It is impossible to recreate the combined on-site/online experience of viewing "Self Portrait in Montmartre" on the page- be it made of paper or pixels. Nonetheless, it is possible to convey some of the ways I worked to reflect on the year-long / kilometer round confines of my subject.
The path I trace here includes the digital elements that visitors could layer over the twelve 12 on-sites they visited.Since on-line viewers cannot experiences these first-hand, I've added photographs and information about the places and convey the associations I sought to create and the questions about space-bound yet scattered subjects I explored in this work.
The trajectory follows the order of the sites as they were listed on the map. No site is central. None is more important than the others. I associate photographs of the places and the digital elements associated with them for the piece. I add brief notes on making, installation or meaning of each moment/site/ aspect of the portrait.
1. Rue Ramey : “Régénération »
My son and his partner renovated this store as their home.
The cloth is silk organza. It is painted with poppy seeds and aker fasi- a cosmetic powder made of poppy or rose petals that is used in Morocco. I've used these media often in recent a project on a long running project on the poppy flower. Bright pink is the shade of one of the "EC" chemotherapy drugs commonly given for breast cancer. The seeds and dried petals take on new meanings intertwined with the lacey metal curtain of the shopfront/living room window. layered with images of the stages of making a painting called "Regeneration."
2. “Uphill Battle." Stairs that go from the rue Rue des Saules, between la rue Caulaincourt and the rue St. Vincent
For this part of the parcours I printed a large image the bar code that identifies me at the hospital and tied them to the railings of the steps I often took on my daily walks. There are 16 tags, one for each of the for infusions of chemotherapy I received. The recording is of a conversation with my fiend Antonella, who is a long-time resident of the neighborhood. Our voices evoked her special connection between me and the 18th arrondissement while also indexing the many friends who came to the area to encourage me to exercise throughout the year.
rue des
3. Rue des Saules, entre rue Cortot et rue St. Rustique
Sixth Avenue, Rue D'Alesia, Sharia Hassan Souktani, Le Conte Ave., Rue Pixericourt, Avenue Suffren, Rue Malherbe/Manfalouti, Kentish Town Rd., Rue Cardinal Lemoine, Sharia Moulay Ismail,Rue de Rivoli, Isabella St, 19th st., Addison St., Durant Ave., Koenigsallee, Bancroft Way, Boulevard Pasteur, Happy Valley Rd., Rue de la Gare, Melrose St., Rue de Billancourt, Rue Martre...Rue Marcadet, Rue Monge, Tunbridge Rd., Belsize Park Gardens, Jefferson Davis Highway, Dwight Way, Square de Verdun, Rue Leon Frot, 35th Street NW, Sixth Avenue, Rue D'Alesia, Sharia Hassan Souktani, Le Conte Ave., Rue Pixericourt, Avenue Suffren, Rue Malherbe/Manfalouti, Kentish Town Rd., Rue Cardinal Lemoine, Sharia Moulay Ismail,Rue de Rivoli, Isabella St, 19th st., Addison St., Durant Ave., Koenigsallee, Bancroft Way, Boulevard Pasteur, Happy Valley Rd., Rue de la Gare, Melrose