Inky stamps, each with significance, Otherwise, why even stamp?
Though i’m not an Egyptologist officially, I do know that the old-timey Egyptians believed you died a second time when people stopped talking about / remembering you.
As such, i’m keeping the folks (from CCCP, Albania, Yugoslavia, Romania and so on) in these passports alive in a sort of way by making them into postcards and sending them on special missions out into the world
you can find the full freeverse poem “Flood’d” elsewhere in this archive if curious
With relevant snippet of handcrafted poetry on reverse (Flood’d).
Passports, party membership & ration books, now postcards
Are you in the diplomatic club of mysterious goodness? $5/mo gets you handcrafted art & story.
lousy photo of interesting stack of passports etc (waiting to be) in process
I’ve started modifying old passports with ink, stamps, ink stamps, fake maps & assumed espionage… this means late night eBay buying Albanian passports. Just so many weird good items to remix i cant/wont/dont stop.
The paper is so tactile / interesting & with all the visa stamps, (stapled) photos (sometimes Mom & kids in one photo), stamps, visas, details of all kinds + occasional ephemeral papers slipped in.& almost-intimate details make such a starting point for stories. {note: takes a bit of daring to desecrate at first, however lovingly}.
I ones i purchase are $10 or so. Yugoslavs are cheap. CCCP/USSR and DDR can get more expensive. Lots of Romania, Bulgaria and old Kingdom of Greece stuff. Odd (in a way) how this sort of ephemera is abundant from some countries, scarce from others.
The US ones (above) are great, via Israel… perhaps/seems Israeli citizen(s) had applied for US citizenship, gone to US and other countries and eventually returned. these ones have a loads of country stamps so interesting to speculate on story. Again, feels rather intimate and mysterious.
Several i’ve picked up seem to be “the last one before emigrating”. Now i’ll continue the story with my odds and ends and alterations and possibly put up for sale/trade to continue their journey. {i should probably do that etsy shop…}
Passport issued by The Matinée rock and roots band for Dancing on your Grave
Oh and while i’m passporting, had an extra “headband” photo so finally decorated up my The Matinee “Dancing on Your Grave” passport. Will be scribbling in poetry and usual inky stamps on the pages within.
Note to self: finish tuning up Cascadia passport from & share here
PS since i’m typing… more random passport-inspired items in archive (i have almost all of my mine from various countries) plus other related:
“Personal Archeology” project heads into the stretch run towards 50 on 16.8.20 / just shy of 200 posts of artifacts > From elementary school report cards to fake IDs, newspaper clippings to folk legends.
I’ll tell you a secret: there’s another 100+ in the “draft/pending“ folders that I didn’t quite finish up to get into the flow so maybe a bonus round in the autumn.
Also, I barely started the deep digging kura grain barn studio stash so really have enough to keep going another 50 years. #goal
Hope you found some interesting evidence of where our lives intersected and/or found some inspiration for digging into your own remarkable past and sharing your story in a unique way.
I’ve had a notion to do a little “musings & tactics for personal storytelling” video / Might get to it eventually but I’m pretty busy kissing a little baby’s head over and over again. If you have questions though, hit me up.
#daveo50 Personal Archeology Project / June 26 ~ Aug. 16 (business cards, Vancouver years)
Gist: #daveo50 Personal Archeology Exhibit
With 50th birthday impending and a son on the way (update, born June 23rd!) and the assemblage and reclamation from storage lockers of many life artifacts (plus coupled with parent’s recent passing which resulted in more items) AND the grace of a 150+ year old “kura” grain barn now studio/atelier, whilst in the bath i figured i would do a special exhibit of sorts.
Noting most years i do something creative around my birthday (ex: flying high board game collage, F Varley essay series, Uncle Weed book, Forgotten Vancouver stories video…) and since b-day is in the middle of dog days of splendid summer, usually slips by largely unnoticed.
As such, the project is for my own amusement, for posterity, for curiosity seekers, for my kid(s) to get to know me, and to compile a “life of making” into a “made thing” of its own / as well as giving a modicum of respect to “past self” to spark “future self” to carry on making art every day.
Inspiration gleaned from many places of exhibits by Douglas Coupland and of Hergé artifacts are significant sparks (evidence of both in this archive).
Original plan: 1 year / 1 photo (id) / 1970-2020 = 51 photos
Actual result: 1 year, *several* photos PLUS various artifacts, collections, evidence, ephemera, media articles, publications, report cards, oddities, miscellany
Constraints: Rules are lousy for creativity however constraints can be most excellent.
“don’t think outside the box, think inside the circle” ^dvo
As such, to aim for “connected feeling” and not just a mish-mash of *everything* (especially in more recent years where candidates abound, i set forth the following:
just dave (with some exceptions)
accurate year (figured by cross-referencing glasses and haircuts)
prefer at least 1200 ~ 1800px (avoid low res/size)
resist urge to tell backstory (just too much!), just location and photographer if known
avoid snaps which have natural home in another post/project (i.e. various spiels/jobs/event…)
using various forms forms of photos i.e. instant, photo booths, meta, etc encouraged)
Priorities
Note: avoided group/party/2-fer/crowd unless no other options or special significance #anotherproject
studio/school portraits (early years)
passport/ID photos (ideal for assessing year)
photo booth (always fun!)
birthday/christmas (don’t over do it)
close square self snap’d (modern days)
other * which haven’t been used (or plan to use) in another obvious collection
Logistics: Starting June 26th 2020 (PST, UTC -8) posts are pre-scheduled (usually 2-4 per day, sometimes back-filled if not quite ready) at various times at https://daveostory.com (you are here) until Aug. 16th and auto-magically cross-posted to Twitter @uncleweed and FB Uncle Weed Story Maker page (not profile) with #daveo50 (may end up other places if convenience permits).
Monitoring and interaction minimal as i will be cuddling baby and starting his photo exhibit.
Thanks: to brother Andrew for curation assistance (pulling me out of the weeds / keeping on track)
#daveo50 Personal Archeology Project / June 26 ~ Aug. 16 (business cards, Olympia years)
