LENKA CLAYTON

Collective Bio

2026 / video /2o mins / Commissioned by ICA Pittsburgh / Video & Sound by Phillip Andrew Lewis

A group of individuals together endeavor to write a short collective biography that is equally true for each and every individual member of the group. Through a wide-ranging and unusual conversation strangers search for accidental correlations in their own personal histories, rejecting anything unique, instead only seeking overlap and shared experience. 

The resulting collective biography is read aloud by all members of the group in unison, each person using the pronoun I.

I live in Pittsburgh and have been here for over five years. I’ve witnessed the city changing around me, I notice perpetual construction and remember the bridge collapsing. I have looked out over our city from Mount Washington. I have respect for Mr Rogers, and have watched him put his sweater on and take it off again. I have been to Ohio, Florida, New York, New York, ca and Jersey and Canada. My local Rite Aid just closed.

When I was a teenager, I had a job and operated a cash register. I have had a pet. I have been bitten by a mosquito and to me cilantro does not taste like soap. At home I have a plant, I have swum naked but usually don’t and have had a positive experience on a horse.

I have climbed a tree to pick an apple. I have taken refuge in a basement and have been in a car accident. I am uncertain of standing close to the edge of things. I have never broken my wrist, but my body has been stitched up. Once the wind was so strong my umbrella blew inside out. I think the weather is getting more intense, which makes me uneasy.

I remember my first kiss and my childhood address. I can write cursive, though I have a computer. I have played a wind instrument, can introduce myself in another language and have had a hangover to the point of vomiting. I am legally allowed to drive even though I have run a red light.

I’ve seen a dead body. When I walk through the graveyard I read the names on the graves.

In the supermarket I’ve bumped into a person I wasn’t expecting to see. I have an older cousin. and a challenging relationship with a family member. On New Years Eve at midnight I kissed someone. When only one car window is open my ears feel uncomfortable.

I grew up in Pittsburgh and live close to here, in the East End. This morning I ate breakfast as usual. Later I will leave here, and will go on to do other things. If I have to go somewhere, I’ll get there somehow.

My memory is not as good as it once was, but I remember going to the ocean when I was younger and walking in the sand on the shore.

When I was a child, people around me took me to church. I attended services for years afterwards and enjoyed taking part. Now I wear glasses so that I can see more clearly and don’t go to bed at night until after 8 o’clock.

I watch TV to relax and keep up to date with current events by listening to the news. I heard about when they first put a man on the moon, and also recently when astronauts went into orbit for ten days.

It is important to stay active. I love Bingo and play almost every week. I have won, but more often I lose. I love music, including gospel. I like to dance and will dance to anything, but I especially like to dance fast.

For over one week, I’ve had a job in which I serve the Pittsburgh community. When I enter my workplace I hear easy-listening, lo-fi instrumental music. I listen to other music too on my own, to relax. Today at work I was in an all staff meeting. I often receive emails to my email address which contains part of my name and an @ symbol.

When I was younger, I graduated from high school where I studied math and science among other things. I have some family members, including a brother. I exercise regularly, sometimes I walk. This year I read a book in English, recently I cooked a meal for myself and today I drank water already.

I have a t-shirt with The Kingsley Association written on it. I have a next door neighbor who I have greeted in a friendly way. I have had one friend for over ten years. Mostly we eat and talk together.

I go to sleep after 8.30pm and wake up after 3.30am. I have needed help and have offered help to others. This year I will be invited to the staff Christmas party.

I was born in another country. I have been in the United States for over two months. I am learning English at the Community College of Allegheny County. I already speak another language fluently but I am learning English so I can connect to other people here. It is very hard. Most of my family live really far away. I have a telephone so I can call them. It is difficult to make friends here. 

I came here on an airplane. I remember the journey very well. I was served a meal by the flight attendant that was very delicious. I remember eating vegetables. Now I live in the city of Pittsburgh, in a building with other people. I have been downtown but I live on the outskirts. I have noticed that this city has a lot of hills. 

Here in the United States there is peace. There is also technology everywhere. A lot of things are online. I can make more money here than in my home country. I can become wealthy. It is expensive to be here and I feel under pressure. In the future I hope I am financially stable.

I have restarted my whole life to be here. My new life is very different to my old life. The America that you see on TV is not the same as the America that you see when you get here.

