A good 75% of my artistic output over the last 11 years has been in the form of letters (or enclosed objects, drawings, etc.) sent to friends, a fact which always proves compiling my work unsatisfying. I've considered documenting things before I mail them, but that seems to corrupt the gift aspect of a letter, something purely from you to them. As years go by with this information superhighway I find myself sending fewer letters, and more dramatically, maybe only seeing about half of them reciprocated. Still, it's an antiquated ideal I'll stick with as long as there's some kind of postal service.
Below is documentation of an exhibition I did called "Things I Didn't Throw Away" in 2004 in which I covered the gallery walls in letters and anything I've received from friends through the mail over the years. Though I've received 6 years worth of correspondence since, I doubt I'll do an exhibition like it again as it's always a strange trip down memory lane to sort through hundreds of old letters and besides, people don't want their personal shit hanging on a wall. Hopefully when I die someone will comb through my address book and assemble some kind of collected letters of Christopher D. Kline archive. Until then, I'll continue throwing my efforts to the wind.
