A letter to and for you and to and for me
dated January 31, 2025, with additions from February
book object in two equal parts
each: 248 pages [21 x 14,8 cm] in a black box
alexandra reill, 2025
production kanonmedia / vie / a / 25
The text is written in the winter of 2024 / 2025 as a critical homage to a toxic love, an amour fou. Originally conceived as a private letter, CHRONOLOGY OF A LOVE or FAREWELL IN LESS THAN MONTHLY REPEATS develops into an analysis of projective infatuation, born of dependency-driven sensitivities, while retaining the format of a love letter.
The observation of, the subjective reflection on the development of a relationship that from the beginning is in a state of kind of manic attraction and at the same time in a constant state of farewell and whose dramatic effects seem to be caused by psychological phenomena reminding of borderlining and narcissism, uses the personal letter as a format that attempts to capture both the chronology of developmental steps in such a given relationship and its breeding grounds.
The interweaving of daily notes, which originate from the past and now form building blocks of a narrative formatted as a letter, which understands itself as a personally adressed writing on psychological developments in chronological order; with notes inserted afterwards, which now refer – from a future, so to speak – to what was written in the past as well as in the present, creates three time levels that have grown together to form a dramaturgical line of development. With the additional introduction of a quotation and source level, from which references to the relevant content of the letter are made through the inclusion of scientific research results on the theme as well as further letter text passages, a fourth dramaturgical dimension of possible perspectives of consideration is created.
The text itself is not intended for publication. The artistic research project culminates in a book object in two equal parts – one dedicated to the addressee, the other to the author. Each of the 248 chamois-colored paper pages, laid out by hand for printing, is kept “secret” in a matt black, linen-covered cardboard box.
Mounting Options
The two boxes are displayed together; closed or open in a glass display case – in the latter case, the lid and body of a box form a single unit; they lie next to each other and show two consecutive pages of the letter, which present a sample of the contents of the overall work without any personal reference.