sometimes i still smell the smoke of your cigar,
hear the rattling sound of vending machines,
feel the bitter taste of cheap coffee.
that is when i think of
how we used to study by talking,
while standing outside
taking a quick smoke,
and a zip of dark espresso
from a tiny cup of plastic.
hear the rattling sound of vending machines,
feel the bitter taste of cheap coffee.
that is when i think of
how we used to study by talking,
while standing outside
taking a quick smoke,
and a zip of dark espresso
from a tiny cup of plastic.
teacher, when I then used to ask you a question –
you would answer me with a story.
you would answer me with a story.
listen.
there was this mysterious sparkle in your eyes
when you would start telling me
tales
when you would start telling me
tales
of times that might have never been
when you would start telling me
stories
when you would start telling me
stories
and i want to thank you that
you would not give me an answer
but have me find it myself
you would not give me an answer
but have me find it myself
if there is one thing, though, that I may ask of you
only one thing
it would be that when we will meet again
and i’ll ask you a question
that you would not answer me by telling
a story
a tale
that i would colour in my head
but that you would answer by telling me
a testimony
that you would colour for me
a testimony
that you would colour for me
i want to see that mysterious sparkle in your eyes again
when you will tell me
of times in which
you stopped talking about the things you did,
but started doing the things you talked about;
of how
you stopped owning objects,
but started having subjects;
of how
you stopped titling “good” what seemed “new”
but started praising “good” what was “true”.
when you will tell me
of times in which
you stopped talking about the things you did,
but started doing the things you talked about;
of how
you stopped owning objects,
but started having subjects;
of how
you stopped titling “good” what seemed “new”
but started praising “good” what was “true”.
teacher i ask you to tell me real stories, testimonies—
of how
you stopped preaching a creativity that would turn
ideas into trends and clothes into fashion,
of how
you stopped preaching a creativity that would disguise present as future
but started teaching a creativity that was about finding ways
to guarantee
that there would even be something like
a future
for anything.
teacher, if there is one thing that i may ask of you
only one thing
it would be that when we will meet again
and i’ll ask you a question
that you would answer me
with a life
that testifies
that you have not only told me stories.
that you have not only told me stories.
about the project
“stories” is a video performance that combines a visual storyboard with a poetically drawn up conversation. the project was born out of the idea of a fictional talk the protagonist imagines in her mind with one of her former teachers from the fashion school she had attended. it would take place approximately around 20 to 30 years after she would have graduated.
in the first couple of moments the protagonist dwells on memories of good old times spent together; reminding her professor of all the stories he had told her, leaving them up to her own interpretation, having her draw lessons from them herself. what the conversation then evolves into is the request of a testimony, proving that he had not been spilling empty words when he would tell his stories to the students.
the video increases in intensity as the protagonist begins demanding her former teacher to confirm that he would have taught a type of creativity that would have found ways to guarantee and therefore, construct the mere existence of a future. without the need of naming it specifically, these words express the desire for both authenticity and sustainability.
“stories” is first and foremost a reminder for myself: ultimately, i would like to be able to examine myself on whether or not i have lived truthfully, having acted according to the words i have spoken.
secondly, “stories” is a performative work of art that was produced in the quest of a personal and poetic as well as a visually pleasing way to ask the viewer this very same question that i ask myself:
have you been a storyteller or a story maker?