St., Rue de Billancourt, Rue Martre...Rue Marcadet, Rue Monge, Tunbridge Rd., Belsize Park Gardens, Jefferson Davis Highway, Dwight Way, Square de Verdun, Rue Leon Frot, 35th Street NW, Sixth Avenue, Rue D'Alesia, Sharia Hassan Souktani, Le Conte Ave., Rue Pixericourt,Lori Dr., Avenue Suffren, Rue Malherbe/Manfalouti, Kentish Town Rd., Rue Cardinal Lemoine, Sharia Moulay Ismail,Rue de Rivoli, Isabella St, 19th st., Addison St., Durant Ave., Koenigsallee, Bancroft Way, Boulevard Pasteur, Happy Valley Rd., Rue de la Gare, Melrose St., Rue de Billancourt, Rue Martre,Rue Marcadet, Rue Monge, Tunbridge Rd., Belsize Park Gardens, Jefferson Davis Highway, Dwight Way, Square de Verdun, Rue Leon Frot, 35th Street NW, Sixth Avenue, Rue D'Alesia, Sharia Hassan Souktani, Le Conte Ave., Rue Pixericourt, Avenue Suffren, Rue Malherbe/Manfalouti, Kentish Town Rd., Rue Cardinal Lemoine, Sharia Moulay Ismail,Rue de Rivoli, Isabella St, 19th st., Addison St., Durant Ave., Koenigsallee, Bancroft Way, Boulevard Pasteur, Happy Valley Rd., Rue de la Gare, Melrose St., Rue de Billancourt, Rue Martre...Rue Marcadet, Rue Monge, Tunbridge Rd., Belsize Park Gardens, Jefferson Davis Highway, Dwight Way, Square de Verdun, Rue Leon Frot, 35th Street NW, Sixth Avenue, Rue D'Alesia, Sharia Hassan Souktani, Le Conte Ave., Rue Pixericourt, Avenue Suffren, Rue Malherbe/Manfalouti, Kentish Town Rd., Rue Cardinal Lemoine, Sharia Moulay Ismail,Rue de Rivoli, Isabella St, 19th st., Addison St., Durant Ave., Koenigsallee, Bancroft Way, Boulevard Pasteur, Happy Valley Rd., Rue de la Gare, Melrose St., Rue de Billancourt, Rue Martre...Rue Marcadet, Rue Monge, Tunbridge Rd., Belsize Park Gardens, Jefferson Davis Highway, Dwight Way, Square de Verdun, Rue Leon Frot, 35th Street NW, Sixth Avenue, Rue D'Alesia, Sharia Hassan Souktani, Le Conte Ave., Rue Pixericourt, Avenue Suffren, Rue Malherbe/Manfalouti, Kentish Town Rd., Rue Cardinal Lemoine, Sharia Moulay Ismail,Rue de Rivoli, Isabella St, 19th st., Addison St., Durant Ave., Koenigsallee, Bancroft Way, Boulevard Pasteur, Happy Valley Rd., Rue de la Gare, Melrose St., Rue de Billancourt, Rue Martre...Rue Marcadet, Rue Monge, Tunbridge Rd., Belsize Park Gardens, Jefferson Davis Highway, Dwight Way, Square de Verdun, Rue Leon Frot, 35th Street NW, Sixth Avenue, Rue D'Alesia, Sharia Hassan Souktani, Le Conte Ave., Rue Pixericourt, Avenue Suffren, Rue Malherbe/Manfalouti, Kentish Town Rd., Rue Cardinal Lemoine, Sharia Moulay Ismail,Rue de Rivoli, Isabella St, 19th st., Addison St., Durant Ave., Koenigsallee, Bancroft Way, Boulevard Pasteur, Happy Valley Rd., Rue de la Gare, Melrose St., Rue de Billancourt, Rue Martre...Rue Marcadet, Rue Monge, Tunbridge Rd., Belsize Park Gardens, Jefferson Davis Highway, Dwight Way, Square de Verdun, Rue Leon Frot, 35th Street NW, Sixth Avenue, Rue D'Alesia, Sharia Hassan Souktani, Le Conte Ave., Rue Pixericourt, Avenue Suffren, Rue Malherbe/Manfalouti, Kentish Town Rd., Rue Cardinal Lemoine, Sharia Moulay Ismail,Rue de Rivoli, Isabella St, 19th st., Addison St., Lori Dr., Durant Ave., Koenigsallee, Bancroft Way, Boulevard Pasteur, Happy Valley Rd., Rue de la Gare, Melrose St., Rue de Billancourt, Lori Dr., Rue Martre...Rue