Edited by Xochi Solis in Cantanker magazine, Issue 9, 2009, Austin, Texas, USA.
If there is too much to see, that is, if any image is too full, or if there are too many images, the effet is: you don’t see anything any more. Too much turns quickly into “nothing”. You all know that. You also know the other effect: if animage is empty, or almost empty and sparse, it can reveal so much that it completely fills you, and the emptiness becomes everything. As a filmmaker, you face that problem every time you try to set up a shot. Just as much you want to frame something in order to show it, you have to be aware of keeping things out of your frame. What you want to show, what you want in, is defined by what you keep out. Wim Wenders
Everyday our paths lay unwritten before us and we observe new things. Througout time, even if cautiously, we carry feelings and memories that shape who we are and inform our actions. We are in constant dialogue with ourselves as we chain memory onto memory, while experiencing daily activities through the veil of the past. Maybe the memory of our first heartbreak calls to mind indescribable sensations that swing from the wind’s sharp sting when hitting our cheeks or an old sweater’s dank smell. Our consciousness operates as an interface with endless connections, yet when we aim to share stories – with the hope of strengthening human relationships – we constantly question were to begin, and how much should be disclosed. Genuine anecdotes escape us, and the narratives of our encounters normally become simplistic.
Leticia Cardoso and I began collaboration by chance. We were approached to create an archive of Cardoso’s residence in Texas. We took this opportunity to redirect and broaden her goals during her stay in United States. She came to Austin with an project in mind that placed the film Paris, Texas by Wim Wenders at its core. Cardoso lives and works in Florianópolis, located in southern Brazil. Before coming to Austin, her knowledge of Texas was informed by the imagery from Paris, Texas. For her, this melancholic tale of last love and desolated desert landscapes, spoke of lonesome environments, misguided mistakes, and bittersweet triumphs. Upon her arrival to Austin, Leticia embarked on a journey throughout west and east Texas. At the beginning of this adventure we began an electronic conversation- based on mobile text messages- with aim of exploring a mode of communication that is exceeding common. As her ghost companion, I experienced her journey – separated by several hundred miles – through brief and sometimes enigmatic short texts. Her words prompted me to reflect and respond based on personal interpretations of the sentiments evoked by her succinct messages. The result of our exchanges became the project that is published here, I have never been to Paris, but I heard it’s nice. Each message is logged with a time and date reflecting the development of our virtual encounters. The lines of text intermixed with photographs of Cardoso’s journey illustrate how two strangers can find common ground in the sentimental landscape of the mind.