to: Craft > #03 - Ephemera
Two cigarette-paper programs printed on letterpress by Tommy Jackson for a musical performance at Black Mountain College on July 4, 1953. Image courtesy of the State Archives of North Carolina.
Ephemera
Lexie Harvey
Distributed at the beginning of a performance, a program is a piece of ephemera that frames the experience an audience is about to have. It offers information and extends a brief form of hospitality to those in attendance.
There is pleasure in revisiting the past through saved ephemera. The texture of these objects offers a pathway to remember that which we cannot return to.
These two cigarettes, printed on thin cigarette paper with tobacco supplied upon entrance, unfurl to become small, 2 ¾-inch programs for a performance held at Black Mountain College in 1953. Engaging the sensory and the physical, this program connected the auditory experience of listening to the tactile act of rolling and smoking. This simple object transformed the convention of programs by providing information as well as offering a way to engage in the performance.
Held in the State Archives of North Carolina, these programs still exist, brittle and stale, encased in a box. Gloved hands are required to handle them. While these objects still relay information about the performance, the significance of the experience it offered cannot be re-created.
Biography
Lexie Harvey
She/Her/Hers
Written by Joni Van Bockel
Lexie Harvey was born in the swampland region of southern Georgia but has lived in the radius of Asheville, North Carolina, for approximately 13 years. During her time in this program, she has called Canton, North Carolina, home. Lexie describes Canton as an “underappreciated town," as it is a small, rural town built around an industrial paper mill, and a 20-minute drive outside of Asheville. Her time in Canton has taught her what it means to be a good neighbor. Her neighbors are characters who, despite their political differences, are welcoming and often stop by to offer Lexie and her partner gifts of home-grown vegetables or friendly small-town gossip. Lexie’s favorite time of year in Canton is spring, in which she begins to plan and grow her flower garden. This year she will be growing dahlias and anemones. Her office space, where she has spent much of her time during this program, is painted in her favorite color, marigold-yellow. The color reflects Lexie’s bright and sunny demeanor.
Lexie is interested in events and gatherings as venues for craft. Food, programs, and atmosphere are examples of the many crafted elements required to create an intentional gathering of people (something we have all learned to appreciate more during this year apart). Lexie is interested in thinking of events as a form of craft—something with much to be explored and written about. Lexie is inspired by the tight-knit craft communities found at seasonal festivals, such as Renaissance Fairs, that bring together a buffet of craft from an array of media and eras past and present.