Ars Memoria – Memes for Imagination

The solo exhibition Ars Memoria – Memes for Imagination flow between pasts and futures of the development of memory-techniques and is inspired by the Italian philosopher, poet, and cosmologist Giordano Bruno. The exhibition consists of a video work and sculptures.

Constellation of works

Aom Aom, your body in my room – Study of the hippocampus (2017)
Polystyrene, metal, white paint
210 m x 150 m x 190 m

MOL (2017)
11:20 min video loop with sound, single-channel video projection, dimensions variable

Memory Wheels (2019)
BE LUCK – Bruno’s Endless Love to a Universe of Circular Knowledge 
Metal, beeswax, red pigment, cyber chrome
90 cm x 5 cm
AWAWE – Aby Warburg Arranges a World of Empathy
Metal, beeswax, green pigment, cyber chrome
90 cm x 5 cm
M9MEMM – Mnemosyne and the Nine Muses Entranced in Mnemonic Meditations
Metal, beeswax, purple, cyber chrome
90 cm x5 cm
TOTHM – Tip of my Tongue to Henry Molaison
Metal, beeswax, blue pigment, cyber chrome
90 cm x 5 cm
AI – All In All In All 
Metal, beeswax, white pigment, cyber chrome
90 cm x 5 cm

Credits
Animation: Adam Ryde Ankerfeldt & Magnus Pind Bjerre
Cinematographer: Troels Rasmus Jensen
Colorgrade: Olesya Kireeva, Act3
Sound: Jeppe Brix
Set-Design: Anne Mette Fisker Langkjer 

The exhibition Ars Memoria – Memes for Imagination was supported by:
Danish Arts Foundation, Aarhus Kommune, Det Obelske Familiefond, IMC – Interacting Minds Centre, Kjærgaard Anlægsgartner and Novo Nordisk Foundation

Today, large parts of our memory are externalized into various digital storage channels and images flow at high speeds through our perception, only fleetingly scratching the surface of our minds. Our memory is continuously challenged by new technologies and as we have come to trust their functions, we simultaneously abandon our own ability to remember.

Ars Memoria – Memes for Imagination thus offers insights into methods of remembering and speculations on memory and consciousness through new readings of ancient knowledge and memory systems as a way to remember a more sustainable future. The exhibition flows between past and future ways of learning and the speaks about the fragile state of memory – and of ways to activate the potential of remembering in a technological world.

The publication "Ars Memoria – Memes for Imagination" was published by Really Simple Syndication Press on the occasion of the exhibition. A readable version of the publication can be found here.

Read more about the exhibition at Kunsthal Aarhus and at Rundetaarn.

The video work MOL has been exhibited at New Museum in New York in 2019 as part of their Screen Series alongside Head On My Dear and Whether We Are. The Screen Series was organized by Helga Christoffersen, Associate Curator, and presents new video works by emerging artists. Read more about MOL and the Screen Series at New Museum.