JACK ASHLEY - EVERYTHING
"THIS ZINE BEGAN NOT AS A ZINE AT ALL, BUT RATHER AS A COLLECTION OF OBJECTS AND IMAGERY I FELT COMPELLED TO HOLD ON TO. IMAGES AND OBJECTS FOUND, BOUGHT, SCANNED AND COLLAGED FROM 3 YEARS OF COLLECTING. NOTES AND FLOWERS FOUND IN CENTURY-OLD BIBLES, RELIGIOUS PAMPHLETS GIVEN TO ME ON THE STREET FROM PREACHERS, YOUTUBE CLIPS AND A TINY SELECTION OF EMMAS LETTERS ALL PILED UP.
"THIS ZINE BEGAN NOT AS A ZINE AT ALL, BUT RATHER AS A COLLECTION OF OBJECTS AND IMAGERY I FELT COMPELLED TO HOLD ON TO. IMAGES AND OBJECTS FOUND, BOUGHT, SCANNED AND COLLAGED FROM 3 YEARS OF COLLECTING. NOTES AND FLOWERS FOUND IN CENTURY-OLD BIBLES, RELIGIOUS PAMPHLETS GIVEN TO ME ON THE STREET FROM PREACHERS, YOUTUBE CLIPS AND A TINY SELECTION OF EMMAS LETTERS ALL PILED UP.
I STARTED COLLECTING THESE THINGS IN 2017, I HAD MOVED HOUSE AND WAS RECEIVING THESE LETTERS FROM A CHRISTIAN LADY NAMED EMMA. NOT ADDRESSED TO ME, BUT TO CHRIS, A MAN WHO ONCE LIVED IN MY HOME. EMMA IS/ WAS IN A RELATIONSHIP WITH CHRIS AND HAS NOTED IN HER WRITING SHE HAS BEEN REACHING OUT INTO THE DARK, TRYING TO CONNECT WITH HIM CONTINUALLY FOR 20 YEARS WITH NO RESPONSE. EMMA NEVER LEFT A RETURN ADDRESS OR EVEN A SECOND NAME, JUST SIGNING EACH LETTER "LOVE EMMA". I'VE HAD A COUPLE OF CHANCES TO MEET HER, BUT I'D GET NERVOUS AND COULDN'T BRING MYSELF TO GO. SHE'D WRITE THAT SHE WAS GOING TO A CERTAIN CHURCH FOR MASS AND EVEN WHERE SHE WAS GOING TO SIT. I JUST COULDN’T DO IT. HOW COULD I TELL HER CHRIS HASN'T BEEN HERE READING HER LETTERS ALL THIS TIME? I WANTED TO SHOW HER LETTERS AND TELL YOU ALL ABOUT HER LIFE, BUT IT’S NOT MY STORY TO TELL. EMMA'S COMMITMENT TO THE LORD, THROUGH HER WEEKLY WRITINGS, IS GREATER THAN ANYTHING I’VE EVER SEEN AND HAS OPENED MY EYES TO WHAT IT MEANS TO BE A RELIGIOUS AND SPIRITUAL PERSON.
EVERYTHING FEATURED IN THIS ZINE AT A GLANCE MAY SEEM RANDOM, BUT THESE PAGES SHOW THE LEAPS IN A GREATER VISUAL JOURNEY LED BY EMMAS LETTERS. AT FIRST, I'D KEEP EVERYTHING I FOUND THAT SEEMED RELEVANT TO THE PROJECT, BUT OVER TIME I KNEW WHERE TO LOOK. I COULD TELL WHICH BIBLES SOLD AT FLEA MARKETS OR CHARITY STORES WOULD HAD SMALL PRESSED FLOWERS AND MEMENTOES WERE HIDDEN INSIDE. THESE AMAZING LITTLE TREASURE TROVES OF HISTORY AND LOVE ENDED UP FINDING ME, WHEREVER I WAS. I GUESS STARTED COLLECTING THESE THINGS TO TRY AND UNDERSTAND EMMA A LITTLE BETTER, AND HAVE INSTEAD LEARNT A LOT ABOUT MYSELF."
SIZE B5
36 COLOR
150GSM PAGES
SADDLE STITCH PLUS ADDITIONAL ITEMS
PUBLISHED BY XFEL
