On October 23rd, a much-publicized initial public offering of futures contracts on conceptual artist Jonathon Keats's brain sold options on an unexpected 71,000,000 neurons. At a strike price of one cent per unit, those contracts alone could net $710,000, upon the artist's death, enough money, some believe, to fund his recently-declared bid for immortality, an enterprise described in a prospectus that can be read here.

To expedite sales, and to inspire ongoing confidence in his brain, Keats himself purchased a contract for 1,000,000 of his own neurons. "At the standard premium of 1/1000 cent per neuron, I spent ten dollars," he says. "It's my first real investment." His purchase was followed by a flurry of orders from 47 others. Investors included neurologists, economists and roboticists. The youngest purchaser, Rachel Bender of Mill Valley, CA, was 8 years old. One speculator, Jeremiah Benjamin Stewart of Oakland, CA, even made a $10 profit when he resold a contract for 1,000,000 neurons to George Coates of Berkeley, CA for $20 (plus the Board of Trade's 10 percent transfer fee). As the neurons optioned thus far represent a mere 1.18 percent of the 6 billion available, active trading at Modernism is expected to continue for at least the next several decades. > from * IPO Success: Conceptual Artist Neurons *. craigblog, october 24, 2003

related context
> the center for cognitive liberty & ethics. protecting the limitless potential of the human mind
> copyright licenses free of charge released by creative commons. december 17, 2002
> illegal art: freedom of expression in the corporate age. october 17, 2002

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