On January 15, 2003, I sent my first letter to the ocean. I wrote a letter and addressed it to: The Ocean. I added appropriate postage and sent it away. It came back to me with a red stamp which read “Address not known.” Over the next few weeks I continued sending letters, but they were not making it out of my town, so then I fabricated an “address” near the ocean that would appear convincing to the USPS. I thought of one of my favorite spots near the ocean and came up with the following address:

The Ocean
5 miles South Westport
Grayland, WA 98547

The city and zip code are real. The address, in terms of being “directions,” is also real. However, no such definite or distinguishable place exists. Once I sent this letter, it took about a week for the letter to return to me. Not only did the letter make it out of my town, but the USPS markings and length of time indicated it made it to Grayland and back. I was quite excited.

This project began on a whim and has ended up being one of the most interesting and emotional projects I have ever engaged in. And so it has come to be that I send a letter to the ocean every day. Sometimes I write random thoughts while other times I rant about life and problems, while still other times I just draw pictures. In doing so I have created an interesting Journaling process.

Some of the ideas that I have been investigating with this project concern the idea of memory and experience. More specifically, how is it that an inanimate object can come to assume a degree of memory or history through the simple act of experience or transportation. A good example of this is the inanimate carbon rod, which in and of itself, carries no real meaning or value. That is, until it has traveled to the moon and upon its return it is priceless. I am interested in how we, as humans, assign such value and I simply want to poke and prod at this phenomenon.

For me, it is amazing to know that all of these letters I have collected over the last two years have been to the ocean and back. I often wonder about their experiences along the way and all of the people they have been around and interacted with. There is a sort of magic and mysteriousness about the whole experience that keeps me wondering and in awe.

Currently, I have approximately 500 returned letters.