Losing My Marbles: A Mausoleum of Memory

Date of Award

2009

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Humanities

First Advisor

Freedland, Barry

Keywords

Memory, Installation, Art, You, I

Area of Concentration

Art

Abstract

Striving for a sense of connection and understanding, my thesis uses the concept of memory as a universal to produce in the viewer a collective sense of identity, unity, and belonging. While using personal memories the goal of my work is to appeal to a common thread that runs through most, if not all, of humanity. I approach this by evoking the universal through the personal. When I was about eight years old Nana's Alzheimer's started getting real bad. The loss of memory meant the loss of her family, her history, and herself. This instilled in me a clear connection between our idea of identity and the memories that we collect as building blocks. When memories are lost, so is that person. In my work I try to connect the feeling of erasure with a manic attempt at preservation: deletion through addition. My materials are essential, because they are me. This thesis is set up a little different than most. The style of writing, the spatial setup, along with the multiple "voices" that ribbon through the paper vary from the usual 12 point, Times New Roman, academic writing style. This is on purpose. The handwritten is informal and reflects the way that I speak. The typewritten is more formal, more mediated. I hope this creates a contrasting dynamic in my work that plays with the traditional role that comes with writing a Senior Thesis Dissertation. Let me know if this works out for you. I feel that the only way my point can resonate with my audience is through this format. That goes for my style of art as well. I'm a creator of environments. I am concerned with how space interacts with the senses. I am an arranger of things. More poetic in nature than scientific. With a palm full of memories I am trying to hold onto life with spread fingers. Strange yet familiar. Haunting yet welcoming. My art does not stand alone. It is what you bring to it. I hope you enjoy my work or at least get something out of it. That is all I want. Thanks.

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