CONCEPT

With each passing year, first-hand experiences of World War I are fading, owned by an increasingly exclusive group of veterans. Yet as living memories gradually expire, so their social transmission almost paradoxically leads such memories to themselves adopt life; constantly evolving and contextualised by temporal and cultural referents.

This project explores and juxtaposes these immaterial, dynamic, collective memories with the abstract digital world through an immersive, interactive exhibition. The aim of the exhibition is to generate a facade of physicality allowing digital objects and spaces to become portals to the historical narrative.

Temporal distance from World War I complicates emotional insight, and habituation to the imagery of conflict dulls all but the most shocking of stimuli. This project therefore approaches and crafts novel memories through the vehicles of surprise and intrigue rather than mainstream shock and pathos. In response, individuals become directors of their experiences; free to feel rather than being forced into an ephemeral and apathetic sorrow.

The truth of war, emotional reaction and recollection extend to connections between stories, curiosities and events far beyond the brutality of conflict. Living Memories helps you to remember why.