Matchmaking in the Archive: 19 Conversations with the Dead and 3 Encounters with Ghosts

by E.G. Crichton, Jonathan D. Katz (Contributor), Chris Vargas (Contributor)

Though today’s LGBTQ people owe a lot to the generations who came before them, their historical inheritances are not always obvious.
 
Working with the archives of the Gay Lesbian Bisexual Transgender Historical Society, artist E.G. Crichton decided to do something to bridge this generation gap. She selected 19 innovative LGBTQ artists, writers, and musicians, then paired each of them with a deceased person whose personal artifacts are part of the archive. 
 
Including 25 pages of vivid images,  Matchmaking in the Archive  documents this monumental creative project and adds essays by Jonathan Katz, Michelle Tea, and Chris Vargas, who describe their own unique encounters with the ghosts of LGBTQ history. Together, they make the archive come alive in remarkably intimate ways. 

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Art, Queer

264 pages, Paperback

Published February 10, 2023

Reviews

[MossyMorels · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was very intruiged into this as someone who loves queer history and is an artist
The beginning section dragged on for quite a bit, leaving me wondering if it would ever get to the archives themselves. It has quite a few typos that made it hard to flow through the reading. The writing often feels a bit all over the place which made it hard for me to focus. I also wish there were many, many more photos of the objects. There so many things described that the reader never gets to see. And there photos there are I wish were more thoughtfully dispersed so I can see them while they are talked about. I think the summary is I think this collection would work better as a photography collection with short writing to help it along, rather than the alternative which is how it was presented.

[Maria · Rating 3 out of 5]

As an archivist, I know there’s tons of fascinating stuff housed in collections that never sees the light of day. This project puts the spotlight on several collections focusing on the LGBTQ community. The process is meticulously detailed in the beginning and then snippets of the life of the donor is given as well as how the interpreter was selected. It would have been nice to have more of the creative process of the artist and what went into their creation. I feel like only half the story is told in this book. Add to that, the ARC rife with mistakes and missing letters and it was difficult to get into these stories. Recommended if you enjoy reading about methodology rather than the individuals that should have been the highlight of the stories.

I received a copy from #NetGalley for an honest review.

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

So if this book as written is a sort of thing you like, i think you will love it! But it is not what i expected so i want to write some clarification because even re-reading the description i find it confusing.

What it is not:
- the projects that people did with their archive matches
- deep dives into the archival historical queer and trans people who were researched
- anything you can sort of fall into.

What it is:
- several chapters ABOUT the project, ABOUT how the matches were made, ABOUT what the art projects created were.

If you are really into methodology, this is a great book for you! If you are hoping more for a feeling of being immersed in queer history, it is not the right choice for you!

[Cassia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really intrigued by this project and very much how this author openly discussed things that have weighed heavily on my mind in recent years like: what happens to belongings the stuff of us after we die (especially* marginalized and/or childless folks), how can we have more personal and creative encounters in archives, how can archives help us connect with the past and ourselves, how can we know and how do we recognize the dead through what's left behind.
I ended up liking the intro and the essays in the encounters with ghosts section the most though. I had too many questions about the guidelines and ethics of project (as an archives worker) and how some unsavory details were too easily brushed over rather than dug into.

--
"It's not hard to fall in love with the dead, not least because they are a ready, uncomplaining, and largely blank screen on which to project all our own joys and needs and obsessions. in fact, while we claim to be listening to them, in point of fact, it's the dead who echo us. Ceaselessly, they are animated and reanimated by our interests, seemingly revived by our attentions. Despite our many differences, they are never annoying, for they take our side in every argument. So malleable and patient and kind, it's almost as if we dreamed them up." (159)

"So we queers commune with the dead, and for a host of different reasons: as an act of respect for those who bucked the rules and made a space for themselves heedless of the costs, which in turn helped make a space for us..." (16)

[Book Club of One · Rating 4 out of 5]

Matchmaking in the Archive is a work that demonstrates the power of possibility within archival collections. E. G. Crichton was Artist-in-Residence for the Gay Lesbian Bisexual Transgender Historical Society from 2008 to 2014 and here, discusses several of her archival based projects with contributions of many of the collaborators.

