Relationships in one’s life can seem very complicated. However, the most significant and lasting qualities are built on the fragments of memories the person gathers from each relationship. With memory, a peculiar thing happens: seemingly random or odd associations are made, freely mingling among other recollections within a vast database. Memory has its way of naturally classifying routine events as uneventful and mundane, while it extensively scans through billions of past mental reels to recall specific moments and sometimes bring to surface what we most do not care to remember.
And they ultimately scatter and are stored and labeled as either short-term memory or long-term memory. It’s arbitrary and sometimes even uncontrollable which memories get stored as long-term memory, but by selectively recalling what I want to recall, structurally representing and conveying the memories through carefully chosen words, and finally sharing this with the public in an event, I am actually prioritizing the memories within my vast pool of long-term memories and hence controlling them. Though these are merely words, they represent and convey immeasurably large quantities of information, which are in the form of emotions and episodes. Furthermore, the series of words chosen are essentially “chunked” and are compounded to make those connections and reminiscences even stronger to me, and hopefully to the viewers as well, painting a whole picture of my memories. A chunk can be defined as "a collection of elements having strong associations with one another, but weak associations with elements within other chunks" (Gobet et al., 2001, p. 236). The separate words that form chunks work in synergy to increase the capacity of memory as well.
If I, as an artist, am able to selectively control my memory according to my will, I can create a rearranged yet sincere impression from curated moments of a certain relationship. In this documental work, I aimed to do just that; the facts and details I provide to the viewers may be exaggerated, made up or overlapped by other memories, but the works are based wholly on an intimate and genuine relationship. Additionally, I was able to re-experience and relish the whole emotion and episodes I have felt and experienced respectively.
Though my boyfriend, with whom the relationship I have is the main focus of this work, is studying neuroscience, he is unable to manipulate memory the way I can; science simply cannot, or at least has not yet reached this threshold. The beauty of art allows for this whisper of magic.
As our relationship continues to be a growing part of my life, its components are increasingly becoming powerfully intertwined with my memory. The future of our relationship is unknown, but through memory I can grasp where I was and where I am. I am revealing this private slice of my memory of our relationship to the public, but only a slice can be shared, because memory is eminently trapped in time and space.
-Chase, W.G.; & Simon, H.A. (1973). Perception in chess. Cognitive Psychology, 4, 55-81.
-Gobet, F.; de Voogt, A.J.; & Retschitzki, J. (2004). Moves in mind: The psychology of board games. Hove, UK: Psychology Press
-Gobet, F.; Lane, P.C.R.; Croker, S.; Cheng, P.C.H.; Jones, G.; Oliver, I.; & Pine, J.M. (2001). Chunking mechanisms in human learning. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 5, 236-243.
