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Wish You Were Here
An Exploration of Adventure, Travel, and
Vacations
by Peg
Johnston
Using photographs, postcards, and artifacts from three
historical periods, Peg Johnston explores the concept of adventure,
travel, and vacations in her installation, “Wish You Were Here,”
from September 3rd through the 27th, 2009 at the Cooperative Gallery 213
On State St. Binghamton, NY. “I am mining a tremendous amount of family
history for this exhibit: a turn of the century world traveler, tourists
behind the Iron Curtain, and a childhood of camping and hiking. What is
striking in all three eras is the need to document the experience, share
it with those at home, and validate that you really were there,”
explains Peg Johnston. The pictorial image is critical to this need to
share. “It makes you wonder how those who arrive incamarata
(without camera) share their experiences?”
The story of Wish You Were Here begins with
the discovery of a large collection of early 20th century postcards
collected from all over the world by Carl Wittman, a distant relative of
Johnston’s. Wittman came to this country from Germany at the age of 14
and made his way to the Yukon Territory where he mined for gold, earning
enough to fund his world travels. His adventures took him to Hawaii, to
Europe, to Egypt, and to Russia, China, and Japan via the newly built
Trans Siberian Railroad. Postcards were then the popular way to document
exotic places and people and to send home a picture of your experience
to say, “wish you were here.”
Carl’s son, Walter, and his wife Jeanette (Johnston’s aunt
and uncle) believed with a missionary zeal that socialism was a better
way to govern. They made it their life’s work to visit virtually every
Communist and Socialist country in the world at a time when it was
radical and in some cases forbidden. An important part of their mission
was to bring back “the truth” in the form of slide shows for Rotary,
women’s clubs, and schools. Sorting through tens of thousands of slides,
“I selected many that captured their passion to show what it was like
‘behind the Iron Curtain,’ breaking the American blackout of the
achievements of Communism. Their ‘travel for a cause’ goes to sometimes
comical lengths to wish that everyone could be there,” said Johnston.
Finally, Johnston’s own arduous journeys following her
father in search of the “perfect view” from mountain tops, waterways,
and beaches are documented with a child’s eye view of the family camping
vacation. Reproducing devastating images from inevitable and
interminable slide shows has its hilarious moments while affirming the
value of “the forced march,” “pushing beyond endurance,” and the beauty
of the natural world. “My adult child can re-experience the family
vacation with a more humorous and nuanced equanimity,” notes Johnston
wryly.
A running narrative for all three periods is recorded on
period postcards and there will be a “souvenir” section as well as an
interactive portion for those experiencing Wish You Were Here.
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