Project Four Final with Metatext

Steph Alex Brittney Nadia Marci Andrea
Amy Paige Hannah Laura Amanda



For this project I had several people in the dorm where I live (Stalnaker Hall, as the picture indicates) make a list of the items that they had in their desk. I'm trying to use very boring, mundane things to create a sort of story in this project. The idea came to me when I was filling out a sheet in Chemistry Lab about the items in my desk. The university's goal in doing this was to make sure I hadn't broken or stolen any of their expensive equipment, but what actually happened was this idea was formed. I wanted this project to sort of play with the idea about how we are big into measuring and counting things, and how the things that we are counting, are obtaining throughout our lives come to define us. I didn't have these people create any kind of narrative, or tell me anything about themselves (in fact, some people failed to even write their name on their list), all that defines them in this project is the collection of pens, papers, and paperclips located in their drab, unexciting brown desk.

The trick on this project was that it was collaborative, and so people would constantly ask me what they should put on the list, how they should do it, etc. I told them again and again, "do whatever you want; if I tell you what to write, it will be my writing, not yours." This was frustrating, but the collaborative nature of the project turned out to suprise me--it worked far better than I thought. People's personalities really began to shine through their lists. For example, one girl wrote her name in an exciting pattern with a star symbol turning it into a fantastic design. This fits this person's personality perfectly, and turns my project almost against me, for I was attempting to make everyone look silly by summing up their existance through a list of school supplies. I guess that's the beauty of collaborative writing, because they showed that people have so much depth that even when they do something incredibly mundane, their individuality shines through.