Vessels, Vulnerability, and Presence as Process ~ Archival Experimentations

Vessels, Vulnerability, and Presence as Process ~ Archival Experimentations is a multimedia creative writing intervention that lingers between criticism, memory, and spell to explore the alchemy of personal and collective archives, poetics, collaboration, and transformation as magical process.

Written by Shalon T. Webber-Heffernan in relation to her ongoing collaboration with Jess Dobkin and Joyce LeeAnn. Their working group, What We Crave, explores archival methodologies that emphasize embodied presence. This work is part of the Hemispheric Encounters’ Performing Archives Stream. Through this process they reimagine traditional approaches to the archive using their bodies, memories, and collective experiences as dynamic vessels for preservation and transformation.

At the heart of Vessels, Vulnerability, and Presence as Process is a reflection on their Triple Goddess method — an archival framework Shalon, Joyce, and Jess have developed — that views the archive as a living, transformative entity shaped by embodied experience. Through their collaboration, they challenge traditional archival practices by focusing on relational, fluid, and sensory approaches to understanding how personal and collective histories are preserved, transformed, and reimagined. 

Vessels, Vulnerability, and Presence as Process delves into the concept of “archival alchemy,” an approach first developed by Joyce LeeAnn, that is the transformation of past experiences, emotions, and stories into new meanings. Through this lens, Shalon reflects on the intergenerational nature of memory and how personal histories live within us, shaping our connections with others which positions the archive not as a static repository, but as a living, breathing practice of gathering, transformation, and experimentation. 

This text invites readers to engage with the archive in ways that emphasize vulnerability, connection, and the potential for future transformations, expanding our understanding of what archives can be and how they perform in the world.

~ Vessels, Vulnerability, and Presence as Process ~ Archival Experimentations © 2024 by Shalon T. Webber-Heffernan and Hemispheric Encounters.
~ Translations by Denise Rogers Valenzuela, Firmo Pompeu, and Richard Moszka.
~ Translation support by Bruno Baisetto, Esteban Donoso, Kadija DePaula, and Tatiane Reis
~ Design by Cecilia Berkovic
~ Booklet process and production by Tracy Tidgwell, Jess Dobkin, and Laura Levin