Marvellous, Magnificent, More - Day Four Norfolk County

“The way she wrote her Ms” draws a lot of funny looks.  

One wintery January day in 2010 when I was brainstorming category names for Voices at Hand a friend told me that one of the things she loved about her grandmother’s letters was her Ms. Since the project opened that spring I’ve collected four mason jars full of Ms and have many more to harvest from a six-inch stack of scanned letters.

It could be any letter really. I’m not sure that I would have chosen M, but now that I’ve been collecting them for nearly three years I admit I like the letter and most words that begin with it.

Miss

Mother, Mom, Mama
Mix

Mmmmm

More

You Better Watch Out - Day 3 Norfolk County

Perhaps Santa will keep letter writing alive?

Reading Between the Lines

I’m falling into a new rhythm. Typically I read on request from categories chosen by whoever is visiting Voices at Hand. These past few days in Norfolk County my discussions with gallery goers have been so lively and varied I’ve let the thread of conversations determine readings.

Art—specifically art that grows out of reflection and national guilt—was the thread that led me to a series of letters written by a man living in Germany during the rise of the Nazi party and throughout war.  Johann, who suffers from tuberculosis, is the only family member left in pre-war Germany writes to his mother and siblings in Canada from 1930 to 1945. His letters are full of details of daily life, hope, and if you read between the lines, bone chilling references to the Nazi fervor taking hold.  

January 1930

After the 15^th of January 1930 the camp is to be kept up by the Mennonites. They don’t know what to do with the people.  No one can go to Brazil anymore in 1931. In Paraguay there is a terrible epidemic and Canada is closed.

Norfolk County Day One

I’ve always thought of texting as a sophisticated form of notes passed in class. Text messaging turned twenty yesterday so not surprisingly texts were a recurring theme in conversations I had with gallery goers today.

The first postcards were Christmas cards and the first text message was, “Merry Christmas.” I’m not sure the group of six to ten year olds that visited me today grasped that nuance. They were more interested in the 102 year-old postcards I passed around.          

I’m still looking for the quintessential text message written in symbols to round out my collection. For now I have a sheet of texts written in 2011 and their forerunners:  notes passed in class that capture the spirit of texting and postcards written at the turn of last century.

Texts 2011

Me too. I got more positive energy from you too —thanks a lot. I had a wonderful time with you J. See you at the cinema next week; great!

May 2011

I asked Amanda to make a Boston cream pie and she said no. If you could convince her that would be my gift. J

October 2011

Notes passed in class 1980 and 1981

So how’s stuff? Taking up chem. tests doesn’t really flip my switch so I’m not listening. Gets a bit rough like when he asked me a question a sec ago and I didn’t know what he was parlering about.

Guess Who?

Norfolk County Voices - December 2012