-
(Item offered through 2021 Emotional Value Auction, held at Colby College Museum of Art)
SLIGHTLY BROKEN UMBRELLA
"Most of the time, letting go becomes a draining passive process. I enjoyed how your art facilitates this process by making it fun, interactive, and active; it highlights and catalyzes the process in a new dynamic (with the help of others). I was thinking about also releasing an item: my umbrella.
This umbrella has been with me for about one year but now is a little broken. I have bought a new one; however, for some reason, I hesitate in letting go of the older one. It might be due to the security and safety that I subconsciously felt with it was over my head, shielding me from natural elements. Or maybe it is just the fear of losing something."
The first item I receive a photo and statement for from someone looking to release it for whatever Emotional Value Auction I am currently working on is always special. This was the first submission I received after I created the email emotionalvalueauction@gmail.com
It came from an international Colby College student who had visited my studio at the Lunder Institute where I had the privilege of being a Residential Fellow in 2021. It was gratifying and relieving to know that the project spoke to young people as well as those of us who have been around (and accumulating) much longer....
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
The alchemy of this project --- who learns about it and how (some passing through on their way into their studio like this Charlotte Street Foundation resident); what they decide to release to avail themselves of its circuitous but apparently effective format; who doesn't have something but passes the call on to the person who really needs to release some emotionally burdensome object and hurls themselves into the project full on and repaps the benefits -- never ceases to amaze me. It is humbling and exhausting. Self-sabotaging, since I should obviously be clearing out my own storage unit rather than serving as the proxy for others, but I learn so much, feel into the connections made for a moment or that are clearly going to last a lifetime, and sleep well knowing that the project does actually benefit people. Ultimately, each of the 5 times I've done this to date, I have gained what I'm perenially seeking, which is mentorship from strangers and permission and the permission giving that circulates in a cycle of reciprocity and economy of care.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Though the delivery process in Maine can be anything but energy or fuel efficient, these moments of touch down of an object previously and ardently cared for by one person who has entrusted me to find its new owner, to its new home, is truly a rare and special privilege.
-
-
