GALLERY 2
TRANSMUTACIÓN
ROCIO ROMAN
This project was intiated after my grandfathers death on the 7th of November 2008. A few days after his passing I received some registered mail, and a box addressed to me. As I began tearing the wrapping off the box I realised it was a shoe box. When I opened the box, my grandfathers shoes that he had worn for 28 years were carefully placed inside. As a child I would ask my grandfather ‘Why don’t you buy new shoes?’ and his response was ‘ I have hands to fix them.’ When I returned to Chile 15 years ago, I glanced at his feet and he wore the same shoes I had seen before. I drove down to the main town to buy him new shoes. When I returned and gave him the new shoes, ever so softly he whispered ‘thank you, but you shouldn’t have.’ He never wore them, instead he placed them next to his found book collection in a shelf in his bedroom. As of the 17th of November 2008, up until the 12th May 2009, I began picking up shoes off the streets of Melbourne. All sorts of shoes, mens, womens and childrens. Each shoe photographed in it’s found state and each shoe’s address archived in a little black book. In total 4137 shoes were found in 6 months.
