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Join Us Performance artist Sheryl Oring pulled out her 1960s secretarial uniform and typewriter this morning, November 5, to compose hundreds of postcards in public — just as she has every Election Day since 2004, when former President George W. Bush defeated John Kerry in his second bid for the White House. In all the years of her touring I Wish to Say performance series , Oring has diligently typed around 4,500 postcards, all containing unique messages from members of the public addressed to the nation’s future president .
In each session, participants dictate their presidential message to Oring who, dressed as a secretary, types and sends their letters to the White House. She keeps a carbon copy of each message for her growing archive. Sometimes, Oring snaps a Polaroid photo of the author and attaches it to the note.
“People’s messages often are a barometer of what’s happening in society,” Oring told Hyperallergic in a phone interv.