not why, just some things I kept

Multimedia artist book made in 2022

In celebration of my ex and I being broken up for one year, I made just some things I kept. The exterior is a copy of Why We Broke Up by Daniel Handler, a book they gave to me as a gift for my seventeenth birthday, but quickly asked for it back because they wanted it for their own collection. Which I did, so these copies were made out of thrift-ed books.

Opening the book reveals a hollow cavity filled with recreations of objects from our relationship. It mirrors Handler's book, in which a young girl returned a box of items to her ex and details how each item contributed to their break up. This piece differs in that these objects are not why we broke up. Instead, they are an investigation of what I choose to keep. It was an almost nine year long relationship, which lasted a third of my life and during some of the most formative years, and ended in a very scarring manner.

It was meant to be testament that I was healed and didn't have to make art about it any more. But a year wasn't enough time to fully heal and that's okay.