Return to overview

Herbs for Words at the MCA

August 10, 2017

Trade Herbs for Words at the Museum of Contemporary Art through General Economy, Exquisite Exchange.

For their ongoing project, General Economy, Exquisite Exchange (G.E.E.E.), this Saturday and next, Cream Co. transforms the MCA Plaza into a functional site for community exchange.

Seventeen varieties of locally-grown basil seedlings will be available for trade: for a word, for a poem, or for free.

G.E.E.E. will run until the basil runs out on Saturday, July 26, from noon-5. A fresh load of basil plants and herbs will be available on Saturday, August 2, from noon-5.

For more information visit:

http://www2.mcachicago.org/wordweekend/

G.E.E.E. aims to catalyze an economic ecology sustained by the give and take of neighborly rituals, by the surplus of seasonal gardens and home kitchens, by goodwill, and by an ongoing revelation of community surplus. The crux of the experiment is this: what is the medium by which one thing (a plant) becomes another (a word). If cash is no longer the sole medium by which things are exchanged, what will the new medium (or the new media) be? Can neighborly values and creativity operate as currency? Can local abundance support a general economy? Since its inception in 2010, G.E.E.E. has facilitated over 10,000 exchanges.

G.E.E.E. is a High Concept Laboratories sponsored project.