A Story that Never Begins
Video, 2022
“We like to imagine that our life follows some kind of trajectory, like the plot of a novel, and that by recognizing its arc we might, in turn, become its author. But often what we feel instead is a sense of precariousness—a gut-level suspicion that hard work, thrift, and following the rules won’t give us control over the story, much less guarantee a happy ending. For all that, we keep on hoping, and that persuades us to keep on living.”
The video works as an introduction to something that never actually begins. The video script draws heavily on text from both “Ghosts of My Life” and “Cruel Optimism.” I weave the phrasing from these two texts with my own writing.