Entertainment
pen pals
For all those times you wished that lena dunham sent you emails, courtesy of miranda july.
Growing up, pen pals were everything. From camp friends to random kids I'd met one winter on a cruise ship, the letters they sent me--covered in stickers, recounting the details of their far-away lives--provided a fictional alternate reality to the suburban life I led. Having one arrive in the mailbox? Almost as exciting as getting the new Delia's catalog. But whether I have age or technology to blame, eventually the letters stopped coming and the notion of a pen pal disappeared from life.
Which is why, if your experiences were anything like mine, Miranda July's new project could blow your mind. The artist's latest work, called We Think Alone, exists within your inbox; that is, every Monday (starting today and running through November 11, 2013) a themed collection of 10 emails curated by a big-name creative arrive via email. Think personal musings on, say, money from Lena Dunham, Kirsten Dunst, Rodarte's Kate and Laura Mulleavy, Catherine Opie, and even Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
According to July, it's all about getting a glimpse into someone else's life. "I'm always trying to get my friends to forward me emails they've sent to other people--to their mom, their boyfriend, their agent--the more mundane the better. How they comport themselves in email is so intimate, almost obscene--a glimpse of them from their own point of view," is how she puts it in the official release.
Sound good? Even better, it's totally free to sign-up; just click here to get on the list. And yes, it's totally cool to tell people that you're now pen pals with Dunham.
