Post A Secret

I was in Borders the other day (I love manufactured cosy environments) and found myself in the art section.

Amongst the overpriced books on street art or how to draw cartoons was the book 'Post A Secret'.

It is a community art project that encourages people to send in postcards of their secrets.

I've seen about two of the four editions which have been released and the content just gets crazier.

Its amazing the creativity out there even when you are dealing with the most painful secret possible. Most are weird scribblings or collages to over-emphasise the point.

Imagine the relief of sending your secrets to a box number anonymously. You could tell them anything and it won't be traced back to you but it would be out there. Published in Borders no less!

Maybe its perverted that we are automatically drawn to wanting to knowing what other peoples secrets are even if they are anonymous. Toilet walls, postcards, gossip columns- nothing has become outdated yet as a medium to divulge information to our community or the world.

We all want to know forbidden information, but how far does it go before it makes even us uncomfortable. Maybe because its anonymous there is not even a line marked in the sand.

'Post A Secret' now has its own blog, due to the sheer volume of secrets being sent in.

Lost Art

Letter writing or sending a postcard seem to have become a lost art as email and new technology takes over the world.

In Browsers Bookshop, there is a box of old and new postcards. Most of the new ones are paintings by Edward Hopper (I'm now officially a fan) but some of the old ones are so faded and dog-earred.

It sounds strange to buy a used postcard, but the fountain tip pen message says more about the person than the scene. I read one from Paris that was an apology to a friend for something that they had not spoken off since.
I remember when I was younger, the point of writing a journal was to leave a piece of yourself behind and available to the future explorer who finds it.

A tale popularised by Anne Frank's diary, journals continue to be stocked with locks, flowers and ribbon bookmarks, but I wonder if their charm remains when social networking sites grow in members.

I guess its up to the individual as to what is important. Its nice to receive a hand-written letter or a postcard as fewer people get round to it, even if it has the cliche "wish you were here".