Marcadet, Rue Monge, Tunbridge Rd., Belsize Park Gardens, Jefferson Davis Highway, Dwight Way, Square de Verdun, Rue Leon Frot, 35th Street NW, Sixth Avenue, Rue D'Alesia, Sharia Hassan Souktani, Le Conte Ave., Rue Pixericourt, Avenue Suffren, Rue Malherbe/Manfalouti, Kentish Town Rd., Rue Cardinal Lemoine, Sharia Moulay Ismail,Rue de Rivoli, Isabella St, 19th st., Addison St., Durant Ave., Koenigsallee, Bancroft Way, Boulevard Pasteur, Happy Valley Rd., Rue de la Gare, Melrose St., Rue de Billancourt, Rue Martre...Rue Marcadet, Rue Monge, Tunbridge Rd., Belsize Park Gardens, Jefferson Davis Highway, Dwight Way, Square de Verdun, Rue Leon Frot, 35th Street NW, Sixth Avenue, Rue D'Alesia, Sharia Hassan Souktani, Le Conte Ave., Rue Pixericourt, Avenue Suffren, Rue Malherbe/Manfalouti, Kentish Town Rd., Rue Cardinal Lemoine, Sharia Moulay Ismail,Rue de Rivoli, Isabella St, 19th st., Addison St., Durant Ave., Koenigsallee, Bancroft Way, Boulevard Pasteur, Happy Valley Rd., Rue de la Gare, Melrose St., Rue de Billancourt, Rue Martre...Rue Marcadet, Rue Monge, Tunbridge Rd., Belsize Park Gardens, Jefferson Davis Highway, Dwight Way, Square de Verdun, Rue Leon Frot, 35th Street NW, Sixth Avenue, Rue D'Alesia, Sharia Hassan Souktani, Le Conte Ave., Rue Pixericourt,Lori Dr., Avenue Suffren, Rue Malherbe/Manfalouti, Kentish Town Rd., Rue Cardinal Lemoine, Sharia Moulay Ismail,Rue de Rivoli, Isabella St, 19th st., Addison St., Durant Ave., Koenigsallee, Bancroft Way, Boulevard Pasteur, Happy Valley Rd., Rue de la Gare, Melrose St., Rue de Billancourt, Rue Martre,Rue Marcadet, Rue Monge, Tunbridge Rd., Belsize Park Gardens, Jefferson Davis Highway, Dwight Way, Square de Verdun, Rue Leon Frot, 35th Street NW, Sixth Avenue, Rue D'Alesia, Sharia Hassan Souktani, Le Conte Ave., Rue Pixericourt, Avenue Suffren, Rue Malherbe/Manfalouti, Kentish Town Rd., Rue Cardinal Lemoine, Sharia Moulay Ismail,Rue de Rivoli, Isabella St, 19th st., Addison St., Durant Ave., Koenigsallee, Bancroft Way, Boulevard Pasteur, Happy Valley Rd., Rue de la Gare, Melrose St., Rue de Billancourt, Rue Martre...Rue Marcadet, Rue Monge, Tunbridge Rd., Belsize Park Gardens, Jefferson Davis Highway, Dwight Way, Square de Verdun, Rue Leon Frot, 35th Street NW, Sixth Avenue, Rue D'Alesia, Sharia Hassan Souktani, Le Conte Ave., Rue Pixericourt, Avenue Suffren, Rue Malherbe/Manfalouti, Kentish Town Rd., Rue Cardinal Lemoine, Sharia Moulay Ismail,Rue de Rivoli, Isabella St, 19th st., Addison St., Durant Ave., Koenigsallee, Bancroft Way, Boulevard Pasteur, Happy Valley Rd., Rue de la Gare, Melrose St., Rue de Billancourt, Rue Martre...Rue Marcadet, Rue Monge, Tunbridge Rd., Belsize Park Gardens, Jefferson Davis Highway, Dwight Way, Square de Verdun, Rue Leon Frot, 35th Street NW, Sixth Avenue, Rue D'Alesia, Sharia Hassan Souktani, Le Conte Ave., Rue Pixericourt, Avenue Suffren, Rue Malherbe/Manfalouti, Kentish Town Rd., Rue Cardinal Lemoine, Sharia Moulay Ismail,Rue de Rivoli, Isabella St, 19th st., Addison St., Durant Ave., Koenigsallee, Bancroft Way, Boulevard Pasteur, Happy Valley Rd., Rue de la Gare, Melrose St., Rue de Billancourt, Rue Martre...Rue Marcadet, Rue Monge, Tunbridge Rd., Belsize Park Gardens, Jefferson