Monthly Statement:
February 2006

OBJECT #22
DATE SENT: February 28, 2006
SENT TO: Jonathan Glick
SENT VIA: US Postal Service

DESCRIPTION OF OBJECT: Red Hanes tee shirt, XL 46-48 size, 100% cotton. Six lines of embossed white lettering over left breast in graphic font reads: (1) THANK YOU (2) Celebrating 25 Years of (3) THE (4) WHO (graphic with arrow extruding from “O” in Who) (5) The Kids Are Alright Tour (6) LOCAL CREW. Letters are worn and cracked in many places. Hole in shirt in collar on left in rear. Small hole on front right five (5) inches from bottom of shirt. Thread protrudes from seam of left sleeve and body of the shirt.

ORIGIN AND APPROXIMATE DATE OF POSSESSION OF OBJECT: Given to me by Tom Pini (see d-acum 9 mess kit) in the last year or so, since it was a shirt that no longer fit him.

MOST RECENT LOCATION OF OBJECT: In the middle drawer of my bedroom clothes chest. The middle drawer contains my tee shirts. The far right pile of which are those that I only wear for athletic endeavors (tennis, basketball, going to the gym, etc) since they all have some sort of design or lettering on them, which is counter to my own wardrobe style.

RELATION OF OBJECT TO RECIPIENT: Jonathan, my former student and current studio assistant, has a great affinity for much of the music I grew up loving as a teenager. Although he is close to twenty years younger than I, it seems as if he could have been one of my high school pals, attending concerts, hanging out, and trying to figure out life in the late sixties and early seventies. Jonathan’s own trajectory brought him to making art in the last five years or so after a considerable amount of time in the business world. He first enrolled in a Photo II class I taught, and since then he and I have worked together in a number of classes. And while he has already graduated I know we will continue working together in one way or another for many years. Over the last year he has been my primary printer for a photographic project that has occupied me for the last six years. When he is printing I generally let Jonathan pick the music that plays in the darkroom and my studio. Often we have to raise the volume to counter the fan and air conditioner in the darkroom, much to the consternation of Tim Heins, my studio mate (see d-acum 14 albums). When the studio is empty, we are able to turn the volume up to a realistic rock level. One of the first musical connections Jonathan and I discovered was our mutual love for The Who. We both agree that the incarnation of the band when it still included the now deceased Keith Moon, the wild-eyed, intense, just barely controllable drummer, was when it was at its best. We also agree that with the recent death of bassist John Entwhistle, The Who will never (thankfully) be what they once were. Jonathan relates to the strong presence, and somewhat sullen demeanor of Entwhistle, though I think Jonathan could never be anything but a soft hearted and considerate man. We both love Entwhistle’s compositions, but are more taken with Pete Townsend’s lyrics and music that drove the band for much of its life. This particular shirt is probably vintage 80s, when Tom Pini (ibid) worked for a catering and hospitality company that served many of the big concerts at the Jersey Meadowlands. I can only assume he would approve of my re-gifting of the shirt, particularly since Jonathan, like Tom, is also a die-hard Dead Head, and the ethos of that group of fans is nothing if not generous, particularly when there is little market value to the item in question. This shirt will most likely fit Jonathan since he is a bit taller and wider than I, though he may choose not to for his own stylistic reasons. My hope is that at the least it will provide a reminder of our common musical love and the strange course of life that brought us together despite the many years and experiential difference.

RESPONSE OF RECIPIENT:

DATE OF RESPONSE:

Process: My plan is to de-accumulate objects I now own during the course of the exhibition year. I will photograph the selected object then send the object with a letter to a person who has some relationship to the object or whom I think might be interested in the object. The letter will discuss the project and tell the receiver they can keep the object, destroy it, give it away, recycle it or anything else they choose. I will ask them to document it in the place they now have it and send their image and/or written description back to me of what they did with it and where it is. I plan on de-accumulating an average of one object per week. The new images/descriptions will be placed in a plastic folder and exhibited along with a photograph of the object as it was in my possession.