3e imperial/dream letters for granby

location: granby, québec

duration: one year

supported by: 3e impérial, centre d’essai en arts visuels with the collaboration of danyèle alain [direction générale et artistique] and yves gendreau [direction technique et administrative]

assistance with the french language generously given by: valérie d’hollander, christine brault, catherine bodmer and danyèle alain. as well as: émilie laforce, marie-andrée rho, manon quintal and anne bertrand.

dream letters

this project began september 22, 2008, as a way of infiltrating dreams into granby…however, since the beginning the nature of the project has shifted towards a long-term goal of sending 1000 dream letters over the course of a year. in this way i am hoping to slowly amplify the dreams presence through an insistent repetition of the gesture, so that, perhaps, a whole community of “dream listeners” can be formed over time.

project description

fragments -images culled from my dream world- are scattered, dispersed, infiltrating the lives of the citizens of granby. the dream letter, unbidden, arrives in the mailbox. the recipient opens the envelope, takes out the letter, unfolds the page and reads, “dear ____, I dreamt…”

the hand-written letter delivers the dream “chance” has “chosen.” one dream image is sent to one person, with each recipient receiving a different dream image. as a genuine gesture of person-to-person communication, the correspondence does, however, place the reader in a space of incongruent logic. for the letter is written by a stranger—and what logical explanation is there for a stranger to send you a dream?

through sending dream letters I am hoping to situate the recipient as an active collaborator. the dream world is invoked, inhabiting the reader’s life…however ephemeral and short-lived this reception may be.

3e imperial/dream letters for granby #372

dream letter translated: january 20, 2009 dear valère, i dreamt i was wandering through an old-time fairground looking for the “strong man” so i could feed him some mozzarella cheese. sincerely, karen elaine spencer

où je suis n’est pas qui je suis/postcard series/nicole léger

où je suis n’est pas qui je suis/postcard series/terence young

où je suis n’est pas qui je suis/postcard series/on kawara

coming soon

où je suis n’est pas qui je suis

où je suis n’est pas qui je suis

selected text from the homeless nation web site is written in quotation marks on the back of the postcard. these postcards are then sent to members of the political and artistic community. the homeless nation web page is the web page listed on the back.

où je suis n’est pas qui je suis