Occupy Growth

When the Occupy movement exploded onto the scene in the Fall of 2011 in New York’s Zuccotti Park, it wasn’t long before it spread like airborne seeds throughout the country.  On October 8, 2011, less than a month after the Occupation of Wall Street, the first general assembly was held by Occupy Grand Rapids underneath the arch of the Calder in Vandenberg plaza.  

At its heart, the occupations in tents and teach-ins around the country were about the spreading of ideas – seeds of hope for the future.   This installation manifests a new occupation, an occupation of seed bombs in the form of tents.  Created with the community on site, the public will be allowed to bring these sculptural seed bombs with them, tossing them wherever they like to spread native wildflower and organic, non-GMO vegetable seeds. 

One of the important issues facing our future is the question of who owns our seeds, and controls their genetic make-up.  The nation’s food supply and health are issues of importance to us all, both in the Occupy movement and beyond.  The public is invited to use the site of this installation as a place to spread thoughts, hope, and words.  Ideas we plant in one another can bear future fruit, just as the seeds we sow in the ground inevitably will.