Paper memories: the art of honouring the dead
Document Type Thesis
Abstract
‘paper memories: the art of honouring the dead’ is a project which explores ‘memorial’. The project interprets cultural and artistic trends in contemporary memorial-making through studio research and a series of three installations of paper artworks and through this exegesis.
The installations for ‘paper memories’ aim to mark out the territory of memorial: its semiotics, functions and meanings. 'paper memories' consists of a studio practice exploring the link between memorial and the temporary nature of memory and the transitory act of remembrance.
The ‘paper memories’ project addresses primarily post-war, ‘western’ memorial. The central concern of ‘paper memories’ is the act of memorial-making across typologies, regions, cultures and places. ‘paper memories’ explores three key themes: the representation of absence within memorial practice; the ephemeral nature of memorials and the memorialising of public spaces.
The practice of ‘embodied research’ has been vital to the ‘paper memories’ project. In our visual contact with the object, we bear witness to its subject and commemorate it. My research has included visiting the World Trade Centre site in New York, Holocaust memorials in Europe and various memorials in Australia.