Wish You Were Here

by Lisa Klapstock

Wish You Were Here is a participatory art project involving a guided encounter between two species – a human and a plant – commemorated with a formal photographic portrait printed on a carte de visite postcard on which the participant will write about their experience.

The carte de visite emerged in the mid-19th century with the advent of photography. For most people, sitting for a carte de visite portrait represented the first time they were photographed. Because of its affordability and popularity, the carte de visite trend grew and spread rapidly from France to the United Kingdom and America where people collected and traded them. The cartes were used as calling cards, and were eventually distributed, as post cards, by the postal service. The carte de visite is now considered to have been an early form of social media connecting people to each other through shared photographs.

The Wish You Were Here project, with its formal portraits printed on post cards that will be mailed by the postal service, offers an experience that takes time, and encourages reflection. Both the photograph and the postcard are mnemonic devices recording an encounter worthy of remembering and thinking about, as well as sharing with others.

This symbolic project invites us to reflect on our relationship to Nature, and how we perceive the non-human beings in our midst. Through the simple act of acknowledging a plant as a living being worthy of our attention and care, we are reminded of our interconnectedness with Nature and the importance of peaceful, considerate coexistence.

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This project is launching at Nuit Blanche on October 5, 2024 as part of Canadian theatre company STO Union’s Hopes & Fears Assembly at Harbourfront Centre.

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