Art and Faith - Norfolk County Summary

I never know what I’m looking for, but I always find it. 

People often ask what sort of letters I want when considering a donation to the project. It’s a question I try not to answer. Unlike most archives I resist establishing a priority in part because leaving that decision up to the donor feels like a more honest way of building the collection, but also because I could never think of the characters and stories within the letters I’m brought.

My short residency at the Norfolk Arts Centre (NAC) in Simcoe this past December was no exception: 

Bryan writes his pen pal from a correctional facility in Michigan.

King George V sends best wishes and thanks to a returning WWI soldier.

Norrie complains he “is still struggling with the language” in a postcard dashed off before a meeting in Bologna with Umberto Eco.

Marvellous, Magnificent, More - Day Four Norfolk County

“The way she wrote her Ms” draws a lot of funny looks.  

One wintery January day in 2010 when I was brainstorming category names for Voices at Hand a friend told me that one of the things she loved about her grandmother’s letters was her Ms. Since the project opened that spring I’ve collected four mason jars full of Ms and have many more to harvest from a six-inch stack of scanned letters.

It could be any letter really. I’m not sure that I would have chosen M, but now that I’ve been collecting them for nearly three years I admit I like the letter and most words that begin with it.

Miss

Mother, Mom, Mama
Mix

Mmmmm

More

You Better Watch Out - Day 3 Norfolk County

Perhaps Santa will keep letter writing alive?

Reading Between the Lines

I’m falling into a new rhythm. Typically I read on request from categories chosen by whoever is visiting Voices at Hand. These past few days in Norfolk County my discussions with gallery goers have been so lively and varied I’ve let the thread of conversations determine readings.

Art—specifically art that grows out of reflection and national guilt—was the thread that led me to a series of letters written by a man living in Germany during the rise of the Nazi party and throughout war.  Johann, who suffers from tuberculosis, is the only family member left in pre-war Germany writes to his mother and siblings in Canada from 1930 to 1945. His letters are full of details of daily life, hope, and if you read between the lines, bone chilling references to the Nazi fervor taking hold.  

January 1930

After the 15^th of January 1930 the camp is to be kept up by the Mennonites. They don’t know what to do with the people.  No one can go to Brazil anymore in 1931. In Paraguay there is a terrible epidemic and Canada is closed.

Norfolk County Day One

I’ve always thought of texting as a sophisticated form of notes passed in class. Text messaging turned twenty yesterday so not surprisingly texts were a recurring theme in conversations I had with gallery goers today.

The first postcards were Christmas cards and the first text message was, “Merry Christmas.” I’m not sure the group of six to ten year olds that visited me today grasped that nuance. They were more interested in the 102 year-old postcards I passed around.          

I’m still looking for the quintessential text message written in symbols to round out my collection. For now I have a sheet of texts written in 2011 and their forerunners:  notes passed in class that capture the spirit of texting and postcards written at the turn of last century.

Texts 2011

Me too. I got more positive energy from you too —thanks a lot. I had a wonderful time with you J. See you at the cinema next week; great!

May 2011

I asked Amanda to make a Boston cream pie and she said no. If you could convince her that would be my gift. J

October 2011

Notes passed in class 1980 and 1981

So how’s stuff? Taking up chem. tests doesn’t really flip my switch so I’m not listening. Gets a bit rough like when he asked me a question a sec ago and I didn’t know what he was parlering about.

Guess Who?

Norfolk County Voices - December 2012

ENWEYING - The Way We Speak Together: Trent Summary

With my wayward hair and often rumpled sense of style I know I run the risk of being pigeon holed into one of the less flattering artist stereotypes. Add a confession that I’m a Rob Breszny Free Will Astrology groupie and I seal it—at least in some circles.

Photo; Wayne Eardley

Photo: Wayne Eardley

There is probably a Twelve-Step Program out there for me, but I’m not ready to give up on Rob. My weekly indulgence reading his column in Toronto’s NOW Magazine rarely lets me down and heading into my residency at Trent he was spot on.

February 2: Lessons could come to you from unforeseen sources and unanticipated directions during the next few weeks, Sagittarius. They will also come in expected forms from all the familiar influences, so the sum total of your learning could be pretty spectacular. To take maximum advantage of the opportunity, just assume that everyone and everything might have useful teachings for you...Act like an eager student who’s hungry for knowledge and curious to fill in the gaps in your education. 

To bookend the residency, on my final day on campus he had this to offer:

February 17:  You’re getting closer to creating a viable method for achieving your next success. That’s why I urge you to be patient and determined as you continue to tinker and experiment. Don’t keep trying the same formula that didn’t quite work before. Open your mind to the possibility that you have not yet discovered at least one of the integral components.

It’s not like I need his endorsement to continue my work with Voices at Hand. One of my guiding principles for the project is to remain open to influences. Still both predictions made me stop and smile. Thanks for the reminder Rob, and thank you Trent for a refreshing taste of what Universities should be all about.

At Gzowski, Photos: M. Buddle 

For a number of years my work has explored the objects we choose to keep and the stories that are passed on.