Crichton spent time just exploring the collections at the Gay Lesbian Bisexual Transgender Historical Society. Inspired by contents of the collection Crichton developed a process and guidelines for connecting deceased individual's archival collections with contemporary artists. The artists didn't have to like their subject, but Crichton's matchmaking was of informed choices. From there they could follow the muse of creativity.

This book is divided into four sections, the first, Resurrection details Crichton's process of discovery in the archives and how that was developed into the multiple projects detailed in this book. Section 2, is the bulk of the work offering summaries of the 19 subjects and the artists paired with them. Many of those 19 shared reflections of the projects at least a decade later. Each of the 19 entries begin with a photo collage, highlighting specific objects and portraits of both the artist and archival subject. Artists created live monologue, live music, poetry, sculpture, painting, photography, short films and other works. Section three shares three essays from other contributors about their own connections with figures from the past. Part 4 is Crichton's own work and response to the matchmaking.

While not an archivist, Crichton speaks to many of the fields challenges. Here are an offering of questions considered or discussed in this book: How do we get people to engage and work with the collections? How does one curate their own life with an eye towards their memory? Who owns the past, and how should it be preserved? How have we culturally changed from the past and how are we the same?

An excellent intersectional work for those living, working or wanting to know more about the arts, archives, history or LGBTIQA+.

I received a free digital version of this book via NetGalley thanks to the publisher.

[celia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Amazing idea, not quite the execution I was hoping for.

I'll start by saying: matchmaking? queer lineage? archives?? Sounds like a dream come true—there is such a wide field to play in, asking the questions of how do we craft narratives of our own lifes? how do the people we love craft narratives for us? I'm not sure one book can grapple with these questions in a way that will leave everyone satisfied. I think *this* book fell a little short for me because of a mismatch of expectations. "19 conversations with the dead" made me think I was going to read something from each artist who was matchmade—read about their experience of Knowing someone in the archive, of creating with their presence (or absence). The introduction made me even more excited for this!

So to read about the matches and have Crichton interject, speaking about her own reasons for making the match and reflecting on the pieces that came out of the match... was a little disappointing. I think this was, as I said, because of a mismatch of expectations, but also because, as other reviewers have noted, it's hard to fully engage with the matches when there isn't as much trace (photos, links to videos, etc) to let us experience the art and ephemera that came out of the match. It seems like as-is, this book would be well-suited for someone who was able to engage with the LINEAGE project in its various iterations, rather than someone coming in cold.

Readers who have more than a passing familiarity with archive studies will probably get the most out of this text, but I think it would be a good jumping off point for someone who wonders how we remember the sort of everyday lives that don't make it into all the history books.

Thank you to NetGalley and Rutgers University Press for an e-ARC of this book!

[Annie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Originally posted on my blog Nonstop Reader.

Matchmaking in the Archive is an interesting and well curated collection of essays about how the past informs and deepens our understanding in our present day lives. Released 10th Feb 2023 by the Rutgers University Press, it's 264 pages and is available in hardcover, paperback, and ebook formats.

This is a very well written collaborative project curated by E.G. Crichton, linking a currently active artist with a dead artist/performer whose artifacts are contained in the Gay Lesbian Bisexual Transgender Historical Society's archives and which draws parallels between how the relics of past generations relate to modern artists' creative lives and experiences.

It's easy to become overwhelmed, a little bogged down, and completely enraptured by this odd book of pairings. It's both whimsically appealing, melancholy, and quite subtly profound to understand how the author and the guest essayists tease out the common threads and present them to the reader.

Most of the artists were unfamiliar to me. There were a few familiar names, but most weren't. That didn't detract from the read (and might have actually enhanced it). There's a certain amount of voyeuristic pleasure in seeing ephemera from the past and so much history to be gleaned here.

Four stars. Valuable for readers interested in arts, ephemera, culture, LGBTQIA+ history, and allied fields.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

[J Earl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Matchmaking in the Archive by EG Crichton is an interesting look at the intersection of art and archival work, of personal and cultural history, and of recovering the past to help unveil the present.

