In The Moving Garden, Lee Mingwei asks visitors who take a flower to give it to a stranger.

One of the great things about working with living artists is the chance to work with them when they bring projects into the building. When I first heard about this piece, I was struck by what could happen between strangers in the exchange, so Eugenie and I asked the artist if he would let us create something that would allow visitors to document their gift giving.  He felt that the mystery of giving the gift was central to the piece, but he was also curious about exchanges and thought we could try it as long as we made it clear that the documentation was an optional step in the process, not a requirement to take part.

I gave my flower to a stranger at the corner of Washington Ave and Lincoln Place. It was an experience I'm not likely to forget.

With that, #mygardengift was born.  It’s a simple interactive that we hope extends the life of the project outside our walls.  Visitors are invited to document their exchanges by tagging on Flickr, Twitter and Instagr.am.  In addition, for the first time, we are using SMS text messaging in an interactive.  Visitors can text us about the exchange and we use the Twilio API to map their responses and bring them into the interactive. There’s a page on the website that shows all the responses and we also use an iPad to display the exchanges in the gallery.

This is really the kind of project that we want to be using social media for—working directly with an artist to show a community’s experience around a work. Given the four platforms that we are using, I’m curious to see which ones get used the most and how the information coming to us may differ on each.  Mostly, though, I’m excited to see our community participate and to watch the mystery unfold in some of the exchanges and I can’t wait to talk to the artist to see his own response to this part of the project as it grows.

If you come to Lee Mingwei: “The Moving Garden”, take a flower and then use #mygardengift to document your exchange.

Mingwei invites you to take a flower as you leave the museum provided that you agree to his terms: on the way to wherever you are going next, you will make a detour and give the flower to a stranger.

The rose-filled tabletop helps to facilitate the actual work of art: the giving of a gift that takes place beyond the walls of the museum.  Consistent with his artistic practice, you become a participant in Mingwei’s art, which relies on trust, generosity and human interaction.

The Moving Garden at the end of the day when flowers are out an about on the streets of New York.

When only a few roses remain in the table top and the arrangement might look a little thin and straggly, that this means that the flowers are out on the move in the streets of New York working their magic. Initially our plan was to use orchids, but since orchid farms in the metropolitan area felt the effects of Hurricane Irene, you’ll find roses at the table while we monitor the situation.