WORK DRESS for BARTER ONLY
Between an apron and a tool belt, this wrap dress was designed by me (Caroline Woolard) and sewn by a talented male seamstress in New York. I wear it everywhere, from bike trips and studio visits to baking with power tools.
This durable dress can only be exchanged for local goods and services, so if you want to spend dollars, make a donation. If you donate $200 or more I will give you a dress.
Bartered Goods
Barters in Progress
Exchange your unique objects/skills for a Work Dress.
Do you want a Work Dress? Please make me three offers...
Please barter your unique creations and skills. I am interested in many things: your suffrage movement research, your glass shattering voice, your serious drawings, your functional ceramics, your weird glass objects, your (kevlar!?) textiles, your handmade furniture, your web help, photo/video documentation help, conversational Spanish tutoring, accounting help, yoga instruction, liability law services, help growing hydroponic vegetables, vintage patterns, secret recipes, your apartment in Manhattan to let my (good) guests stay in, or anything else you value and/or make and think we should exchange.
Caroline Woolard
PO Box 110560
Brooklyn NY 11211
If you absolutely cannot barter, you can donate $200 in U.S. dollars and take a dress.
For Providence Art Windows,
Caroline Woolard relocated the research desk of her experimental barter network, OurGoods, to 203 Westminster Street in Providence, Rhode Island. She will be working at the desk, feet feeling sand, at surprise moments throughout the installation. Keep stopping by to see her work in progress.
The installation will be on display until March 13, 2009. A daily slideshow happens automatically from 4pm to 6pm.
OurGoods
This work dress is the launch project for OurGoods, a peer to peer network for the exchange of goods and services between artists, designers, craftspeople, and anyone with a creative project.
Check back in 2009 for a dynamic site. You will be able to upload your projects and ask for help and materials from other people. For example, I will offer my studio space in Brooklyn in exchange for photo/video assistance in documenting my next project. You can post proposals for projects that require money, space, volunteers, participants, or materials and any interested person can donate or exchange the necessary goods/services.
Rather than the ubiquitous online portfolio site of self interested megalomania, which perpetuates a hierarchy with support from above, this website helps us look to each other for recognition and fulfillment. Here, artists can also see each other's work and volunteer to help without demanding reciprocation or collaborate based on shared interests.
Or, donate programming assistance to OurGoods. Your donation, in cash or by check, would be greatly appreciated.
Caroline Woolard
PO Box 110560
Brooklyn NY 11211
Please send questions, comments, criticisms to hello@ourgoods.org
Copyright © 2008-2009 Caroline Woolard. All rights reserved.
Thank you
Site design: Louise Ma
Studio photography: Martyna Szczesna
Outdoor photography: Ben Goddard
Any bad digital photos: Caroline Woolard
(this is why I need to barter with photographers!)
Thanks to Providence Art Windows, Rebecca Seimering, and Liz Keithline for continued support in Rhode Island.
Caroline Woolard is a recipient of The Field's Economic Revitalization for Performing Artists (ERPA) grant. ERPA receives funding from The Rockefeller Foundation's Cultural Innovation Fund.
For more information, please visit thefield.org or economicrevitalization.blogspot.com.