Learning to Love You More - Brossura

Fletcher, Harrell; July, Miranda

Brossura

ISBN 10: 3791337335 ISBN 13: 9783791337333

Casa editrice: Prestel Pub, 2007

Riassunto

Presents a collection of art and personal stories taken from the author's Web site in which participants respond to a variety of artistic assignments, including "Take a flash photo under your bed," "Write your life story in less than a day," and "Make an encouraging banner."

Su questo libro

Estratto. © Riproduzione autorizzata. Diritti riservati.:

Hello

Sometimes it is a relief to be told what to do. We are two artists who are trying to come up with new ideas every day. But our most joyful and even profound experiences often come when we are following other people's instructions. When we are making crepes from a recipe, attempting to do a handstand in yoga class, or singing someone else's song. Sometimes it seems like the moment we let go of trying to be original, we actually feel something new- which was the whole point of being artists in the first place. With this revelation in mind we founded the website Learning To Love You More* in 2002. Visitors to the website are invited to accept an assignment, complete it by following the instructions, and send in the required report (photograph, text, video, etc.). The report is then posted online by our collaborator, Yuri Ono. (You can read all the assignments and instructions in the back of this book.) We tried to come up with assignments that we would want to do ourselves; often they came directly out of our personal lives or art practice. Five years later there are more than five thousand reports on the site.

Over the years we have watched the project's reach extend organically, region by region, as people email the link to their friends or post it on their blogs. For the most part we don't know who the participants are; sometimes we don't even know their real names, only that they come from St. Mary-of-the-Woods, Indiana, or Doha, Qatar, or New York City-and this is the sound that is keeping them awake (assignment 58), or this is how their parents look kissing (assignment 39), or they had this argument recently (assignment 37). This book contains only a tiny fraction of the work on the site, and new work is sent in every day (and new assignments are added throughout the year). But we hope it describes the complex world of Learning To Love You More, and the frequently wild, sometimes hilarious, and quietly stunning creative lives of a few people living on Earth right now.
Harrell Fletcher & Miranda July May 2007

I was born in Chittagong, Bangladesh, and am the second son of my parents; the first one died the day he was born. My family stayed at a place in Chittagong called Mehdibagh. My mother's eldest sister, Mam, also lived in Chittagong. She had three sons who were like my own brothers. My younger brother was also born in Chittagong. Mam took good care of my younger brother although she was a teacher and already had enough work to keep her extremely busy.
Then we moved to the capital city Dhaka, I am not sure in which year, and stayed at my grandmother's place. I was admitted to a nearby Bengali medium school, but my mother wanted to get me admitted to an English medium school although my grandparents and my father were opposed to that idea. She didn't give up and got me admitted to Maple Leaf International School, a pretty well-known English medium school. My new school was quite far from Dadi's house (I call my grandmother Dadi) and going to school every morning was quite a hassle.
We moved out of her place to a flat that we shared with my uncle (my mom's brother) and my grandparents (my mom's parents). At school, I started to make friends and get good results. But still my mother and I thought I could and I should do better. At home there were frequent rows between the household members, which irritated and also scared me. Although as I grew up I became more indifferent to these family problems, I hated it the most when my parents quarreled with each other. But that doesn't mean we didn't love each other. We were one big and loving family. My aunts and my only uncle (mom's sisters and brother) and my cousins were like my own family. When Mam used to come from Chittagong with her sons, we all had a great time together. And on my vacations I would remain eager to go to Chittagong to Mam's place. My cousins from my mother's side were like my own brothers and sisters.
We moved back to Dadi's place again and I don't know why. At school I became a boy scout and also performed in functions. I won a medal for my acting at a school function.
My Dadi and all her children, except my father, are rich. Dad's career has never been that successful. He had a plastic business in Chittagong, which for some reason had to be shut down. He had unsteady jobs and his earnings were not too big. But I didn't like staying at my Dadi's place; I wanted to have a home of our own. Although Dadi's home was a nice place, the environment was gloomy. I had a dream of becoming rich someday and believed that Dad would soon earn a lot of money.
Taking my brother and me to school from my Dadi's place was quite a difficult task for my mother. She had to wait for us in our school until our school was over whether she liked it or not; going back home and coming back again to pick us up would cost a lot of money. She worked hard and took good care of us.
When I saw my father playing the mouth organ, I developed an interest in music. I started trying to play a toy saxophone, which my youngest aunt had brought me from America. My brother and I soon learned to play songs on the saxophone and the keyboard without receiving any formal training.
A really nice gentleman rented the top floor of my Dadi's house. He lived with his wife and three daughters.

Dalla seconda/terza di copertina:

In a world obsessed with 'reality' programming, the collaborative public art project known as "Learning To Love You More" offers a refreshing take on how people think, act and love.

Su questa edizione

• Editore: Prestel Pub
• Data di pubblicazione: 2007
• ISBN 10: 3791337335
• ISBN 13: 9783791337333
• Rilegatura: Copertina flessibile
• Numero di pagine: 158