I was born in Gainesville, Florida and lived there for the first 18 years of my life. I found shark's teeth in its creeks and itched bites from its mosquitos until they bled. I swam in its rivers, I skated at its arcades, I complained about how boring it was.
I made this project during the last summer that I would spend in the town. While going to college out of state, Gainesville had slowly transitioned from my home to just the place I visited in between my normal life. The gravity of this hit me only after I moved back for the last time.
I'm not sure how you can say goodbye to a place. It will never respond to your letters or phone calls, it won’t wish you a happy birthday or go out to drinks with you when you visit. It won’t be there to share a shaky laugh about your new apartment and it won’t notice as you gradually drift apart. It might not even notice you have left. I made this work in a desperate effort to hold on to the small pieces that fill in the place I remember. I hope it remembers me.
