So beyond the class readings, this project was inspired by a certain secret kept from me about a year ago. So I asked my classmates to anonymously write some stuff they had to get off their chests. The instructions were as follows
1. take a note card
2. write down a secret
3. decorate it if you want
4. keep it short and to the point
5. it can be ANYTHING you want!
I opened up my project with a monologue about that certain secret which inspired this project. Basically it was an icky time in which my former partner was being unfaithful and lots of my friends knew but didn’t tell me. The jist was:
“But the secrets we keep…aren’t they more painful than the ones we tell? So the kill. In the killing of something we are transformed. In the communal transformation we also identify. Very ritualistic don’t you think?
Anonymously, I will assist in the purging of your secrets in hope you find release. Not so anonymously, I will today in front of what I believe to be far too large of a group to do this, publicly confront my largest secrets. “
Then, I took some of the class’s secrets out of the box, shared them while they text was shown on the big screen behind me. Afterwards, I revealed my secrets. On the slideshow, they are all mixed together. They are all anonymous on this website, but I shared mine in front of the class. It was an incredibly powerful experience for me and according to my peers, the class as well. It did just as I suspected: transformed and bonded. A very appropriate ending to this course.
