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Before I Die I Want to… The Polaroid Project - What do you want to do before you die? Any clue? Long list, short list, one big thing? Check out the photo wall on Before I die I want to...
What began as an art project shows signs of snowballing into a life project for artists Nicole Kenney and KS Rives. The two friends come at their creation from different angles. Nicole had a profound awakening to death and loss at a very early age that influenced her life choices. Teamed with KS – who suggested incorporating the soon to be extinct (and at one time, magical wonder) gadget of choice for candid photo buffs: The Polaroid Camera, and Before I Die I Want to… The Polaroid Project was born.
Nicole and KS offer a bit of information about their inspiration for this joint venture.
Nicole:
Experiencing the death of my beloved Great Aunt Kitty when I was 7 was the deepest loss I ever felt. Since her death, I have felt a greater awareness of death and the fact that we only have a certain number of days on this planet. I have volunteered on and off at hospice since college.
Something clicked when KS told me that Polaroid is stopping production on the majority of its film and cameras. She knew I loved to use my Granddaddy´s Polaroid camera from the seventies, so we talked about doing a project together on "death/extinction" via the medium of the "dying" Polaroid.
In ten years, we had never worked together on a project, and really wanted to. I remember texting her very late one night, asking her what she thought about asking people what they want to do before they die. I know we aren´t the first people to ever ask it…but I think this question cuts to the very core of a person. Within a few minutes, you have a pretty good idea of what a person is about.]
The timing was perfect.
KS:
Shortly before we started the project, I saw the movie "Ikiru" about a man who does nothing with his life until he finds out he has only months to live. It was also around this time that a friend told me humans on average have about 40,000 days to live, which pushed me to make some major changes in my life.
I changed careers from full time graphic design to full time art (which was something I wanted to do before I died). Given all of these changes, I was especially moved by this topic and exploring what motivates people in life… and helping motivate more people to take these huge steps like I did.]
The interesting thing I discovered in connecting with and interviewing Nicole and Ks for Conscious Living is that both artists have had some wonderful metaphysical experiences and connections as well. Seeing this creative project unfold and how it illustrates and highlights some of the little synchronistic cues and triggers that help to nudge or shift the process along is fascinating to me.
I like the current photo crop on their site, but I am actually more curious about what stories will come from those who are drawn to be included and how the whole project will succeed. Apparently, I am not alone. Nicole says just in the past month, emails have started to flow in with fan mail and press requests from all over the world – Dublin, Russia, Canada, Brazil, Paris.
"For the first few months we had our project going, we weren´t getting any mail, and I even had to send myself a test email to make sure our email was in fact working. But now, virally through the internet, people feel touched by it, post it on their blog, and their friends post it. Before we knew it, it was around the world."
Listen to the interview /9/24/08 for more information and check back for a progress report after the first of the year. (Feb. – Tentative date.)
Interested? Attach your life´s goal to a Polaroid and submit it. Then check out their site for details and/or keep an eye out for potential events to make a personal connection and watch the project unfold. A lot can happen in five or six years.
Before I die I want to see the participants and creators of the Polaroid Project manifest their dreams. In a way, it´s kind of like that magical process of watching a Polaroid come to life.
What began as an art project shows signs of snowballing into a life project for artists Nicole Kenney and KS Rives. The two friends come at their creation from different angles. Nicole had a profound awakening to death and loss at a very early age that influenced her life choices. Teamed with KS – who suggested incorporating the soon to be extinct (and at one time, magical wonder) gadget of choice for candid photo buffs: The Polaroid Camera, and Before I Die I Want to… The Polaroid Project was born.
Nicole and KS offer a bit of information about their inspiration for this joint venture.
Nicole:
Experiencing the death of my beloved Great Aunt Kitty when I was 7 was the deepest loss I ever felt. Since her death, I have felt a greater awareness of death and the fact that we only have a certain number of days on this planet. I have volunteered on and off at hospice since college.
Something clicked when KS told me that Polaroid is stopping production on the majority of its film and cameras. She knew I loved to use my Granddaddy´s Polaroid camera from the seventies, so we talked about doing a project together on "death/extinction" via the medium of the "dying" Polaroid.
In ten years, we had never worked together on a project, and really wanted to. I remember texting her very late one night, asking her what she thought about asking people what they want to do before they die. I know we aren´t the first people to ever ask it…but I think this question cuts to the very core of a person. Within a few minutes, you have a pretty good idea of what a person is about.]
The timing was perfect.
KS:
Shortly before we started the project, I saw the movie "Ikiru" about a man who does nothing with his life until he finds out he has only months to live. It was also around this time that a friend told me humans on average have about 40,000 days to live, which pushed me to make some major changes in my life.
I changed careers from full time graphic design to full time art (which was something I wanted to do before I died). Given all of these changes, I was especially moved by this topic and exploring what motivates people in life… and helping motivate more people to take these huge steps like I did.]
The interesting thing I discovered in connecting with and interviewing Nicole and Ks for Conscious Living is that both artists have had some wonderful metaphysical experiences and connections as well. Seeing this creative project unfold and how it illustrates and highlights some of the little synchronistic cues and triggers that help to nudge or shift the process along is fascinating to me.
I like the current photo crop on their site, but I am actually more curious about what stories will come from those who are drawn to be included and how the whole project will succeed. Apparently, I am not alone. Nicole says just in the past month, emails have started to flow in with fan mail and press requests from all over the world – Dublin, Russia, Canada, Brazil, Paris.
"For the first few months we had our project going, we weren´t getting any mail, and I even had to send myself a test email to make sure our email was in fact working. But now, virally through the internet, people feel touched by it, post it on their blog, and their friends post it. Before we knew it, it was around the world."
Listen to the interview /9/24/08 for more information and check back for a progress report after the first of the year. (Feb. – Tentative date.)
Interested? Attach your life´s goal to a Polaroid and submit it. Then check out their site for details and/or keep an eye out for potential events to make a personal connection and watch the project unfold. A lot can happen in five or six years.
Before I die I want to see the participants and creators of the Polaroid Project manifest their dreams. In a way, it´s kind of like that magical process of watching a Polaroid come to life.
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