PART I
19 white, anatomically correct rubber hearts will be created, of which only 17 shall be available for purchase. Each will carry with it half of a poem and all of them will have the phrase " faux amour" engraved on them. The poem will make each heart unique, but the words will remain meaningless unless put together with their partner.
PART II
More rubber hearts will be fabricated with only the phrase "faux amour" engraved. These identical hearts will be placed in a pile and exhibited. Amongst these identical hearts are 19 more rubber hearts that contain the second half of the poems. The initial buyers will have the opportunity to find their second heart, thereby completing their poem.
I stripped the Heart of everything that we know it to be, I took away the red, the iconic shape... and turned it into an inorganic object that can be played with, manipulated, squished and thrown but will still bounce back to it's original shape. It is a blank heart with half of a poem engraved onto it, consequently creating the illusion that the emotions behind the poem come from the organ itself. The phrase faux amour (fake love in French) is juxtaposed to the poem, reminding us that the link between emotions and the heart does not exist.
Partnered hearts will be created to represent the bond that we believe exists when two people love each other; they are meaningless without one another, needing to be placed together in order to be complete. The hearts containing the other half of the poems will be placed into a pile with the blank hearts, which will make the initial holders work to find their second heart. Despite there being many white hearts that may look like theirs, only their partner will be of value to them. This project will explore the fascinating idea of how physical beings are somehow attracted to each other and linked by a force we cannot see.
I put stitches on the back of the heart so that the holders can identify their second heart in the pile: if there are three stitches, that means that heart belongs to holder No. 3.
