The auction has a catalogue and a blog, and will culminate in an actual auction with an actual auctioneer (on Saturday 28th November). There are a couple of neat conceits: Adams & Smith is founded in ‘2034’, and the auction is taking place, ostensibly, in 2059. Provenance has been provided by Tamasin Cave of Spinwatch, and it is as sharp as you would expect.

Here’s the full auction list – linked to their catalogue descriptions.

• Lot 01 Double Buggy
• Lot 02 Cement
• Lot 03 Medication
• Lot 04 Smoke Detector
• Lot 05 Golf ball & tee
• Lot 06 Mobile Phone
• Lot 07 Cigarettes
• Lot 08 Bottled water
• Lot 09 Plastic bag
• Lot 10 Penalty Charge Notice
• Lot 11 Aeroplane ticket
• Lot 12 Banking pen
• Lot 13 Gavel and block

When I run futures workshops I sometimes do a warm-up exercise based on Douglas Coupland’s ‘Reverse Time Capsule’ article for Wired magazine, about artefacts in the present day which would have seemed absurd or unthinkable 15 or 20 years previously (pre-packed salad washed in natural spring water, for example). In 1997 one of Coupland’s examples was the Japanese luxury car. I think I’ll try adding an ‘Adams and Smith Future Auction’ exercise the next time I need to stretch people’s thinking.

Thanks to the RSA’s Arts & Ecology blog for the tip.