昨日、常連のお客さんMattが朝お店に来た時に、私とAちゃんに「明日、俺の長年の友達のギャラリーオープニングパーティーがあるから二人とも時間があったらおいでよ！」と誘ってくれて。
ギャラリーなんて普段縁のない場所。アートに興味はあるけど才能がない。
たまには気分転換にと思って今日Aちゃんと行ってきた。
「Notes to Self」というこのプロジェクト、アーティストのDustinさんが10年前から毎日毎日、一日も欠かさずに、自分宛に送った手紙の一斉公開。
壁一面に貼られた手紙。
オハイオ州で生まれ育った彼が、オハイオの自宅で書いた、オハイオの自宅宛の一番最初の手紙。
2002年4月13日。
旅行に行っても旅先のホテルから。
日本から書かれた手紙。2002年12月。
メキシコにも行ったことがあるんだ～。
他にもホンデュラス、コスタリカ、中米の国々がメキシコからの手紙の近くに並んでいたので、中南米を回っていたのかな？
見ていて面白いな～と思ったのが、切手の種類。年、季節、国によって様々。
日本の切手なつかし～と思ったり。
こんなディズニーキャラクターのかわいいのがあったり、
シンプソンなどの、アメリカアニメの切手もあった。
Dustinさんの後ろ姿。
Mattの奥様に紹介していただき、「素敵なプロジェクトですね。とても興味深いです」と握手しながらご挨拶。
とにかくこの圧倒される手紙の量と、毎日欠かさずに10年も続けたという持久力に脱帽。内容は日々の日記。
すごく根気のいることだと思う。
日記を書くことがすごいのではなく、毎日欠かさずに続けたことがスバラシイ！
パソコンではなく、このタイピングマシーンで書かれた文字には独特の空気があり、当時の雰囲気が伝わってくるようにも錯覚した。
とっても興味深いので、このブログを見てくださっている方で、NY在住、もしくは期間中に旅行で来られる方、ぜひ観に行ってみてください。
Dustinさんのひたむきな精神が表れたこの手紙プロジェクト、きっと心に残るものがあると思います。
以下、詳細とDustinさんの簡単なプロフィールです。
AC Institute
An AC Institute Curated Exhibition
Dustin Grella: Notes to Self March 29 – April 28, 2012
Opening Event: Thursday, March 29, 6-8pm
Opening in the AC Institute Satellite Space on the 2nd floor of 547 W. 27th St., Suite 210
Special Performance
April 17 at 6:15pm at James A. Farley Post Office (421 Eight Avenue @ 32nd Street) A reception will follow at the gallery at 7:30pm
Immediate Release
All exhibitions are free and open to the public. Contact: info@artcurrents.org
Notes to Self:
Being obsessive and compulsive in our society often carries negative connotations. In Dustin Grella's work, the artist prefers to celebrate these traits, referring to it as OCC, Obsessive Compulsive Culture. Grella approaches his work as if it were a puzzle, taking an action or an idea and aggressively repeating it, sometimes consciously, sometimes unconsciously, until a resolution is found.
In his Notes to Self project, Grella has written and then mailed himself a letter every day for over ten years. The exercise has generated 3650 letters (and counting), which remain meticulously ordered and still sealed to this day. The slight variations in the project, a change of font, the physical location of the cancellation stamp, and of course what is written inside, are nuances that help decipher time's complexities.
A C-7 quadriplegic, Grella has found that his attempts to send and receive these letters have been greatly hindered due to the fact that so many of Manhattan's post offices are inaccessible. He has decided that for the tax deadline on April 17th at the James A. Farley Post Office (421 Eight Avenue @ 32nd Street) he will be climbing the stairs of the post office with his wheelchair chained to his waist and his taxes in his mouth in an attempt to bring attention to the fact that a large percentage of New York City's post offices are still inaccessible.
This performance was made possible, in part, by the Franklin Furnace Fund supported by the Jerome Foundation; the Lambent Foundation Fund of Tides Foundation, and by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.
Bio:
Dustin Grella was raised in the rural community of Medina, Ohio, and now resides in New York City. He received his MFA from the School of Visual Arts, being honored with the Paula H. Rhodes Award for Excellence in Computer Art. His animations' accolades include winning the Walt Disney Award at the prestigious Ottawa International Animation Festival and in May 2012 will be premiering a series of micro-shorts at the Cannes Film Festival. He is currently in production of the Animation Hotline, a series of daily animations that use crowd-sourced voicemail messages for content. If you've got a story give him a call at 212-683-2490.
www.dustingrella.com
AC Institute 547 W. 27th St. #610 and the AC (Exit) Project Space New York, NY 10001 www.artcurrents.org / info@artcurrents.org Gallery Hours: Tues-Sat: 1-6pm,Thurs: 1-8pm
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