Corresponding over Time
On how we communicate and an art exhibit
As I mentioned in my last letter, I’ve been part of a collaboration with nine others from the Kinship Photography Collective, which has resulted in a curated group exhibit at The Shenkman Centre in Ottawa called Correspondences.
For my part in the exhibit, I chose as my subject area the Niagara Glen, one section of a gorge running along the Niagara River, which joins Lake Erie and Lake Ontario. Over the last twelve thousand years, Niagara Falls has eroded more than 7 miles, creating this great gorge running along both sides of the river. The exposed rocks at the base of the gorge where I walk date back more than 400 million years. In other words, the past is present.
I’m always mesmerized by the way that the water has shaped the gorge over very long periods of time, through the building up of layers and subsequent erosion. In my recent visits, I became fascinated by the way the trees and rock wrap around each other (image above), like an intimate correspondence over deep time. This made me look into the word “correspondence.”
The Word Correspondence
To correspond is a verb, meaning to communicate in some way. But, the original meaning has to do with two things being in agreement or having some similarity or being in relationship or alignment. Correspondence is a noun and when I think of this word, what immediately comes to mind are handwritten letters.
I’m lucky to have stored away many treasured letters from friends and family, mainly from my early years. When I was a teenager, my family moved to a different city and I missed my old friends terribly. We had no Internet then and phone calls were expensive so I waited anxiously for letters from my friends to arrive. That connection was a lifeline during that time.
I also have many letters from my Mom, who died at the age of 51. Some are warm and loving and some are more difficult, from the time of her divorce from my Dad. They all portray a real picture of that time and her voice lives on through those letters.
And, I have a very special letter, framed in my office, from Frank Sinatra. I wrote to him a year after my father’s death and he graciously wrote back.
Hand-written correspondence is an intimate conversation over time. Generally you have some kind of relationship, and therefore affection, for the person you’re writing. You’re thinking of that person as you’re writing; what you want to tell them, wondering how they’re doing, and what they might be thinking and feeling. You eagerly anticipate their response.
Unfortunately, the old-fashioned writing of letters isn’t as common as it once was. Today, correspondence can be any form of communication, between two or more people (or species), where each responds to the other in a back and forth way (co-response). Emails and texts are not quite the same as long-form letters but can be treasured just as much.
Corresponding versus Interacting
One of my fellow artists in the show, Vera Saltzman, alerted me to a book called Correspondences, which got me thinking of the word in a whole new way. In the quote below, author Tim Ingold distinguishes between interactions and correspondences.
“If, today, our world is in crisis, it is because we have forgotten how to correspond. We have been so wrapped up in our interactions with others that we have failed to notice how both we and they go along together in the current of time. Correspondence is about the ways along which lives, in their perpetual unfolding or becoming, simultaneously join together and differentiate themselves, one from another.”
I often write about paying attention to the interactions or encounters in the world that we have every day; about bringing a sense of openness and listening to these, a willingness to be changed. This is what Ingold is getting at too, but he describes most interactions today as being transactional rather than responsive; where each party comes with their own ideas and objectives and are only looking to serve their separate interests. They’re not looking to be changed in any way.
A true correspondence, however, adds another dimension; the fact that the interactions are ongoing, happening over time. Everything is always changing or evolving, so our response at one time may differ from our response at a future time. Nothing is fixed. While each party is separate, their lives join together and are transformed by each other. This is what I was seeing in the Niagara Glen, as the trees and rock and water shape each other over time.
We are all constantly corresponding with the world around us. The title of our exhibit represents artists who seek to instil greater intimacy and connection with each other and the more-than-human world, as correspondents who are in ongoing communication.
None of us live in isolation and it serves us to act in a way that benefits all, to serve life. It’s interesting that the word response is tied to responsibility. If ever there was a time for more intimate correspondences, this is it. Ingold says that “we need to attend to the world around us, and to respond with sensitivity and judgment.”
What if we approached all of our interactions as ongoing conversations, as correspondences over time? Are you treating your co-respondent with care and concern? How can we simultaneously differentiate ourselves and join together at the same time?
Note: The Correspondences exhibit will be up at the Shenkman from February 22nd - April 18th. There will be a public reception with the artists on Wednesday, March 5th from 6 - 8 p.m. Admission is free. No registration required. If you’re in the Ottawa area, I would love to see you there. If you know someone who might be interested, please let them know. Here is a link with all of the details.
Lovely essay Kim! 👏 I think the most important point is as you say:
"While each party is separate, their lives join together and are transformed by each other."
That fine balance between separate and together is where the most amazing chemistry happen!
Kim, you have said this so well. I just love what you’ve written here. 😍