The Greatest Escapist : Photography & other musing

10th March 2012

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A form letter for Dwelling correspondence…

Hello!

I’m currently working on a project documenting the places I have lived. In order to help me jog my somewhat faulty memory, I’ve turned to making play lists to help cause some music triggered memories from the roughly 25 places I’ve resided. From there, I wanted to pass these on to the people I lived with or spent extensive time with within the places I have dwelled, to help fill in some of the holes, which is why I now pass them on to you. Theres a good chance a number of these songs won’t automatically link for you, but hopefully a few do, and if there are others I’d love to hear which ones to help round out the list, and the experience. However to clarify, I’m looking for memories of specific locations, not necessarily of me or of a period of time for the most part, but rather, a song that reminds you of being in the kitchen at XXXXXXX, or the broken doorknob, or the way light may have shown through a window. If there are specific vivid memories you have about the physical space of the location you’d like to note, I’d love to hear about that as well.

From here, you can access the play list for this location at XXXXXXXX. A download should start automatically with a zip folder eventually saving where ever your downloads go. The playlist is by no means complete and in no order. I suggest playing it on random to let chance make the transitions for now. Listening while driving or in your headphones while walking will likely produce the best results.

I’m not entirely sure how this whole project is going to pan out in the long run, so I can’t speak to the level your involvement may play, but I will keep you in the loop if I make any of your information public. I’m possibly going to be submitting this project as the focus for a few residencies and grants if it continues to roll on successfully from this stage. I’m going to be attempting to upkeep some sort of process documentation on my blog at: http://thegreatestescapist.tumblr.com/

For now, let me know if you have any questions, and I look forward to heard what you think about it all.

Take care,

Zach

Tagged: dwelling2012

21st February 2012

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We’ve lived a fantasy life (a new body of work)

I might start using this as a real blog again, if only to document a new project I’m beginning.

Due to the amount of mental illness that runs through out both Melissa and I’s family, I’ve felt this pull to try and remember more. I barely remember a moment of my life before being 15. Today, I swear to God, I forgot my own address. An address to an apartment I have lived in over 6 months now. Admittedly, I’ve managed to live in 5 houses in the last 2 years, most of which manage to share the same 4 or 5 digits in all of their zip codes and addresses. 

All of this is to say, a subconcious dialogue has been running through my head. I’ve become obsessed with yellow [an incredibly complex color of so many signifiers], which turned into ring and circle imagery, which has grown to include tree section experimentations. Seemingly disconnected to those thoughts, I’ve been inspired to try and recollect the layouts of everywhere I’ve ever lived, from memory alone. It wasn’t till the other day I realized the connection: The rings of a tree, the places we dwell, the seemingly never ending seasons and ages of our, and all living things, lives.

Be it motivation, or an honest block, I’ve had trouble with alot of the more than 25 places I have dwelt. This morning however, while working on inspiration for a dear friends wedding printwork, I put on a record I hadn’t listened to in sometime. “Heart” by Stars is a record I have been listening to off and on my entire adult life, however, when I put it on this morning, I was immediately transported to the place the record has most engrained in my mind; New York City in the winter of 2006. It’s on the train this morning I realized an essential part of channeling these memories and going through the process of putting them on paper. 

Music, much like anyone reading this or I have considered a friend over time, is the single greatest memory trigger for me. A song I haven’t listened to in years will spark an emotion I had forgot about all together. Going back over mix’s made for friends, or a girl i was trying to date… they transport me. However, what happens If i try the trick backwards. I create collections of music that are meant to evoke a location I have not been in for years, for some decades. The vast majority of places I’ve lived I can’t go back to. I have photos, my faulty memory, and the music I listened to from within their walls…

Please stay tuned for whats up next….

Tagged: fantasy lifedrawingmix cd2012