s Guide to Finance by Brett Scott:

“Many hacker approaches attempt to blend three categories of action:

Exploring: Empathetically getting to know the nuances of systems, and gaining access.

Jamming: Rebelliously and mischievously seeking out the systems’ vulnerabilities and exposing them.

Building: Creatively seeking to recombine the elements of systems to create something new.”

These categories are particularly useful in unpacking the projects at Hack the Barbican. The majority of projects would probably come under exploring and jamming, there is an element of rebellion but, only within defined parameters. In terms of Barbicoin there are elements of  allowing the public to explore and build personalised currency, rather than a viewing currency as a system of enforced symbols. Perhaps categories one and three have to occur in order to open space for individuals and communities to become more rebellious towards their environment. An exploratory action becomes research into potential new knowledges and what one then does with these new discoveries depends on how limited a community could feel. Therefore, Barbicoin has the potential to seed thought about local currency after the public have explored and built monetary symbols of their own.

Further Reading:

The Heretic’s Guide to Global Finance: Hacking the Future of Money by Brett Scott

Debt: The First 5,000 Years by David Graeber

Bitcoin.org