While I found this to be very interesting, I also found aspects of the book to be frustrating. One issue I got used to fairly easily since it is a common problem with many works that reference images, namely not always having an image easily accessible from the page where you're reading about it. Frustrating, yes, but common enough that I quickly shifted reading expectations. The other has a little to do with expectations also, but one that stayed with me. I expected, and think the book would have been stronger, with more illustrations. This didn't have to be so photo-rich that it resembled a coffee table book, but more photographs distributed liberally throughout would have enhanced my experience.

Having made those small gripes, I also should point out that I still enjoyed the book. It did take a little bit to catch on to what was being shared, but once I aligned my expectations with what was in front of me, I was pleased. This is, after all, about matchmaking as much as it is about what happens after the match is made, so considerations that went into the couplings are every bit a part of the story as the matches themselves and the result.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

**I received this book as an ARC**

This book was an interesting read that contained content that I genuinely haven't thought of before.

My interest was immediately caught because this author is reflecting upon YEARS of documents/photographs that they've been collecting. To have the wherewithal to stay consistent over all that time and to undertake the massive task of sorting through all of the content is remarkable and I think will be one of the main reasons people read this book.

There were more grammar imperfections then I've come across but most of the time I could use context clues to figure out what the word was meant to be. As a POC reader, I would've liked to see the author talk about the different experiences and opportunities that queer POC had during the collection period. It feels remiss to have a book that contains collections from a big time period and not reference the role race played in accessibility. Another area that made me feel uncomfortable is the verbiage that the author uses for trans individuals. I understand that this book is years in the making, but it's release date is in 2023 and to prevent harm to readers (and prevent the author from receiving backlash) the book needs to modernize with it's verbiage regarding trans people.

[Brad Milison · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think it’s so important to take the time to honor and understand those who came before us in the LGBTQ+ community, and I was immediately intrigued by this matchmaking idea.

One challenge this book faced is that this matchmaking project happened years ago, so we are left with reading about what kind of work was produced (plus some pictures, which I appreciated). On one occasion I found myself YouTubing a video someone made, but I can’t help but feel a bit disconnected in reading about the work produced in the past. Obviously I cannot get in a time machine and go experience it in person, and many of the sections end with how the artist feels today looking back at their experience with their project and paired person, but I think it’s difficult to capture in writing the scope and impact of some of these experiences. It sometimes read a bit dry. I applaud the book for trying, and I am glad to have been exposed artists unknown to me.

The book also seemed lacking in queer POC, though that can obviously extend to a criticism of the project.

Overall, I’m glad I read this and I would love to be paired with someone’s archive.

[Ren Parks · Rating 3 out of 5]

Would give it a 3.5 if I could. The writing of the author themself isn’t nearly as good as the excerpts they include of others’ essays or comments, and I often felt that they focused a bit more on their personal life than the actual subject matter in a way that felt distracting.

BUT, the project itself — connecting the archives of deceased queer individuals to younger, living queer artists as an attempt to establish a sense of legacy and cross-generational connection?? Phenomenal.

I’m an MLIS student looking to work in the archive field, and I was skeptical of what this artist had to say about what liberties we can take as interpreters of a queer history that often doesn’t present itself clearly or willingly. Crighton (and even more so the writers they chose to include at the end of the book) handles this question with a grace and candor I’ve never seen from professional archivists or historians themselves.

[Jamie Park · Rating 5 out of 5]

I adored this book. It has all my favorite things, archives, queer history, and good writing.
I love the way the author paired his people together. I wish everyone was honored in this way after their passing. I do a lot of digging through local archives here in Utah but there is no queer representation, or people of color, or the disabled, only people who had kids who stayed with the dominant religion. It is tragi. I need to step up my game. That's how I feel after reading this.
Thank you for the ARC.

[Sura Shealey · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was great, informative, and unique! It truly amazes me how much love, work, and time went into this book! I only wish there were more pictures, it’s difficult to imagine what’s being described without more visuals!

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley!

[Morgan]

I accessed a digital review copy of this book from the publisher.