Initial sketching for exhibition space

Side Quest, Sort Of

Taking exhibition brainstorming a step further…what about a post office? I feel kind of crazy for this idea, but isn’t it interesting that a post office is a third space? You might think of it as just a regular federal office building, not super efficient…but that’s what helps make it a third space, AND since our modern definition of efficiency isn’t exactly great for the rural places typically, maybe it’s the perfect illustration of how important these spaces can be and what we lose when we prioritize efficiency over what’s good at building community.

The post office has gotten heat for not being efficient, but it’s also like one of the very few public resources that serve everywhere in the country almost every day. Turns out that service isn’t very efficient when you have people living out in the woods, up in the mountains, and on islands all over the place. BUT I know from my experiences growing up that when a community loses their post office…that can be a bit devastating. Maybe the writing was on the wall; they knew their town was shrinking, we all knew what was coming. But the place a person lives and the community they are part of is often part of their identity (note to self: look up some actual literature on this to reference, I know it’s out there), and the post office can feel like the last nail in the coffin, to unincorporated, to being wiped off the map. The place still exists but its identity to the outside is partially removed. (It also becomes a burden of expense to the county, if I read correctly.) I remember this happening to some nearby towns and the defeat and finality people felt around it.

All this to say, maybe I’ll mimic a post office as third space for my exhibition. Going along with that, I thought I could have people write letters or postcards to the next visitors on designed prints of rural places, an interactive floor map — maybe denoting rural places, or third spaces, or something — and then some snacks, playing cards, newspapers, interactive town, or some other interesting interactive and FUN elements that I’m still thinking on.

Other ideas relevant to PC: The local grocery store, the newspaper

Monotypes, V1

Techniques: Darkfield monotype, laser cut paper stencils, trace monotype, additive layer with found natural objects, rainbow roll

These monotypes, like I talked about in a previous post, are meant to tell the legend of The White Animal, a story my grandma told from rural southern Iowa. Her family lived near the Thousand Acre Woods, and she and her siblings would play pranks on each other by mimicking the wild shrieks of whatever beast was lurking in the forest. Other neighbors knew there was something mysterious living in there as well — some people had described the animal as hyena-esque, but no one seemed to know for sure. I decided to reimagine what The White Animal could have been through six animals that make distinctive hoots, howls, and shrieks. The animals were also selected based on if they live in Iowa or are rare in Iowa — and for the case of the hyena, that just came from my grandma’s writings (but I did learn hyenas may once have roamed in the U.S. Southwest a very long time ago). This gives the work an ecological angle as well.

The woods depicted behind each animal are actually a laser cut stencil from an image-traced photo of the Thousand Acre Woods. I drew each animal and laser cut stencils for each. I found leaves and wood shavings (thanks to my classmate, Kat!) to ink up and print as a sort of “natural debris” to each image of the Woods as a second layer. I learned how to do a rainbow roll to create the sunset and nighttime sky effects — the idea is that it gets later in each scene. I used a trace monotype to add the phrase “It had been verified there was something of its description in the forest,” which is taken directly from an article my grandma wrote about this story in the local paper.

I’m hoping to use these in some form in my exhibition! They could be printed as cards for people to write on or stickers or something cool. I might remake the whole set (once I made it — and this was my first time ever printmaking/monotyping — I thought of a million little things I’d do differently). But I really like the techniques I got to learn for this project and hope to use them more in future prints.

Some feedback I got: Don't be too worried about people obviously seeing every aspect you want them to see. Make people have to look at it, see little details, take in the scene. I can be less intentional in my placement of leaves, wood shavings, words, not covering The White Animal, etc. Consider layering multiple animals and woods/landscapes. Maybe I could use laser cut type or my grandma’s handwriting for the words. The works could go to the edge of the paper. I loved this feedback and am planning a V2.

Like I discussed with Tina…we all love watching people in third spaces on TV, right?? They’re where so many moments happen