MEET DUNNO
dunno is a post-existential ghost with a lot on his mind.
The name dunno refers to the fact that he is dead or done. 'Dunno' is sometimes used in spoken and written English to represent an informal way of saying 'don't know'. It is notable that dunno's melancholy expression rarely changes and he seems to float alone in a void with only his thoughts to keep him company.
The messages found arranged in a cloud, comic-strip style above dunno are known as Dunnoisms. Generally, dunnoisms are a play on words, usually open to multiple interpretations. They might contain puns, absurdly deconstructed language, poetic skepticism, dark humor or philosophical musings.
The 'dunno public' project began in 2014 by drawing ghost-it notes and leaving them in a public place that adds context and photographing them for documentation. Sticky notes are typically associated with small hand written reminders and ghosts are a familiar representation of the afterlife. By combining ghost imagery with sticky notes, the project intends to serve as a reminder of the impermanence of life.
90% of the time, dunno drawings are dated and signed in the bottom right, for instance the ghost-it note temporarily contemporary pictured above is noted: dunno 12.17.14. ZaPow Art Gallery relocated a few times around downtown Asheville before it closed its retail space permanently.
Anyone reading a dunnoism might ask, "What does it mean?" or "Who wrote this?" and then come to the conclusion, "dunno". The answer "dunno" contains the essence of the piece itself. Any person anywhere is welcome to draw dunno and create their own dunnoism saying. The project is open source and invites all people to participate and therefore leave no single person as the sole author or owner of the creation. These are sometimes tagged and referred to as guest dunnos.
There is inherent mystery about the afterlife, inquiring about the nature and purpose of our own existence is a human endeavor that binds all of mankind. "Tangled up in tangents" best distills the overall world of dunnoisms into one idea.
Dunno also occasionally appears as chalk graffiti street art. This form of visual communication extends the theme of impermanence further, similar to the Buddhist practice of sand mandalas that are created to purposely be destroyed. These chalk drawings are made intentionally to be easily washed away by natural elements or fade out with time.
Dunnocorp Enterprises is proudly based in Asheville, North Carolina.