BOOK & INSTALLATION

ME : YOU is a collaborative project by Laura Rose Reiter and Susie Nielsen/Farm Projects.

Reiter, a writer, researcher and educator, met Nielsen in 2021 when she came by Farm Projects. The two immediately engaged in random conversations. At the time, Reiter had started to write about some of her life experiences. After completing a selection of her writings, Reiter/Nielsen worked on creating a book of her experiences and then Nielsen curated an exhibition to accompany the book. These life stories are seemingly remarkable and unremarkable moments when we connect with people and places. Theses experiences layer upon us and form who we are in the world.

Reiter was not interested in writing a chronological memoir where there was a beginning and an unknown ending. As the project evolved, the concept was to tell little vignettes or stories about Reiter’s life that might resonate with others in their own experiences. The project began with the book and grew into creating a physical representation of the project. The two separate mediums are part of the project. Ultimately, life is all about connection. Reiter and Nielsen created a space to provoke this connection to ourselves and to others. The intent of this project is to be open-ended and thought provoking. It is a suggestion of reflection and empathy. It is not about any one person. It is about all of us, and their intent is that YOU, the viewer/reader, will walk away from this show with thoughts of your own connections, and how they have inspired you to be YOU.

Most of the imagery is generated from Reiter’s history, family photos, written letters and ephemeral objects that relate to an experience. By looking through the experience of vulnerability, loss, memory, freedom and personal growth, we are asking the viewer to connect to their own experiences. Using Reiter’s story gives an empathetic view to moments in all our lives, something that is essential to being part of the whole world.

Reiter gives us the opportunity to tell our own story. It could be anyone’s story. Nielsen and Reiter’s connection formed before they knew much about each other. Nielsen writes: “When I read her stories, they stirred thoughts and emotions in me that may not even be how she experienced it. I am connected to her.”

Laura Rose Reiter is a writer, researcher and educator. She calls herself a “late bloomer of life.” After 20 years of marriage, she continued her education while working full-time. She has academic degrees from Harvard University (Ext. Program), the University of Notre Dame and the University of Southern California. She was a Visiting Scholar at Notre Dame while working on a research grant, “Well-being Among Single Adults”, funded by the Retirement Research Foundation, Chicago, Illinois. After receiving her MA degree at USC, she was a Visiting Scholar researching Infectious Diseases among Native Americans. She currently lives on Cape Cod, Massachusetts.