Spontaneous Intervention #2
Greenaid Seedbomb Vending Machine

Greenaid Seedbomb Vending Machine

http://www.thecommonstudio.com/
http://www.greenaid.co

This project seemed interesting as well, and it also seems to help just as many people as the first project. Seedbombs are a mixture of clay, compost and seeds, and are used to anonymously “Guerrilla Garden.” COMMONstudios, a design firm in LA, California, created a small, coin operated seed bomb dispenser in which business owners can rent or buy. Since 2010 they have installed at least 150 of the vending machines. These seed bombs are a mixture of several different native seeds, hand rolled by workers who are actually homeless people. They are contracted through a LA nonprofit company, Chrysalis, which helps homeless individuals work towards “self-sufficiency.” This project is not only awesome because of the fact that these seed bombs can really green up an area with plant life at an extremely low financial and physical cost, but also because the seeds themselves create jobs for those who are less fortunate, allowing them to make an income through this very genius idea. Crowd-sourcing is a large part of this project, and a major goal is to “green-up” urban areas, so having very low cost, very low effort “seed bombs” which practically plant themselves utilizes those who would like to impact their environment, making the burden of the goal much lighter. Also, it shares something that was inaccessible. Through this project, many jobs were created for only homeless people, which is a huge thing when considering most jobs are not geared towards homeless people. It also employs the DIY strategy of New Media, as well as tapping into local networks, as most of the vending machines and employees of Chrysalis are based in LA.

Spontaneous Intervention #1
For Squat/Reuben Kincaid Realty

For Squat / Reuben Kincaid Realty

http://www.publicmediainstitute.com/
www.reubenkincaidrealty.com

This first project I looked at I thought was just incredible. With foreclosures and evictions happening all over the nation, people look to find suitable housing. This project attempts to deal with that problem. The Public Media Institute, PMI, started Reuben Kincaid Realty, in order to fight for the basic human right to shelter. A simple sign, much like the average “For Sale” sign, but instead with “For Squat” on it, is posted up on an abandoned house. You then take a picture of the sign on the house and email the photo to a Reuben Kincaid Realtor. They put it in their database, find out how long it’s been vacant, whether or not a bank owns it, and attempts to much it up with someone they determine needs it. Visiting the website, www.reubenkincaidrealty.com, you can download a sign to print and put up on an abandoned house, search for properties that are “for squat” and even learn more about their How to Squat Handbook, and the first time Just Squatted Home Welcoming Kit. The site also references data about the overwhelming forclosure and homeless problem the nation faces today. This uses many New Media strategies, such as crowd-sourcing to find the abandoned buildings, sharing what was inaccessible (a home for a homeless person), and DIY.