Unbind This Book, Unstitch This Body collection of Isaac Heller, 2023
Overview
Materials created for Isaac Heller's Harvard College thesis project, Unbind This Book, Unstitch This Body.
Dates
- Creation: 2023
Creator
- Heller, Isaac, 2001- (Person)
Language of Materials
Materials in English.
Access Restrictions:
Access. Collection is open for research. An appointment is necessary to use any audiovisual material.
Conditions Governing Use
Copyright. Copyright in the papers created by Isaac Heller is held by Isaac Heller. Copyright in other papers in the collection may be held by their authors, or the authors' heirs or assigns.
Copying. Papers may be copied in accordance with the library's usual procedures.
Extent
.21 linear feet ((1/2 file box) plus 1 supersize folder, electronic records)The collection includes materials created for Isaac Heller's Harvard College thesis project, Unbind This Book, Unstitch This Body. Materials include an audio recording created for "Echo, Chamber, Chest," to be experienced in conjunction with viewing the zine Timtum; a video recording of "Top Surgery Show and Tell" performance at Leverett Library Theater and artwork created for the performance; zines and other artwork created in "Handbound," a bookbinding and zine making workshop; zines Heller created as part of his development of Unbind This Book, Unstitch This Body; and a poster advertising the project and performances. Also included are photographs documenting the "Mouth to Mouth: Re-recitation" reading of Stone Butch Blues in the stacks of Widener Library, the "Handbound" workshop, and the "Top Surgery Show and Tell" performance. Folder titles were created by the archivist. Materials are arranged alphabetically.
BIOGRAPHY
Isaac Heller grew up in Mishawaka, Indiana, and graduated from Harvard College in 2023 with concentrations in Theater, Dance, and Media and Studies of Women, Gender and Sexuality. His thesis project, Unbind This Book, Unstitch This Body, explored the ways in which queer histories are cared for and transmitted, both within archives and through community networks that exist at the margins of mainstream institutions. For his thesis, he staged four performances on Harvard's campus: "Echo, Chamber, Chest," a self-guided audio experience at the Schlesinger Library in conversation with the zine Timtum; "Mouth to Mouth: Re-recitation," a reading of Stone Butch Blues in the stacks of Widener Library; "Handbound," a bookbinding and zine making workshop; and "Top Surgery Show and Tell," a performance at the Leverett Library Theater in which Heller shaved his head while playing a recorded oral history with a friend about his experience with top surgery and Heller's experience with brain surgery.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Accession number: 2023-M77
The Isaac Heller Unbind This Book, Unstitch This Body collection was given to the Schlesinger Library by Isaac Heller in May 2023
Processing Information
Processed: August 2023
By: Johanna Carll
The Schlesinger Library attempts to provide a basic level of preservation and access for all collections, and does more extensive processing of higher priority collections as time and resources permit. Finding aids may be updated periodically to account for new acquisitions to the collection and/or revisions in arrangement and description.
- Title
- Heller, Isaac, 2001-. Unbind This Book, Unstitch This Body collection of Isaac Heller, 2023: A Finding Aid
- Author
- Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America
- Language of description
- eng
- Sponsor
- Processing of this collection was made possible by the Alice Jeannette Ward Fund.
- EAD ID
- sch02238
Repository Details
Part of the Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe Institute Repository
The preeminent research library on the history of women in the United States, the Schlesinger Library documents women's lives from the past and present for the future. In addition to its traditional strengths in the history of feminisms, women’s health, and women’s activism, the Schlesinger collections document the intersectional workings of race and ethnicity, gender, sexuality, and class in American history.