Other People's Keys

"God bless central heating."

January 28th, 2009

My dear Miss Hommel,

This rather humble key belonged to a medium-sized oak chest that I ended up using for firewood.  It was a dark and stormy night, the kind of night that makes a lone—and rather chilly— pilgrim take a crowbar to antique furniture in order to feed a dying fire.  The crowbar was not only necessary to take the chest apart, but also necessary to get into the damn thing  You see, my dear, the key went missing many months prior and was finally located way after its partner had been immolated.  Now, where was the key?  Why, it was inside a filing cabinet that was locked tight… with half a key stuck in the lock for good meaure.

And so the key was orphaned.  A sacrifice in the wintertime… it was either her or me.  Upon breaking the chest, the contents were revealed: four bottles of whiskey, books on subjects from farriery to Freemasonry, a fob pendant with a photograph of a dapper Victorian gentleman with a fussy moustache, his journal from 1882, a set of silver front knives, a pair of pince-nez, a small brass inkwell from Vienna (which is being implemented in this letter), and a Chinese puzzle box.

I stumbled upon this key today, whilst looking for whiskey in a drawer.  I’m much warmer these days.  God bless central heating.

My personal regards,
Max

p.s. I also include this little fellow as a bonus.  I’m sure you can figure him out.

Other People's Keys... it's not dead

For those of you who think this is totally tl;dr, here are a few bullet points:

1.)  If you sent me a key and then you moved, email me (beth hommel at gmail) your new address so I can send you a THING.

2.)  Yes, I am still accepting keys.  Probably when I am an old lady I will still be collecting keys.  My house will be full of keys.  I think I sealed my fate the night I got that first one tattooed on my arm.  

3.)  I am going to be updating this blog with photos of the keys I’ve gotten.  Yay!  Watch this space for yours.

4.)  I love you.

—-

So.  I haven’t updated this blog in ages, but let me tell you… there’s so much to be said.  

I cannot believe how many keys have come in the mail.  Here’s a stack of key letters I still need to photograph, respond to, and string:

It’s intimidating!  But I’m going to get through them, because these keys and stories are too good not to be shared.

While I was on tour, people gave me keys not in envelopes.  Not all of these have people or stories to go with them.  Do you recognize your keys?

Other things worth talking about:  YES, I am still accepting keys, even with the backlog, even with the threatening-to-take-over-my-life nature of this project.  I love this.  So much.  

And other people seem to love it too.  Here’s some KEY ART that people have made for me (and there’s more than I need to photograph and put her, including SHIRTS from Cynthia and Hayley and a beautiful painting by Lucy and another beautiful painting by Kayla and a beautiful pastel drawing by Lauren and probably 10 others I am forgetting.)

This is by the fucking awesome Sylvia K:

This poem is by the fantastic Hayley:

This song (“The One About Keys”) is by the legendary Edgar Gonzalez, Jr. (I cannot wait to hear this in person):

And this (“Orphans”) is by the incredibly talented and just plain incredible Kayla Oberlin (ditto):

I love that so much art—- for me and for others.  I love that so many of you are reaching out with your keys and stories, which are fucking amazing.  

I love life.

I love you.

Love (obviously),

Beth

So, the keys have started to arrive. 

I am… stunned.. at what I am getting in the mail. Not just the keys, but the STORIES of the keys. I love this. This is an amazing, unexpected light in my life. 

We are making ART together. I didn’t even know it. 

(I am also sad, because apparently keys that are not wrapped in something do not go through the mail that well. A couple of letters arrived torn open with no keys. For those of you who haven’t yet sent them, wrap the keys in several sheets of paper or just cover the ENTIRE envelope in clear packing tape. That will do the trick.)

I have decided to document the keys and stories I get in the mail on this blog. 

For those of you who have already sent keys, I am assembling your packages of things tonight. Presents in the mail. 

Love,
Beth

I have what I think is a fun game.

I have started collecting keys. They’ve been coming into my life in droves. I find them on the street and in the pockets of jackets I don’t remember wearing. 

I want more. I want to hang them from my ceiling with dental floss to create strange upside-down key forests. The wind will blow and they’ll make music.

I’ll be prepared to open any locked door I might encounter.

So I will make you a deal.

Send me a key to something. A stray you’ve had hanging about since you changed the locks or something old you found in your grandmother’s jewelry box or the key to the Camaro your ex-boyfriend totaled three summers ago. 

(Tips:  Tape the key to an index card and then fold paper around it.  Cover the entire envelope with packing tape so it doesn’t rip open.)

When I get your key, I will take a photograph of it and post the photograph along with the story you send on this blog.  

I will also send something back to you. I’m not sure what it will be, but I will wander around my apartment and I will put things into envelopes and I will put stamps on the envelopes and mail them to you. 

This will be fun. 

Beth Hommel
266 Van Buren Street
Brooklyn, NY 11221

Yes, I just posted my address on the internet. When I was a kid, EVERYBODY’S address was in the telephone book. 

I told Amanda I’d use my home address for a project we’re working on that would involve TONS of fanmail coming to my house. She asked if I cared if I woke up to find kids with Dresden Dolls tattoos sitting on my steps.

I told her if they could survive the drive-bys, I’d invite them in for tea. 

Love,
Beth