Mementos Momentos
Mementos Momentos is a physical artefact which catalogs the objects found within my home in north western Spain; a place that i had not visited since 2018. Reconnecting with objects in the house, and in turn the memories they hold, was a cathartic experience. Each object, however big or small, reminded me of a moment and person from my past: White vests hung up in the wardrobes, belonging to my grandfather; the cover on the kitchen stove, only to be moved by my grandmother; the Polly Pocket dolls that my sister and i used to play with every summer; and the walking stick my mother collected on the Camino de Santiago. All the objects we left in the house are timestamps, representing who we were the last time we were there.
This publication is completely absent of people, featuring over one hundred objects. The images of the inanimate objects pose as portraits for the people who lived in this house. Everything in this publication is stuck in time. Photographing the space four years from when i last visited transports the viewer back to a time where the world seemed still, calm and silent.
Part of the Central Saint Martins Museum and Study Collection
Memory objects, physical things associated to remembrance that trigger memories of home culture, homeland and origin. (Marschall, 2019)
Every object has a story, a different transaction between human and thing. By examining objects we can appreciate and get to know the thousands of tangled lives that have interacted with them. All the overlooked, mundane and boring things we see in our daily lives contain anecdotes of someones existence; the back row of seats in the number 52 bus, the broken dolls house on the side of the road, even the glove left impaled by a railing — all these material culture items feed into the habits, values and ideas of nonmaterial culture. Exploring identity through ownership has become a compulsive interest of mine, where i’m compelled to understand the emotional attachment to belongings in the homes of people i know; and the reasoning behind the objects carried daily of the people i don’t. My work has become a social commentary through understanding personal and social identities through inanimate objects and possessions.
A room — but more importantly a persons possessions within that room — almost reveals more about their life than a standard portrait alone, which essentially demonstrates my main question; what can the most mundane everyday objects reveal about a person?
Objects physically resemble important events in our lives, holding sentimental value and meaning. We attach places, memories, and people involved, to whatever object is central to the event. Mementos Momentos is a nostalgic investigation into the memories associated to my home in Spain, where i analyse each object in its current state, and reminisce on the summers i spent there as a child. Having not visited in four years, each unaltered object elicits involuntary memories of my past, representing stories and acting as souvenirs.
Launched at the Central Saint Martins Degree Show 2022
FEATURED IN/ Central Saint Martins Graduate Showcase
