I found that most of the letters in my collection report everything to be “fine.” Knowing a bit about the history, it is pretty safe to say that everything was not fine. This week I tried to focus the display on the idea of contrasting what people write or say versus what they actually mean. I think reporting that things are just “fine” is a knee-jerk reaction because, generally, people don’t want to burden others with their personal struggles.
For this week’s installation I introduced a new interactive element. I set up a typewriter with the prompt, We don’t always tell people what is really going on. What does “fine” or “busy” really mean? The typewriter was loaded with pre-printed paper that said, “When I said I was fine, I really meant I was: _______.” Some paper was printed with the same prompt but used busy, instead of fine.
I left the photographs off of the wall this week, but next week I plan to bring them back. Including the photographs added interest and helped to set the mood. Furthermore, from the reading last week it seems that including a variety of media will encourage visitor participation. Considering I have such a text heavy display I think it is even more important that I include photos. Last week in my research I found a video clip from 1946 that shows the state post-war Japan, I plan to include that in the hopes it will give my display more depth and interest. Next week I am also going to go back to using the original letters, instead of copies. In order to keep the original letters protected, I will display them in picture frames.
I like the responses I got from the typewriter prompt, so I will continue to revise that for next week.
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