Memory Tools

I am curious about processes of memory, in particular, the actions of remembering, forgetting and misremembering. I have explored why certain memorabilia have been influential in keeping family narratives alive in the Memory Tool Series. The metaphorical tools explore the narrative of family memorabilia—the act of remembering and understanding the journeys taken. Based on autoethnographic beginnings, I investigated the nature of memory and started to explore creating works outside of the autobiography. These Memory Tools are speculative, fantastical realisations of the relationship between the thing and memory. Each Tool has a particular function relating to a memory process. The intra-action between the maker and the thing is crucial in understanding the ontological nature of the work. The imprint of myself on the thing, the traces of being, is evidenced in the making process. Deepening my ontological understanding of how memory is experienced through the thing. My material-led methodology is vital in exploring how materials used can be part of the narrative. The tools are initially created using mainly stitch, then cast in bronze. The act of stitching acts as a tool to contemplate the nature of the memory being remembered or very possibly misremembered. The addition, post-casting, of screws and bolts and other memory-imbued materials further reinforces the understanding of how a thing intra-acts with other things and the role of memory in these transactions.