I WISH TO SAY (THE BIRTHDAY PROJECT)
By Sheryl Oring with photos by Dhanraj Emanuel

2008, Offset printed, 140 pages, 8.25 x 8.25"

In summer 2006, artist Sheryl Oring set out on a cross-country roadtrip with an old-fashioned manual typewriter in hand. In eight places across the country, she set up a public "office" and invited passersby to dictate cards for President Bush's 60th birthday. Dressed in vintage clothing, Oring typed up people's comments, while photographer Dhanraj Emanuel took portraits of each participant. From Prospect Park in Brooklyn to Yosemite National Park in California, they met people who spoke from their heart in hopes that the President would hear.

Named ABC News’ Person of the Week by Peter Jennings for her performance piece “I Wish to Say” during the 2004 Republican Convention in New York City, Oring is a former journalist (The New York Times, the San Francisco Chronicle, Die Welt) whose provocative work often explores the intersection of language, boundaries, and memory. Her past work includes “Writing Home,” a performance in which she invited people to dictate letters to their ancestors; and “Writer’s Block,” a sculptural installation made out of hundreds of antique typewriters. She has received fellowships from the Creative Capital Foundation, New York Foundation for the Arts and the Robert Bosch Foundation; held a residency as part of the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council’s Swing Space program; and exhibited in museums, cultural centers, galleries and public spaces in the United States, Europe and India.

Dhanraj Emanuel’s fascination with photography began as a child when his father’s discarded cameras became tools for his imagination. He completed a BFA in photography from the Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University in 1994 and established himself as an editorial and commercial photographer in Hyderabad, India. Emanuel moved to the United States for graduate study at the University of Memphis and received an MFA in photography in 2003. His work has been shown in the 7th Annual Artwallah Festival and Exhibition, Los Angeles; Post-Colonialism and After, Symposium and Exhibition at the University of South Florida; Five Degrees, White Couch Temporary in Brooklyn; and Kalahita Art Foundation, India.

 

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