1   2

1   2

Pen Friend/Correspondente

2002
Project conceived for the table "Bordtabletisch" of the artist Marie Rømer Westh
Text, black notebook, and pen

Pen Friend/Correspondente was a project conceived for the Marie Rømer Westh artwork at the exhibition "Life Policies: Como é que resolveste o problema?" (ZDB, Lisbon). The artwork of Marie - "Bordtabletisch" (see http://www.mariewesth.dk/ and click on Bordtabletisch #2 at 'Life Policies', ZDB in Lisbon, 2002) - consisted on a table in an exhibition room and she invited some artists to create projects for her table. On the table, I displayed an invitational text (both in Portuguese and in English), a little black book and a pen. The text stated:

If you would like to receive a letter from Susana Mendes Silva, please write on this book your name, address (or e-mail), and a subject that you would like to discuss with the artist. Soon you will receive a message in your mailbox.

My original idea was to answer every single person that left a message by writing them a letter or an email. Then I would do copies of the letters and emails, and collect them as a book, that Marie could put on her table for the next exhibition. However I could not predict the huge amount of people that wrote their names, addresses and themes, and I failed to answer them back because it would be impossible for me to accomplish that task. I still keep the book but I never found the energy or help to do it.