Date of Award
Spring 5-17-2019
Degree Name
Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA)
Restricted/Unrestricted
Unrestricted
Abstract
Memory may be implicitly embedded into an artwork through explicit material triggers. Materials can evoke memory through material past life and through physical denotations of the past. The former carries with it the weight of existence; the latter demonstrates tangibly what cannot be captured by words. The material triggers act as semantic memories that can be used to construct an experiential, episodic memory in the mental faculties of the viewer. The memory that is contained within the work must be implicit in nature to carry experience, for explicit memory can only be read semantically. As the viewer strives to reach an understanding of the work, she also is reconstructing the embedded memory of the work in her own mind. In this sense, the artist weaves memory into her work: the viewer reclaims some threads of this offered memory and reconstructs them for herself.
Mentor/Primary Advisor
Michael Byron
Recommended Citation
sun, merry, "Material Memory" (2019). Bachelor of Fine Arts Senior Papers. 59.
https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/bfa/59
Included in
Art and Design Commons, Fine Arts Commons, Philosophy Commons