A Correspondence, A Crossing, 2017. Performance with Summer Lee in Ross Alley, San Francisco.
For A Correspondence, A Crossing, Summer Lee and Laura Boles Faw inhabit opposite ends of Ross Alley, facing each other through Lee's projection of an ocean onto the ground. They sit at provisional desks and write to each other in the structure of five chapters, each chapter addressing the timeline of a journey across space and time. They write to one another using visual and verbal language that is not visible until actively revealed by the receiver. Each artist asks community members who are crossing the alley to carry the correspondence to the other. These messengers traverse the alley, walk over the “ocean,” and deliver what appears to be blank or clandestine communications. Once received, the recipient heats the paper by flame to reveal the invisible message and responds in turn. Using a medium and process historically utilized for conveying secrets, the artists explore a metaphorical communication affected by context and perception and chance -- and the space where the written presses up against the unspoken.