It was only this past Tuesday that Val waxed rhapsodical on a recently acquired box of slides from days gone by. I can’t say that I’m immune to the fuzzy, projected glow of the slideshow, having eagerly given up many summer evenings in the family living room with slides going back 20 and 30 years being projected above the fireplace, with the ever-present wreath hook embedded in the wall, usually taking out the slide subject’s eye or some other vital organ. My enthusiasm was usually not shared.

Family slides, as opposed to the commercial ones that Val discussed, are an intensely personal item. They’ve always seemed, at least to me, to be in the strange realm of ‘public secret’. Sure, no one was barred from looking at them and sharing in the visuals, but only the people in the slides themselves, as some kind of family unit, would really know the intimacy of the scene being projected onto the wall. Aunt Mildred’s husband had just died in this one, but this is the first time we saw her smile after that. That kid broke his arm ten seconds after that photo was taken when he fall off of the tire swing. Nothing was really going on then, but I made all the kids get together and smile so I could finish up the roll of film. It’s these secret narratives that thrill me, even if I wasn’t around to witness them firsthand. People were fatter, or thinner, back then. That was the old dog and the old car and the old wallpaper in the kitchen, and we don’t have those things anymore for various beautiful and horrible reasons.

I feel the same way about Polaroids, but not so much about general family photographs collected in albums - all for reasons I can’t clearly articulate or identify. All of this makes it even more strangely unsettling when you find a box of family slides at an estate sale or the Goodwill. I’ve always wanted find a new home and a new use for them. Jason Trachtenburg, a musician and artist, has embraced that idea to the fullest.

Using collections of found slides ranging from family vacations to corporate training seminars, the Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players sing songs and play music while projecting slideshows of these ostensibly history-less items, giving them their own histories, often very humorous. It’s a great, ingenious utilization of something that’s been otherwise forgotten at the back of the thrift store and has no emotional interest for the average passersby. All of this is an inspired extension of the nostalgic ‘art by found object’ movement that’s always gaining in popularity.

Even neater is the fact that the whole family gets in on the action - Jason plays guitar and sings, wife Tina runs the slide projector, and young daughter Rachel plays the unmistakably impressive and poised drums. While musically sound at the same time as being completely entertaining, they also show a creative use for an established collection. I downloaded their first album from eMusic, which unfortunately did not include the visuals, which are almost essential for maximum enjoyment of their music - falling short of seeing them in person and witnessing the actual glow of the projector. I’d suggest exploring the actual CD, or grab what you can from the slew of free videos that they offer on their website!

I often find myself wondering ‘what the hell do I do now that I have this awesome collection of eclectic items?’, and while I know that the answer is usually ‘make something!’, it’s great to see that idea in full action.

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This entry was posted on Saturday, July 14th, 2007 at 4:00 am and is filed under collecting fyi. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.