Remembering
Files
Academic Level at Time of Creation
Senior
Date of Creation
Winter 12-3-2017
Artist Statement
Time doesn’t wait for anyone. It always changes the way you look at something, or the way it looks. This is something I learned from a young age, and have tried to battle against it in order to preserve memories I’ve made. I started out collecting family photos, then I moved on to taking my own, but as I got older I realized there is no real way to preserve a memory, it’s always changing. As years pass little moments are forgotten even physical relics from the past deteriorate and age with you. Because of this, I soon realized there’s no pure way to stay connected and felt saddened when looking back. It was like a layer of separation was formed between me and the memories. It’s a longing to connect to something, some person, some memory that is no longer present. This is what I’m interested in, the layer of separation felt from the past after time takes its course.
Since my work is inspired by my memories, I use photographs from my childhood, furniture to amplify the imagery of the home, fabrics and other relics from my past. By using materials strongly tied to my past the work becomes a reproduction of my memories. I create artificial stand-ins for things I’ve experienced like…
love/loss/home/joy/death/dissociation/bliss/pride/nostalgia/want/grief/playfulness/
innocence/depression/comfort/intimacy/longing/freedom/security/hope/peace/
through installations set up to allude to the image of home. In doing this a weird inbetween atmosphere is created as the work resembles something familiar, something that could be found in a home, but each piece is altered in a way so that it doesn’t just mimic a home. This could be through the use of sound, video, or lighting to distort the way the piece is viewed.
This alter in reality helps to amplify the separation felt when trying to hold on to the past. By doing this I hope I can recreate this feeling. I hope the person viewing it might connect to this and reflect on their personal experiences.
Advisor/Mentor
Chris Lavery; Kristin Reeves; Antje Gamble; Timothy Martin
Description
This exhibition was inspired around themes of nostalgia, loss, and separation felt from the past after time takes its course. Mediums used were a combination of photography, video, sound, and installation.
The show was arranged to somewhat resemble the floor plans of home. Each artwork stood on its own, with its own purpose, much like the rooms of a house. The biggest installation piece resembled a window with curtains and stood at around 8 feet tall and 5 feet wide. This piece was a combination of sculpture, sound, and photography. Across from it was the video piece. This was on a large TV screen that played the video on loop. Projecting on the video and the wall behind it was a pink/purple light that made a glowing haze around the video. Beside this piece, down the stairs in the corner of the gallery, I had my other installation piece. This one had two parts: a nightstand that stood at about 5 feet tall with a speaker playing sound hanging underneath it, and a set of three 24"x24" photo prints hung beside the nightstand in a vertical position. Continuing to the balcony area of the gallery were 6 large gold framed photographs hung on a purple/pink painted wall.
By giving the works their own space and not having them interact with each other, each work was separated much like the rooms in a home. In doing this the viewer had a clear path and could feel like they were in a different setting with each work.
Photo Credit
Myself, Taylor McCord
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Recommended Citation
McCord, Taylor, "Remembering" (2017). B.F.A. Practicum Exhibition (ART 498). 15.
https://digitalcommons.murraystate.edu/art498/15