For the Love of Strangers. (2007)
In
For the love of strangers, I sought to construct a suspension of disbelief between two strangers that centered on the fate of an old one-horse trailer. I purchased a one-horse trailer in Dracut, Massachusetts, with the floor rusted out: a useless one-horse trailer. In order to give it back its purpose, I flipped it over, cut it in half, and turned it into a boat. I then posted help-wanted ads looking for people to help me row this boat onehorse power in order to give it back its purpose.
But I couldn't do it alone.
"I made a boat from an old one horse trailer. If you help me row it one horse power, I will row you wherever you want to go for free. We start in
Providence."
Neither me, nor the strangers in the boat with me really believed in what we were doing. Yet we each lied to each other for the other's benefit, and I was
interested in that moment when our suspension of disbelief would break down - either through boredom, fear, exasperation, or a sense of comfort with each other - and we would admit that neither of us really bought it.
Yet, I still believe we helped that trailer.
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© christopher robbins 1998-now