An upcoming exhibit in the Art Museum of the University of Memphis is looking for contributions from the community.
The "Disappearing Ink" project aims to collect newspaper clippings for display.
Jason Miller, the museum's media specialist, said they want people to bring in newspaper clippings that have personal significance along with a one-page written statement about the importance of the object.
"Then you will have your photo made with your artifact, which is listed as optional, then record a statement, which is also optional" Miller said. "Then your object will be curated by John Salvest - he's the one that will make the executive decision how it's utilized in the exhibition."
Salvest, an installation and performance artist, is internationally and nationally renowned.
According to the exhibit specialist and preparator Eric Bork, museum staff contributed to the project, but Salvest was the complete mastermind of this project.
"Well, our director Leslie knew that she wanted to use John Salvest," Bork said. "He has done a lot of different experimental art installations around the country, so she knew she wanted to use him. He is a collector of odd things. Well, one of the things he collects is that he has every issue of the Jonesboro Sun from like over 30 years. He keeps every single one of them."
Salvest selected newspapers as the focus of the exhibit due to his intense interest in print as a medium.
Anyone who wants to contribute to the exhibit can submit something from now until March. The final touches on the project are slated for the spring of 2014.
"Your mom has a scrapbook or you have a box of a lot of stuff under your bed," Bork said. "The idea is that you take a piece of newspaper, which is kind of this dying media, and bring your special part of it in that will be used in the exhibit."
All contributions will be treated as museum artifacts, so they will be archived and handled carefully.
Assistant Director Lisa Francisco Abitz smiled while she was talking about the project that she's involved in for at least the next three months. To her, this is probably one of the biggest projects she has been a part of.
"I think it is exciting," Abitz said. "I'm more intrigued by the nature of newspapers - that they are not going to be here anymore. Well, think about it. How many newspapers have gone electronic? Not that many. How many have closed? A lot. This is how we all save clippings of important things or this is how we save a memento of important events. So, how are we going to save it when it goes completely electronic?"
Abitz buys a local newspaper everyday, and although she doesn't keep any of the papers, if there's something important to her, she will keep it for a long time.
"When someone dies close to me, I clip that obituary and I save it," Abitz said. "I don't know what I am going to do in the future."
After the exhibit, the newspaper artifacts will be returned to their owners. For students who want to bring in a newspaper artifact, they can drop it off at the Arts Museum inside the Communication and Fine Arts Building.
