[prak-sis] has this letter for sale and you can get clues from other locations. The sale of the letter will be at [prak-sis] Salon Gallery, 1513 N. Western Ave Chicago, on June 4th. The sale is sponsoring [prak-sis]caa.
Renegade Handmade on Division St.
New Wave Cafe in Logan Square
Ipsento Coffee on Western Ave... See More
Simone's Bar in Pilsen
Rodan in Wicker Park
Lenny and Me in Wicker Park
Myopic Books
Genesis Art Supply on Western
I want explore the extent to which it is possible to remove the author as a controlling force in the construction of a story. The idea is that the reader of my story goes from place to place around the city of Chicago to collect the parts of the story and in the course of doing that, lives a story, which is their own story, not a story that is the proprietary possession of the writer.
This story concludes at an art event, where a letter is being held by Mi-Yeon Kwon of [prak-sis]. From the point of view of [prak-sis], the concept here is that the letter has the status of an art object. Unlike an ordinary letter, this letter is is not being mailed but rather the recipient will come to it.
I should explain, therefore, the way that the locations work together with the letter that [prak-sis] is holding. In each of ten locations throughout the city there is an envelope with a collage in it. That collage is made of images and encoded texts that are designed to tell a story. This story, in other words, is being told in ten parts. To read the ten parts of the story one has to visit ten different locations in the city of Chicago. These collages all add up to a single narrative that tells a story about the letter being held by [prak-sis]. That letter, which is "the" letter as far as this story is concerned, will be sold at a [prak-sis] event on June 4, 2010 and all of the money generated thereby will be given to [prak-sis].
Decipherment of the encoded material in the collages is not necessary for a participant to derive a story from the overall experience of their participation, which culminates in the [prak-sis] event at which the unopened letter is sold. Those participants for whom the encoded material is relevant have been given a key to use with the iPhone app myenigma so that they can decipher what they need to take away from each collage.