LIVING MEMORY
PUBLIC ART // 2018
Chummeng Soun and Malika Leiper
As a young generation of Cambodian Americans, we struggle to reconcile in our own ways with the trauma of our nation’s recent history. Though we did not live under the Khmer Rouge, this past is still alive in our present.
Project Description and Objectives
Living Memory is a public art installation that aims to shed light on mental health and wellbeing. By activating the senses of sound, smell, sight and touch, the installation invites participants to engage in a mindfulness activity that evokes the process of self-reflection and memory.
Living Memory is a public art installation that aims to shed light on mental health and wellbeing. By activating the senses of sound, smell, sight and touch, the installation invites participants to engage in a mindfulness activity that evokes the process of self-reflection and memory.
The installation hinges on two key aspects
An immersive sensory experience that provokes the audience to reflect upon their past, present or future; along with a journaling exercise that invites the public to contribute their own memories or reflections to the installation. The aim of this participatory exercise is to encourage audience members to engage with the art, injecting their own experiences into the narrative in order to highlight the shared nature of memory and its ability to unite individuals across time and space.
An immersive sensory experience that provokes the audience to reflect upon their past, present or future; along with a journaling exercise that invites the public to contribute their own memories or reflections to the installation. The aim of this participatory exercise is to encourage audience members to engage with the art, injecting their own experiences into the narrative in order to highlight the shared nature of memory and its ability to unite individuals across time and space.
Panels of translucent fabric will be suspended from a 10-foot-high wooden trellis-like structure which the public is invited to wander through. Additionally, scrapbooking materials will be provided for individuals to contribute their own story, memory, or experience to the installation. Finally, participants are instructed to attach their ‘mementos’ onto the suspended panels of fabric. Over the course of the day, the fabric will become increasingly populated with individual stories, serving as a record of this collective activity that you can feel, smell, touch and hear.
