The Harvest

by Amy Hempel
Project by Sara Cacioppo, Giorgia Leuzzi and Isaac Rindone

“The Harvest is a first-person short story by Amy Hempel about a car accident that the protagonist experienced [and] consists of two parts: in the first, the narrator tells us about the accident; in the second, she confesses that the first version was the better composed narrative version, whereas she now tells us how the events really unfolded, and what she omitted or changed in the first part. […]
[The theme of the project is] subjectivity, both narratively and as one reads the text; that is, of how a story can be “packaged” by the writer by providing a smooth, linear form at first glance, and then offering us a glimpse into its various facets. […]
The weight of each narrative element [takes the form of] rectangular walls of different lengths giving rise to an irregular volume in plan and then in elevation. The volume thus created is then “cut” giving rise at one end to a uniform, smooth, linear facade.
The dense regularity of the vertical elements is interrupted by a large column of light placed in the center, thus creating a volume of air that can be perceived from the outside. It represents that part of the story that we believe is objectively present in the narrative and thus produces clarity.”

IED Istituto Europeo di Design (Turin)