Fruition of the MORE from LESS Project
An outcome of the MORE from LESS project was donation of three items: A quarter: It is not clear why the participant donated this item. A bag of sugar: The participant wants to improve his health by eating less sugar. A Hostess Twinkie and cupcake: The participant wants to improve her healthy by eating less processed food. I expected greater participation and found myself disappointed and saddened. Were people not finding the project helpful? Did I do something wrong? As I reflected, I noted that in a project about letting go of something, I was not letting go of something:  success and failure.   I was chasing after success and running from failure.  But what does the success of this project mean? Does success mean converting other people to my view of reality? Or, does success mean sharing something from my heart, and being open to what others share? I decided to give up something: clinging to success and failure.  To do so, I created and performed a ritual at each of the four exhibition locations.  I drew on traditions from China and Tibet.  From the Chinese tradition of writing letters to the dead, and then delivering them by burning the letters, I composed a letter "to my dying self."  From the Tibetan Buddhist tradition of offering water as part of rituals, I did so.  While each of my four letters was spontaneously written, each discussed letting go of success/failure, and being open to all outcomes.  I then burned each letter and finished by pouring the water at the base of a plant.   Some photos document the performance of the rituals. I would like to hear from you.  Please email me with your response.  Thank you.
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