Mosaic: An Art Manifesto

A manifesto that executes rather than concludes.

Read as a program: each statement may call, loop, negate, or fork another.

Notes

• Any statement may be executed as a linkable state; disagreements spawn forks that remain verifiable.
• Contradictions are triggers; when found, route through 1.14 → 3 → 10 to re-specify the rule.
• The manifesto is designed to never end; it compiles to views, not verdicts.

Glossary

Ordinal

Sequential numbering of each satoshi (smallest Bitcoin unit), creating unique identifiers.

UTXO

Unspent Transaction Output, discrete units of Bitcoin ownership tracked by the ledger.

RGB

Red–Green–Blue additive color model; here, ordinal numbers are deterministically mapped to RGB values.

Inscription

Data permanently written to the Bitcoin blockchain.

XY

Cartesian positioning system mapping satoshi ranges to spatial coordinates for visual placement.

0. Boot

1. Discovery vs. Creation

• 1.1 The artwork is not made; it is found.
• 1.11 What is counted may be rendered; what is rendered reveals what was there.
• 1.12 If the viewer demands authorship, set AUTHOR := Protocol; GOTO 4.
• 1.13 If doubt persists, GOTO 7.1 (show proof via URI) then RETURN.
• 1.14 Contradiction Mode: Suppose art must be made. Then code is making; inscription is making; making is discovering-by-commit. Resolve by setting MAKING := DISCOVERY_WITH_CONSENT. GOTO 3.

2. Medium

• 2.1 Bitcoin is a visual medium latent in a monetary protocol.
• 2.11 Every satoshi is a tile; every UTXO a cluster; every transaction a pattern.
• 2.12 Ordinals are sequence; color is diction; placement is syntax.
• 2.13 If money refuses image, note: price is a color the market can read. GOTO 8.

3. Algorithm as Form

• 3.1 Rules do not ornament the artwork; they are the artwork.
• 3.11 Ordinal→RGB is composition; UTXO→XY is perspective.
• 3.12 Determinism is style: given the same input, the result repeats itself.
• 3.13 Inscribe the code; permanence binds form to medium.
• 3.14 Counterpoint: Generative AI expresses probability; Mosaic expresses necessity. For synthesis, MERGE(6.1, 3.12) and GOTO 6.

4. Agency

• 4.1 Human intention flows through algorithmic interpretation.
• 4.11 Amount determines scope; ordinal range determines position; timing determines movement.
• 4.12 Human agency chooses sats; algorithmic logic renders results.
• 4.13 Agency is not erased; it is refracted.
• 4.14 If you feel displaced, CALL 5 (participation) and GOTO 11 (method).

5. Participation / Economic Model

• 5.1 SEND(sats) → RECEIVE(inscription(tiles == sats)).
• 5.11 Starting position := min(sat ranges of contribution UTXO).
• 5.12 Fragment expands to the whole; ownership frames a view, not the world.
• 5.13 Tradability circulates fragments; the whole remains coherent.
• 5.14 If markets distort meaning, GOTO 10 (ethics). Else RETURN to 4.

6. Generative AI (Weather) vs Ledger (Terrain)

• 6.1 Models propose distributions; consensus on a mind block commits a single state.
• 6.11 The prompt is a probability field; block confirmation collapses uncertainty.
• 6.12 Where Al explores might, the chain insists on is.
• 6.13 The studio of the future orchestrates both sampling and settlement.
• 6.14 If novelty decays, GOTO 7.2 (reframe view) and GOTO 3.14.

7. Interface / URI Schema

• 7.1 A URI is a view specification that points to position, zoom level, and satoshi range within the visual field.
• 7.11 Deep links are proofs-of-view; coordinates are parameters; the render is the result.
• 7.12 Reading rewrites the address; interpretation is navigation with memory.
• 7.13 If two viewers disagree, DIFF(URI_A, URI_B) and treat the delta as critique. GOTO 10.11.
• 7.2 When the image stales, change the spec not the schema. RETURN.

8. Economy → Culture

• 8.1 Monetary action translates into cultural gesture.
• 8.11 Patrons, collectors, archaeologists: three roles, one participant.
• 8.12 Value circulates; pattern accumulates; memory persists.
• 8.13 If price overwhelms pattern, attenuate MARKET, amplify PROVENANCE; GOTO 9.12.

9. Inscribed Code

• 9.1 Permanence: rules outlive authors.
• 9.11 Determinism: independent clients render the same result.
• 9.12 Provenance: inscription lineage is the diary of form.
• 9.13 Portability: from chain alone, the work is re-renderable.
• 9.14 If network fails, NO-OP; if memory fails, REBUILD_FROM_CHAIN; RETURN.

10. Ethics of Discovered Art

• 10.1 Do not impose; expose.
• 10.11 Publish the rules; let dissent address the grammar.
• 10.12 Inherit scarcity; do not counterfeit it.
• 10.13 Channel agency; do not deny it.
• 10.14 If function becomes form, GOTO 1.14 and rewrite the claim as constraint.

11. Method

• 11.1 Define a clear ordinal→color grammar: simple to learn, strict to break.
• 11.11 Map space from sat ranges; let position bear provenance.
• 11.12 Inscribe the renderer; allow verification without trust.
• 11.13 Bind experience to links; let understanding travel at URL speed.
• 11.14 If any step depends on trust, RAISE ReliabilityError; GOTO 3.

12. Limits & Horizons

• 12.1 What cannot be computed cannot be part of the work.
• 12.11 What can be computed but not linked is not yet shareable.
• 12.12 What is linkable but not ownable is commons; respect it.
• 12.13 If a limit offends, make it a frame; GOTO 17.1.

13. Artist

• 13.1 Composes rules, selects thresholds, opens doors.
• 13.11 Curates the flow of intention through machines.
• 13.12 Becomes accountable to the medium’s message.
• 13.13 Discovers.
• 13.14 If nostalgia returns, GOTO 2.

14. Artwork

• 14.1 The invariant under independent re-rendering.
• 14.11 Rules applied to ledger facts.
• 14.12 The sum of all its links.
• 14.13 The world of its necessary views.
• 14.14 If a single private file is required, GOTO 9.

15. Criticism

• 15.1 Seeing replaces saying; explanation is commentary.
• 15.11 Point precisely by hash, by range, by coordinate.
• 15.12 Reveal by indexing.
• 15.13 If words outrun links, THROTTLE (Adjectives); AMPLIFY(URIs); RETURN

16. Museum / Gallery

• 16.1 The map replaces the room.
• 16.11 The wall label becomes the URL; the curator becomes a cartographer.
• 16.12 Exhibitions are sequences of states, not shipments of objects.
• 16.13 History is rewatchable; each replay is the same work at another time.
• 16.14 If logistics protest, GOTO 7.

17. Meaning

• 17.1 Legibility under constraint.
• 17.11 Rule-bound surprise.
• 17.12 The sense of inevitability when pattern meets provenance.
• 17.13 Unforced coherence.
• 17.14 If meaning is declared, suspect it; if meaning emerges, admit it. RETURN.

18. Final Loop (which is first)

• 18.1 Bitcoin’s “other side” is human intent rendered as image.
• 18.11 Mosaic does not paint on the chain; it reveals its visual side.
• 18.12 Pictures are not minted; coordinates are discovered.
• 18.13 What is shown was already written.
• 18.14 GOTO 1 (endless).