Photo by HB Photos
SAN DIEGO, CA–Write or Die is a performance and installation created by local artist and writer Elizabeth Salaam about the healing power of art and writing. For her first solo exhibition, Salaam will be writing live in an immersive textual installation on September 4, 5, and 6 at You Belong Here and virtually on Zoom. A portion of proceeds from ticket sales will fund Covid-19 rent relief for You Belong Here, a community space dedicated to empowering and supporting creatives and entrepreneurs.
During the three-day performance and exhibition, Salaam will use text in journals, on hanging pages, and on an oversized projection within the space and on the writer herself to invite viewers into her process. Salaam uses writing to form an intimate connection to the reader-viewer, in which she shares childhood traumas, the lingering effects of sexual abuse, racism, and cultural isolation. For the artist, writing has been a crucial tool to discover and explore her own identity.
Part installation, part performance, Salaam will be present throughout the exhibition writing live. The writing will be streamed as a projection on the wall and on the artist’s body as well as virtually on Zoom. She will be writing a mix of autobiographical and fictionalized stories about growing up black in Boise, Idaho. The stories are about all the things: having white adopted parents as a black child, sexual abuse, addiction, promiscuity, self-harm, and teenage treatment centers, to name just a few.
In the middle of the gallery, there will be a bed adorned in “Write or Die” bedsheets. On top of the bed will be an empty notebook that Salaam will write in as part of her performance. She also invites viewers to contribute their own unwritten thoughts and stories to the notebook. Rather than the grasps at sexual intimacy attempted through promiscuity in her stories, here Salaam offers a truer intimacy of shared experience.
The installation also includes six notebooks of 250 pages, three of which are short narratives and three include repetitive phrases such as “I’m sorry” and “I’ve had sex with 52 boys.” The stories are drawn from fictionalized autobiographical events, such as a 12 year old girl who allows two boys to tie her to the bed. Each notebook includes a unique, hidden sculptural element evoking self-harm and vulnerability.
Interspersed throughout the gallery, the hanging pages are from the artist’s archive of writing, personal documents such as police transcriptions and an arrest warrant, and old love letters. The pages guide the viewer through the space.
In-person visitors can purchase tickets for one-hour appointments. Masks are required and gloves will be available for interacting with the installation. A maximum of six visitors will be allowed for each time slot, with social distancing protocols in effect. The gallery will be closed for sanitizing 30 minutes between appointments.
IN-PERSON TICKETS REGISTER BELOW
“ZOOM THE ROOM” REGISTER BELOW
Please note, no refunds will be offered, but if you are unable to attend the event and would like to release your time to another patron, please cancel at least 48 hours in advance.
Meet the Artist
ELIZABETH SALAAM
Photo by Stacy Keck Photo
Elizabeth Salaam is a San Diego-based writer, storyteller, and artist. Salaam’s work takes the form of personal narratives, installation, performance, and sculpture, all of which are emotionally honest and rich with keen observations of herself and the world around her. Through these multiple media, she uses writing to tackle issues from her own experience which encompasses all of the things: cultural isolation, sexual abuse, addiction, and racism. This year, she was a speaker at the TEDx Conference at University of California San Diego and she will be presenting her first solo exhibition Write or Die at You Belong Here in September, which was featured on the Uninterrupted and Beautiful radio show. She is currently an artist-in-residence at Island Farm Press. www.elizabethsalaam.com