Brooklyn Torch Project

Sparklers

Mary — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 03:13:12 +0000

We’re rolling out a new feature for our Brooklyn Torch Journal: Sparklers

photo credit: paulholloway’s flickr

It’s a series of internet links that we’ve found and hope that you’ll enjoy perusing. Imagine yourself dancing around a spring BBQ with a few of these in your hands. (safer than the real thing inside city limits)

Banking Local is really starting to catch up with our city’s budget including our Mayor Bloomberg’s $25 million to local credit unions.

A sustainable business network for New York City!

NY1, Crain’s report that Wal-Mart has set it’s sights on our borough. United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1500 prepares for a fight.

GOOD tells us how to be a good regular, and how to make a neighborhood clubhouse.

Bill McKibben reminds us to stop being lonely, and get out and meet our neighbors!

Design for Print

Mary — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 03:40:47 +0000

Our design meeting tonight was really great! Thanks to everyone who attended. We looked at sketches for texture which included really great urban motifs. We also talked quite a bit about printing and paper quality. If there’s anyone out there with experience with large print runs for durability and cost, please let us know. We trust the internet’s knowledge- it hasn’t failed us yet

Also, look out for the interactive/collaborative nature of the bill- we’re talking about some really exciting things involving mapping and sharing location.

Lastly, our current plan involves portraiture commissioned by local businesses. If you want your face on a bill, now’s the time to speak up and start saving up for the commission/buy-in cost.

Walking the Pathway of Making Money

Mary — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 03:10:32 +0000

Tonight was another great graphic design meeting. It’s hard to describe the nature of building a local currency and all the labyrinthian and intricate pathways we have had to (and can anticipate having to) explore together. Sometimes it feels like we’re not making progress, but rather talking in circles to ever widening networks. But tonight, we really moved forward. Melissa’s right in saying that we went “one step back, and then three steps forward.” That means we netted two steps! Woo, us!

Now that I’m fully inside of this audited class with David Harvey on Marx’s Capital (vol. 1) I can say that there’s so many winding pathways in both the social history of exchange and also in the politicization of exchange that we fight another battle on these grounds just to experiment with paper money. Are we fighting capitalism? Supporting it? Doing both in alternate strokes so that we’re only engaging in dialectics and not progress? It’s enough to make us throw our arms up in despair. Annie and I are sitting in on this class together, and I we’re determined find way to challenge systems of exchange and not despair of the present conundrum of monetizing our social interaction.

Our next meeting is Tuesday, March 16 at 7:00pm. This will be a System Design Meeting during which we will discuss models for the currency exchange system, strategies for outreach, and practical questions for security and circulation tracking. If you’re interested, please email us. Our meetings are at our headquarters in Greenpoint Brooklyn. Come on down!

Studying Marx in Greenpoint

Mary — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 03:18:16 +0000

I recently started sitting in on David Harvey’s class on Karl Marx’s Capital. Before the first day of class, I really didn’t know that Marx wrote three volumes of Capital. So, when I went to get my copy at Greenpoint’s Word bookstore last Sunday, I wasn’t terribly specific about asking them to order Volume One when they didn’t have it on their shelves.

Tonight, I went by, and oops! They ordered Volume 3. I probably won’t be caught up on the reading for next Monday’s class, but I’m hoping that I can get close after I get my copy this Friday. I know it’s a bit silly to wait to get a book from my local bookstore when I could just go to Barnes & Noble or order from Amazon myself, but there’s something kind of great about getting to know the people that work at Word. Even though they didn’t have the book I came in to get, and even inadvertently wrong volume, I was able to connect to these people that serve my and my neighbors’ hunger for knowledge. I’m able to engage with each employee in a neighborly way, and feel a sense of generosity flow from their store to me, and back again. Persevering to get my copy of Capital from Word has become a bit more than being true to the mission of this project- I’m getting know and like this place in my neighborhood- and that’s great for both of us.

Update: I picked up the right volume today, and to my surprise and benefit, I received a 10% discount for my troubles. That doesn’t happen with Amazon! Thanks, Word.

Progress!

Mary — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 01:25:25 +0000

Okay folks, it’s been awhile since you heard from us, and I intend to change that toute suite. Last week we had a meeting where Pratt students who had shared their design ideas and our crack team of money makers met and talked about our next steps. It was grand and we are excited to be moving forward. The reality is that our ambitious plans for launching the Brooklyn Torch Yesterday were a bit, well, ambitious. We are moving forward though, just at the speed of the universe though. We’ve been reading about the speed of money, and wholeheartedly agree with Woody Tasch of Slow Money. It’s very possible this whole sustainable food movement holds the keys to a sustainable economy, and we’re happy to slow down if it means we’re making the right moves.

We’re in the News!

Mary — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 08:01:55 +0000

Check out our recent stories below:

May 12, 2010
L Magazine explains DIY Money to Brooklynites

April 17, 2010
Good mentions us at the bottom of an article in a wonderful Neighborhoods Issue.

February 16, 2010
Blogging Stocks on how a local currency might not be that crazy after all.

February 1, 2010
MSN Money shares Smart Money’s article with links to us. Hi, MSN visitors!

January 15, 2010
Smart Money on Real-Life Monopoly Money.

December 7, 2009
Sheepless.org on local currencies.

November 26, 2009
Macleans on Making Money.

November 4, 2009
Zeit, a German article on the state of the US economy, leading with the Brooklyn Torch.

August 25, 2009
WNYC radio segment with Mary Jeys, Brooklyn Torch founder; Paul Glover, Ithaca Hours founder and Susan Witt, BerkSHARES founder

August 18, 2009
NY Times Freakonomics Blog asks Cash, Credit, or Torches?

August 18, 2009
Fast Company What Would Neighborhood Currency Look Like?

August 12, 2009
The Daily News Brooklyn Feature that broke the story of our project to the world.

Help Design The Brooklyn Torch!

Mary — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 01:39:16 +0000

This Saturday, August 8th at 5pm we will be at FEAST hosting a table in McGolrick Park/Church of the Messiah on Russell Street in Greenpoint. We invite you and your friends and family can come and help us brainstorm about what should be on our paper money. FEAST is a great event that encourages you to be an art benefactor by paying a sliding scale entry fee for dinner and a ballot. The ballot is for you to vote for the proposal of your choosing. It should be fun, and we’re looking forward to meeting you and seeing your ideas!

Brooklyn Torch is a Finalist!

Mary — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 01:17:26 +0000

We submitted the Brooklyn Torch project to the Summer Stipend open call over at Macktez. They ask for a low cost object to be included in their seasonal mailers and for a description of the summer project. We suggested funny money and described the work we are doing for the Brooklyn Torch. We are happy to announce that we are among this year’s finalists! All of the projects look great and we are honored to be included among such great company. You can also check out previous recipients, Huzzah for Macktez!

Burning Through the Summer

Mary — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 21:44:21 +0000

The Brooklyn Torch project continues through the Summer of 2009. We are still looking for collaborators in participation and design.

We are also finding plenty of inspiration from The Summer of Fun Manifesto. It is in this spirit that we burn our Brooklyn Torch well into the summer nights. Please contact us at committee [at] brooklyntorch [dot] org for more information.

We won a FEAST Grant!

Mary — Mon, 11 May 2009 21:06:56 +0000

Thank you to all the FEASTers who voted for the project on May 9th. It was a wonderful evening of delicious food and conversations. Happiest of all, we had a great show of support for a local currency for Brooklyn. We are well on our way now to producing something to keep our wealth flowing for us!