Matt Mullican

UNTITLED

Matt MullicanFrom Blasted Allegories: An Anthology

of Writings by Contemporary Artists

HERFOURTH BIRTHDAY

Her birth

Her family

Her house, home

Learning to crawl

The heat from the kitchen stove

Learning to walk

Hearing her mother upstairs

The street noises coming in the window

Learning to talk

The rug on the living room floor

The trees growing in the backyard

Learning to use her hands

FOURTH BIRTHDAY

Feeling hungry after her nap

Bleeding after skinning her knee

Entering school

The pillow on her parent’s bed

Making friends

Noticing that the tree in the backyard is changing color

Crying when feeling lost

The people living down the street

Traveling to the mountainsThe dining room table

Learning arithmetic

Her best friend’s brother

Learning to ride a bike

Catching her breath after running home

Entering the sixth grade- becoming older

Their pet dog

The door between her and her older sister’s room

Feeling hungry after skipping lunch

They got two inches of rain Brushing her teethHaving to go to the bathroom

Feeling the glare of the sun on her eyes

Playing handball at school

Entering the seventh grade

Playing in the backyard

Going to the school dance

Doing her homework

Experiencing puberty

Scaring the dog by slamming the door

Finding new friends in school

As the year progressed the days got shorter

Visiting her aunt’s house

Getting a boyfriend and going steady

Her dog dies

Riding the bus to school

Entering high school

LEARNING TODRIVE A CAR

LEARNING TODRIVE A CAR

Going to camp over the summer

Becoming sick – not going to school

Looking out her bedroom window

Making out

Getting scared

Going to parties often

The people living down the street

The dining room table set for eating

Staying up, watching the sunrise from her rooftop

The sky was a light shade of blue

Tasting that there’s too much salt in the salad

Thinking about going steady

The telephone ringing in the hallwayThe sound of the record player in the living room

The air felt thick that morning

Hearing her parents argue

Getting a younger sister – thinking to herself

The sunlight hurt her eyes

The salt on the dining room table

Taking care of her little sister

After gym she was very tired

Burning herself while cookingThe ocean seemed endless

Thinking about the people she has yet to meet

Family moves to a new neighborhood

The sound of an airplane flying overhead

Taking a bath

Becoming interested in history

Going to the movies

Hugging her father

Fantasizing about marriage

Entering college, moving away from home

Her roommate

Falling asleep while studying

The amount of time it takes to walk to school

Majoring in history in college

Getting a boyfriend

Staying up, watching the sunrise from her rooftop

Cutting her hairReceiving a letter from her parents

Having her wisdom teeth removed

Another birthday, she is getting older

Eating lunch

Smelling the fresh autumn air

Thinking of her childhood

The telephone wires

The floor she stands on

A pencil on her desk at work

GETTING MARRIEDIN THE AFTERNOON

GETTING MARRIEDIN THE AFTERNOON

Quitting school

Moving to a new house

Her husband’s family

Thinking of her in-laws

Her husband’s work

Getting a job for herself

Knowing she is going to have a baby

Her baby is born

Moving to a larger house

Their front door

Her husband’s mouth

Her son’s baby shoes

Trying to find her glassesHer son’s learning to walk

Thinking about her son’s life

The food cans in the kitchen cabinet

She only had an hour to get home

Her son’s school work

Visiting her husband’s sister

The full moon lights up the night sky

Going shopping

Renewing an interest in history

Dreaming that she spoke a foreign language

Thinking of her husband’s childhood

An object in the back seat of their car

October fifth

Her husband shaved regularly

Traveling to a large city

The dining room table set for eating

Taking a photograph

Looking at herself in the mirrorMaking love with her husband

The street light

Her husband’s current income

Kissing her husband

Dropping a dish - watching it break

Remembering the time she hurt herself skiing

Touching her right eye with her index finger

The sidewalk around the corner

The broken glass in the basement door

Not eating very much

Looking at a photograph of herself as a child

Being scared to enter a dark room

Swimming

The light in the hallway

There were so many stars she couldn’t count them all

Getting an electric shock

Starting a garden

HAVING ANOTHERBABY, A GIRL

HAVING ANOTHERBABY, A GIRL

The covers on their bed

She only had an hour to get home

Her son’s school work

Visiting her husband’s sister

Her daughter’s fourth birthday

Going shopping

Looking at herself in the mirror

Her thirty-fourth birthday

Spending the summer at a beach house

A large man passing her on the sidewalk

February twenty-sixth

Stubbing her toe while running

Her son’s graduation

Having trouble breathing

Her father dies, sudden grief

Her son’s marriage

Her daughter’s graduation

An itch in the lower part of her back

The noise from a large truck

Her daughter’s school in a foreign country

The new living room furnitureHaving a grandchild

Feeling older

Remembering schooldays

The days seemed to be going by faster

Touching the wall

Spending half the year at the ocean

A glass of water

Wondering where that person lives

Watching TV

They have retired

Their son’s independence

Touching herself

Forgetting her age

Going for a trip around the world

Hair turning white

Her daughter’s marriage

Being visited by her daughter-in-law’s parents

Cooking a “hearty meal”Noticing that the sky is a light shade of blue

Catching her breath

Her husband dies

Moving

Thinking about her eventual death

Going for a walk in the garden

Feeling old, not caring

Looking at her feet

A family reunion during Christmas

HERDEATH

Not being able to see clearly

The noise from a large truck

Bleeding after skinning her knee

Thinking of the faces of her parents

Cooking vegetables

The door between her and her sister’s room

Looking at her eyes in the mirror

Catching her breath

The floor she stands on

Thinking of her husband

Looking at herself in the mirror

Thinking of her death

This book was designed and illustrated by Julie Park

created for the Fall 2012 Word and Image I course

at Washington University in Saint Louis.

The type was set in Chaparral Pro and FairplexWide.