Here’s a test for Mr. Chretien….This zine is a sampling of 7 out of 79 letters Chris Lloyd has written to the Prime Minister since February 20, 1999. The letters are rather ordinary. Lloyd simply tells Jean about his day, and asks him the occasional question, sometimes political, sometimes not. So far Lloyd hasn’t heard back from Jean. Jean must be pretty busy these days though I guess. I think this documentation of a performative act gives a chilling look at the gap between the common person and the ‘big guy’ who runs this joint. Obviously Jean probably doesn’t have time to answer all his ‘fan’ mail, but isn’t he supposed to have people in charge of this end of things? I mean people I know have written their MLA’s and received written responses. As meaningless as these responses may be, they at least acknowledge that someone is paying some sort of attention. It will be interesting to see what happens as Lloyd continues to inform Jean of his daily activities and quandaries. (MI)
zine, #1, 1999, 15 pgs., $2, Chris Lloyd & Samuel Palmer, 2010 Crieghton St, #3, Halifax, NS, B3K 3R2