Dan Kirchen and I found a deserted car, and in it, a briefcase full of pictures, receipts, newspaper clippings, bounced checks, and, in all, potential stories.
And this had us asking, What are the conditions under which stories unfold? What is most important in these narratives? Unlike alternative facts, which can be used towards sometimes questionable political ends, “truth” in any given story is less important than asking what else we can experience or practice through different kinds of engagement with what is before us.
We asked, not just Who were these people, but also, What did they value, and why? What did they change, What did they leave behind, and What are the implications and stakes therein?
A night club, a car, a party. An African mask, an assault, a story about Madison’s future. Music, design, wine, and pipes. Parents, children, fashion, and a whole host of stuff and things. These are not forgotten, but neither have they been given voice. We have taken this matter, to wonder what matters.
This collaborative installation is both a material investigation of the potential histories and futures we found in our deserted ’69 Caddy, and also an exploration more broadly into how thinking, life, and what we value can be inaugurated or revived, transformed or amplified, via art, stories, writing, individuals, groups, material things, and more.
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