Slippers From Hawaii

(test shot from the continuation of [Literally], 2008)

My mug, my favorite mug with the slippers on it and HAWAII in a fun font, the mug from my mother, would look really interesting if it just randomly exploded right now. There will be no trace of what force within the mug made it explode, it would just burst into a million, maybe a million and a half, pieces. There is water inside so that will just leak all over the place, including the very keyboard I’m typing on. Hopefully I’ll have my glasses on because I’m sure there would be about ¼ of that million and half pieces in my eyes. And if that happened, then I don’t think I’d be very amused that my mug just spontaneously combusted on my desk, then in my eyes.
I want something completely random and beautiful to happen. Whether it is in the form of an exploding mug from Hawaii or just a stranger falling on the street, right before me, and looking up scared and lost, I reach my hand down and they suddenly grab mine back and we start running, we leave our things behind, like bags and books held under armpits, and we just run like fuck.

...

I should probably talk about the photograph above. For half a year I have been developing the concept behind [Literally]. This project was first done with recycled images, pulled out of focus in the darkroom, and using a large clear piece of plastic I inserted text on to the surface. I then placed the plastic over my photographic paper in the dark and exposured the image. The results were these new and appropriated images with a new context. Each one varied and the series progressed into an emotional depth as the text started from straight-forward definitions to poetric descriptions.
The continuation of this series is installation base, working more on the lines of graffiti than appropriating images. Using the same plastic stickers to create font, I will place them on windows to reflect a memory I have of that place and view.

*I decided not to post my response to Sophie Calle and Gregory Shephard's Double-Blind, after all. Let's just say I really enjoyed it, so much that I wrote a personal story that reflects on the subject.