If one artwork could symbolize the magic and promise of the blockchain, what would it be? For me, the obvious choice would have to be Piet Mondrian's masterpiece Broadway Boogie Woogie. You can find this work of monumental genius hanging at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York City, and it was perhaps one of the first modern artworks that I saw in person that really made an impact on me - but not for the reason that you might think.
First of all, just so that there is no misunderstanding here - Broadway Boogie Woogie was painted in 1942, during World War II. It has nothing to do with computers, blockchain technology or cryptocurrencies. But there is something so powerful about this artwork for me today because the tiny blocks of yellow, blue and red, arranged in a grid, seem to pulsate with the life of tiny blocks of digital information, being added together as part of a larger chain.
When Mondrian painted Broadway Boogie Woogie he wanted to capture the sensation of moving to New York City in 1940. It was all new to him. Remember - he was escaping from war-torn Europe and the advancing Nazis. So he found himself in New York, and the sights, sounds and exuberance of the city captivated him. In many ways, I view "Broadway Boogie Woogie" as a love-poem to New York City. Mondrian was escaping chaos and destruction in Europe, and here he found the orderly grid of Manhattan. Instead of fear and despair, he found energy and exuberance. Imagine taxi cabs hurtling down Broadway, huge billboards, flashing lights and everywhere he went, a strange new sound that he had never heard before - the jazz music of the Boogie Woogie.
If you've never heard the Boogie Woogie, this is Count Basie - the sound is utterly unique:
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You can hear the rhythm, the beat, the improvisation and the optimism. This was literally the soundtrack of the city for Mondrian. That is part of what makes this artwork so epic and so genius - it came with its own soundtrack!
And there's one more thing about this artwork that makes it so remarkable - it was the next-to-last painting that Mondrian ever did. The painting was completed in 1943, he died in February 1944. In short, he died before the war ended in 1945, and so he had no way of knowing how things turned out for his country or his family. Mondrian was a 20th century modern master who had accomplished something truly incredible - he had painted one of the greatest works of his generation. Yet, he had no idea that 75 years later, the world would view him as a true artistic genius.
And, yet, when I first saw this artwork hanging at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, I failed at first to comprehend the greatness of this artwork. I saw just splashes of color, a grid, a lot of white space. I was looking at the painting head-on, trying to glimpse meaning. It was only later, when I went on an official gallery tour, that I learned why the artwork was so magical. Now I'm convinced that this painting is best viewed as if you are looking down on it, from the vantage point of an epic New York skyscraper. Maybe that was what Mondrian had in mind? If you allow yourself a moment, you can imagine the tops of taxis, the swarms of bikes delivering food to hungry midtown workers, and the hustle and bustle of the world's greatest metropolis.
The bigger picture here, I guess, is that this painting is not so much a symbol or metaphor of the blockchain - tiny blocks and grids - it is also a reminder that often we miss what is right in front of us. We tend to discount what seems to be so simple. In the same way, many people, when they hear things like "the blockchain is the greatest invention since the Internet," will simply nod their heads, as if they are being instructed by an art curator that "this is a masterpiece." But once you let everything soak in, once you learn the real back story, create your own inner soundtrack, and see how it impacts your own life, that's when you can truly appreciate the magic.