Davis Highway, Dwight Way, Square de Verdun, Rue Leon Frot, 35th Street NW, Sixth Avenue, Rue D'Alesia, Sharia Hassan Souktani, Le Conte Ave., Rue Pixericourt, Avenue Suffren, Rue Malherbe/Manfalouti, Kentish Town Rd., Rue Cardinal Lemoine, Sharia Moulay Ismail,Rue de Rivoli, Isabella St, 19th st., Addison St., Durant Ave., Koenigsallee, Bancroft Way, Boulevard Pasteur, Happy Valley Rd., Rue de la Gare, Melrose St., Rue de Billancourt, Rue Martre...Rue Marcadet, Rue Monge, Tunbridge Rd., Belsize Park Gardens, Jefferson Davis Highway, Dwight Way, Square de Verdun, Rue Leon Frot, 35th Street NW, Sixth Avenue, Rue D'Alesia, Sharia Hassan Souktani, Le Conte Ave., Rue Pixericourt, Avenue Suffren, Rue Malherbe/Manfalouti, Kentish Town Rd., Rue Cardinal Lemoine, Sharia Moulay Ismail,Rue de Rivoli, Isabella St, 19th st., Addison St., Lori Dr., Durant Ave., Koenigsallee, Bancroft Way, Boulevard Pasteur, Happy Valley Rd., Rue de la Gare, Melrose St., Rue de Billancourt, Lori Dr., Rue Martre...Rue Marcadet, Rue Monge, Tunbridge Rd., Belsize Park Gardens, Jefferson Davis Highway, Dwight Way, Square de Verdun, Rue Leon Frot, 35th Street NW, Sixth Avenue, Rue D'Alesia, Sharia Hassan Souktani, Le Conte Ave., Rue Pixericourt, Avenue Suffren, Rue Malherbe/Manfalouti, Kentish Town Rd., Rue Cardinal Lemoine, Sharia Moulay Ismail,Rue de Rivoli, Isabella St, 19th st., Addison St., Durant Ave., Koenigsallee, Bancroft Way, Boulevard Pasteur, Happy Valley Rd., Rue de la Gare, Melrose St., Rue de Billancourt, Rue Martre...Rue Marcadet, Rue Monge, Tunbridge Rd., Belsize Park Gardens, Jefferson Davis Highway, Dwight Way, Square de Verdun, Rue Leon Frot, 35th Street NW, Sixth Avenue, Rue D'Alesia, Sharia Hassan Souktani, Le Conte Ave., Rue Pixericourt, Avenue Suffren, Rue Malherbe/Manfalouti, Kentish Town Rd., Rue Cardinal Lemoine, Sharia Moulay Ismail,Rue de Rivoli, Isabella St, 19th st., Addison St., Durant Ave., Koenigsallee, Bancroft Way, Boulevard Pasteur, Happy Valley Rd., Rue de la Gare, Melrose St., Rue de Billancourt, Rue Martre...Rue Marcadet, Rue Monge, Tunbridge Rd., Belsize Park Gardens, Jefferson Davis Highway, Dwight Way, Square de Verdun, Rue Leon Frot, 35th Street NW, Sixth Avenue, Rue D'Alesia, Sharia Hassan Souktani, Le Conte Ave., Rue Pixericourt,Lori Dr., Avenue Suffren, Rue Malherbe/Manfalouti, Kentish Town Rd., Rue Cardinal Lemoine, Sharia Moulay Ismail,Rue de Rivoli, Isabella St, 19th st., Addison St., Durant Ave., Koenigsallee, Bancroft Way, Boulevard Pasteur, Happy Valley Rd., Rue de la Gare, Melrose St., Rue de Billancourt, Rue Martre,Rue Marcadet, Rue Monge, Tunbridge Rd., Belsize Park Gardens, Jefferson Davis Highway, Dwight Way, Square de Verdun, Rue Leon Frot, 35th Street NW, Sixth Avenue, Rue D'Alesia, Sharia Hassan Souktani, Le Conte Ave., Rue Pixericourt, Avenue Suffren, Rue Malherbe/Manfalouti, Kentish Town Rd., Rue Cardinal Lemoine, Sharia Moulay Ismail,Rue de Rivoli, Isabella St, 19th st., Addison St., Durant Ave., Koenigsallee, Bancroft Way, Boulevard Pasteur, Happy Valley Rd., Rue de la Gare, Melrose St., Rue de Billancourt, Rue Martre...Rue Marcadet, Rue Monge, Tunbridge Rd., Belsize Park Gardens, Jefferson Davis Highway, Dwight Way, Square