We do not necessarily remember where we had our first kiss, but when asked, “Where did you have your first kiss?” the memory starts to unfold. The Where is a project that explores how memories create deep connections that intertwine place and an event, public and private space. The Where is also a collective project, made with the participation of close friends as well as complete strangers from around the world using public space as a catalyst to the project.
The poster, that graphic device that is most essentially public, is the central medium of the project. The 5- by 7-inch, double-layered poster integrates text and image, where the poster is not “complete” without public participation. The first layer is an image of the remembered space and the second layer is the written description of that memory. This double-layer poster features a small fold in the front to invite the public to rip the first layer to get to the second layer. The series of posters were wheatpasted in the area of the depicted space for viewers to then rip and read the memory. Memories of events that took place in New York were selected so that documentation could be collected about how long the memory/poster lasted in that specific space.
Thewhere.org will serve as an online visual index and archive to these memories and will continue to take memory/place submissions from the public.