Occasionally we have to do assignments with a brief, an outline
of rules in which we have to make a work of art by. For this particular work we
had to make a site specific sculpture for inside an Australia Post Bx1 box and then mail it to someone in
the class. First thing that comes to mind- Fan Letter.
So how I was going to
make a sculptural fan letter and mail it off? I thought of all sorts of ideas,
a slide projector with pictures and text, a scale model of the alley way
opposite the Olympia stage door that I spent about 3 weeks in with fellow fans,
some sort of recording device that speaks and tells stories about fan
experiences with Jedward, etc etc, but I only had less than a week to complete
it so it needed to be far more technically simple.
But what is a fan letter exactly? It’s a letter written by a fan
to an idol. Duh. But what’s its significance, what does it characterize, what’s
its objective and purpose?
I’ve never written a fan letter. I’ve written
messages inside jackets I given to Jedward. They weren’t particularly long or insightful
but they were heartfelt. ‘John and Edward, Thank you for everything, (heart) Dominique,
Australian Girl.’ Was one ‘John and Edward,
Thank you so much for all the awesome memories of 2012, Happy New Year
from Dominique and all the Lane Way fans!’ and I got every fan waiting outside
the stage door in the lane way to sign around it was another.
I guess a fan writes a fan letter to express
devotion, appreciation and to distinguish themselves as an individual and as a
fan to the idol. I signed ‘Australian Girl’ because that’s what they used to
call me, it was my nick name, I suppose because they didn’t remember my real
name, but it distinguished me as an individual.
And I talked to a few fans that had written fan letters and
we discussed what it was exactly that a fan letter is. A useful insight was
something like ‘a fan letter gives you the one on one time with them that you
wouldn’t necessarily have with them physically and says things you wouldn’t
necessarily say to them face to face.’ And ‘you can take them to somewhere as
personal as you’re willing to go’
I think of the internet like a ocean, but a more
mythological fantasy ocean like ancient maps with sea dragons and mermaids and
stuff. And I like to think of myself as a pirate, not because I illegally
download music and movies, but because searching the internet is like going on
a sort of swash-buckling adventure for hidden treasure, I never get off the
internet without finding some gem of inspiration or doubloon of new knowledge
or a battle scar of seeing something I really rather wish I hadn’t.
Anyway,
there’s a bit of romantic whimsy for ya. The point is, on one of my nightly quests I
found the incredible work of Lori Nix and had my mind blown clean away. Her
photographs of miniatures provoke that dream nostalgia that I so love as well
as my obsession with doll houses and stop motion animation.
So I decided to make a miniature scene inside
the box that has to be viewed through a porthole so it really is a one on one,
private, personal experience. And then a scene that shows a fan’s personal,
private devotion would be how they decorate their bedroom. I collected images of Jedward, posters and
photos of real fan’s bedrooms and my own bedroom, shrunk them down, cut them
out and arranged them in a way I would arrange and decorate if this was a real
bedroom. I made the bed messy, scattered clothes on the floor and used an old
wash cloth as a carpet. The room is untidy, scattered, cramped and unglamorous.
But its devotion shown in an honest, heartfelt and personal as someone
would be willing to go in a fan letter. I’m
not sending this to Jedward though because on top of all of that, I also find
it a bit creepy, has anyone seen that episode of CSI?..
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