“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.
Yup, somehow, friends who I *assumed* were pleasantly checking out my little “personal archaeology” project have *no idea* about my endeavor, others are surprised to hear I have a website at all (really)…
Then again, others contact me and say “how’s things at h00tsweet these days?” (Whoa!) or “I’m heading to Lynn Valley, you want to meet up?“
I mean “yeah” but I’ve been gone gone gone so long and now live in Japan #ForeverHome
In other words, the cracks between the boards are some times bigger than the boards #BeYourOwnAlgorithm
Anyhow, just another artifact from #daveo50 daily pre-scheduled series of ephemera, oddities, evidence, miscellanea, media snippets, projects, identification (fake & otherwise)…
More of “the B-sides” rather than “greatest hits” you’ve likely seen.
You’re super smart so you found the goodness.
PS Especially enjoy hearing recollections from folks about when our lives intersected / tip: stick a search term (your name, a project, a place) into the site and see what pops up
See anything you recognize? SXSW, Gnomedex, Whitecaps, Book Expo, Rifflandia, various hospitals, Kinko’s, Northern Voice, Moosecamp, Mindcamp, WA ISP, Howe Sound Brewing, itec, Comdex…
#daveo50 “Personal Archaeology” project rolls on… 50 days of artifacts, evidence, ephemera, stories, identification (fake and otherwise) and other oddities.
Consider perusing at your leisure > you will (likely) be amused
#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)
