Page 159 - Antennae Issue #52

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Melissa Oresky
Ghosts pp 3-4 Artist’s Book Three-color silkscreen 2016 © Melissa Oresky
each offers offers insights into narrative o of o the past chronology and temporality “When writing history ” she offers offers “I feel a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a responsibility to to to to to historical truth that doesn’t al- low my my imagination imagination free free reign In the the the studio in in in in in in in in contrast I I I make fictions according to to to to the the the the the wanderings of of my my visual imagination imagination ” For Painter these constraints/freedoms stem from her relationship to to to the the the the the the archive archive The historian must be “respectful of of the the the the the the archives” while the the the the artist is is is is allowed to to to treat them “disrespectfully” or or at at at least “self- indulgently” 10
Adopting composting in in in historical and and and artistic practice creates space to to to ex- plore the the the specificity and and and and context of the the the archive and and and and the the the freedom to to to to to see truths that cannot be contained within it it it it it and and and in in in in in in in doing so creates space to to to to to to reimagine historical storytelling As literary historian Steve Mentz writes “A composting model of of histori- cal change recognizes multiple multiple presences in in in in multiple multiple states of of of decay at at at all times ” Multiple temporalities and and and contexts coexist in in in in in in our our narratives of of the the the the the past and and and the the the the the present and and and in in in in in in in in the the the the the objects that shape these stories To To allow them into our our thinking risks being overwhelming while opening new possibilities To To make compost of his- tory is is is to to to dive into “a productive and disorienting swirl” 11
Our conversations began in in in in in August of of 2019 when we found ourselves brought together as part of of “Pressing Plants ” an an an an an exhibition at at at at at Illinois State Univer- sity’s Milner Library highlighting materials related to to plants from faculty artists and