Zoey Kroll and Erin Wilson are squirreling away dry pods and peas for their Pocket Seed Library as part of a new art exhibit called "Free Range." Their seed collections, and the seed collections of their mothers and grandmothers, are their art. Specifically, they put together seed packets and include planting instructions, many tailored to city folks. They do it to encourage us to plant gardens — if you go home and put the seeds in the ground, you are part of their art. At Garden Picnic: How Seeds Travel, the art provides produce: Guests were encouraged (but not required) to RSVP far in advance, Kroll and Wilson say, "so we [knew] how much lettuce to plant." The event is a potluck, but the artists hope to provide salad for everyone. Part of the Pocket Seed Library is a blog, which includes an entry titled "This salad has your name on it." The meaning is literal, since the photos show lettuce (it looks like Marvel of Four Seasons and Green Oak Leaf, for you garden nerds) bearing nametags of people who have already RSVPed. Picnickers go home with two seed packets: one for now and one for later.
Sat., Oct. 18, noon, 2008
