I Wish

Summary:

"I Wish" is an audio collage of people's aspirations and longings.

Website:

http://www.transom.org; www.salt.edu

Additional Credits and Funding:

Thank you to Sarah Cross, Dharma Dailey and Cat Puente for collecting wishes.

Timely on:

December: sweet wishes for holiday season

Tones:

Engaging, Intimate, Simple

Language:

English

Description:

I Wish. Last June I made a deal with myself – to stop talking about my interest in audio pieces and to start making them. “I Wish” is my first audio piece.

“I Wish” is part audio, part mail art. It was inspired by a call for a mail art show a friend of mine put together, the theme of which was “Wishing Machine.”

My idea was to collaborate with people - through the mail – by asking them to record responses to the question, “What do you wish for?” I started by making five pieces of mail art, each of which included a mini disc, an invitation to collect wishes and a small card with prompts on it. I sent these “I Wish” packets out to five people - who I knew to varying degrees - across the country.

Three out of the five people sent their mini discs back to me filled with the wishes they had gathered. I used their wishes, along with those I had collected, to create “I Wish” - an audio collage of aspirations and longings.

The music. I used three different pieces of music to accompany the wishes. The first piece, “Deep Purple,” is from an obscure album called “Travelin Light – Cookin’ with Frank and Sam.” It’s an album of tuba and guitar duets. Who would have known? I like the mood it sets. The second piece, called “A Wish,” is by Nubian artist Hamza El Din. The song is his wish for the return of his childhood village which was submerged - for political reasons - under water. The last piece of music is the great Aretha Franklin singing, “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.” This recording is from her “First 12 Sides” album. She was barely eighteen years old when she recorded it.

<br><i>Featured on <a href="http://www.transom.org/">Transom.org</a>. For
more information and conversation, visit <a href="http://www.transom.org/shows/2005/200505.iwish.html">"I Wish"</a> on Transom.</i>
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