RULES OF ENGAGEMENT
Been holding this piece for awhile ... My " Rules of Engagement" a series of flashcards outlining sensory sensitivities and the underpinnings of my sense of morality or what is most important.
There are 24 rules presented as statements typed out on a old school label maker on the undersides of woodcut prints that combine to form an overall image.
In the last year ( 2023) I started owning my recently discovered autism. Unpacking 40+ years of masking these traits I found that there is actually a lot I don't understand in social situations. I have gotten by most of my life being a mirror of other people, ignoring sensory sensitivities and believing that I loved being in any social setting.
These rules are an exploration of how it feels to not fully understand what is expected of me in many settings. I find myself wishing to flip the script- that people take on the work of learning how to engage with neurodiverse people instead of expecting that we learn to accept and
"fit into" certain social norms. I'm asking that you flip these cards up and memorize these rules on our behalf.
Many rules are hyper specific to me personally but there are also many rules that may have broader overlap with neurodiverse people.
This piece was conceived on a walk in nature AND proposed for the Sound Mind/ Sound Body exhibition that took place in Feb 2024 at the Commonwealth gallery.
Above the original "Rules of Engagement" before it was damaged.
tHE FLIP BOOK
25 risograph printed, completely hand produced flip books of the series Rules of Engagement complete with a workbook section to create your own Rules!!
I couldn't help but sign and edition each book because they each have unique handmade / risograph details and imperfections.
A sample of the pages- all of the individual rules of engagement are available to digitally flip just scroll back in my Instagram page
These rules were created as a means to flip the script on social engagements and ask that we share the responsibility of learning each other's rules instead of asking neurodiverse folks to bend to social norms and expectations that are not practical for us.- These rules are my own but do not reflect neurodiverse people as a whole because there's a full spectrum of lived experiences - it's not a line!!
“Rules of Engagement” as it exists now. Pictured here at the SEA CHANGE: Holding Complexity exhibition. It currently lives in my studio for vistors to interact with.
Photo by The Blue Umbrella
THE MAP
BECAUSE I'm a complete nerd there's a back pocket with a full color coded image map to locate individual rules as they relate to the whole image. Who doesn't love a book pocket?!!
a POEM
As Shown at The Center For The Visual Arts in Wausau, WI for the exhibition Gathering: A Poetry & Art Exhibit in the fall of 2024. Artists were invited to share pieces and Poets were paired with pieces of art to write about by the curators. Below is the poem written about Rules of Engagement as a complete image.
Thank you to Macy Washow for sharing your writting with us!
Nature’s Gift
After Rules of Engagement by Sara Meredith
In an arched cavity of the mother-tree, enveloped in roots,I read Thoreau. Still, unwritten rules of the crowd crush the me from my breath. Like the whale who must surface for air,
I inhale musky scents of forest where mushrooms bloomnext to woodland flowers, rebirth rises from decay,and the crow’s caw harmonizes with wood thrush lute.
Birds of many species, trusting the sky will not shatter,share the air. A deer twitches his ear, then turns to graze.
Beneath the moss and grass that cushion my step,I feel the earth pulse. Here, below her surface,unseen forests stretch tiny feeder fingers deep into yeast-scented soil bonding with massive fungi webs.
Trees of my own design sprout from the fertile compost of her stories. Stronger together, all excel in mixed forests.It matters not if we are here by design or chance;
all life, from hyphae to whale, has place. Even the carrion eater’s bald head is purpose-perfect, feeding on the putrid to purify.Between gaps in the vulture’s feathers, I see the sun rise,
feel my chains release. The whale, air-replenished,always returns to the sea. I, too, emerge nourished,nature’s sapling growing in my heart.
Macy Washow