Public Exposure/Private Disclosure (1983)

Ball State University Art Gallery, Muncie, Indiana

A gallery became a quiet place for letter writing. Five personal letters from me to strangers hung on a wall. Comfortable seating invited visitors to sit, think, and write. Phone books from all over the USA were on shelves; maps stimulated memories; various papers, pens, and a typewriter offered choices for communication. A mailbox hung on the wall throughout the month-long installation, after which all letters composed within this participatory environment were stamped and mailed by me. After a month, the box was full. And now, who writes letters?

Letters I sent --- to Gabriel Garcia-Marquez, D. M. Thomas, Mary Tyler Moore,  the cast of Hill Street Blues, Willie Nelson, Jane Pauley, and Tom Brokaw --- were posted on the wall. 

There were some responses...

More than 60 letters were written by visitors to the exhibition, and we mailed them at the show's end. I have copies of the envelopes: one was addressed to Santa Claus and one to President Reagan.

And everyone's a critic!