Katie's 4-D Projects

(Some clips from the short film -- the video is too large for the blog) Doors are entrances, but they are also exits. Windows allow one to see from the inside out, but also the outside in. If a person enters a building through a door, they usually have to leave through that same door. An open door exclaims cries of hope whilst a closed one mourns lost opportunities. Windows allow glimpses into a beautiful world but can separate two hands longingly reaching for one another. The door and window can be beginnings or endings, depending on which perspective one takes… For this video, I decided to compile video clips of doors and windows (from either buildings or cars) that I had taken at some point over the past year. I overlaid them with Emily Dickinson’s poem, “A Door Just Opened on a Street,” which highlights the duality of these everyday items.

      For this project, I wanted to give my classmates a space where they could write a letter to someone saying what they've always wanted to say, but never had the opportunity/ability to do so. Maybe this was due to loss, falling out with a person, or awkward tension. It could be a letter of gratitude, of sadness, of anger. I wanted to give each individual the space and agency to process something that they needed to express outwardly. There is something very significant about materializing one's thoughts onto a physical sheet of paper and pretending that they are directly addressing a specific person, but with zero intention of the person actually reading it. I encouraged each individual to pick out a writing device that might represent the "emotional" tone of the letter. I set a five minute timer, and once they were done writing, they could pick one of the envelopes that I handmade out of old magazines. I purposely made envelopes that could not be sent as a cathar...