I guess something that's important to consider here is that when I wrote this I was considering whether the Ethereum presale in 2014 would be likely to be classified as a "security". I thought theDAO was a pretty terrible project and wanted to illustrate just how broad "investment contract" analysis could be stretched.

So to take your example, should I decide to pre-sell a commission of several pieces of art that I plan on working, the reasonable expectation of profits seems like a reach bc those who buy art do not solely do so to flip it and make a profit. I wonder whether the same could be said for those who invested in Status, Bancor, and Tezos?

Unfortunately, common law tests like "investment contract" analysis are, by design, super ambiguous.