disappearance does not equal absence

Images of one of the drawers from Ephemera Kabinett, Lost Ideas, courtesy of The Institute of Cultural Inquiry

For there to be any sight or tactile perception of the object, the senses will always lack that dimension of absence, that unreality through which the subject may be self-knowledge and the object may exist for him.

– M. Merleau-Ponty, Phenomenology of Perception

Sense Experience (excerpt)

Throughout the Stitching Julia project, there have been uncanny disappearances of information, files, objects, thwarted communications, things suddenly lost, technology failures, passage diversions or blocks, and discoveries just out of reach. These recurring disappearances have shaped the project into a maze, testing resourceful maneuvering to uncover and acquire knowledge, but not ideas.