Notes on Longing

"Notes on Longing"

It smells of after-rain tonight.
Duck bones, a wounded egg on rice.
On the corner, there is a shop
that makes keys, keys that open
human doors, doors that lead
to rooms that hold families
of four or seven who sit at a table.
There is a mother who brings
sizzling flounder on a wide platter
for the family whose ordinary
mouths have been made to sing.

- by Tina Chang, from Half-Lit Houses (2004)

Retrospectively

It sounds like an overwrought and clichéd story: tortured artist kills himself after the death of his girlfriend.

This was the case for Jeremy Blake, who allegedly walked into the ocean and drowned himself. A week earlier, he'd found his girlfriend, blogger and video game designer Theresa Duncan, dead in the apartment they shared above St. Mark's Church (which has its own fascinating history). According to friends, the couple had been acting erratically. They told stories of being followed and harassed by Scientologists, and went so far as to make their friends sign loyalty pledges to ensure they weren't agents of Scientology. In short, she and Blake were both scared, and they didn't seem to be in good health. Their loved ones were worried, but no one had expected their deaths, just a week apart in July of 2007.

Blake and Duncan in Venice, CA, photographed by Bret Haller

It would be impossible to sit here and give a concrete reason for their suicides, which, like most, are shrouded in uncertainty. The mystery behind their deaths has overshadowed any creative successes they achieved, as evidenced by not only this blog post, but several trendy magazine profiles published after they died. (Here is one from Vanity Fair, and another from New York Magazine.)

The work they left behind, I'd argue, is a far more compelling and enriching glimpse of what and how they thought. With that in mind, here are pieces of their work: a series of video games produced by Duncan for young female audiences, and a digital video made by Blake and inspired by Sarah Winchester.

- - -

Rhizome and the New Museum present:
Chop Suey, Smarty, and Zero Zero
 - - -

- "Winchester Redux," by Jeremy Blake (2004)

On A Nerve

Nameless as the way we started
I'd like to go
Back to time before name
Name for all we know

When the room was filled with chances
No one would take
We collided with them
Knowing chances fade

- "On A Nerve" by Vetiver, from their self-titled debut (2004)

Tive Razão

"I was right."

- "Tive Razão"  by Seu Jorge, from Cru (2004)

Charlotte Mittnacht (The Fabulous Destiny of...)

Surviving.

- DeVotchKa, "Charlotte Mittnacht (The Fabulous Destiny of...)," from How It Ends (2004)