Topic > Art and memory

As a fundamental tool of human existence, memory determines our actions and reactions to stimuli, creating a connection between what has passed and what is yet to come in search of patterns and similarities between people and past and current events. Memories can serve as warnings once we recognize harmful behaviors in ourselves and others around us; we must not touch the stove on which we were previously burned, so we take our hand again. However, this does not explain the human tendency to repeat our mistakes and oversimplifies the process, giving us more questions than answers. Conversely, memory can allow us to dwell on the pleasures of the past, making the memory even more important than the moment itself, obsessing over recording the memory without seeking to experience it in a given moment through technology and its growing role in society and society . culture. These contrasting functions of memory appear to be a fascinating aspect of the phenomenon, inspiring both scientific research and literary works. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Because memory plays such a crucial role in our existence, it must also manifest itself in the world of contemporary art. Artists not only question its function in our daily lives, but also try to unravel the web of our expectations of it both as a society and as individuals. Olivier Dyens writes: Born from human memories and emotions, art is a universal current. Melancholy, sadness, joy, terror, anger and the like constitute an Esperanto that every human being can read, understand and share. But emotion and art are nothing more than memories. Living beings remember and this is how they are able to consciously exist in time and space. Memory is critical to the emergence of both order and complexity. Without memories, a being cannot learn and adapt to the demands of the environment. Without memories a being cannot evaluate the state of its body (since this evaluation depends on the interaction between the before and the present) and therefore is unable to emerge as a conscious being. Memories of pleasure, pain, sadness and joy are the common thread that unites all human beings. Memories are our existence and art is their replication system. Questions of identity based on memory and history, the impossible task of finding the "truth" behind sources that time and again prove unreliable due to the nature of our psychology, quests to free ourselves from the clutches of trauma on a personal and social level - these are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the depth of memory issues. Memory can be revisited, just as art can be viewed again and again, each time with different results. The process of going back and rewriting the past in the present is explored in depth in George Orwell's novel “1984” as a disturbing image of the world in which memories are forcibly molded into what “the Party” wishes them to be. Individual memory in opposition to the strength of the political vision of the past loses importance. Siegfried J. Schmidt in his essay “Memory and remembrance: a constructivist approach” (Erll, Nünning, Young 2008) writes: The politics of memory is also driven by emotions and moral values ​​and is intrinsically connected to power: Who has the right to select topics and forms of memory in public speeches? Who decides how narratives of memories are based on relevant assumptions to shape the past in the present for promising futures? It seems impossible to discuss memory and history without includingthe role of politics in the equation. Memory as an artistic theme does not necessarily have to be political, but it very often sheds light on how this coalition influences the world today. Eric Meyer writes of the clash between memory and politics thus: Conflicts in the field of the “politics of history” have less to do with the reality of historical reconstructions and the adequacy of the resulting interpretations than those that might be assumed for discussion at the within the academic community. The interest instead lies in the significant connection between past, present and future, which is often accompanied by a reference to action. From this perspective, the question is not whether the image of the story communicated is scientifically truthful. The crucial factor, however, is how and by whom, as well as through what means, with what intentions and with what effects past experiences are brought to light and become politically relevant. (Erll, Nünning, Young 2008)As individuals, we remember only in our subjective fragments: we only retain one perspective, one side of the story. However, societies as a whole remember what helps establish the identity of the society. Art helps us bridge the gap between the universal and individual aspects of phenomena, bringing experiences common to all of us, but with a unique perspective of the medium used, along with the questions that are asked and those not asked at all. . Andrea Dezsö, Artur Zmijewski and Doris Salcedo are three artists who touch on the theme of memory in art. While they share this topic (or some aspects of it), they bring something completely different to the table. This is due to their unique cultural perspective of being respectively Romanian of Hungarian origin (Dezsö), Polish (Zmijewski) and Colombian (Salcedo) in the predominantly Westernized world of contemporary art, and also to the influence of their individual, national and general culture . human contexts of their perspectives on memory. Andrea Dezsö Born and raised in Romania in the 70s/80s, Andrea Dezsö is an artist who combines her childhood memories with the dreams that accompanied her growing up, using a variety of mediums. Known for her New York City Subway Mural/Mosaic Community Garden, the artist uses themes of folklore, fairy tales, dreams and superstitions that illustrate the richness of her cultural heritage in all its nuances. She describes herself and her artistic practice with these words: a storyteller and an image-maker; she's really a narrator of personal experiences, trying to make sense of what came before and what's happening now. Perhaps the most literal example of her fascination with memory is in the Lessons from My Mother series, in which she embroidered a variety of her mother's sayings. , with accompanying illustrations. In her essay “Feminist rhetoric embroidered in my mother's lesson by Andrea Dezsö” Adriana Cordali Gradea (2014) explains the influence of Romanian folklore and its tradition of “samplers” in Dezso's work and also underlines how the reinterpretation of the theme you change the context of the artifacts. The artifact and its practice help Dezsö connect the newly recreated messages to the condition of women in historical time. Starting from a humble, seemingly powerless, subaltern art form displayed in a parish club, Dezsö repurposes the enriched artistic product for a different historical and geographical context, and this reoriented traditional artifact gains more power by virtue of this transformation. The art of embroidery in this case evokes memories of home and a different time when women embroidered messages of morality and domestic happiness onto pieces of fabric for decorative purposes. This activity, common for the European environment, finds a new form of expression in the hands of.