Midamerican Fever Dream
A narrative collection by Summer Wagner
Nine 1/1 NFTs Eight 1/1 prints 119 Editions. One Story.
4 Characters
4 Chapters called "Waves"
Each character has a corresponding element and cardinal direction that inform who they are.
Every 1/1 piece has a description written from the corresponding character's POV using their distinct voice.
 Judith . North . Earth |  Ernest . East . Air |  Bridget . South . Fire |
|---|---|---|
 Douglas . West . Water |
WAVE ONE
Wave One is the beginning of the Midamerican Fever Dream Story. Matriarch Judith performs a ritual passed down by her grandmother.
Each Wave, an animated piece is added to a doppelgänger edition. Play this as you dive into Wave One.
Numerology 44 . 2023
December, 1949 Judith: for when you are in your winter and in need of deep change in direction and spirit. The ritual I’ve drawn is best practiced on a waning or new moon. Like the seed planted in dark soil, you will start your journey in the shadows. The greatest alchemy we achieve through our practice is the transmutation of the soul. It is easy to know ourselves, but a great challenge to transform what we know into something entirely new. Drink deep. The wind through the tunnel will be beastly for a time. Sweep the path before casting the circle, your mother doesn’t tend to the tunnel since your father started back at the factory. Yours, Grandma Helen
WAVE TWO
Wave Two is introduces the next three characters in the Midamerican Fever Dream series, and showcases their everyday worlds, and in turn, OUR everyday worlds.
Play the Wave One and Wave Two pieces together.
Something in the Wind . 2024
Douglas Live . 2024
collected by @OG_crookedwest
A spiritual war taking place. A battle for the soul of every person alive. Children of the light and dark. Regular people caught in crossfire. We must take responsibility. We must build an ark. Oatmilk and lip balm for Bridget.
Bridget's Old Room . 2024
collected by @lowkey_ventures
After laying still for too long with your arms folded over your knees and your head tucked into your chest, it burns to move your joints. To finally unfold. It’s reckless, I know. To want to be seen. Idk.
Ernest in His Office at the Trucking Company . 2024
collected by @Space_prockets
It’s not that I don’t like the logistics industry. I actually like seeing the drivers every day, they’re crazy guys. I’ll talk to some of them at lunch as they come in, or sometimes they’ll come in while I’m working late and just drink till they can’t see. They sleep in their trunks. Sometimes I’ll sleep here too. Anyways, it’s just that temporary work is always hard to get attached to. And no one wants to get attached to you either, so you’re kind of always given the office no one wants. I guess it’s like driving a truck you don’t own. So I never decorate.
WAVE THREE
The fever dreams. Our four characters encounter theatrical expressions of their fears, desires, shadows.
Voice of the South
Coming of Age . 2024
And she unfolds.
Like holiday paper.
Like a piece of silk.
Like laundry on the line
For all to see
She unfolds
Like a dream with no story.
Like a lost memory
Like a forgotten feeling
And it hurts
Like a dream with no story
Like a lost memory
Like a forgotten feeling
Pageant of Limelights
On the pavement. Abandoned dry clean store. Bridget is there. They’re all recording. I don't know what to say. They’re all watching, but I don’t have it all together. It's all…it’s all over the place. I think my clothes are inside but I can’t get in, it’s all closed, like for good. Abandoned, no one left inside and no lights on either, only the outside ones.
That dream of when we first went to the ocean as kids. Ernest collects washed up sea sponges. Mom lying in the shade. Me in the water, pretending to be a coast guard. I don’t realize how strong the waves are. One crashes down on top of me. I don’t see anything, just the feeling of my body in the water, thrashing. Completely out of control. This moment on the pavement feels the same.
Mother of Industry
I didn’t realize that all those years of anxious play would lead to so many play-less years. They don’t play anymore, either. We still dress up, one in a suit, one in a uniform, me in my smile. We still pretend, but not for fun.
I dream of those toy soldiers and trucks I gave them. Looked it up and found out they’re made from lead, a subtle poison with not so subtle dreams. I suppose that’s the magic in that. Blood magic.
Blue Bird
collected by @Space_prockets
It’s where dad worked. That big abandoned building on Main Street. They say it’s the biggest abandoned building in the whole United States. It’s so big, it’s where we built machines that build the machines. Anyways, this place built textile machines, and it built me in a way. That sort of thing. A place kind of shapes you.
I’m standing in front, outside the gates. I’m there for an interview but the whole place is boarded up and falling apart. I feel…soft and swollen. I feel something in my chest, like when you’re about to cry and there’s that tightness and that lump. But the lump gets bigger and bigger and I can feel it coming up my throat until finally this bird, a bluebird, flies out right onto my hand! He’s staring at me and I’m staring at him, little guy. I felt bad for him, you know, being stuck there inside me for so long.
WAVE FOUR
Exhibition Opening will be hosted Thursday, August 29th at 718 s. Hill St. Los Angeles, CA.