Leave Susie Alone

7’x 4’x 4′
Wood, fiberglass, found objects
1990
$7,800

Text (on school bus seat):
“I was halfway through third grade when my family moved from New Jersey to North Carolina. On my last school day in New Jersey, I got on the bus to go home and found my friend Gordon sitting with my girlfriend, Susie. Usually I sat with her, so I asked why he was there. One of them told me she was his girlfriend now. I don’t remember anything else from the bus ride. When I got home I knew I had to do something. I thought since Gordon, Susie, and I were really interested in Martians (we frequently talked about them at recess), I could trick him with a message. So I wrote a note saying something like, “Gordon–don’t be Susie’s boyfriend!–The Martians” and hid it under the front doormat. Then I called Gordon and invited him over. I told him I had seen a Martian in my yard. He came over and we wandered around the yard looking for signs of the Martian. When we got to the front yard I led him onto the porch and said, “Hey Gordon, why don’t you check under the mat?” He found the note, of course. He didn’t seem particularly frightened by it. I couldn’t really tell what he thought.” ©

While humor is obviously a part of this piece, the underlying issue, which led me to create it, is the sense of powerlessness, which we all feel at times, and the desire to have supernatural forces come to our rescue. It also deals with love, jealousy, and desperation. The story is true. The memory has stuck with me because I was hurt by the sense that I could so easily be replaced.