Memory Palace

Memory Palace explores the relationship between photography and moving images in memory and storytelling. Often photographs help us remember times past, as with family photo albums, newspapers, and history books. But photographs aren’t always trustworthy: they change depending on their captions, how they’re manipulated both when taken and afterward, and as they’re arranged and presented.

Mohamed Bourouissa’s 23-08-08 (2011) shows photographs from a soccer match falling from an inkjet printer. Fans at the match hold a sign saying “RIP,” in memory of two team supporters, also suggesting “to rip, or tear,” which questions the photographic material itself. IM Heung-soon’s Memento (2003) pairs his family’s portraits from the 1970s and 80s with recent film footage of them at a photoshoot. The still images in the film reveal sights of farms and factories in Seoul that have since been transformed into asphalt and apartment blocks. Nina Katchadourian’s The Recarcassing Ceremony (2016) tells the story of a tragic moment in a childhood game. The video uses family photographs and audio recordings from her childhood, as well as footage from the event’s recent restaging. Claudia Peña Salinas’ Tlachacan (2018) traces the origins of a postcard featuring a pre-Hispanic monolith of a water deity. On her journey, the artist finds innumerable reproductions, replicas, and copies of the monolith and its photographic representation.  Stefanos Tsivopoulos’ Amnesialand (2010) narrates a fictional civilization’s sudden collective amnesia caused by the loss of all photographic material, and uses the public photo archives of Cartagena, Spain and Tsivopoulos’ own video footage.

Organized by Melanie Kress, High Line Art Associate Curator.