• Mood: bouncy

Valentines

The waiter's name is Valentine. He has long, slim fingers, and he writes down my order instead of pretending to commit it to memory. I like that, his pen on the paper bringing forth one simple thing about me. My lunch. Just a tiny fragment of information. I honor him by doing the same. "The waiter's name is Valentine," I write in my battered notebook, "and he has long, slim fingers."

Information is sacred. I don't remember why, or who told me. But I know that information is sacred, so I write it down, scraps of knowledge and observations. I used to write in leatherbound journals with elegant heavy pens, but the fetish for elegance has fallen by the wayside in my rush to commit everything to paper. Now I use cheap marbled composition books, purchased by the dozen. The pen is still important, though. It must write in smooth lines of black, not catch on the page. There is too much to capture.



Valentines
a love story of data loss and recovery

Words by Shira Lipkin, Jewelry by Kythryne Aisling
http://wyrdingstudios.com

"Valentines" is a short story specifically written for this project. Together, we recorded it into many forms -- computer printed, handwritten, cassette tape, CD, DVD. Each copy was then torn, cut, or shattered into small fragments, which were then distributed into each piece of jewelry, along with assorted other pieces of information. When you buy a "Valentines" piece, you get fragments of the story in a bottle, a hardcopy of the full story, and the knowledge that you are supporting fascinating new forms of storytelling and collaboration. Each bottle is wrapped in silver wire and accented with Swarovski crystal, matte glass beads, and tiny silver beads. No two are alike, and each bottle contains different fragments of the story. The series will be available until we run out of story fragments.

(We are so excited about this! The story really suits the project, in ways you'll see if you buy a piece. Perfect.)