SO, I'm browsing the Post Gazette website this morning while my work program decides to take a snooze fest, and what do I find but a Postal Puzzle in Polish Hill in Pittsburgh.
Apparently, some British chick who moved to Pittsburgh from England because a dream told her to, decided to do a little "art" project.
When I say art project, I mean sending out over 620 hand written letters and postcards that arrived in the mailboxes of the residents of Polish Hill.
This story & image are both directly from PGH Post Gazette's website. (sorry PG, was just easier this way, don't hurt me). Read and Enjoy:
Stringing Christmas lights around the fence of the Immaculate Heart of Mary Church on Brereton Street yesterday, Cecilia Mocello said, "Father got one. It had something to do with corn. It made no sense."
The Rev. Joseph Swierczynski was busy conducting a funeral at the time; Ms. Mocello is his secretary.
"I got one," said Ruth Rizner, who was also stringing lights. "It made no sense. My sister got one."
The aptly named "mysterious letters" project of artists Lenka Clayton and Michael Crowe -- one living in Pittsburgh, one in England -- zeroed in on the hillside enclave, the second locale of the letter-writing project whose first recipients live in a seaside village in Ireland.
At Tai + Lee Architects on Brereton Street, architect William Hopkins received an envelope at his home up the street. The address is written in rounded, no-frills British handwriting; Polish Hill is not capitalized. Inside was a strip of a letter. The paper and the envelope look grayish and well-handled, like artifacts from an attic trunk. On the back of the strip instructions are written around and inside round stickers like the kind used to price yard sale items. "You have part 2," it reads. Two nearby neighbors have parts one and three. Who has part four?
"Maybe that's the mystery," said architect Alina Keebler, studying Mr. Hopkins' letter strip.
"I haven't had a chance to talk to the neighbors" who have the other parts, Mr. Hopkins said, adding, "It's an interesting project."
Architect Cathy Chung, who lives nearby, received a postcard addressed to her Chinese name, Chia-Jung. "It said, 'Hello Chia, how are you? My friends and I want to revive the tradition of letter writing.'"
It was made out of what looks like a holiday paper bag, she said.
"I feel like I missed out," said Ms. Keebler, who lives in Regent Square.
Over the past week, Polish Hill residents have inundated the Polish Hill Civic Association with calls and visits asking what in the heck this is all about. Terry Doloughty, who heads the association, posted a reassurance on http://blogski.phcapgh.org after doing a little research online.
People have since gone online to read about the project and the letters. They are all recorded at www.mysteriousletters.blogspot.com.
Several residents of Polish Hill have tried to engage the artists, many curious as to how they were chosen.
Ms. Clayton explained: "Through a series of fortuitous circumstances both Michael and I happened to be in Pittsburgh and chose the neighbourhood of Polish Hill as it had a manageable number of households (620) for us to write to in the two weeks we had. Also we liked the idea of sending letters up to a group of people living on a hill, looking down over the rest of the city."
She said the letters bore no return address. The intention was to cause recipients to talk amongst themselves. There is no exhibition, no record of the project beyond what's on the Web site, no end product.
Of her collaboration with Mr. Crowe, she said, "Our aim is to write to every household in the world."
Ms. Clayton said she moved from England to Pittsburgh with her husband, Seth, "due to a mysterious vision. I saw the word 'Pittsburgh' written in block fancy letters in my mind and we decided on that basis to move here."
Not everyone was struck with delight by the whimsy of the project.
Deb Jozwiak, a resident of Melwood Avenue, said a neighbor came by with several letters and said, "What is this? We all got these up on Bethoven.' He's a SWAT guy trained in threats and he said he was afraid to open them up, worrying about white powder.
"Some neighbors were kind of spooked by it. One woman who lives by herself got a letter that said something about coming to dinner."
Leslie Clague, a staff member at the Polish Hill Civic Association, said the office has fielded numerous calls and e-mails, some from people scared or made anxious by what the messages might mean.
"The reactions brought into contrast the different populations we have here," said Ms. Clague. "We are so diverse on Polish Hill. Some renters are disappointed they didn't get one," while one elderly woman who recently buried her husband received a letter in which he is mentioned, she said. Another was alarmed to read that two people she doesn't know want to visit her."
"I don't know, there are things about it that seem a little ..." Ms. Clague waved her hand back and forth to indicate mixed feelings. "If you are fearful, it doesn't take much" to inspire fear.
"It's a psychological test. To me, it's interesting on that level," she said.
Call me jaded and cynical, but Clayton sounds a bit off her rocker, no?
First, if I did everything my dreams tell me to, I would be running from a re-appearing crazy killer through my old high school, which looks eerily like the Cathedral of Learning. In rainbow toe socks.
Second, I love how the Polish Hillians' (thats right, Polish Hillians - way better than Polish Hillites) reactions are so extreme of one another. One guy is like, Oh man,I must go on a quest to find parts 2 & 3 of the letter, and the old lady in her babushka down the street from him is all, who the hell is Ben Affleck?!
Lastly, are we for real calling this "art"? Because I dont like it, and I'm putting it in quotes to imply my adamant doubt. I've never been one for abstract art, and this is about as abstract as it gets. This 620+ letter project is as much "art" as my 2-year old cousin's drawings...which, in sum, is a colorful lump on top of a dot.
I'm not sure if this is the best or the worst of the 'Burgh, but I sure as hell haven't heard about this happening anywhere else in the world, so it certainly is....something.