de Verdun, Rue Leon Frot, 35th Street NW, Sixth Avenue, Rue D'Alesia, Sharia Hassan Souktani, Le Conte Ave., Rue Pixericourt, Avenue Suffren, Rue Malherbe/Manfalouti, Kentish Town Rd., Rue Cardinal Lemoine, Sharia Moulay Ismail,Rue de Rivoli, Isabella St, 19th st., Addison St., Durant Ave., Koenigsallee, Bancroft Way, Boulevard Pasteur, Happy Valley Rd., Rue de la Gare, Melrose St., Rue de Billancourt, Rue Martre...Rue Marcadet, Rue Monge, Tunbridge Rd., Belsize Park Gardens, Jefferson Davis Highway, Dwight Way, Square de Verdun, Rue Leon Frot, 35th Street NW, Sixth Avenue, Rue D'Alesia, Sharia Hassan Souktani, Le Conte Ave., Rue Pixericourt, Avenue Suffren, Rue Malherbe/Manfalouti, Kentish Town Rd., Rue Cardinal Lemoine, Sharia Moulay Ismail,Rue de Rivoli, Isabella St, 19th st., Addison St., Durant Ave., Koenigsallee, Bancroft Way, Boulevard Pasteur, Happy Valley Rd., Rue de la Gare, Melrose St., Rue de Billancourt, Rue Martre...Rue Marcadet, Rue Monge, Tunbridge Rd., Belsize Park Gardens, Jefferson Davis Highway, Dwight Way, Square de Verdun, Rue Leon Frot, 35th Street NW, Sixth Avenue, Rue D'Alesia, Sharia Hassan Souktani, Le Conte Ave., Rue Pixericourt, Avenue Suffren, Rue Malherbe/Manfalouti, Kentish Town Rd., Rue Cardinal Lemoine, Sharia Moulay Ismail,Rue de Rivoli, Isabella St, 19th st., Addison St., Durant Ave., Koenigsallee, Bancroft Way, Boulevard Pasteur, Happy Valley Rd., Rue de la Gare, Melrose St., Rue de Billancourt, Rue Martre...Rue Marcadet, Rue Monge, Tunbridge Rd., Belsize Park Gardens, Jefferson Davis Highway, Dwight Way, Square de Verdun, Rue Leon Frot, 35th Street NW, Sixth Avenue, Rue D'Alesia, Sharia Hassan Souktani, Le Conte Ave., Rue Pixericourt, Avenue Suffren, Rue Malherbe/Manfalouti, Kentish Town Rd., Rue Cardinal Lemoine, Sharia Moulay Ismail,Rue de Rivoli, Isabella St, 19th st., Addison St., Lori Dr., Durant Ave., Koenigsallee, Bancroft Way, Boulevard Pasteur, Happy Valley Rd., Rue de la Gare, Melrose St., Rue de Billancourt, Lori Dr., Rue Martre...Rue Marcadet, Rue Monge, Tunbridge Rd., Belsize Park Gardens, Jefferson Davis Highway, Dwight Way, Square de Verdun, Rue Leon Frot, 35th Street NW, Sixth Avenue, Rue D'Alesia, Sharia Hassan Souktani, Le Conte Ave., Rue Pixericourt, Avenue Suffren, Rue Malherbe/Manfalouti, Kentish Town Rd., Rue Cardinal Lemoine, Sharia Moulay Ismail,Rue de Rivoli, Isabella St, 19th st., Addison St., Durant Ave., Koenigsallee, Bancroft Way, Boulevard Pasteur, Happy Valley Rd., Rue de la Gare, Melrose St., Rue de Billancourt, Rue Martre...Rue Marcadet, Rue Monge, Tunbridge Rd., Belsize Park Gardens, Jefferson Davis Highway, Dwight Way, Square de Verdun, Rue Leon Frot, 35th Street NW, Sixth Avenue, Rue D'Alesia, Sharia Hassan Souktani, Le Conte Ave., Rue Pixericourt, Avenue Suffren, Rue Malherbe/Manfalouti, Kentish Town Rd., Rue Cardinal Lemoine, Sharia Moulay Ismail,Rue de Rivoli, Isabella St, 19th st., Addison St., Durant Ave., Koenigsallee, Bancroft Way, Boulevard Pasteur, Happy Valley Rd., Rue de la Gare, Melrose St., Rue de Billancourt, Rue Martre...Rue Marcadet, Rue Monge, Tunbridge Rd., Belsize Park Gardens, Jefferson Davis Highway, Dwight Way, Square de Verdun, Rue Leon Frot, 35th Street NW, Sixth Avenue, Rue D'Alesia, Sharia Hassan Souktani, Le Conte Ave., Rue Pixericourt,Lori Dr., Avenue Suffren, Rue Mal Jefferson Davis Highway, Dwight Way, Square de Verdun, Rue Leon Frot, 35th Street NW, Sixth Avenue, Rue D'Alesia, Sharia Hassan Souktani, Le Conte Ave., Rue Pixericourt, Avenue Suffren, Rue Malherbe/Manfalouti, Kentish Town Rd., R
