One Day at a Time/
Four Years of Chaos
A Personal/Political Diary Project by Dawn Nelson
Nov. 3rd – 30th, Saturdays and Sundays, 11-6, by chance or by appointment
Read Artscope Magazine’s Review
Thoughts about this show as of October 25, 2024
For me, the 2016 election results left me feeling shocked, afraid, and overwhelmed.
I tried to figure out how to respond to it, how to process my feelings, and what to do next. Changes and questions seemed to be coming at me so fast that I couldn’t keep up with them. I felt like I was running full speed on a hamster wheel, trying to catch up, and getting nowhere but exhausted. I needed to find a way to keep my own balance through it all.
I started this diary as a way to keep a track of what was happening during the early days of this. I had no idea how long I would do it for. But as I got going, I found that once I made the square for each day, I was somehow able to let go of that day, and to move on to the next day less encumbered with anxiety. Doing it helped me stay sane! One Day at a Time.
I think the project is somewhere between an art installation and a historical document. The form reminds me of the notations and scribbles I made in the back of my notebook during High School History class. I was suppose to be taking orderly notes from the lecture, but my mind and scribbles had wandered off to what I was really thinking about. I think of Marshall McLuhan and The Medium is the Massage, where pictures, words, thoughts, and changing media told story with a new form of clarity. This is honest and personal rather than slick and considered. Collaged and scribbled rather than linear thoughts described with words. But ultimately, I feel that the 1507 entries in this diary do tell the story of my experience of this time. I also feel that most people will identify with this experience.
Births and deaths are embedded in these squares. Covid came in with a vengeance and kept us in its grip for a large part of this time. Some people became isolated. Others took to zoom, the woods, and other venues to forge new paths of connection. Most people did not escape this time undamaged. Infections that had festered under the skin of America for its lifetime burst and oozed. We were a country divided. At times the abyss dividing us seemed beyond what we could reach across. Rules seem to have been thrown out the window. Attempts at love, connection, normalcy, and even healing continued despite it all, but the infection was still there.
As I write this, our next election is 11 days away. I do not know what the outcome will be. My vote is for us to come together as a nation and for democracy to prevail. But regardless of the outcome on November 5 th , 2024, we remain a dangerously divided country. My hope and prayer is that we can come together and do the hard work we need to do as a nation to repair the damage that has brought us to this point.