Futures Contracts on 71 Million Neurons Sold in Single Evening Record IPO for Conceptual Artist Who Copyrighted His Own Mind SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 27 /PRNewswire/ -- Modernism, Inc. is pleased to announce that yesterday's initial public offering of futures contracts on conceptual artist Jonathon Keats' 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. Last month, Mr. Keats, 32 years old, announced that he filed with the United States Copyright Office for intellectual property protection on his mind. Because Title 17 of the United States Code stipulates that copyright "endures for a term consisting of the life of the author and 70 years after the author's death," experts have calculated that Jonathon Keats's mind will survive, legally speaking, for precisely seven decades after his body stops working. In order to exploit this opportunity, he will transfer all intellectual property rights to the Jonathon Keats Holding Company immediately upon his death. Operating expenses for the Holding Company will be covered by the sale of Keats' brain, initiated at Modernism last night, and ongoing for the remainder of his life. 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 couple decades. "Contracts on an additional 5,929,000,000 neurons remain available," notes Mr. Keats, who sat at a typewriter the entire evening, filling out triplicate forms while patrons sipped chilled chardonnay. "I guess I'm going to be around here for a long time to come." To expedite sales, and to inspire ongoing confidence in his brain, Mr. 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, both in person and via post. 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 an art dealer, I didn't know what to expect," says Martin Muller of Modernism, the San Francisco gallery that serves as exclusive Board of Trade. "Futures contracts on an artist's neurons are not the same as paintings." Mr. Keats, who does not know how to paint, is well aware of that. "I do what I can," he says. "The worth of these contracts will be determined by how much people value that." DATASOURCE: Modernism, Inc. CONTACT: Jonathon Keats, +1-415-673-9052, for Modernism, Inc. Company News On-Call: http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/185007.html

Copyright