Artists and other cultural workers have tried to create stable, long-term collective income systems for themselves forever. In 2004, an American tech entrepreneur launched one of the most ambitious redistribution schemes up to date, the Artist Pension Trust (APT). The idea was to give artists not just long-term income, but even a pension—a luxury highly uncommon among the professional group. Practically, the trust pools artworks of participating artists and sells them over time to provide the artists with a stable, long-term source of income. But in recent years, the APT has come to be known especially for a seemingly never-ending series of scandals.It became apparent that the APT was going south in 2018 when ArtForum reported that over 20 British participating artists were suing the organization for being utterly dysfunctional. In July 2021, a very similar story by the New York Times broke the news, showing that the APT did not learn from its mistakes. The fund's public image of a promising artists’ solidarity model disintegrated, laying bare the APT's tech and finance-driven, extractive business model.The APT model requires our critical attention because it can easily be misconceived as yet another failure of artist solidarity and proof that self-organization cannot resist platform extractivism. Forget about the redistribution of wealth. However, the opposite is true. We’re not dealing with the bankruptcy of artist self-organization and decentral redistribution here. We’re witnessing the urgency to create the real deal. We can’t wait for platform corporations to create the infrastructures and business models we need to fight precarity. Seeing the APT going down, we ask: What are the alternatives? How can art workers reclaim agency in the struggle for solidarity, against precarity?
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Creating and testing the first Brand Segmentation Model in Augmented Reality using Microsoft Hololens. Sanoma together with SAMR launched an online brand segmentation tool based on large scale research, The brand model uses several brand values divided over three axes. However they cannot be displayed clearly in a 2D model. The space of BSR Quality Planner can be seen as a 3-dimensional meaningful space that is defined by the terms used to typify the brands. The third axis concerns a behaviour-based dimension: from ‘quirky behaviour’ to ‘standardadjusted behaviour’ (respectful, tolerant, solidarity). ‘Virtual/augmented reality’ does make it possible to clearly display (and experience) 3D. The Academy for Digital Entertainment (ADE) of Breda University of Applied Sciences has created the BSR Quality Planner in Virtual Reality – as a hologram. It’s the world’s first segmentation model in AR. Breda University of Applied Sciences (professorship Digital Media Concepts) has deployed hologram technology in order to use and demonstrate the planning tool in 3D. The Microsoft HoloLens can be used to experience the model in 3D while the user still sees the actual surroundings (unlike VR, with AR the space in which the user is active remains visible). The HoloLens is wireless, so the user can easily walk around the hologram. The device is operated using finger gestures, eye movements or voice commands. On a computer screen, other people who are present can watch along with the user. Research showed the added value of the AR model.Partners:Sanoma MediaMarketResponse (SAMR)
Events play an increasingly big role in our society. Whereas events were mainly considered entertainment in the past, the social function of events is becoming more and more apparent, in particular, in the field of social bonding and in creating a feeling of solidarity.During an event, visitors identify with a theme or topic, and interact with each other about it. Thanks to social media, they can continue these interactions online, which leads to a hybrid network of individuals sharing the same interests. Eventually, this may lead to forming new communities, who communicate with each other both online and offline. However, it is not clear yet how exactly these new communities are being created.This PhD research studies the online and offline interaction rituals of various events and online communities. Through interviews and participating observations at events such as Redhead Days and the Elfia fantasy event, processes are mapped out that result in forming communities at and around events.Partner: Tilburg University
Ons huidige voedselsysteem is steeds meer gericht op winst, waardoor we vervreemd raken van de natuur, gezondheid en elkaar. Hoewel gezond voedsel produceren goedkoper is dan ooit, is het in de winkels duurder dan bewerkt voedsel. Dit maakt een gezond eetpatroon vooral voor kwetsbare huishoudens moeilijker, wat leidt tot grotere gezondheidsverschillen tussen verschillende sociale en culturele lagen. Stichting Plaatsen Nederland wil het voedselsysteem van de toekomst vernieuwen door samen met boeren, burgers en andere betrokkenen te werken aan een regeneratief voedselsysteem. Dit systeem is gebaseerd op drie pijlers: natuurgedreven, sociaal verbonden en economisch gedragen. Plaats De Kleine Aarde in Boxtel (PDKA) ondersteunt dit initiatief door te bouwen aan een kennisnetwerk dat de transitie naar een beter voedselsysteem stimuleert. In 2025 wil PDKA hiervoor een horecavoorziening starten die gezond en duurzaam voedsel toegankelijk maakt voor iedereen. Dit wordt gedaan door ideeën rondom ‘Commons’ (gemeenschappelijk beheer) te gebruiken, waarbij gezamenlijke maaltijden centraal staan. In 2025 wordt hiervoor een verkennend onderzoek uitgevoerd door het lectoraat ‘Economie als gemeengoed’ van het Centre of Expertise Brede Welvaart en Nieuw Ondernemerschap (BWNO). Hierbij gaan onderzoekers, medewerkers van de PDKA en burgers samenwerken om een model te ontwikkelen voor het organiseren van deze maaltijden. Dit model moet gemeenschappelijkheid en solidariteit bevorderen en iedereen, ongeacht sociale of culturele achtergrond, betrekken. Het doel van dit onderzoek is om te ontdekken welke werkwijzen en basisregels succesvol zijn voor het gezamenlijk organiseren van gezonde en duurzame maaltijden. De resultaten moeten bruikbaar zijn voor andere groepen en locaties in Nederland, zodat het model breed toegepast kan worden.
