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"Love in a Box" is a multi-piece project created in 2006 and focuses on one of the most visible issues of that time that still inspires heated debate today: Marriage Equality.
Amanda Trathen's poem, "An Essay on Love”, was written and performed specifically for this work and inspired the final film. The hand drawn images and stop animation create a childlike quality which in concert with Trathen's masterful use of words deliver a fierce criticism of intolerance and personal beliefs codified into law.
The book, "Love in a Box”, couples news reports of violent hate crimes and harassment with illustrations and responses to a questionnaire about love, marriage and the law. This juxtaposition works to “make real” the LGBTQ+ community’s experiences to a broader society that is often unaware of these dangers or willfully trivializes the connection between intolerant beliefs and the deadly consequences they breed.
Despite the work being over a decade old and the ruling of Obergefell V. Hodges, current events such as an increase in religious liberty laws and hate crimes show that the issues examined here remain relevant today. It is simultaneously both a celebration of how far we have come and a reminder of how far we have yet to go. Love is Love.
Love in a Box - Cover
Acrylic and Ink on Cardboard - Original Book Size 9.25" X 12" X .75"
Love in a Box - Page Sample 1
Acrylic and Ink on Newsprint - Original Book Size 9.25" X 12" X .75"
Love in a Box - Page Sample 2
Acrylic, Ink and Collage on Newsprint - Original Book Size 9.25" X 12" X .75"
Love in a Box - Page Sample 2, Detail
Acrylic and Ink on Newsprint - Original Book Size 9.25" X 12" X .75"
Love in a Box - Page Sample 3
Acrylic, Ink and Collage on Newsprint - Original Book Size 9.25" X 12" X .75"
Love in a Box - Page Sample 3, Detail
Acrylic and Ink on Newsprint - Original Book Size 9.25" X 12" X .75"
Love in a Box - Page Sample 4
Acrylic, Ink and Collage on Newsprint - Original Book Size 9.25" X 12" X .75"
Love in a Box - Page Sample 4, Detail
Acrylic and Ink on Newsprint - Original Book Size 9.25" X 12" X .75"
Love in a Box - Page Sample 6
Acrylic, Ink and Collage on Newsprint - Original Book Size 9.25" X 12" X .75"
Love in a Box - Page Sample 6, Detail
Acrylic and Ink on Newsprint - Original Book Size 9.25" X 12" X .75"