The memory palace : scale, mnemonics and the moving image

This research project explores themes of remembrance, place and identity from ideas established by philosophers such as Cicero, Quintilian and Proust, and scholars including Susan Stewart, Michael Perlman and Francis Yates. These perspectives are developed into a body of artwork created from miniatures and video that reference autobiographical memories of my father's stay and passing in a palliative care hospice. Particular narratives are translated through still and moving images by constructing a Memory Palace through a video installation. The display of artwork creates a mnemonic relationship that is supported by the philosophical perspectives and contentions established throughout the investigation. The contributions of contemporary artists Ricky Swallow, Janet Cardiff, Jake and Dinos Chapman, John Timberlake, Thomas Hirschorn and Michael Ashkins are examined in relation to the nature of the project and its contribution to contemporary art. The outcomes of the project are two-fold. Firstly, the body of artwork will demonstrate a link between scale and memory. Secondly, the written exegesis informs the artwork by establishing historical and philosophical perspectives relevant to the project.