Regenesis (in April 10'), 2009-2010 |
Before I Die The function of a box is to hold something. The items placed inside may vary from big or small, to significant to lesser importance, but what really matters is how that box holds those items. Over time with each box we hope its utility withholds our valuables throughout the ages, with each move, with each time we open the box up and fill it even more, or perhaps investigate the contents. The box serves as an archive to preserve a memory, but what if it was to serve as a means of communication? What if one were to build a box that was airtight once sealed, and what if one were to blow one's breath into this box and seal it until after his or her life has passed? Who would get such a box? And how will that feel to be the recipient of someone's last breath, and if one would actually open it, and if so, when to open it? These boxes I am making for Before I Die are things I want to do, things that are important as much as the person they are intended for. With each box will have a specific function. One box is a projector that projects a growing collection of apologies for people I am sorry to, another box is meant to maintain a growing plant, and is tailored to either promote the overgrown of this plant, or its disposal and replacement. With each box, there is a function, and within each box there is a confession. These confessions may be put on displayed such as the box of apologies, or behind a metal shield that can't be removed until the box is unlocked, either case they are left anonymous, leading the viewer to not feel excluded but enticed into who they are intended for. Of course, with a title such as Before I Die, to find out the intended owners of each box will have to wait until the day I die myself, leaving behind one key to open a case that will house every key for each box. Only then will the identities of each owner be revealed, and only then will my last words be known to who they were intended for. There are so many things I have to say, there are so many things I want to tell you, that it is hard to say now, and maybe ever, and so I'll leave you with this memento; a will or testament, so that you know, so that you remember, when I am no longer. |
Regenesis (in April 11'), 2009-2010 | The Man Who Disappeared, birch wood, steel..., 2010 | Book, Tape recorder, Harmonica, Stone, Glasses, Print, Tape Recorder (9m 59s loop) | Surrender, birch and oak wood, projector, slides, veil, steel, 2009 | Apology #12, from Surrender, Slide film, 2009 |