By Emily Study (Mid-term project for Spring 2012)
For thousands of years, humans have had the instinctual urge to physically leave their marks. They began recording their daily thoughts and feelings more than 35,000 years ago by drawing pictures on cave walls. Using sharpened stone tools and animal bones as writing instruments, humans recorded such feelings as excitement from hunting victories and sadness from the loss of a loved one.
Today, humans still have this natural instinct to write down and share their thoughts and feelings. Although now we live in the age of tweeting and posting Facebook statuses, the purpose of our writing has remained the same: to record what we’re thinking and how we feel.
Sometimes, though, what we write on Facebook or Twitter doesn’t necessarily match exactly how we feel. Because there is no anonymity with technology, our thoughts and feelings might get clouded by the fact that our name is next to whatever we write. So if we take away all of the technology—the social networking sites, smartphones, iPads, computers and the Internet—we get back to more “primitive” times. Times in which humans’ marks were once anonymous and were written for the sole purpose of making humans feel better, regardless of who might see them.
For this project, 11 people reverted back to these primitive times and wrote their thoughts and feelings in chalk on the sidewalk and cement walls outside of Sullivan Center. While the writing instrument is different than what was used 35,000 years ago, the outcome is the same: humans could write honestly and leave their marks on nature for others, like me, to discover.
When photographing these marks, I discovered the truthful, touching and inspiring thoughts and feelings that these 11 people had written throughout the day on Friday, Feb. 24, 2012. Their marks served many purposes. Some expressed relief (see Picture 7 and Picture 9). Some served as reminders that it’s okay to be who you are (see Picture 2, Picture 3 and Picture 12). One helped in the grieving process (see Picture 6). Some were reminders to love yourself and to love your life (see Picture 1 and Picture 8). Some expressed humor and communication (see Picture 4 and Picture 5). And some served as reminders to believe in the power of your dreams (see Picture 10 and Picture 11).
These marks, though they may wash away, represent humans’ everlasting urge to record their thoughts and feelings. Humans have always had, and will always have, the instinctual urge to leave their marks.
