Wednesday 11 May 2011

My Favourite Post Secrets - from this week!

Hi all :)
A little bit earlier than last week I thought I would do a Post Secret blog.


I realised that in my earlier blogs about Post Secret I didn’t say what it was all about, so before I talk about it anymore I will present to you a little bit about the site, who owns it and why it was started.

Post Secret was started by Frank Warren as a Community art project back in 2005. He asked strangers across America to write a secret on a postcard and send it to him. No restrictions were placed on the content of the card, other than it must be your secret, and that it had never been told before. Warren has now been posting between 10 and 20 anonymous secrets on his blog http://www.postsecret.com/ every Sunday for the last 6 years without fail (with only a hand full of missed days over that time).

I discovered this blog in my first year of college, recommended to myself by a class mate called Flo. It soon became a tradition on Monday mornings in college to go into the IT suite and check that week’s secrets with different people over the 2 years I spent there. Comments were made on the quality of their design, on the artistic-ness of the message and we always loved (I still do) an encrypted message to work out. But I like to think we never judged the content. These were people’s secrets, and it was not for me to judge what ever event or thought they needed to share.

I have been visiting the site every Sunday evening and saving secrets for the last 2 years now, and have compiled quite a collection. I only save my favourite secrets, as I am not creating a record of what has been posted but a scrapbook folder of the ones that drew me in.

The content of the blog has inspired many other projects, that I only learned the extent of its reach when researching for this post today. There are 5 directly affiliated blog sites that post secrets, some in English with translations, and some are sent in native languages. Currently there has been 5 books published including secrets never seen before. Enlarged copies of the secrets were used in the Washington Art Gallery for an exhibit, and Warren had done a number of Post Secret Events in American Colleges. The All American Rejects even used the project as the background for their song – Dirty Little Secret. (see the end for links and videos)


So with the introduction over, I will place my favourite secrets from the original Post Secret blog this week. Keep in mind that it was Mother's day in America last Sunday, hence the topics.


Am I the only one who wants to know what?



I found Wally (or Waldo as he is called in America) in this picture quite quickly.
But I can't help but wonder if there is a cartoon of this persons Mum that is more important.



The construction of this secret is unusual and that's why I was so attracted to it.





The links:



http://postsecret-uk.blogspot.com/ - UK version of the blog.

http://postsecretfrance.blogspot.com/ - French language version.
http://postsecretdeutsch.blogspot.com/ - German language version. [translations available]
http://postsecretpt.blogs.sapo.pt/ - Portuguese language version.
http://elmundopostsecret.blogspot.com/ - English secrets translated into Spanish.


All American Rejects song:





Thank you all for reading, 

Love Rie xx

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