Memory theatres were small scale wooden models used as a device to aid memory by associating thoughts with objects, shapes and colours – a technique still widely used today to remember complex thoughts – thought association. It is easier to remember, for example, the image of a ‘purple cat’ which in turn can help you recall a long associated story.
Memory theatres were built in the 1600s for a similar but different purpose. They were built to store all known knowledge in the vaults of a scholar’s mind. Each room and object in the wooden model would re-surface knowledge as the scholar mentally walked through the rooms.
I am building a contemporary version of the theatre.
Projections, innate and vital signs of power is a series of work clustered around the idea of manipulating power, controlling it and also making objects and signs imbued with mystical powers.
Other studies in this series are (08) SEVILLE, devotional objects in Seville’s magnificent cathedral sparked this idea; (09) MEMORY THEATRE, a store of worldly knowledge; (13) CONTROLS, dials, switches and flickering screen controlling powerful forces; (14) CIRCLE LINE, thinking about a journey without a beginning or end; (16) NORTHERN FRANCE, landscape sculpted by wind and rain; (18) GAMES, are games just metaphors for life?; (20) FILIPPO LIPPI, what did quattrocento painters want to hide?; (30) PHOENIX, the power and protection of marks and symbols; (03) TURNER (LATE), techniques of a great artist.