Current Occupant (Artists Book)

Outside of the Postcard Machine I also continue to make projects frequently related to places in the world I have inhabited. Current Occupant is a zine style artist book....

About Current Occupant

"Since the COVID-19 pandemic began I have been culling my lived experiences for ways to connect to strangers. Practicing social distancing, my part time jobs shuttered or cancelled, sheltering in place, and the necessity of confronting financial precariousness has provoked me into active reminiscing, and reflecting on the places I have lived and how each place affected my sense of stability. Additionally, I realized what is strikingly absent in my day-to-day, is the opportunity for me to be a stranger to someone. My effort to recover (or replenish?) these encounters is called Current Occupant. The project began with hand drawing my memory of each residence I have lived in. This image and a letter was then sent to the current occupant of each address, a complete stranger to me. The endeavor is an offering, an autobiography, a memory palace, and an ode to that which exists only in memories." -Michelle Ott

Each original drawing is 6 x 8 inches, ink on bristol. This artists book is digitally printed on paper in my studio and stitched together on my sewing machine. Each drawing is included as well as a description of my dates of occupancy, my age, and a brief story about the period of time I inhabited the residence.

The final book measures 5 x 6.75 inches.