Mnemonic Devices

The installation consists of a constructed room with a 13-15” opening (as show in the plan that follows.). The room narrows, forcing the perspective of the space, and inviting the viewer to move through the space. There are metal trusses that cross the ceiling at 8’ high. A motorized sprocket system carries paper dresses and moves at a slow walking pace. An audio track repeats in the background, amplifying the sound of the mechanized rack with the addition of a reading of the poem Maidenhead by Alice Fulton. This acts as a background mantra or drone, with the walls further muffling the sound to make the text barely comprehensible. It is a low light environment, with only 2 light sources illuminating the dresses and activating the rest of the space with movement and shadow.

The dresses are automatic writing exercises of sorts, harkening memories and marking time. The dress form was used as a result of research of the etymology of the word dress, which, in verb form means to arrange in ranks or align. The dresses act as apparitions or discarded skins of the memory that used to reside within. They have a support system outside themselves, and their movement is mechanized and cyclical. I am referencing the migratory preference of our culture (see artist statement) through the use of the motorized rack, as we are constantly in search for our place in this world.