Collaborative Art Purchases: Why Not?

Artists often collaborate on making work. I've written in the past about how collaboration can help artists to increase their earnings far more than competition. Now, I'm entertaining the idea of collectors collaborating to purchase work together that they might not be able to afford separately:

Elizabeth Sadowski's comment on Galaxy No. 3, gave me an interesting idea… She wished her neighbor would buy Galaxy so she could look out her own window and enjoy it. I'm sure she meant it as a sort of ironic aside, but it's not a half-bad idea in it's own way. I'm well aware that much of my larger work is out of many people's budget, and honestly, I try to find ways to make the work as affordable as possible. I'd love to be able to make more work and put it in the hands of more people, but I've also learned that I have to price work in a way that insures I can stay in business.

So, as I was responding to Elizabeth's comment, it occurred to me that one way of making work more affordable might be to spread the cost between more than one person. Why wouldn't it work for people with adjoining properties to go in on a piece? It's a thought that's never occurred to me before, and I suspect that not many people have really tried it. On the other hand, there are plenty of high ticket items that people do share: riding lawnmowers, boats, time-share condos… why not art?

Of course, two dilemmas do come immediately to mind: in the event that one person moves, or chooses to divest the work or whatever, there might be issues regarding dividing an art property. Also, there's the matter of agreeing on a piece that appeals to both parties. The latter point is pretty simple to navigate. Either you both like a piece or not… and it seems that in many cases, people in a neighborhood will have chosen their location based on at least some shared vision or taste. In terms of the ownership issue, I would suppose it might be handled in the same way as any other joint property… if the investment is significant, both parties might want to have some form of simple contract that specifies how termination of the agreement is to be handled.

On the whole, though, I think it's a very interesting idea. Imagine you live in an apartment building or condo with a courtyard: If a significant number of people chipped in on the purchase of a sculpture to decorate the grounds, the cost per person might be very low for an improvement that both raises the quality of live and improves property values. Suppose you live in a more rural setting or a housing development which affords a reasonable amount of personal space: Siting a sculpture in an area where it is visible from more than one home is still an attractive option that could provide enjoyment for many people at a lower cost to each.

I'd very much like to hear some feedback in the comments section on how this idea strikes people.