I remember the place but not the day

Poem - I remember the place but not the day

Standing still a special day.
The place I know.
The path alongside their house.
The coal shed.
The house next door.
Me my face my hands my legs my shoes.
My book, my cap.
My Gabardine raincoat to keep me warm and dry.
Me ready for school
The path the bricks along the edge.
The shadows heavy on the wall.
Me my dad, together.
I remembered the place but not the day

The poem was written and video made for my Ph.D. Exhibition 

Rational

Celia Lury tells us that snapshots or at least photographs are prosthetic memories. The Kodak Corporation sold the idea of the snapshot as a way of preserving our memories. Maybe that is only true if it was you who took the photograph. Not only is it a popular notion that we take snapshots to help us remember there is a significant academic discourse that also tries to convince us that there is an inextricable link between photographs and memory.

I was moved to research this notion further when I was faced with the paradox of the "First day at school" snapshot, a photograph of me aged seven, which triggered vivid memories of the place, when I first saw it in a family album, not of the day, even though I was clearly present.

Dissertation - Abstract and Synopsis

Self: The Photograph, Memory and Nostalgia

Abstract 

This enquiry takes the form of a personal reflective narrative within a theoretical framework influenced by the writings of Barthes, Sontag, Benjamin and others. It opens by briefly exploring the historical development of photography and the emergence of the photograph as a as the snapshot in the context of the family photograph. The enquiry considers the relationship between the family photograph and the development of autobiographical memory in turn a detailed exploration of the influence of autobiographical memory and the sense of self. Finally the dissertation explores the emotional influence of nostalgia as a catalyst in the development of a sense of self and place.

This dissertation is part of a larger body of work including a practice based exhibition comprising three installations which explore in turn; the notion of aging and mortality through the decay of memory and the ephemeral photograph; the family photograph and the uncanny nature of the pose based on a selection of family photographs spanning four generations; a simulation of the frailty of memory in which appropriated frames of decaying film stock are combined with familiar images in a dissonant melange of the familiar and the confused.

The enquiry is informed by a series of questions: Is my art practice born out of a sense of self and agency? What are the influence of autobiographical memory and the emotion of nostalgia?

Synopsis

The objective of this dissertation is to explore the influences which have informed my art practice and which give rise to my recurring themes of decay, memory and nostalgia through the medium of photography, in its broadest terms.

My contention is that my practice is born out of a sense of self and agency moulded by the influence of autobiographical memory and the remembered self. I will argue that I am influenced by the cultural background and geography of my childhood the embodiment of which is the family photograph.
My enquiry is composed of two elements, the dissertation and a practice based exhibition. The dissertation will take the form of a personal reflective narrative. The practice component is based on the experimental aspect of my current practice with an emphasis on themes drawn specifically from the substance of my enquiry.

I shall open by exploring a brief history of photography and the emergence of the photograph as a medium and as an intrinsic part of family life whilst considering the influence of the photograph in the development of autobiographical memory in association with the family photograph and the family photograph album. This in turn will lead me to a more detailed exploration of the nature of autobiographical memory and the influence of memory on the development of the sense of self. Thirdly I shall explore the emotional influence of nostalgia as a catalyst in the context of self and place. Finally, I shall introduce the practice and contextual aspect of the dissertation.

Brain Science Podcsats

Brain Science Podcasts http://www.brainsciencepodcast.com/
The Beautiful Brain http://thebeautifulbrain.com/
Neuroscene http://neuroscene.com/
Brain Matters http://www.brainsmatter.com/
M-IA Memory in Art http://www.m-ia.net/index.html
The Frontal Cortex http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/frontal-cortex/
Neuronarrative http://neuronarrative.wordpress.com/
Brain Blogger http://brainblogger.com/
All in the Mind Blog http://blogs.abc.net.au/allinthemind/
Mind Hacks http://mindhacks.com/
Brainethics http://brainethics.org/

The Frailty of Memory

There comes a time when the function and frailty of memory becomes a preoccupation. Forgetfulness is perversely accompanied by an increased acuity of distant memories. Nostalgia becomes a way of life… a fleeting reflection… an ethereal glimpse of something familiar through the mind’s eye… fragments of memory like shards of mirror… a vision barely visible through the broken glass in the window of time.

 The digital projector is employed as a modern day Camera Obscura to explore Barthes notion of the ‘Punctum’ and the ‘Noeme’ (that-has-been). The projected image starts with a familiar image that could be carried in the wallet or reside in a well worn family album. The image is initially vivid, nostalgic – the ‘Punctum"’ – but with the passage of time, it decays, leaving an enduring memory – the ‘Noeme’ (that-has-been). This work considers one of the earliest attempts to explain visual memory, by considering the analogy of Plato's wax tablet, Freud's mystic writing pad and even the modern computer, all of which consider memory as layers.

This is a video taken of my graduation project. In a blacked out space the animation, Fading Memory as seen in my previous post, was projected on to a translucent screen made from tulle behind which was a further much darker version of the image an acrylic sheet so this was also semi translucent. When the animation starts the second image is virtually invisible (difficult to capture this in this video)  as the front image decays more light falls on the back image and as the viewers eyes adapt to the darkness the back image is slowly revealed. 

This installation which was part of my BA (Hons) Fine Art & Professional Practice final show, endeavours to portray the durability of the Photograph compared with the fragility of memory.