i will have to post this in several parts as i'm doing it though email and have a lot of images to show. i decided to post about this installation i did in 2005 at el museo del barrio for two reasons, one because i owe it to  the piece and two because i was reminded of it by looking at the i wish your wish piece by brazilian artist rivane neuenschwander at new museum.

eat a scar/donate a scar was a participative installation i first did at the mission cultural center in san francisco. in the later new york version, i installed scar cookies in a room at el museo, i was invited to create this installation as part of the day of the dead celebrations.

each cookie had a hand drawn scar on it (by me) and was signed on the back. each cookie was placed inside a zip loc bag and behind it was a piece of color cardstock. i invited the public to donate me their scars by writing them on the cardstock. if they did so, they could take the scar cookie and eat it. the idea behind this was of healing, by containing their scars in a bag and leaving them hanging on a wall, they could let go of something painful in their lives and eat something sweet and comforting. the piece was a success, it was moving to participate in it for the public and for me to see it transform and grow as more and more people gave me their scars.

by the end of the day, i had a roomful of scars and so many things to think about; i wondered how you see people walking in the streets and you don't know what they're made of or what their circumstances are; we all carry pain but we can let go of it too or transform it into something else. i spent some time alone in the room, when the public had left and felt the heaviness the piece had acquired with all the pain it had absorbed. museum staff came in and spent time reading all the scars, many cried, some could find their own scars mirrored in the piece.

i would love to develop a similar installation again, the question is always where, how... but i know i'll be able to do it if i really want to.