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20.2.05

PostSecret is a site publishing hand-made postcards containing a deep personal secret of the anonymous creator.

As I've noticed before, with the Group Hug website, the things most people are afraid to tell others are pretty banal, not big things. Generic confessions: "I'm in love with X", "I am secretly turned on by other women", "I find porn arousing," etc.

And of course, every now and then, there are the really sad ones:

"I was gangraped in college. I turned into a slut almost immediately afterwards."

"I started shooting heroin again."

"I haven't spoken to my dad in 10 years, and it kills me every day.

And the weird ones:

"I believe that my dead grandmother watches me with great disappointment every time I masturbate.

But I seem to find the small, quiet ones to be the most profoundly disturbing:

"I love one of my children."

"I talked someone into suicide."

Mostly, I guess I'm interested in the cathartic and communal nature of this artwork (and this is also why I like Group Hug - the idea being that people see that their secrets aren't that special, after all), though I suspect that the aesthetization that goes into the postcard design might in some way contaminate that effect. Glorifying, indulging in guilt. Any thoughts on this out there?

Also: I found this site while I was looking for a site which holds letters to be read after the death of the author, and which are online as though they were. I have forgotten what it's called. Does anyone out there know what I'm talking about?

4 Comments:

Blogger Gaute said...

I know what you're talking about, but I'm as clueless as you as to where to find it. Tell me if you find out, OK?

The Group Hug Website reminded me of a feature Pejk Malinowski did for The Next Big Thing on WNYC - basically, he set up a microphone stand, and asked strangers on the street to tell it a secret. The result: lots of whispered confessions, although I suspect people still showed far more restraint than they would online.

February 22, 2005 1:35 pm  
Blogger mrtn said...

I'll post it if I stumble across it.

I like the microphone stand. It reminded me of this thing.

February 22, 2005 2:16 pm  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I started shooting heroin again myself and it feels goooooooooooooooooood.

March 29, 2007 7:49 am  
Blogger mrtn said...

I'm sure it does, but it's baaad for you.

March 29, 2007 2:46 pm  

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