In order to understand the complexities of our existence, the task of archiving needs to be inclusive. It is inevitable that no archive can ever be entirely complete but there should not be premeditated erasure. Our interest in archiving is not merely to gather information or to catalog it within the walls of a private institution. We have been working for six years to generate an archive that can be sent into the world – with the goal to create something that can be freely seen in an undeniable way.

We believe in a world rooted in the practice of archiving. To record and review creative self-expression, something that can be an extremely empowering and humbling experience. To be witnessed and be a witness with empathy. To share our personal stories with each other without the threat of violence or imprisonment. Each shared archive has the ability to become a resource and generate conversations that have the potential to aid in reckoning with past and present injustices of the world.

Excerpted and edited from archive.org/details/awaytobegintoregainaccesstoyourself

personal archive / public action III

access is a key component to obtaining data. data is written in many formats with various permissions. your personal archive informs your public action. when access is granted to others, there is potential for collaborative action to be set in motion.

digital content for personal archive / public action III will livestream and then be archived on HUMAN TRASH DUMP on archive.org as a public repository. files generated during the duration of the event might be audio, image, video, or text among other formats. Potential considerations for digital content will involve ideas around privacy, collectivity, equity, tools, and manuals. Public Domain and Creative Commons will be encouraged.

personal archive / public action launched on June 29th, 2020 for a live virtual audience as part of PERFORMANCY FORUM: CORPUS COLISEUM, produced in collaboration between the Operating System/Liminal Lab, and PPL (Panoply Performance Laboratory).

“I try to depict the inner life of the subject, to give outward form to an inner state. I think my pictures have stories behind them, but I like to leave a feeling of openness. I hope that things keep going in the viewer’s mind. There’s nothing more boring than a story too quickly told. Once all the elements of a story are nailed down, the viewer is left with nothing but the artist’s technique.”

-Kent Bellows