The Dynamics of Memory

The Dynamics of Memory examines the phenomenon of documented memories implicit in the online interactions of social media. It is often said that once something is online, it never goes away. As an archive, the internet has the potential to far outlive the analogs of paper and film. Where once family videos were accessible to only a few, often lost with time, this persistence of digital and cultural memory displays the psychological and instinctual behaviors of a new, common global family evolved through increased accessibility and communication.

In the corner of a room, a photo album rests on a pedestal. Projected onto its pages are social media posts containing vintage home videos which change randomly as the pages turn. The piece explores the relationship between home video, social media, and the behaviors, traditions, and idiosyncrasies within culture as they have evolved over the last few decades. As a futuristic technological landscape becomes a daily reality, the hobbies, crafts, and documentation of previous generations become digitized alongside the daily lives of social media users. That the videos are hosted within a social media format appears normal and expected to the viewer until the degradation of age within the content is noticed.

With these developments come evidence of psychologically developed tropes, consistent in everyday life around the world and throughout the recent technological ages. These culturally, and therefore personally, significant moments, such as holidays, birthday parties, and vacations, make up the genre that is home video, an impulsive practice of documentary film with little to no decision making or editing. Such impulsivity persists through social media, despite an increase in videographic finesse within the general public. The Dynamics of Memory serves also as a manifestation of the collective unconscious, first discussed by Carl Jung, and the archetypal images that penetrate our individual psyches from the inherited memory in our genetic coding. Even as technology develops, society’s wants and needs persist, never fully changing, but merely adapting old ways to new tools.

Contributions:

Katelyn Goodman developed the concept behind the piece, located source files, took screen captures and photoshopped the social media elements, purchased and modified the photo album, and worked in collaboration on the set-up and filming of the piece. She also participated in drafting the artist statement.

Robert Tidwell located source files, compiled videos from source media into consistent sizes, durations, and media formats. He worked in collaboration on the set up and the filming of the piece, edited the documentation video, and participated in drafting the artist statement.