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By Lauren Gill<\/p>\n
Brooklyn Daily<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
He’s brewing up a statement! <\/p>\n
An anti-capitalist artist plans to open a cash-optional coffee shop in Williamsburg this weekend. At the Aridoamerica Winter Plan java joint, opening Dec. 9 in the Museo de Los Sures gallery, caffeine fiends will be able to acquire the black brew via the barter system, or by winning a unique alternative currency in a game of chance. The man behind the four-month art project, presented by the International Studio and Curatorial Program, says that it will show people that there are a latte things more important than money. <\/p>\n
“I think we have to remember that it’s not about material things — happiness is something different,” said Fran Ilich, a Bronx artist originally from Mexico. “I want to tell the story that goods or foods can exist outside of the market.” <\/p>\n
Patrons will receive a cuppa’ joe in exchange for goods, services, or an optional cash donation, according to Illich, who said that the barista will be happy to take whatever people have to offer.<\/p>\n
“We don’t have a fixed amount, it’s whatever people want to give,” he said. <\/p>\n
The pop-up shop, which is funded in part by the New York State Council on the Arts, can stay afloat with as little as 25 cents per cup, according to Ilich. <\/p>\n
Visitors to the shop will also have a chance to play Patolli, an ancient Aztec game that Ilich likened to American classic Parcheesi. The artist has set up two of the hard-to-find boards on tables in the shop, and said that once players start they will find it hard to stop. <\/p>\n
“It’s very addictive. It’s a ritual and there’s so much randomness involved,” he said. <\/p>\n
In ancient Mesoamerica, Patolli players would gamble all their belongings on the result, but at the Winter Plan shop, winners will instead receive an amount of “Digital Material Sunflower,” a type of alternative currency that will be newly minted for the shop. <\/p>\n
The shop will serve Zapatista coffee sourced from Mexico’s indigenous people, who trade it solely to those, like Ilich, who are part of a special network. <\/p>\n
The creative coffee slinger says the project is his most ambitious yet and hopes that coffee drinkers will see the space as a much-needed refuge. <\/p>\n
“I’m seeing a lot of people in New York are looking for a shelter, a safe space to talk, to drink some coffee, eat, cry,” he said. <\/p>\n
Aridoamerica Winter Plan at Museo de Los Sures (120 S. First St. between Hewes Street and Union Avenue in Williamsburg, www.franilich.com). Open Dec. 9–March 30, Thu–Fri, 4–7 pm; Sat–Sun 10 am–2 pm. $Whatever you want.<\/p>\n
Reach reporter Lauren Gill at lgill@cnglocal.com or by calling (718) 260–2511. Follow her on Twitter @laurenk_gill<\/p>\n
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