115 Ribbons I 624 Emily Dickinson
Poetry slideshow
The slideshow pairs fragments of the poem with a sequence of 115 ribbons, each tied around a rectangular piece of cardboard. On every piece of cardboard, the date—day, month, and year—is carefully handwritten.
The ribbon cards, dating from 1910 to 1940, were discovered by Connie in a shoebox at a French brocante in the Allier region. In 2013, she photographed the ribbons, and in 2019, she brought them together in this video slideshow.
The poem’s words appear in repetitive sequences, beginning with just one or two words, gradually expanding into full sentences. Their visibility and duration are thoughtfully timed to the rhythm of the images.
The images of the ribbon cards, along with their shifting dates, transition slowly, creating a reflective pace. Combined with the evolving fragments of Dickinson’s poem, the slideshow invites a fleeting, almost dreamlike perception of time.
Music: Nocturne Op. 37 no. 2 in G major
Composer: Frédéric Chopin
Performer: Olga Gurevich, CC license at musopen.org
Duration: 5:52 min