disposableimage

As I focus the enlarger on your skin, eyes, arms, I remember how they felt. I think of the tenderness between us, those years ago. The fragments still exist. They remind me and remain with me.

I sift through screenshots and notes on old devices and the emotions feel fresh as ever. I repeat our words out loud — to no one.

This work is about the traces left behind when a relationship ends. The process of sharing these notes, images, and collected items is not an attempt to glorify or shame, rather to move forward. Leaving the scraps behind.

The messy end arrived, and it stuck around for months. We’d take turns hurling acid at each other with our tongues, we sat stubbornly silent, we would tenderly apologize. We said I love you and I hate you, vehemently, constantly, sometimes in the same breath. 

I think about you both all the time.
get some help, get better
I tried to help you.
But I couldn’t do it on my own
I hope I never ever see you again

What binds you to your relationships, and how can you move forward?

Old screenshots, texts and notes - voices and thoughts from the past. The recordings were manipulated to maintain anonymity and the illusion of conversation.

A captured moment from a long time ago. Music infuses the memories from this relationship…

During the artist talk, viewers were asked to participate in two interactive activities. The first padlet asked for pictures or explanations of items left behind from a breakup. The second involved viewers commenting 1 word that they associated with each picture. Both were done in an effort to increase audience engagement. Both padlets remained open for the duration of the exhibition. See images below for the final entries.

LIVE performance | Nov 13, 2020 | THE SPAO GALLERY

8 hours

On Friday, November 13 Jennifer Stewart spent the night at the SPAO Gallery. As part of her piece, Jen and ______ in bed. She slept in the bed from 10 pm until 6 am the following day. 

Inspired by works of Sophie Calle, Stewart explores the transformation of a sleeping space post break-up. A space that was once shared with another, the intimacy of sleep, and the role that sleep plays within recovery.

The audience will have an important responsibility in this performance. With access to the live surveillance, they will act as moral support to the artist within this process of recovery. 

Who will watch it? Maybe no-one. Maybe someone. This vulnerability will lend itself to the work.