Never Let Me Down

pocket watch detail

Growing up, my brother and I were close. We fought occasionally as siblings do, but got along really well and had a lot of fun together. We remain close today and I still admire him as my "big brother." "Never Let Me Down" is about our relationship and the many moments when we looked to each other for advice or to simply commiserate. It's also about how I admire him and how he has influenced my life over the years.

Never Let Me Down

When we were teens, Mark carried a pocket watch. It set him apart from everyone else and I admired this, although I may not have realized it at the time. "Never Let Me Down" includes a pocket watch, cufflinks, tie tack and handkerchief and the papers underneath list the song titles from mix tapes he had as a teen. I used to sneak these out of his room when he wasn't around and it was those tapes that changed my perspective on music.

cuff links detail

In addition to the objects you see here, I also recreated the mix tapes, song for song. I was talking to Mark on the phone months ago about the tapes and he told me then he still had them. After we said goodbye, he sent me images of them via text messages. I hadn't seen the song titles since I was 16 and it was pretty incredible to read them again. It also felt like reading pages from a book or like reading a poem. I put together the mixes shortly after and then listened to them in their entirety back to back. It was even more mind-blowing to here the songs again! Later I listened to them while carefully writing each title in Cursive handwriting on practice paper. If you would like to listen to these mixes, you can find them here and here on Spotify. 

handkerchief detail

tie tack detail

I posted lots of process pictures on Flickr. I have also added images for "Silently (I Saw a Robin Today,"  "Wayfinder" and "Forget Me Not," pieces I have written about here already. Please take a look.

Thanks for reading.