The Prompt:
This fragment of paper you will have received is a piece of 9/11 debris. It was picked up at Ground Zero, in the graveyard surrounding St. Paul's Chapel, a small colonial church that miraculously escaped the collapse of the Twin Towers unscathed despite its age and location right across the street from the former WTC. The destruction on 9/11 left the church surrounded in debris so deep the tombstones in its yard were buried. Papers, office blinds, and tea bags dangled from the sheltering sycamore trees surrounding the church. Before the yard was cleared, a small bag of debris was collected and kept. The preserved pieces are evidence of devastation and destruction, of a certain Ground Zero and of many ground zeros. Now symbolic of one day, they were, and still are fragments of everyday lives. Each of their stories is the same and different, as varied as the people and circumstances that marked them, filed them, mailed them; and as similar as the dust that covers them all evenly. What are these stories? What is this story? You will never know exactly, factually; but you can imagine. And by imagination you can dare to remember these pieces of debris as they were when they were foresquared, legible - crisp even. You can understand how they will never be that way again.
But maybe, too, through imaginative remembrance - re-membering - you can see how these fragments might actually be realized, re-vitalized and in some way made whole, both again and for the first time.
Look at the fragment you have received. Tell its story, show its story. Though the dust will someday win despite our best efforts at preservation, the story will remain if you truly discern it and serve it.
"Imagination is more important than knowledge." Albert Einstein
(n.b. - the next step: your fragments will literally be re-membered when they are "bound together" in the intended artist book, many stories in one)
-----------------------------
The Parameters:
For visual artists the fragments are meant to inspire or be directly incorporated into a two-dimensional visual work measuring no more than 8 x 11 inches. (Slight relief may be ok - let's discuss.) For writers the fragments are meant to inspire a poem, short story, narrative essay, something more experimental . . . your options are as wide as your imagination. Just be sure to touch base with me when your idea has been roughly outlined.
Above all else, artists and writers are asked to honor the fragments and what they represent, to tread lightly. The pieces of debris are very loaded elements. Use your creative imagination and don't deny the tragedy they witness to. Respect - especially considering the possible human remains incorporated in the dust on their surfaces - should inform all you do. Although 9/11 is the reason for their existence (and the primary experience driving my thesis and this whole project), I am not necessarily asking you to make a statement about 9/11. I'm asking that you partake in the opportunity of creativity come from catastrophe; of seeing a beginning in an end; of discovering unity in collapse and fragmentation (see quotations in initial email).
Writers: we can discuss layout and various printing options. Artists: final visual works can incorporate drawing, painting, printing, photo, collage . . . as long as the completed piece is dry and non-stick. The work can have a front and back if desired. I can give you a piece of hand-made abaca if you'd like to use it for a surface, or we can discuss trapping the work in abaca as with my works pictured in the post below. Actually, we can discuss any possibilities you might be imagining: artist/writer collaborations on a single fragment, a short series of pages, incorporation of conceptual elements that extend "off the page" . . . I'm very open to your ideas and want to see you take full advantage of this opportunity. Likewise, I want to take full advantage of the opportunity of you (plural), of an exponential expansion of imagination with each creative individual involved. Right now I'm looking into some non-traditional binding approaches that would allow the pieces to be protected in sleeves or shallow boxes like window panes; they would stack into a boxed book and unstack for exhibition.
-----------------------------
Time Frame:
Eight Weeks . . . or the end of May if you receive your piece of debris by April 1st. (Not enough time? Let me know; your participation is my first priority.)
No comments:
Post a Comment