Art > Empty Fix Series > Unforgotten
Unforgotten
Our Loved Ones Lost to Overdose
Unforgotten was inspired by Joey. When Joey died at age 16 from an overdose, expressions of condolence were awkward and few. Six months later, the teen who had been Joey’s best friend died in a car accident. It seemed like the whole town grieved his passing. Deaths from illegal drugs should not remain hidden. There should be no stigma. Unforgotten brings these deaths out into the open so that those whom we have lost to drugs can be acknowledged, honored, and remembered.
I exhibited Unforgotten for the first time at a suburban Washington DC Metro station, looping its strands along a curved railing. As I was finishing installation, an elderly man inquired about the art. He asked if he could dedicate a jean pocket to his uncle who became addicted while serving in the Vietnam War and died returning to the States. The family never mentioned him again. All those years, this elderly man had been carrying that grief. As he wrote his uncle’s name on a jean pocket, he wept.
Personal notes can be placed in the pockets. As an outdoor exhibition, those notes will disintegrate into the fabric with rain/dry cycles, integrating the message into the art.
I exhibited Unforgotten for the first time at a suburban Washington DC Metro station, looping its strands along a curved railing. As I was finishing installation, an elderly man inquired about the art. He asked if he could dedicate a jean pocket to his uncle who became addicted while serving in the Vietnam War and died returning to the States. The family never mentioned him again. All those years, this elderly man had been carrying that grief. As he wrote his uncle’s name on a jean pocket, he wept.
Personal notes can be placed in the pockets. As an outdoor exhibition, those notes will disintegrate into the fabric with rain/dry cycles, integrating the message into the art.
Unforgotten has been designed as a concept that can be easily and inexpensively replicated in communities across the country. It is time to honor those lost and remind everyone that a person does not need to be addicted to drugs to die of them. With fentanyl and tranq dope now ubiquitous, a person can die from one fake Adderal tablet.
Unforgotten has been designed as a concept that can be easily and inexpensively replicated in communities across the country. It is time to honor those lost and remind everyone that a person does not need to be addicted to drugs to die of them. With fentanyl and tranq dope now ubiquitous, a person can die from one fake Adderal tablet.