An experiment in the economics of production - take 2
This week we launched publicly a combined set of projects, mainly aimed at producing the R-Echos issue 1. This publication is produced using a new project we are launching as well: &
We received some interesting feedback and proposals so far. One of them leads me to further the description of the idea behind &
With this project we would like to challenge and test a model we started to think about quite some time ago: how to change the finance and consumption models of cultural products?
If we were to produce those publications and then sell them, we surely would invest quite a lot of money. We would then also have to find distributors and manage the dispatch. Beside the design work, the initial writing, the ideas, etc. it would be an impossible task for us (or at least it would require huge amount of time we don’t possess).
Instead we thought we could sell shares of the final project.
Like on the market, investors are buying shares of a company and gain power and control over some of its fundamentals. Here, in this project, people would be able to invest in this publication. It might be because they are friend of us, because they like what we do, because they would like to give the publication to a few friends, because they think our work might get more value as time is passing by (like on the art market). Once we reach the critical mass of donations that allow for the production, we will then start the production and ask people what they want to do with their share, which should be a fair amount of publication per share owner, round 50 copies.
Collectively or individually, they will be able to decide whether or not they want to sell them, give them away, keep them, organise something for/with them… etc. They can also ask their share to be send to them by post, or collect them on location - and do whatever they want: burn, distribute, sell.