As I researched random gift drops sparking gift economies, I developed another portable gift that I could drop in the same fashion that I did with the cookies. I’d been creating art and other objects that responded to Bowie’s influence on culture, so I decided to use one of these pieces as the random gift. I used generative art techniques to produce the packaging for the random gift. I dropped this along with my riot grrl-inspired GrannyZine in cities I traveled to, such as Los Angeles. Each package included a call to action for the person to pass along a gift (a kind act) and to follow up after.
Tokens of Kindness Project Statement
I love connecting people through art and design. I have been investigating the idea that a single kind act can start ripple effect of kindness that radiates through a community. My research aims to trigger that initial kind act. I began experimenting with a community design piece aimed to solicit kind acts in exchange for goods and services. I began this work with this pop-up booth selling handmade goods in exchange for special tokens on which customers wrote kind acts that they did or promised to do.
This experiment was the main focus of my research at Iowa State University and is the basis for a method about which I’m currently writing and designing a workbook.
Tokens of Kindness Experiments and Related Works
Experiments:
Tokens of Kindness Ames | Tokens of Kindness Des Moines | Tokens of Kindness at the Mall | Pizza for Kindness | Tokens of Kindness Mixtape Drop | Tokens of Kindness Cookie Drop | Tokens of Kindness Watercolor Class
Related Works: