A Letter Can Always Reach its Destination

For over a decade Joana Hadjithomas & Khalil Joreige have been collecting spam and scam emails instead of automatically relegating them to the trash as most of us do. These unsolicited emails pry on our empathy for monetary donations or promise us easy-made fortunes. Originating often in countries where corruption is rife, these emails are stories and documents rooted within specific historical and geo-political moments. As such these narratives of swindle can be read as representations of our time, unintentional narrations of history, told by characters which constitute a fictive presence, but are sent by a real person. Hadjithomas & Joreige have articulated an imaginary embodiment of these emails that clutter our inboxes on a daily basis. They have transformed the textual source material of selected spam and scam into visual narratives, image representations that becomes pieces of fiction by themselves, and beg the viewer’s suspension of disbelief. Said by non-professional actors, the emails seem transformed into scenarios for monologues; stories which become captivating, or even moving because they are told by what seems to be a “real” person. Nevertheless, the absent presence and complex layering of technological communication is echoed in the display, where one projection is ephemerally super-imposed upon another, creating a ghostlike sensibility where the virtual and physical meet.