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4. Place du Tertre : “draw me ”
If you visit the "place du Tertre" at the top of the Montmartre hill, dozens of artists will propose to draw or paint your portrait.
I offered visitors pages with various versions of my face printed on them and asked them to complete the drawings of me.
5. 28, rue des Abbesses, "Toile Blanche » (Blank Canvas)
Perhaps it was the progress of chemotherapy that made it difficult to conceive a portrait as a likeness or myself. Without eyebrows or lashes, my face became a canvas to be painted each morning. The photographs of painting on my face suggest the way I had to adjust to a new version of my self with each passing day or hour. Surgery and chemotherapy induced an experience of subjective instability and bodily plasticity. Panting my face, I found a kind of stable version of self in the midst of the flux.
6. 2, Rue Germain Pilon, kinésithérapeute/ Physical therapist
7. Across from 38, rue Durantin: “Exposition temporaire ? » 7. face au 38, rue Durantin: “Exposition temporaire ? »
There were originally 12 images in this series; one for each of the months I spent in Montmartre. One picture dissapeared in the course of the exhibition, which was hung in a pedestrian street, on the bars on the windows of a school.
8. 77 Rue Lamark, Librairie" l'Eternel Retour", "Eternal Retour" Bookshop : “Gather Words”
I completed copy edits and proofs for my book "Shifting Worlds, Shaping Fieldwork, A Memoir of Anthropology and Art during the months in Montmartre.
I continued to work on "Gather Wood, Gather Words" with new collages.
pages à feuilleter / leaf through the pages
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9. 64, rue Damrémont : Pharmacie: Intoxications
Although I received Taxol or other chemotherapy drugs directly at the hospital, the necessity of additional drugs and creams and special cosmetics to control the side effects of those infusions made the local pharmacy one of the places in the neighborhood that I visited most regularly.
Ode to If
The yew is an If in French.
Guardian of churchyards
It roots creed in doubt, believing
Than not, Most ancient tree
It pays no heed to generations or centuries,
or the double effects of its taxanes
on living beings.
Yew poison is nothing like Socrates’ hemlock.
Its movements precede judgement,
honor and principle are questioned.
If infusions bypass the lips, altogether,
a catheter planted in the breast
leads the doubtful melange directly
to the heart, and mind.
The cure destroys all cells that
grow in haste, ancient recipes are
careless of side effects; at times the body
vibrates, like lute strings echoed
in a slow-grown, yew-hewn chamber.
Note by note, I become bittersweet,
a queston, an if.
9. En face de 204 rue Marcadet : « Merci pour la musique ! »
View and soundscape from my living room window.