As a kid I used to be a daydreamer. As I have grown, I have changed. Now I enjoy rituals, including one in which I sit in this carpark at night. 

Recently I have been checking the weather obsessively. I fear rain clouds, and was personally affected by wildfire smoke coming over from Canada. I appreciate humor and like to challenge myself with hard things. I love adventure. I have been in a shipwreck.

Because of another person when I was a teenager, I began acting. I often have to memorize words though sometimes I mess them up. I wear makeup. I have changed my clothes in a trailer. My hair usually looks different to this.

I love to be part of a team, and I learn from, and love my community. I tell stories using my own body and my voice. I move to the same count as the others here. Recently I participated in a Shamanic ceremony, and I have a mentor who helps me stay in the moment. 

I am physically active, and am not afraid to sweat. I celebrate my own and others' birthdays. I love the sky and the moon. I love to watch how the light changes at dusk. I love animal visitors, specifically a turkey. I have used a porta-john. I love Shakespeare and can fluently speak and understand dense, 400-year old poetry.

I have some insecurity and have sold things to other people. My hair is dry. My car is dusty. I enjoy watching flaming balls spin. Instead of saying good luck, I say merde merde merde. 

I tripped on my pant legs tonight.

I am here.

I am breathing.

My heart is beating.

This morning I woke up and I peed.

I was invited to be here today and have spoken with everyone in this room. I have played tag and Go fish. I know about hopscotch. I have cycled down a hill and have kicked a ball more than once. I have made a self-portrait and have had deja-vu. When I looked through binoculars one time, I saw a bird. I have never, ever played pickle ball.

I have been tucked in bed at night and have been read a story. I have dreamt that a person was talking to me. I have had nightmares but always woke up afterwards. I have experienced an opera and a powerful storm. When the power went out recently I looked for a source of light and sat in the dark.

I have a favorite food, and am familiar with fruit. I spit out my chewing gum and have accidentally swallowed something I didn’t mean to. I have hurt myself, I have cried, and I have have drawn a smiley face.

I’ve broken a rule, worried about a math test and have accidentally spilled things. I’ve splashed in puddles and other bodies of water. I have been in snow up to my ankles, and I have been to Buffalo. I have not been to Never Never Land, but I have been to Kennywood. I own an object of self defense and I know exactly where it is.

I literally just saw a praying mantis

I was conceived. My mother gave birth to me when she was under thirty-five years old. I grew up in the time of VHS and cassette tapes. I have rented a VHS tape from Blockbuster and I remember that it was very important to be kind and rewind. I am aware of the phrase winner winner chicken dinner and I had an accident that resulted in a cut and it bled.

As a kid I indulged in creative writing and can count up to 12 in Spanish, and much higher in English. When I was a kid at school I used to have to get permission to use the bathroom.

I have been on a first date, and have got to first base. I got married, and had a wedding to which I invited over 61 guests. My marriage lasted seven or more years.I had a passport and it expired. In order to leave the country I travelled on an airplane with other passengers. We flew over the Atlantic Ocean.

I can’t remember the first time I had pizza, but I will very likely eat it again in the future. I am actually able to make pizza by myself, otherwise I get it at a place locally. I have voted in an election and have participated in Pittsburgh Urban Christian School Serv-a-thon. It makes me anxious to talk to some people in my family about politics, so I don’t.

Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night.

I had my ninth birthday in America. I know the alphabet, I have crossed the Hot Metal Bridge in a car in the summer.

I have got wet in different ways. I have floated in a swimming pool, in a lake, in the ocean in the bath and in a hot tub. I have run through a sprinkler. I made a fort out of boxes and pillows and hidden inside it. I have thrown and caught different balls. I have watched fireworks and noticed the smell that they leave behind. When I saw a waterfall I felt the mist on my face.

I go to the dentist. I have been bitten, and I have lost five baby teeth. I trusted another person to cut my hair. I have missed the bus and have fallen asleep in a moving vehicle. I occasionally tell lies. I recently broken the rules, and have faced the consequences.

I have tried to increase my luck by wishing on a star, throwing coins in a fountain and knocking on wood which I sometimes had to look for. I appreciate certain patterns in clock numerals. I have watched a movie in a dark building where I ate popcorn. I have been made to go to a museum and an art gallery. When I look at the moon, stars and planets I feel wonder.

I have cried on my birthday, loved a pet and miss a certain person which I don’t want to go deeply into right now.