Type: Postcard
Author: Jason
Date: USPS stamped date: 11/07/91
So, two guys in a long distance relationship, each saved all the love letters the other sent. Jason, was a more methodical “saver” and kept both the envelopes as well as the letters /contents, so it is easier to try and order them chronologically. Thomas, on the otherhand, didn’t keep all the envelopes. In fact, he frequently, used the envelopes as the paper to send a letter back. Thus, as this project unfolds, I haven’t worried about keeping everything chronologic. Partly because I’m not sure I can, and partly because the letters themselves are my subject, not necessarily the bigger picture relationship that the letters portray. The letters as OBJECTS- that’s a key to this project. Will the project paint an accurate portrayal of our relationship over time? Perhaps.
Today, I hunted through the pile, to find a letter that dates to the earlier part of the relationship. The card reads:
Howdy T- Another Day, another… Day? Worked at frameshop then dinner at the diner and then the meeting- Very Good- have made some new friends in my home group, stopped over and had coffee at ones Apt. Talked about Families and whyt we live in different cities than them. Had an idea just now for a painting- a portrait of a man who is sick and belongs to my home group. Just sketched it out in my book. Thinking about you, missing you, Love Jason
I still feel this amazing energy throughout all of my body as I read this card- all of them actually.At that time, I believed this was the first time I truly fell in love, even though it wasn’t my first relationship, it was utterly didferent from any that I’d had before. Touching the card– it was as if I could imagine myself touching Jason directly.
I especially loved this card. At that time, pretty much all of my artwork dealth with HIV/AIDS, or what it was like to live within a world impacted and devastated by AIDS. So, Jason sent me a card he knew I’d appreciate receiving. Cards like this helped challenge my ideas about making artwork about the epidemic, and I grew as an artist because of it.
