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Before I die I want to... made into an amazing 3-minute documentary. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Before I die I want to... is published in French Glamour.
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--------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Before I die I want to... is part of the 2010 Dumbo Arts Festival in Brooklyn, NY.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Erika and her band Here There Are Lions (www.artlabtheatre.com) made the most beautiful song about our project!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Before I die I want to... has 866 Polaroids in this exhibition in Mobile, Alabama from January–March 2010.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Celebrate the Polaroid! Before I die I want to... was part of this gallery show in Corpo Gallery, Santa Monica, California in January. The crowd stretched across the parking lot and lasted until the morning.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Before I die I want to... participated in this show:
For the full article, click here.
Before I die I want to... in Totally Dublin Magazine. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Before I die I want to... featured in GLOSS, a Brazilian magazine: ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Nicole + ks were interviewed about the Before I die I want to... project by Wendy Garrett, the host of the "Conscious Living" Podcast.
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Article on Before I die I want to... in Libération, a French national newspaper: By Hans Rusinek ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Before I die I want to... is number 1 on Reader's Digest "The Daily 5" www.rd.com
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By Daniel Goldbloom ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Before I die I want to... is Macktez's 2008 Summer Stipend Recipient! Panelists included Martin Bone, Stefan Boublil, Andrew Capelli, Ann Harakawa, Mark Naden, Douglas Riccardi, and Judy Wert. The stipend helps Nicole and ks stock up on the disappearing Polaroid film. Below are Nicole and ks's fruits of the stipend. More on the award can be found here: www.macktez.com/stipend/2008 Thank you, Macktez! "This is an interesting approach to capturing a specific moment in time: The end of Polaroids and the participants' state of mind when the photo is captured." "I liked the psychological aspect -- Not only documenting, but bringing about change and making people realize their dreams." "It's a very human idea. I have a personal fondness for dying technologies, vinyl records, audio cassettes, etc. And so I understand where the motivation comes from. I imagine this could make an intriguing book or documentary and the parallels with Michael Apted's Seven Up documentaries make for a relevant frame of reference." " 'An unexamined life is not worth living,' so said Socrates. The considered life puts that into action: Examining the choices you make on a daily basis and the feelings you have. This project captures perfectly, in a way that doesn't feel didactic, the need for all of us to lead more considered lives. Following up on these people also provides them with a way to check on their own wishes, and the evolution of the wishes, through the years." "I like this simple stripped-down project with large implications and meaning. It is beautiful, poignant, and has the ability to touch and move many people." ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The following excerpts are press that resulted from ks rives' and Nicole Kenney's curated exhibition entitled "Death + Extinction: A Polaroid Exhibition." The exhibition includes 5 Chicago and 6 New York artists who explored death and extinction through the "dying" Polaroid medium. It was on display at the Chicago Art Department (1837 South Halsted, Chicago) for August 2008.
"...Most interesting is the work of the curators, KS Rives and Nicole Kenney, who have taken the idea of death and created a living work. These artists take Polaroid snapshots of everyday people stating what they wish to do before they die, then have their subjects write their desires in their own handwriting on the photo. Hundreds of these photos are on display at the exhibit, and can be eternally tracked at www.beforeidieiwantto.org." -Ali Trachta See full article: chicagoist.com/2008/08/05/the_end_is_near_at_polaroid_art_sho.php ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"...The most intriguing take on Thanatos is curators Nicole Kenney's and K.S. Rives' project of taking headshots of anyone they can seduce and having their prey write beneath their "portraits" their answers to the question: "What do you want to do before you die?" A study in democratic existentialism, Kenney's and Rives' ever-expanding grid is an acid test of authenticity that most of their subjects fail, with exceptions like the young man who writes, "I want to LIVE." -Michael Weinstein See full article: art.newcity.com/2008/08/06/review-death-extinction-via-polaroidschicago-art-department ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "...There's some charm in the quality that you get [with Polaroids] -- I kind of prefer that to newer looking things," said K.S. Rives, curator of the show. Her ongoing documentary photography project, "Before I Die I Want To," a collaboration with illustrator Nicole Kenney, also appears in the show. The project consists of Polaroids that Rives and Kenney took of people in public places talking about what they want to do before they die. Each person then records his or her goal on the bottom of the Polaroid. The artists collect all subjects' contact information in order to follow up with them in five to 10 years to see if they're advancing toward their goal. Appearing in the show are 250 out of the 300 photos the duo has taken so far, and all the photos appear on the project's Web site. For Rives, the project is about pondering mortality from the perspective of life, and "not waiting until you're dying to do something with your life," she said. Common goals are travel, especially to Japan, writing a novel, and for women, having children. The concept works well in Polaroids. "Maybe this is what Polaroid wants to do before it dies -- make art," said Rives. A Polaroid camera sits beside the piece so Rives can take pictures of people who visit the gallery and want to be part of the project. Rives and Kenney are also selling a self-published book of the photos, and they are currently seeking grants to take the project abroad, especially to Third World countries. "It's apparent whenever you're reading our answers that we're a First World country," Rives said. "In other countries, people might say things like, 'I want my kids to get jobs,' or 'I want water.'..." -Liz Logan See full article and video interview: www.news.medill.northwestern.edu, ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
