"They had their own premises, The Bureau of Surrealist Research- 'a romantic inn for unclassifiable ideas and continuing revolts'- at 15 rue de Grenelle.  According to Aragon, they hung a woman on the ceiling of an empty room, 'and every day received visits from anxious men bearing heavy secrets... the research bureau, 'nourished by life itself', would receive all bearers of secrets: 'inventors, madmen, revolutionaries, misfits, dreamers."  (Goldberg 89)

In Louis Aragon's case, when he referred to "bearers of secrets" he generally was referring to a specific group of creative misfits that would visit the Bureau of Surrealist Research.  In my case, the "bearers of secrets" were all the members of the audience who attended "Such Nonsense!" on February 1, 2003.  When the audience first entered the theatre, there were pencils and paper on each seat, and the instructions in the program simply said "Please write a memory or secret on the provided paper.  Be prepared to deposit this slip into the baskets that will be circulated during Part Three."  At the designated time, all the slips were collected.  The collection from that evening is what is displayed here.

I am thoroughly enchanted by the idea of depositing memories and secrets.  Ideally, in the true spirit of Surrealism, I would set up a place where anyone could come to deposit their secrets and memories, and they would be filed away, never to be referenced again- somewhat absurd ina way, but strangely comforting.

-Goldberg, RoseLee. Performance Art From Futurism to Present. Thames & Hudson: London, 2001.