Curated Memories
info

Installation view from Curated Memory

×

Installation view from Curated Memory

×

Curated Memory


“When you change the story you created, you change your life. I created the story and brought these memories together, and now my past is different from the past I had before.”-- Daniela Schiller

What is it about the things that we see and experience on a daily basis via cell phone cameras that make it worth capturing and sharing? Is it the thrill of seeing things that may have been overlooked by a casual glance? Is it the lure of “likes and re-tweeting” of the said image? Is it the joy of realizing how much beauty is overlooked in our daily viewing experience? Whatever it is, the images that we choose to share are but a fraction of the total number of images that we view on a daily basis. Of the millions of images that we take or store in the “cloud” it is the few that are shared with others that reinforce recall and experience.

Curated Memory is an exploration of the ways that memory is influenced in the digital age. Through the use of social networks and the printed image, I share my daily walk through the world. These routine and sometimes mundane activities such as, driving to work, celebrating birthdays and watching nature are activities that represent my life. Through the use of the social network Instagram, these mundane scenes are revisited and carefully edited to portray my public-self. Upon seeing an image, the brain informs us that we have seen or had that experience before. By choosing to print specific imagery, I transform it from experience to object which in turn enhances the ability to recall the experience. This work promotes the intuitive recognition of shared experiences. Like the careful construction of the vanishing “scrapbook,” I am selecting and constructing the memories for myself and the viewer.

Created to trigger both visual and auditory memories, this group of images represents approximately 365 days worth of image sharing by @artfields on the Instagram social network. Each image is represented weekly and is labeled with its associated information, such as location and hash tag.The images are also given the bonus of a quote. The added quote represents an overheard comment or audio blurb, heard by the artist within 48 hours of taking the image. This abundance of sound and imagery represents the deluge of information that we are surrounded with on a daily basis. By choosing a particular quote with an unrelated image, a connection between the two leads to the generation of a personal narrative. While this work does mirror that deluge of images and audio prevalent in a digital society, it is curated; filtered to make a particular story that serves as evidence of a unique personal experience.


Daniela Schiller (born October 26, 1972 in Israel) is a neuroscientist who leads the Schiller Lab for Affective Neuroscience at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine. She is best known for her work on memory reconsolidation, and on unlearning traumatic memories and addiction.

Curated Memories
info
Installation view from Curated Memories ×
Installation view from Curated Memories ×
Curated Memories
info

Installation view from Curated Memory

×

Installation view from Curated Memory

×
Curated Memories
info

Installation view from Curated Memory

×

Installation view from Curated Memory

×
info

Installation View at Brookhaven College

×

Installation View at Brookhaven College

×
info

Installation View at Brookhaven College

×

Installation View at Brookhaven College

×
info

Installation View at Brookhaven College

×

Installation View at Brookhaven College

×
info

Installation View at Brookhaven College

×

Installation View at Brookhaven College

×
Using Format