Free Luv

A found-art CD project — made at home, left around Milwaukee for people to discover.

The Free Luv project ran from about 2000 through roughly 2007. We burned CD-Rs at home. Mostly, we packaged each one like a miniature vinyl record: a fold-up, glued “album cover” sleeve with a paper inner sleeve so the disc would slide out just like a little record. We also printed a small booklet for each album — lyrics, credits for the musicians who helped, and images (most taken by Ray at different events) — then tucked it inside. We set up a work area at home for Ray to cut out booklet covers and pages.

We made several versions and changed them every time. Changed the songs and the design of the cover package. We left these little albums, as well as jewel case versions, around town for people to find — sometimes in the free-weekly newspaper stands at coffee shops, sometimes in other public spots. In a tree. On a park bench. We wanted to give people the experience of finding something special for free — a tangible, handmade art object with music, pictures, and a story — our version of a ‘zine’. We’d be glad to hear from anyone who found one. For all we know, they got thrown away when they changed the papers each week. We took a bunch down to Chicago and left them around downtown.

For Ray, Free Luv was an excellent creative activity. It blended photography, layout, light assembly, and the joy of imagining where each disc might end up. We eventually wound the project down as fewer folks used CD players and the format’s novelty faded, but during those years it was a delightful way to share art, spark surprise, and spread a little kindness.