I'm Wondering if You Can Help Me With Something...

This correspondence-based studio research project explores what it means to help another person with a question, and to receive help with a question. How do our own practices shift when we labor for someone else’s curiosity? How are our practices shaped by the help we receive?

I invited artists and artist-librarians to help one another with questions and curiosities they each had. We posed the question, what would it be like to give and receive help in the form of an object, image, or text? Artists were not paired, rather, they were part of a chain of service where Tessa helps Marc, who helps Rachel, etc. Marc has a question, which he shares with Tessa. Tessa responds by mailing drawings, a letter, objects, something to read, etc. All the while, Marc is laboring for Rachel. All correspondence takes place via snail mail in order to cultivate a contemplative pace, anticipation, and a space for physical objects that engage all the senses. Corresponding artists’ book forthcoming.