I created a series of wearable and mass-produced pieces with the intention of helping to spread the message of militant optimism, the driving message of The Free Market. The Free Market, a mutual aid hub I founded on campus, is a thrift store where everything is free. All products are donated or salvaged when students discard massive quantities when moving out of dorms. We hope that students and community members will engage with the Free Market and help us develop a circular economy rather than buying new items from producers exploiting their workers and the environment. We envision the Free Market not just as a source for sustainable consumption and waste reduction, but as a mechanism for growing grassroots working-class power by strengthening our community and taking care of our people.

The items created for this installation were all created using recycled materials, as a way of integrating both form and function into the pieces. The T-shirts created as part of the project were printed on clothing that had been donated to The Free Market, and the flyers and educational posters were printed on recycled paper. Additionally, T-shirts advertising The Free Market also read our logo "A Better World is Possible", with the hopes of spreading a message of militant optimism.