[NetBehaviour] Network Ecologies - Feral Trade, Wildcrafting and ‘Prosumerism’.

[marc garrett]

Network Ecologies - Feral Trade, Wildcrafting and ‘Prosumerism’.

The concept of ‘wildcrafting’ of consumer goods in the work of UK 
artsits Kate Rich and Kayle Brandon explores the relationship between 
information access and the production of commodities, art and social 
networks as an inter-related set of sustainable or unsustainable 
processes. An emergent, and potentially sustainable network ecology of 
relations is realised in and through the process of production.

Marc Garrett, of UK network/arts organisation Furtherfield describes the 
work of Kate Rich & Kayle Brandon who produce an ‘open-source’ cola 
drink and ‘trade’ it through a ’social media’ distribution network 
‘Feral Trade’ that focuses on non-commercial sustainable network 
ecologies for material goods - (description from Thing.net blog): 
‘cube-cola’

“With a hackivist consciousness or attitude, they are exploring the 
creation of their own version(s) of Coca-Cola. Both are bar managers at 
the CubeCinema (Bristol UK), and have actively steered away from selling 
the ‘real -thing’, due to their feelings about the environmental 
practises of the multi-national company Coca-Cola. “We’d tried Pepsi and 
Virgin Cola and various others too,” says Brandon, “but they weren’t 
really a positive alternative. They were acceptable, but they weren’t 
Coke. And people really want Coke / We are wildcrafting our own cola 
from an on-line, open source recipe. A process developed through 
home-lab experimentation, merging domestic and scientific methadology.”

http://tinyurl.com/4ondv2