intro #1: marcus williams

Christmas 2003 Kah-Bee Chow sent in the mail six gib board hearts she had cut from a previous art work and asked the recipients to document them after their journey. Four did so but two of the posted hearts met with no answer. These she called ‘Responseless Hearts’. In 2004 she exhibited this work in an exhibition called ‘Duets’ curated by Lauren Winston. The exhibition consisted of unfinished sculptures from a number of artists; visitors were invited to submit proposals for how they might finish the works. I chose to respond to the ‘responseless hearts’; ignoring the other four. The lack of reaction from the recipients seemed to mirror the gaping holes in the wounded wall of the original work. As the cutting of the wall exposed the outer space to the interior of the original room; so the project was expanded from one place to many, through the postal system. The exposure of interior place and the movement of conspicuous heart shaped material through space seemed like apt metaphors for the ecstacy and the agony of love inferred by Kah-Bees wall board symbols. The heart shaped absence in the wall, the exposure of interiority, the distance of the posted letters, the trusting engagement with others and the ‘Responseless Hearts’ laid the ground for the following response. In 2005 twelve people from around the world were asked to tell a story of unrequited love from their lives. The love stories were sent to two therapists who were asked to write an appraisal referring to one of the stories. These appraisals are a riposte to those ‘Responsless Hearts’.


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