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.