"I try to erase you but you're still here" Regina Mamou & James Rigato

April 17-28, 2009

Opening Reception: Friday, April 17th 6-9p.m. with readings by James Rigato at 6:15p.m., 7:15p.m., and 8:15p.m.

I try to erase you but you’re still here is a collaborative project with photographs by Regina Mamou and writings by James Rigato. Raised in Michigan, Mamou and Rigato collectively respond to the idea of nostalgia based on location—as an origin of pain and yearning for the past. I try to erase you but you’re still here implies the simultaneous need to desire and dismiss juvenile experiences. The failure of trying to erase sentimental memories becomes source material for their project. In her photographic series, Mamou returns to a location she frequented with her family during her adolescence. Spending one week in relative seclusion in a cabin, she examines the construction and fragmentation of her memory in a familiar place. Through his writings, Rigato reconnects with relationships he developed in his teenage years. His writing utilizes techniques employed in romantic and lyrical poetry, and explores the naïveté and pang of young love.

Be a part of Chicago’s Art Parade!

How creative can you be with cookies & seeds?

In the spirit of resourcefulness and gifting, we are asking you to contribute sets of 12 or more cookies or baked goods (with recipes) or seeds (with planting instructions or planted) that can be creatively packaged by you and given away by us as we push, ride or pull moveable sculptures through the Chicago Art Parade on May 2nd. Cookies and seeds will be passed out to people on the streets watching the parade. The items created must be made in a resourceful & responsible manner, creating no waste and as much nourishment and life as possible. All participants will be invited to share their recipes, ideas or furthur descriptions of the lives of their cookies & seeds on our blog www.spokechicago.blogspot.com in an effort to continue dialogue past the parade.

RSVP to spoke at spokechicago@gmail.com with your idea by April 20th. Drop off party & preparation party at Spoke April 30th (details will follow).

All parts of this project are based on Spoke’s mission as a small collaborative enterprise interested in maintaining a spirit of resourcefulness, spontaneity, experimentation, access rather than exclusion, and interaction. We are dedicated to providing opportunities for creative individuals and groups to produce unique and innovative projects, events, performances, workshops, exhibitions and creative endeavors of all kinds.