You’ve read the instructions, yes? (If no, read them first for the basic how-to-tell-a-Shoetale guide)
What follows: further information and FAQs.
The story so far....
Do you ever see shoes dangling from drainpipes, wires or trees? Such a pair, caught on a building shrub (left) inspired the beginning of the project. Whose shoes? How did they get up there? What’s their story?
Many of my shoes I’ve worn / encountered stick in my mind: wearing black and silver platform trainers; writing ‘greetings earthling’ on a stranger’s orange converse are a couple of examples.
So, friend, now it’s your turn - what is YOUR most memorable pair of shoes?
‘But I can’t decide which pair...’
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1.Flip a coin, OR
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2.Tell as many or as few stories as you wish. Just use one postcard for each pair of shoes, or each story you tell. Perhaps decide on a particular detail you remember about the shoes, rather than trying to fit too much in...
Why postcards?
Size isn’t everything, and words aren’t the only tools for telling stories - doodles, photographs and textures are other ways of communicating.
Less is more! Postcards encourage you to tell your tales simply and clearly to get the message across in a small space. And unlike a carefully crafted letter, creating / sending a postcard is more spontaneous: even a scribbled phrase or doodle counts as a Shoetale!
Shoetales is a public project. I have left blank postcards with brief instructions around for people to spontaneously pluck from cafes, galleries and other interesting haunts.
Shoetales will be an account of our memorable shoes - told by many storytellers, akin to the ‘mail art ‘world of rubber stamps, typewriters and creative gems in envelopes: art and stories that are shared and communally made.
What will happen to the postcards?
The shoe tales will be uploaded upon the internets in the next couple of months - don’t worry! The Shoetales slideshow is on its way.
The stories are flying in thick and fast - old shoes, new shoes, travelled shoes, someone else’s shoes : anything and everything you send will be much appreciated at Shoetales HQ!
More information regarding the exhibition of the project will follow soon, as I’d like to display the postcards somewhere publicly too. If you have any ideas regarding this, get in touch!
Spread the word
Pass on the words of Shoetales to people you know, and others you don’t. Why not:
Click the DOWNLOAD link below and follow the directions to the ‘Shoetales Card’. Postcard- sized instructions with the return address can be printed, then hand them out to friends, or leave them in your favourite cafe or hang- out to be discovered by others.
Send the link to this website to your friends; encourage them to become Shoe-tellers too. Or, join the ‘Shoe Tales’ group on Facebook and let people know about it that way.
Join the group on Flickr (up soon!)
Watch this web space for news of the project. Thank you for your interest and participation.
Sarah Edmonds - Shoetale collector
