Robert Filliou – Principles of Poetical Economy, 1980

What if value were measured not by profit but by creativity and play, imagination and generosity? Robert Filliou called this idea a “poetical economy”. Just how such an economy might operate is investigated here in the form of handwritten notes, sketches and diagrams. The work Principles of Poetical Economy pays tribute to the nineteenth-century utopian socialist Charles Fourier, who lived and worked in Lyon. His experiences of commerce in the city led him to dream up a more cooperative society. Like Fourier, Filliou imagined another way of organising life. Convinced that no one person could answer such a question alone, he set out to invite people around the world to join him in investigating what a poetical economy might look like. The handwritten notes reflect the open-ended nature of this collective research project.

At the core of Robert Filliou’s practice are ideas of language, play and exchange. Trained in economics and associated with Fluxus, he conceived art as a continuous, collective activity embedded in everyday life. His work challenges conventional notions of authorship, value and production, favouring openness, humour and participation. Through gestures that blur the boundaries between art and non-art, Filliou redefined creation as an ongoing process of thinking, making and sharing, an approach that continues to shape the understanding of art as a space of exchange.