"We just thought we would try it out" was what brought our efforts together in this semester long traveling project.

Beginning as a formal exploration into the history of Paris, IL, we set out. Katie had all of the maps, Philip the car,
and together the curiosity to extend our studio practice and hit the road. Although our intentions were as wide open
as I-74 and I-57, our interests began with the exchange of names from Europe to the United States, such as Paris,
Rome, Berlin. Being named as such, they seemed like they would have a history that would be worth exploring.
Did the inhabitants think of themselves as Parisians or people from Paris? Was there at all a relationship between
the Illinois town and their European counterpart?

Before the end of the first excursion, we knew the conversations went much deeper than solely their names.   
Instead, we were traversing lands that unraveled into a dialogue about geography, borders, disruptions, insiders
and outsiders.

Our passage through Paris only fueled more trips, the following Friday we headed out for Rome, IL and the Friday
after that we hit Berlin. We were interested in capturing these places though our conversations as one might take
a snapshot of a landmark.

In a ten to fifteen minute formal slideshow regarding our travels, we touch on patriotism, national and local disasters,
and rural American lifestyles all while carefully negotiating our position as outsiders and the patronizing attitude
often taken with such small towns.  In conjunction with our slideshow presentation, a guidebook allowing onlookers
to participate in our travels was created based on the location of the presentation. These durable, tyvek bound
guidebooks include descriptions of each town, foldout mapquests, a section for individual notes and a CD audio
tour of the place.

Both a travelogue and a subtle critique of the disconnections between names, places, and people, this site-specific
project attempts to negotiate what it means to measure the distance between one place and another.

Watch a video of the slideshow / Request a guidebook

2005. Katie Hargrave and Philip Matesic

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