I hope you find what you are looking for

This will be my last and final post for this project. Now I can post Robin Lambert's full project description and name. 

 The only thing I know for sure is that while I am looking for you, you are looking for me

A project by Robin Lambert

The projects in broad strokes: Two participants and I move to Montreal for 28 days. The two participants do not know each other before the project begins nor are they familiar with this city. Once here, I set up each participant in a different housing situation separate from and unknown to the other and each person will spend the next 28 days looking for the other knowing only that there is another person looking in Montreal. There are  no clues the other’s appearance or lifestyle, etc. Over the 28 days, the participants are instructed to document their search, keeping photo documentation and material souvenirs of where they search, how they search and what tools they use to look for a person they know nothing about. For example, this documentation may include sketchbooks, drawings, journals, internet documentation (screen shots of google searches) or anything else the participants might do, create or use. As the participants will be left to their own devices, I can only speculate about their methods and the physical materials they’ll collect along the way.

At the end of 28 days, I will meet with each participant and document their living spaces and gather the photo documentation, ephemera and detritus related to their search which may include bus tickets, movie stubs, library memberships, etc. that I will catalogue for later use and exhibition. Should the two participants find each other before the 28 days are up, or alternately if they don’t find one another over the month, they will be instructed to contact me and at that time I will document the conclusion of the project. 

At first blush, this project might appear to be two people walking aimlessly through the city streets asking everyone they encounter “are you looking for me?” But there is more to the project than simply two people wandering around. At the heart of The Only Thing is a metaphor of how we attempt to deal with the human desire to connect and build relationships. The city of Montreal, a large cosmopolitan, multicultural city full of tourists and residents from all over the world, acts as a small-scale stand-in for the world at large. These two strangers, perhaps feeling alone and displaced, are guided only by hope as they search for one another in an unfamiliar place without any clues.

I acknowledge, as most artists do, that my projects and how they are presented follow a long history of artists working with similar questions using similar methods. In Suite Venitienne (1979), French artist Sophie Calle secretly followed a man she met in Paris, photographing him and later showing these photographs along with an accompanying text. In 1983, two artists, Linda Montano and Tehching Hsieh, explored the idea of interpersonal connection by staying joined together by an eight-foot rope for one year in New York City. Canadian artist Diane Borsato attempted to improve the emotional well-being of Montreal with Touching 1000 People in 2000. These works, and many others, influence my ideas of what art is and can be but also how this sort of experiential work can be displayed in a gallery, on the internet and in other ways.

This show will be at the Dunlop in March of 2012.
http://www.robinlambert.ca/

My sisters wall post:

maybe waldo is you. maybe he is in all of us, all along. I think we can all afford to find a bit of us----in ourselves. And with that, I believe you have found exactly what you were looking for. xo Kayley Hofer 

What Kayley said really resonated with me and absolutely brought me to tears (actually a full ugly cry). When applying to come to Montreal and being a part of this project I never knew what to expect. As part of this project we were not allowed to prepare before coming. So I was basically started with a blank slate.  I never expected that putting your mind to a task such as this one would  surprise me, entertain me, tire me out, make me want to get out of bed, and bring me so much joy everyday. All of these amazing people living in Montreal made participating in this project the experience of a lifetime.  The people I met were honest in their friendships in spite of the fact that I would soon be leaving, I will never forget you all. Did you know you can make friends at a fountain in the middle of the night, salsa dancing, at a drum circle, at a run club, line dancing, serving you, friends are always just beside you or in front of you in line. A friend can even be 80 years old in an empty bar...

 I now believe you can fall in love with a city, Montreal is so alive all the time, and yes sure, I make it sound so enchanting. I cannot deny that bad things do happen, bad and good things happen everywhere. You take all the crazy/sometimes bad things about Montreal with the amazing culture and passion for life. The only complaint I have is the food and beer is just too good (goes right to the mid section if you know what I mean). And in on this particular night in the photo below I was having so much fun that I landed in the splits on the dance floor and pulled my groin. So if going to Montreal beware of: too much fun, good beer, and amazing food.

Most of all this project allowed me to believe that you and I are truly capable of anything.  All you have to do is go out and find it (or Waldo). 

Thank you to Robin Lambert for this once in a lifetime opportunity and choosing me to be a participant in a unique and crazy project. It was very neat to meet Ian (the other participant in the project) in the end and to hear his unique experiences in Montreal, and yes everyone there was another person. We did not find each other but the project was a great success!  I am very sad to have to leave and for the project to be over. 

Love you all, and thank you from the bottom of my heart for following with me in this journey. 

I hope you find what you are looking for. 

Love,

Brandi