Title
There --> Here
Graduation Year
2014
Publication Date
2014
Abstract
This installation is a space in which I've expressed the uncertainty I feel about the nature of the memory process, using the idea of the three phase memory process as a theoretical framework. Entering the space is, intentionally, a process. The viewer must put protective coverings over their shoes and carefully step onto the soft layer of dirt that covers the floor of the space. This procedural entry, the unexpected tactile and olfactory sensations of walking on dirt and the minimal lighting, all help to reinforce a degree of separation between the exhibition space and the outside world. Within the space there is a looped 16mm film that exists between a two-dimensional still image and a four-dimensional temporal work. While the film undoubtedly has temporal qualities, the looping of the film and its composition of a nearly static shot confuse the issue. In addition to the film, there are a number of three-dimensional objects, some of which are made and some of which were found and introduced to the space with very minimal alteration. All of the objects relate back to the scene depicted in the projection, and that scene relates back to the objects, further obfuscating the relationship among all of the visual elements. With the installation, I hope to evoke confusion in the viewer as each element references another element within the space, circling back on to itself and obscuring both the starting point and the exact nature of the transpositional process. Ideally, all of the elements within the space, as well as the experience of the space itself, come together to form an environment that is suspended between ends. The visual elements within the space reference both the beginning and end of the memory process. The environmental quality of the space references a nature setting, but this remains in conflict with the installation's existence within a building. In theory, the emotional resonance of the place hangs between comforting and eerie as well, making the installation a space that is as much in between, as much a transition, as the memory process.
Disciplines
Arts and Humanities
Recommended Citation
O'Brien, Joe, "There --> Here" (2014). Honors Projects. 4.
https://digitalcommons.iwu.edu/art_honproj/4
Comments
At the request of the author, this essay is not available for download. Bona fide researchers may consult it by visiting the University Archives in Tate Archives & Special Collections; contact archives@iwu.edu for details.