Katherine

Neuro Image Streams

Photographs are a meaningful way of communicating amongst family & friends. Since many of  the photos from my life have disappeared, for this exhibition I have included contemporary photos taken with my iPad. Since participating in MemorySpace, I have collected a stream of photos from current events that surround me, and speak to me: photos of seniors, the student movement, festivals. In these photos I was interested in showing how memories are similar to what I capture on the iPad– a neurological film stream of images of still pictures and videos.

I cannot help but think of individuals who have experienced near death experiences, who report their lives running before them like a film. I believe that the stream of photos I have taken communicate a kind of “review” or “revue” of Montreal events in these past few months. These events rush by us but we are also immersed in them. So while unwillingly I have lost many photos from my past, it also allowed me to be open to how new technologies could be used, to learn, and to appreciate the life-film flowing all around me. My community. Our community.

It has also made me question how the past and present are connected by a momentary event that flashes before us. Last night I woke up to the news that someone had been shot in Montreal, during Pauline Marois’ acceptance speech. It was like déjà vu. Rather than seeing the present, a stream of images from 1968 seemed to appear before me. It frightened me. It took a few minutes to realize that I wasn’t in front of a tv on a hot night near Harvard listening to Bobby Kennedy speak in LA, witnessing the violence of his murder. Instead I was witnessing someone in Montreal on election night, here, with a rifle. French is not my first  language so it took me a while to make sense of what was happening. The sense of déjà vu was powerful, maybe because of the confusion of language. At least this time a newly elected politician survived. I am not sure what it all means, but I like this stream of images approach to memory: memory space, memory-scapes, a flow of impressions that this new technology allows us to capture.