Meaningful and Meaningless


(The Physics of Reconstructing Memories of Childhood)

Media: photography

The following are comprised of:
Children's Magic Lantern slides, c. 1870-1900
Parts from a deconstructed optical toy, c.1980's
Glass lecture slides used by Howard A. Shugart, Professor Emeritus of Physics, University of California, Berkeley, c. 1957-1993

Number of images: 15 (on-going)

Print size: 11 x 14 inches

Execution: 2023

I wake several times during the night. In between dreams, I think of the things I plan to do in the future and projects that I'm working on, as well as the usual concerns: finances, housing, relationships etc. In the darkness, I also respool the past: childhood, teenage years and those as a young adult (before the age of thirty).

It is not easy to represent the (personal) past: I think the problem is the lack of intimacy i.e., of substantive meaning. As a result, signs, tokens and symbols are inserted as replacements with greater or lessor effect. They become not quite full of meaning and slightly meaning less.

Whatever the flaws, I do like to think of these as intangible, amorphous souvenirs that (at the very least) illustrate false memories generated by wishful thinking. And if I ever have dementia, I want someone to tell me that these were my memories.

Meaningful and Meaningless

Meaningful and Meaningless

Meaningful and Meaningless

Meaningful and Meaningless

Meaningful and Meaningless

Meaningful and Meaningless

Meaningful and Meaningless

Meaningful and Meaningless

Meaningful and Meaningless

Meaningful and Meaningless

Meaningful and Meaningless

Meaningful and Meaningless

Meaningful and Meaningless

Meaningful and Meaningless

Meaningful and Meaningless

Meaningful and Meaningless

Meaningful and Meaningless

Meaningful and Meaningless

Meaningful and Meaningless

Meaningful and Meaningless

Meaningful and Meaningless

Meaningful and Meaningless

Meaningful and Meaningless

Meaningful and Meaningless

Meaningful and Meaningless

Meaningful and Meaningless

Meaningful and Meaningless

Meaningful and Meaningless

Meaningful and Meaningless

Meaningful and Meaningless